The Smart Revolution (eBook)

S MLA R TO N
R E V O U T I
THE

A Marketer’s Guide to Building Smart Brands for Tomorrow’s
Smarter World in Which All Things − Physical and Digital − Are Connected

Christina “CK” Kerley

Author of Innovation through Mobile

The SMART Revolution

A Marketer’s Guide to Building Smart Brands for Tomorrow’s Smarter World

Table of Contents:
A “Smart” Revolution Ignites a Smarter World

2

Building Smart Brands: A 5-Point Framework for Marketers

5

Smart Principle #1: Value

7

Smart Principle #2: Empowerment

8

Smart Principle #3: Simplicity

10

Smart Principle #4: Experience

12

Smart Principle #5: Personalization

14

Tomorrow Belongs to Today’s Smart Innovators

16

About the Author

17

A “Smart” Revolution Ignites a Smarter World
I’ve spent the past 20 years passionately—relentlessly—chasing innovation. From the dawn of a magnificent
digital universe born of the Internet, through the thrill of global conversations set ablaze by social media, to the
magic of mobile’s anytime-anywhere technology connecting an entire planet, I’ve reveled in the shock and awe of
innovation.
And time and again I’ve seen the equal parts disruption and transformation that ensue.
I’ve watched revolutions crown new captains of industry, and I’ve witnessed revolutionaries topple the most
impenetrable of ivory towers. And with each innovation, I’ve seen the clock start anew, giving players big and small
another chance to change the game—maybe change the world—or stay their current course… and hope for the best.
Now our world is at the threshold of a stunning “smart” revolution: one that stands on the shoulders of all
innovations preceding it; but one that stands unique in its own right.
© 2013 Christina “CK” Kerley

www.allthingsCK.com

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For in this coming era, the physical and digital worlds—realms that have for so long been separate and distinct—will
collide, converge and collaborate. Because now, objects that were always dormant are being awakened through Web
connections, made aware of their surroundings through digital sensors, and given the means to “talk”—both to us and
to other objects.
And in our lifetime, over the course of but a handful of years, the inanimate objects that fill our environment will
spring to life all around us. Because in this new age, the focus will shift from connecting people to the Internet... to
connecting things.
Technology will breathe life into lifeless objects. Sensors will turn inanimate things into intelligent devices. And the
current narrative of billions of connected people will give
way to the new lexicon of trillions: trillions of connected
things, and trillions—upon trillions—of dollars in economic
impact.
We are at a turning point. Soon, more things than people
will be connected to the Internet: from a forecast of 19
billion connected things in 2015 to 50 billion intelligent
devices by 2020.
In the coming smarter world, the very notion of computers
as separate things will become nonsensical… for they will
very much live in all things.

In the coming smarter world,
the very notion of computers

as separate things will become
nonsensical… for they will very
much live in all things.

Computers will continue to be integrated into the devices
we carry (like our smartphones). Woven into the items we
wear (as with Google Glass eyewear and smartwatches). And
embedded into the everyday objects we live alongside—the
appliances in our homes, the shoes on our feet, the collars
on our dogs, the pills from our pharmacies, the cars that we
drive, the buildings where we work, and the products in our
supply chains.
I refer to this massive progression upon us as The “Smart”
Revolution. Because “smart” is this revolution’s byproduct,
its dramatic benefit, and its new best practice. To be sure,
technological advancements—spanning machine-to-machine
communications (M2M), digital sensors and The Internet of Things (IoT)—are the enablers of tomorrow’s smarter
world. But the real story is the set of smart capabilities that these technologies provide: the powers that we humans
will wield to profoundly transform scores of industries, entire cities and even nations.
Although the “Internet of Things” refers to the connecting of things, the benefit that results from those connections
is smart products and services. And though “machine-to-machine communications” refers to machines that speak to
one another, the advantage that arises from that communication is smart devices.
“Smart,” then, is most apt and rings most true.


