Marketers Can Already See A New Opportunity In Automated Home Appliances

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HOMES ARE GETTING SMARTER: The Internet of Things is ready to take off, and home automation already represents the most prevalent business-to-consumer application for the Internet of Things, and will likely drive its growth for the foreseeable future. Already, pioneering efforts from upstarts like Nest - just acquired by Google for $3.2 billion - and SmartThings, have forced the hands of many well known consumer appliance brands like LG, Dacor, and Samsung to create their own connected appliances intended for mass market consumer electronics stores. Given how integral equipment like thermostats, washing machines, ovens, and the like, are in our lives, there's really no limit to the number of connected devices that can be used in the average consumer home.

With so much data flowing from these home appliances, marketers also see an opportunity. Originally, the overarching goal of these appliances was to track user preferences and adjust the machines to operate accordingly, creating energy savings and peace of mind. Now, marketers for these products can drive an ongoing consumer-device relationship by supplying information and services about the device's operation, more devices that can be integrated, and repair or replacement options. Marketers will be able to connect directly with the consumer in their home and maintain the relationship between brand and consumer. In speaking to Mobile Marketer, Jonathan Collins of ABI Research sums up the relationship concisely, "It's not so much about sending messages through a smart oven but enabling communications related to the way the oven is used and in ensuring its continued use." (Mobile Marketer)

NEST CEO SPEAKS ON FUTURE UNDER GOOGLE: Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest, explains the origin of the deal struck yesterday with Google. He acknowledges that the global resources and scale that Google can bring to Nest in order to make Nest a leader in the automated home category is what convinced him to secure the partnership. (Nest)

IS HOME PRIVACY AT RISK? Many consumers are wondering what the Google-Nest venture means in terms of collection of data about their home. In a blog post Tony Fadell sent to TechCrunch, he answered whether Nest user data would be sent to Google by saying, "Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest's products and services. We've always taken privacy seriously and this will not change." It appears Nest will operate independently. Nonetheless, the most obvious and immediate value Google gets from this deal is a foothold in this new, burgeoning data category. We'll keep watching how this plays out. (TechCrunch)

THERE WON'T ALWAYS BE MONEY IN APPS: With app markets starting to fill up, it will become harder and harder for developers to make financially successful products, says Gartner in its mobile predictions for 2014. Gartner estimates that nearly 95% of apps will be listed as free by 2017 and that a paltry 0.01% of apps will be considered a financial success by their developers through 2018. (Gartner)

Other Gartner predictions include: Twenty percent of business-related bring-your-own-device programs will fail due to highly restrictive mobile device management systems. The mobile Web will grow more prominently as an app delivery vehicle. (Gartner)

PILOTING SPONSORED DATA: Aquto, a mobile advertising and marketing startup, will be one of the first companies to utilize AT&T's Sponsored Data program. Speaking to GigaOm, Aquto CEO Kim Riley illustrated their plan, which involved primarily eliminating marketing partners' content from customer data charges. (GigaOm)

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