Wearable technology has been around since the late 1800s when the hearing aid was created, but only joined the digital world in the 1980s when the first calculator watch made its appearance.
Today, interconnectivity is incredibly widespread and wearables have proven to be an extremely powerful platform for tech-savvy marketers.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at some recent examples of wearable technology and assess what the future might hold for this incredible platform…
Smartwatches
It wasn’t that long ago that tech watches launched themselves into the limelight and today they are a common purchase for many, often as a companion to a mobile device.
These intelligent watches can send and receive emails and text messages, perform translations, run mobile apps, bring you live weather updates and even keep your health in check.
However due to the diminutive size of the screen (the Apple Watch screen is 1.5 x 1.2 inches), marketers are left with little room to truly express themselves, meaning they need to get creative to have an impact in this tiny space.
To overcome this challenge, emojis, emoticons and live countdown timers are all fantastic ways to convey a message creatively and effectively and in such a small amount of space.
As technology adapts and evolves on a daily basis, it’s clear that smartwatches are without doubt going to become a common part of our lives. As such, marketers will need to make continual adjustments to their strategy and content to remain appealing to an increasingly distracted and time-restrained audience.
Snapchat Spectacles
Snapchat is an extremely successful platform that has grown significantly ever since they rejected Facebook’s takeover offer. And although the platform is famous for its fun features including face swap and puppy dog filters, the company recently surprised the world by unveiling its first hardware product – the Snapchat Spectacles. These specs, expected to be available at some point ‘soon,’ record 10-second video snippets that get saved to your Snapchat memories.
The glasses, which will come in black, teal and coral, have already proven popular with younger audiences despite not even being released yet and could turn the world of marketing on its head once they make their way onto the market.
Pilot by Waverly Labs
Finally, we’ve got the smart earpiece language translator, Pilot, created by Waverly Labs. This incredible piece of wearable technology is the world’s first smart earpiece, translating between users speaking different languages. Using translator technology, it allows two people to speak different languages but still clearly understand one another.
This could be an incredibly effective platform within the audio space, and there are already plans in the pipeline for Waverly Labs to partner with music streaming sites to widen their offering and open up possible advertising revenues.
The future of wearables
It’s obvious that wearables are a major channel promising huge opportunities – now and in the future. But as a result of these opportunities, marketers will without doubt be presented with many challenges that they need to face in the form of fresh strategies and new approaches to marketing.
Is your business wearables ready?
About 8 Ways Media
8 Ways Media is a Swiss-based digital and marketing agency providing a wealth of services to a broad international client base of more than 280 companies worldwide. Offering the most creative, contemporary digital marketing solutions on the market, this is a company that delivers consistently exceptional results to businesses of every type and size.
Whether you’re seeking bespoke website design and development services, innovative brand strategy solutions or technical services, 8 Ways Media are the ultimate solution.
Contact us today to discuss your business matters with a member of our team.
*Image credit Oliur Rahman
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