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And these smart capabilities will be the very ones that history will credit as the catalyst that moved us from the age of
information into an age of newfound intelligence in things—across all products, places, networks, services, solutions
and systems.
Whereas today’s young children don’t understand why TV screens don’t respond to their touch—unlike the vibrant
surfaces of their smartphones, tablets and e-readers—the children of tomorrow won’t comprehend how dynamic
objects could ever have been so devoid of life.
For they will have grown up knowing only a smarter world. We, however, will have the privilege of experiencing the
explosive transformation of our planet.
Does all of this talk of a smarter world teeming with trillions of smart objects seem too promising or simply
preposterous? That’s understandable: Thinking only in the abstract can lead to confusion even when clarity is the intent.
So let me provide an example to make this idea far more tangible.
Think back to the last time you forgot your smartphone at home. For just one day.
How difficult was it to get through your work and personal tasks without your mobile lifeline? Just how many times
did habit lead you to reach for your mobile companion—only to have its absence serve as a nagging reminder of how
disconnected you were? How relieved did you feel when reunited with it? And, the following day, just how cognizant
were you to remember not to leave it behind again?

I refer to this massive progression
upon us as The “Smart” Revolution.
For “smart” is this revolution’s
byproduct, its dramatic benefit,
and its new best practice.

Right now, it’s only our phones that are smart. Soon,
all the things that make up the world all around us will
be smart. Though we now stand in awe at how we ever
survived without our smartphones, all too shortly we will
be positively mystified at how smart humans ever lived in a
world once filled with so many dumb things.
And tomorrow’s smarter world will be here sooner than you
think.
Whereas the Internet attained critical mass in 10 years,
mobile did so in half the time. Moreover, this smart
revolution need not wait for technological adoption from
the masses: They are already carrying the key technology
that will trigger the coming tidal wave of smart objects.
Because everywhere they go, their smartphones go with
them.
And because smartphones are already ubiquitous, the smart
revolution will likely follow the breakneck pace of adoption
set by predecessor innovations. Or, perhaps, as the following
titanic-sized forecasts indicate, the smart revolution will set
entirely new records.

Just one sector of smart objects, mind you, wearable
technology, is set to surge tenfold—from $3-5 billion to $3050 billion—over the next three years. A seemingly staggering
figure, until one looks at the total anticipated impact of
these smart technologies: Cisco predicts IoT’s economic impact to hit $14.4 trillion by 2022; meanwhile, GE posits that
46% of the world’s current $70 trillion-dollar industrial economy would benefit from IoT. Those all but incomprehensible
numbers should leave us all slack-jawed.

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The world’s second-largest economy, China, announced three years ago that it had made IoT a national mandate. Cisco
has recently refocused 500 of its work force on the IoT opportunity. And, in a single year (2013), ATT has launched not
one, but two innovation labs focused on IoT and M2M, respectively.
Is it any wonder that the planet’s tech titans—IBM, Cisco, GE, Sprint, Verizon—are repositioning themselves around
these technologies? They already know what the world will soon come to understand: Smart technologies equate to
very smart business.
Indeed, the smart revolution will force change far and wide. That change will come fast and it will favor the quick.
The smarter world may be fully realized tomorrow... but the smart leaders are already leapfrogging through these
technologies today.
But fair warning: the biggest change will be to our markets.
Although these technologies yield extraordinary growth
opportunities, they do not constitute the most compelling
business case for change. That distinction belongs to our
markets, which will be entirely transformed through the
smart revolution. The benefits of smart capabilities will have
profound implications upon tomorrow’s customers who will
be much more demanding, much more impatient, and much
more savvy, with much higher standards.
Mark my words, marketers: Dumb things won’t merely
be an inconvenience to your customers; they will be all
but intolerable to them—and wholly irrelevant in the 21st
century marketplace. While smart brands give marketers
a competitive advantage today, that advantage will rapidly
transform into tomorrow’s cost of entry.

While smart brands give marketers
a competitive advantage today,
that advantage will rapidly
transform into tomorrow’s cost
of entry.

And that brings me to my job—and this paper.
I created this piece to alert executives to the smart
revolution that is quietly unfolding all around them—
and which will soon shake the very foundations of their
companies by driving massive disruption across their
business models, their marketing strategies and their
brands.
Indeed, this paper was written with my fellow marketers in mind. While the Web is becoming flooded with articles on
sensors, smart objects, IOT and M2M, it’s devoid of guidance for the brand builders themselves… Yet, theirs are the
roles that will be most affected by a smarter world, and theirs are the brands that will face the biggest battles in the
coming race for smart market share.
This work will undoubtedly be the first of many I will write on this subject. I see where our smarter world is headed
and I’m committed to helping marketers build the brands they have long dreamed of—and which, through these smart
capabilities, they now can finally achieve.
Perhaps my work will also serve as a push, a call to action, for today’s companies. That, too, is my job. For to ignite the
spark of innovation, sometimes all that’s needed is a nudge in the right direction.

www.allthingsCK.com

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Building Smart Brands: A 5-Point Framework for Marketers
The path to tomorrow’s smarter world consists of many steps. Whereas mobile, as I explored in my last paper, provides
innovation opportunities across the marketing ecosystem, the smart revolution drives innovation across the entire
business—from smart business models and smarter marketing strategies to the smartest possible set of products and
services.
But we must start at the beginning. The first step—the purpose of this
piece—is to give marketers a guiding framework of the core principles
that comprise smart brands. The goal is to give you a firm grasp of how
smart brands differ from those you have built in the past, to help you
evolve your thinking, and to empower you to architect the smart brands
that will win the future.

Smart Brand Principles

The core principles, compelling beneﬁts,
and best pracƟces of smart brands entail:

Make no mistake. These smart capabilities are a game-changer for your
brands, both because they give you the power to build the brands that
have, until now, lived only in your imaginations, and because they free
you from the limitations that have, heretofore, confined your realities.
And, for brands, the benefits are nothing short of epic.
Now marketers can move from developing individual dumb products
for customers to engineering fuller, smart solutions that truly change
customers’ lives. You are enabled to remove the mystery that has
shrouded entire areas of your audiences’ lives and infuse it with
transparency—empowering them to make better decisions that lead to
better outcomes.
Marketers can eliminate the overwhelming complexity that has plagued
their customers’ lives and, through their smart brands, replace it with
sheer simplicity. And you can expand the roles your brands play in
customers’ activities—a move that your markets will welcome because
it will transform static components into dynamic experiences for them.
Finally, in a sea change for companies, we can migrate from massproducing products shipped from our factories to micro-personalizing
offerings that are only truly complete when they are in the hands of our
customers.
These are the core principles, compelling benefits, and the best
practices of the smart brands that will thrive in the 21st century’s
smarter marketplace. Indeed, the path to tomorrow’s smarter world
will consist of many steps for today’s marketers. Let us take the first
leap by building smart brands.


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Smart Brands Expand Value by
Transforming Single, Dumb Products
into Fuller, Smart SoluƟons

Empowerment

3

Simplicity

Smart Brands Empower Customers
through New Insights that Drive
BeƩer Outcomes
Smart Brands Remove Complexity—
and Replace It With Simplicity

4

Experience

5

PersonalizaƟon

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Value

2

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1

Smart Brands Turn StaƟc Elements
Into Dynamic Experiences
Smart Brands Are Micro-Personalized
By Customers—Not Mass-Produced
By Companies

6



Smart Principle #1: Value

Smart Brands Expand Value by Transforming Single, Dumb Products
into Fuller, Smart Solutions

Smart brands provide customers with far greater value than their dumb predecessors—because they transform
single products into fuller solutions that help customers solve their broader problems, satisfy their greater needs
and achieve their larger goals.

Asthmapolis Smart Inhaler: Transforming a product that manages asthma attacks into a
solution that works to prevent asthmatic episodes
Consider the Asthmapolis sensor and mobile app, a small FDA-approved device that attaches to most asthma
inhalers and automatically tracks the time and location of each use of the sensor-equipped inhaler (watch video).
At first blush, the device might seem just a
piece of technology that records data
about asthmatic episodes, but its value is
far deeper, because the device works to
solve a much bigger issue: Instead of
helping patients to merely manage asthma
attacks by using their inhalers at the onset
of symptoms, the smart inhaler provides
the important data that can help them
avoid asthmatic episodes in the first place.
Revealing when and where the inhaler
is used provides valuable clues about
environmental exposures that can cause
attacks—information that greatly aids
patients, physicians and public health
agencies to better understand and manage the disease. Thus, physicians can better control the condition rather
than merely treat the symptoms, and patients can actively control their health rather than reactively deal with
their illness.
With this smart solution producing such
a high level of benefit to patients and
physicians alike… why would any asthma
sufferer use a “dumb” inhaler again?


!

Building
Smart
Brands

www.allthingsCK.com

In a smarter world, marketers
must expand the value of their
single, “dumb” products into fuller,
“smart” solutions.

7



Nike+ Smart Basketball Shoes: Transforming a sporting accessory into a fitness partner that tracks players’
progress in real time
Another tremendous example comes by way
of Nike’s smart move: integrating sensors into
the soles of its Nike+ basketball shoes. Along
with the brand’s highly popular Nike+ Fuelband,
a wristband that tracks activity levels, now
players—via their basketball shoes—can learn
how high they jump, how quickly they move, how
well they dunked, and how hard they play... all in
real time (watch video).
No more best-guessing at progress. Now,
through easy-to-understand statistics sent to
their smartphones, players know how they’re
improving and where they need to focus to
improve their game. The value for both Nike and
its customers is that the fitness brand becomes a true fitness partner for athletes.
In a smarter world, why would customers wear dumb shoes to play the game when smart shoes can help them up their
game?
Smart Takeaway:
Whether with a smart asthma sensor that turns a product which manages asthma symptoms into a solution that helps
patients avoid asthmatic episodes, or a smart basketball shoe that converts a sporting accessory into a virtual fitness
partner, smart brands expand value by transforming single, dumb products into fuller, far smarter solutions.

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2

Smart Principle #2: Empowerment

Smart Brands Empower Customers through New Insights
that Drive Better Outcomes

Smart brands lift the veil of mystery that shrouds so many facets of their customers’ lives, and they do so by infusing full
visibility into all areas of their worlds. Through smart brands, marketers can empower their customers by providing them
with new information—and valuable new insights—that, in turn, drive better outcomes.


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MC10’s Smart BioStamp: 24/7 Monitoring of vital statistics takes the mystery out of health and arms
patients and physicians with the data to provide better care
That which has long been a mystery to us—our own bodies—can now be transparent, as we are enabled to track our
vital health statistics just as easily as we do our
campaign analytics. A breakthrough system soon to
be on the market, MC10’s BioStamp is a collection
of sensors thinner than a temporary tattoo.
Applied to the skin like a Band-Aid, it monitors vital
signs 24/7 and uploads the information to users’
smartphones.
Whereas people once needed to visit the doctor
to acquire basic information on their vitals, such as
temperature, heart rate and hydration levels, the
information can now be tracked in real time, all the
time. And the benefits serve not only the patients
but also their healthcare providers.

!

Armed with data on vital health statistics, doctors
can act on that information to prescribe more targeted—and far more precise—courses of treatment. Because once
we know the state of our health, and our
physicians are better informed on our health
In a smarter world, marketers must
statistics, we are empowered to intelligently
build brands that empower customers
act upon it.
through new insights that drive
better outcomes.

Building
Smart
Brands

Jawbone “UP” Smart Fitness Wristband: Providing data on daily activity levels—and nightly sleep patterns—
informs and influences decisions
Jawbone’s “Up” System—a brand already on the market, and high in consumer demand—consists of a wristband that
enables users to know themselves better by tracking and recording all of their activities (watch video). The wristband
tracks movement (activity levels), sleep history (rest levels) and food intake (nutrition levels) and, through a mobile
app, reports the findings back to users, along with
insights that keep them moving closer to their goals
across all fronts.
Query its users, and they’ll tell you that the findings
are surprising—most notably their sleep levels
(or lack thereof!). The information is not only
enlightening but also empowering: Now that users
know of their activity, sleep and nutrition levels,
they are enabled to better control those essential
facets of their lives… and, in turn, improve their
health outcomes.


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Smart Takeaway:
Whether it’s MC10’s BioStamp that transparently monitors vital health statistics in real time or Jawbone’s UP
wristband that easily tracks levels of activity, sleep and nutrition, smart brands replace best guesses with better
data… that can drive better decisions… which ignite better outcomes.

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3

Smart Principle #3: Simplicity

Smart Brands Remove Complexity—and Replace It with Simplicity

Smart brands provide much-needed relief to customers because they eliminate the time-consuming, headacheinducing “pain points” that plague their lives. Through ingenious uses of these technologies, marketers can create
smart brands that turn complex practices into simple, seamless processes.

GlowCaps Smart Pill Bottles: Removing the complexity of remembering to take medication by turning the
simple pill bottle into a smart reminder
Ironically, one of the most complex issues in the healthcare industry stems from seemingly one of the simplest tasks—
getting patients to take prescribed medications on time. The problem is so widespread that nearly half of patients
at some point forget to take their medications
as prescribed (or at all). And poor medication
adherence is not merely risky, it’s costly: Over $100
billion is spent annually as a consequence of excess
hospitalizations stemming from the simple-yetcomplex task of remembering to follow doctors’
orders.
But in a smarter world, why can’t the medication—
or the medication container—serve as an easy
reminder to patients? It can. Enter GlowCaps,
mobile-enabled pill bottle caps that glow to remind
patients to take their medications (watch video).
GlowCaps fit on standard prescription bottles and
use light and sound reminders, along with phone
calls and text messages, to ensure that patients don’t miss any dose of their prescribed medicines. Furthermore,
the smart system tracks patient progress with weekly emails—sent to patients, doctors and caregivers—recording
which days patients took their medication as prescribed, and which days they missed a dose. Patients can even refill
their prescriptions by pressing a button inside the bottle cap… or simply automate the process and never think about
it again.


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The result of transforming a dumb pill bottle into a smart medication reminder? Better behavior, improved medical
outcomes and decreased medical costs—all because the complexity of taking medicine was replaced by an amazingly
simple, and astonishingly smart, pill bottle that doubles as a medication reminder.

IntelligentM SmartBand: Replacing the complexity of hand-hygiene compliance by turning healthcare
workers’ wristbands into personal, real-time reminders
Every year 100,000 people die from hospital-acquired infections (HAIs)—an epidemic that each year claims more lives
than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. As the CDC contends, a great majority of these infections could be
prevented if hospital workers washed their hands
more often and more effectively.
To combat this problem, hospitals have instituted
various measures: including managers’ watching
their fellow healthcare workers to ensure their
compliance, deploying signage and hand sanitizer
stations all over hospitals, even installing remoteviewing services where third parties monitor the
hand-hygiene practices of hospital staff. All of these
interventions, however, haven fallen far short.
An inspired new solution that works to change
behavior is IntelligentM’s “SmartBand”—a personal,
real-time reminder worn on healthcare workers’
wrists (watch video) that tracks the wearer’s handhygiene practices and, when necessary, alerts them before compliance violations occur.

!

Through RFID technology, the SmartBand
works by communicating with other objects
In a smarter world, marketers
(such as IV bags) that reminds workers to
must remove complexity in their
customers’ lives and replace it with
sanitize their hands by buzzing three times.
simple, seamless processes.
Then, once workers have thoroughly washed
all areas of their hands for the correct
amount of time, the wristband buzzes once, signaling workers that they can proceed with their treatments.

Building
Smart
Brands

Further, SmartBand issues regular progress reports on workers’ levels of compliance. Hospitals now have a smart
weapon in the war against HAIs—because hand-hygiene compliance just became far less complex.

Tagg Smart Pet Tracker: Eliminating the complexity of keeping dogs in the yard by simply turning their collar
into a smart pet tracker
Man’s best friend is forever loyal—but far from always obedient. All too often, dogs get loose from the yard, sending
their owners into a mad panic and in search of their beloved pets. But with Tagg’s smart pet tracker, a lightweight,
sensor-enabled device that attaches to dog collars, owners have the peace of mind to always know their dog’s
whereabouts… instantly know when they’ve left the yard… and track their activity levels (watch video).


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Certainly, there are other methods for tracking dogs,
but all fall woefully short: Implanting microchips in
pets is an invasive procedure, and the chips don’t
let owners know that their dogs are lost; electronic
fences are painful to pets and don’t inform owners
of their dog’s location if pets do get lost. But Tagg
is free of pain and free of downtime: Owners are
alerted via text and email at the exact moment
their dogs get loose—and they are guided to exactly
where their dogs have wondered to (even providing
directions via GPS).
And through Tagg’s “activity tracking,” owners can
also monitor their pets’ activity levels and share
those with their veterinarians. Now, through a
smart collar, pets stay in the yard and in good health.
Smart Takeaway:
Whether by transforming a dumb pill bottle into a smart medication reminder, replacing ineffective hand-hygiene
compliance solutions with a smart wristband reminder, or turning a dumb collar into a smart pet tracker, companies
that seek to create strong sales will do so through strategies focused on simplicity—and they will completely win
over customers by removing complexity from their lives.

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4

Smart Principle #4: Experience

Smart Brands Turn Static Elements into Dynamic Experiences

Smart brands aren’t static components within customers’ activities; they serve as dynamic elements that bolster the
customer’s overall experience. By using smart capabilities, marketers can now co-create enriching and rewarding new
experiences for their markets.

Vail Resorts Smart Ski Pass: Turning the dumb ski pass into a dynamic device unleashes an entirely new
skiing experience
Ski resorts have always been social experiences, but as Vail’s valiant effort proves, now they can also be smart
brands that co-create new experiences for their customers. Vail taps all facets of new media to bolster the customer
experience—and it’s all made possible by the remarkably clever idea of transforming the dumb ski pass into a smart,
dynamic device that delivers a more enriching experience to resort skiers (watch video).


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Through Vail’s “Epic Mix” program—accessed through the company’s website and mobile app—visitors unlock a
new mountain experience that captures their
ski excursion, connects them to their family and
friends on the mountains and lets them share their
stories across social networks and revel in their
achievements.
How can a resort—where users need to wear
ski gloves that prevent them from using their
smartphones during the activity—track and record
skiers’ activities and achievements? By making
the ski pass itself a smart device. When visitors
get to each lift, their tickets—enabled with RFID
technology—are scanned and automatically record
each skier’s lift rides, calculate their vertical skiing
feet and tally their ski days.
To review progress, users simply need to access the online site or mobile app replete with stats, maps and
achievements that tell the story of the customers’ “epic” days or “epic” seasons—with Vail featuring a separate kids’
site for children under 13. The site, app and smart ski ticket do more than just record data, they award skiers with
special pins commemorating hundreds of
milestones, special adventures and unique
In a smarter world, static brands
accomplishments for each day—and each
must play a much more dynamic role
season—at each of Vail’s collection of ski
in customer experiences.
resorts.

!

Building
Smart
Brands

GolfSense Smart Golf Sensor: A smart glove becomes a new virtual participant—and a golfer’s secret
weapon—in the game experience
An example that could also fit under the “empowerment” principle, given the treasure trove of insights it provides players,
is GolfSense’s 3D Golf Sensor (watch video). Through
a sensor that attaches to golf gloves—and is no
heavier than the weight of a golf ball—the 3D
motion engine captures hundreds of data points for
every swing and delivers real-time analysis through
mobile apps.
One could say that the smart sensor becomes the
smart player’s secret weapon by providing tips and
recommendations that help players improve their
game. The benefit of a smart golf glove is clear, and
it clearly moves the brand front-and-center to the
golfing experience.


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Smart Takeaway:
Whether with a smart ski pass that serves as a gateway for participants to enjoy new activities and reap new
rewards, or a smart golf sensor that plays a pivotal new role in a highly competitive game, smart brands take static
elements and transform them into dynamic events that give rise to entirely new experiences.

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5

Smart Principle #5: Personalization

Smart Brands Are Micro-Personalized by Customers—
Not Mass-Produced by Companies

Smart brands are tailored to each and every customer because they are customized by each and every customer. Said
another way: Smart brands aren’t finished when they leave the factory... they are engineered to only be truly complete
once they are in the hands of the customer.

The Nest Smart Thermostat: A thermostat that’s personalized to—and learns from—your
specific preferences
Sometimes the best examples stem from the most basic products: Enter Nest’s Learning Thermostat, the
overwhelmingly popular smart thermostat that is
personalized to customer preferences and learns
from their behavior (watch video). With Nest,
temperature control is fully within your control
and truly personalized to your preferences and
schedules.
Most people leave their house at the same
temperature, simply forgetting to change it. A worry
no more, because the Nest thermostat customizes
in-house climates for each customer. The device
is so smart it even learns their schedule and
programs itself according to their preferences. (It
is also controllable via smartphones.) By customers
“teaching” Nest through answering a set of simple questions and enabling the unit to optimize itself based upon how
customers adjust their thermostats throughout the day and night, customers can save up to 20% on their heating and
cooling bills, the company claims. And the personalized programming questions are so simple that 99% of Nest users set
schedules.
Personalizing the temperature of the house is a big benefit while at home, but is also made possible—and easy—when
on the go. Customers can alter the temperature miles from home… or as they are approaching their vacation home.


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Target’s Smart Shopping Experience: An idea that turns a big-box store full of products into a personalized
store tailored to your specific needs
Though this idea is only in the ideation phase—not yet in the market—it so perfectly underscores this smart brand
principle that it warrants inclusion (read article
here). Beloved big-box retailer Target is researching
some very personalized shopping strategies through
its technology lab. And though its technology
team is experimenting with many innovations,
one in particular stands out due to its potential to
completely alter the shopping experience—by way
of micro-personalizing the store to each and every
shopper.
Target is exploring ways to harness wearable
devices and smartphones to lend shoppers an
augmented reality-enabled view of the store—and
providing them an augmented retail experience. If,
say, certain shoppers are on a gluten-free diet, they can launch the gluten-free AR mode and, automagically, all glutenfree products will stand out in the store. The same can be done for shoppers who have nut allergies, or for those who
prefer vegan alternatives, or those who are dieting—even for shoppers who are looking for items on sale.
If, and hopefully when, this capability is a
reality, this use of smart capabilities will
transform even the biggest of big-box stores
into niche boutiques that are personalized
to each and every shopper’s needs and
preferences.

!

Building
Smart
Brands

In a smarter world, marketers must
move their brands from massproduction by the company to micropersonalization by the customer.

Smart Takeaway:
Whether via a smart thermostat personalized to each users’ set of preferences or a smart store that is personalized
to every shoppers’ specific needs, the brands that will lead a smarter world will do so by giving their customers the
highest levels of control across the greatest amount of brand components, preferences, settings, features
and functions.

Keep reading:
concluding thoughts


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Tomorrow Belongs to Today’s Smart Innovators
Of all the lessons we’ve learned through the past 20 years of unyielding disruption, chief among them is this: In the new
digital order, success is as much a function of how deeply you transform your business as it is a function of how quickly
you do so.
Make no mistake. As proven by the winners of the digital
and the mobile revolutions, the fortunes of the smart
revolution will most assuredly favor the quick.
Innovative companies don’t wait for a barrage of case
studies to hit the headlines before taking action. Where’s the
innovation in being second to market? No. Innovators make
the first move.
Innovators don’t let competitors disrupt their business:
True leaders cannibalize their own business units before
others have the opportunity to do so. Look at how Apple
cannibalized its iPod business with its iPhone breakthrough…
And recall how Kodak shelved digital imaging technology...
only to file bankruptcy when billions in debt—the very same
year that Instagram’s digital-imaging app landed a billiondollar payday.

The winners of this revolution
are today’s smart innovators—
for the customers of tomorrow
will belong to them.

Innovators proactively build the future rather than react to
its arrival—because reaction is way too little and far too late.
What, then, are the imperatives for executives who seek to
harness the smart revolution to leapfrog competitors?
If you’re a startup, use your innate stealth and agility to keep
moving fast. If you’re a mature organization, mobilize your
wealth of resources—and break through the bureaucracy—to get to market far faster. If you’re a new entrant, acquire
the necessary financing. If you’re an established company, earmark innovation funds.
If you’re a new business, focus on making the biggest impact by way of the smartest possible products and services.
And if you’re a big player, focus your RD units to re-engineer your products into smart solutions, and identify a suite of
smarter, more expansive services.
Although these smart technologies will certainly evolve—ultimately maturing, just as all others before them—the moves
of today’s executives matter greatly. Whether you’re the new kid on the block, the industry’s 800-pound gorilla or the
midsize player within a niche, if you want to ensure you’re a smart leader of tomorrow... you mantra is to start building
smart brands today.
Indeed, the smart revolution will bring tremendous challenge. But great opportunity, too. And the winners will be the
innovators who—today—focus on building smart brands. For the customers of tomorrow will belong to them.

www.allthingsCK.com

16



About the Author: Christina “CK” Kerley
Relentlessly chasing innovation, Christina “CK” Kerley is surely one of
the most dynamic thought leaders of our time.
For the past 20 years, CK has steered B2B and B2C companies through
a series of stunning revolutions—spanning digital technology, social
media, mobile marketing and M2M communications, (“The Internet
of Things”).
Possessing a top-tier portfolio of executive audiences across the U.S., Europe, and
Asia-Pacific region, she has presented to—and left deep impressions on—business
leaders at the United Nations, Microsoft, Johnson Johnson, Verizon, Neutrogena,
Cisco, Sun Microsystems, and highly acclaimed universities, including Stanford,
Cornell, Northwestern and Rutgers.
CK’s presentations are often termed “edu-tainment” due to her signature highenergy style, power-packed content and thoroughly engaging delivery. Her gift,
as many a client would attest, is a rare combination: performance artistry that
inspires and captivates audiences, coupled with subject-matter mastery that enables
executives to enact change.
Her broad body of work—a suite of eBooks, videos, articles and blogs—focuses
business leaders on the imperative of evolving in an era of unprecedented
disruption. All firsts in the industry, CK’s portfolio of eBooks, including The Smart
Revolution (2013), Innovation Through Mobile (2013), and The Mobile Revolution
B2B (2011), push executives ahead of the curve today… so they don’t find their
companies behind the times, tomorrow.

For More on CK
To learn about CK’s services,
enjoy her eBooks and view
her videos, please visit:
•
•
•
•
•
•

CK’s Website
CK’s eBooks
CK’s Videos
CK’s Articles
CK’s Blog
CK’s Tweets
For CK’s mobile site,
scan code with smartphone:

Her strategic projects also boast an impressive lineup of leaders: IBM, Verizon,
Johnson Johnson, Ingenix, ClearPoint, FCG, ISI, Publicis, and the Syndicated
Network Television Association—an organization of the top TV studios, including
Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, Fox and NBC-Universal.
CK’s advice and forecasts are frequently cited in the media, including: Inc. Magazine,
BtoB Magazine, MarketingProfs, Mobile Marketer, Chief Content Officer, IDG, Federal
Computer Week and MediaPost, as well as in business books The New Influencers
(Quill Driver Books, 2007), Join The Conversation (Wiley, 2007), Content Rules (Wiley,
2011) and The B2B Social Media Book (Wiley, 2012).

allthingsCK.com

Based in New York City, for more information please visit: allthingsCK.com


www.allthingsCK.com

17

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