part 5: voice technology - thought leadership€¦ · 2018-12-05 · chirp and lisnr are two...

Part 5:

Voice TechnologyThe staying power of voice technologies is a given. The question now is how it will shape advertising and the consumer experience.

Digital Trends:Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

A seven-part series brought to you by the Insight Lab at MNI Targeted Media Inc.mni.com

2Digital Trends: Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

[ Voice Technology / mni.comFor more strategic predictions go to mni.com, or email [email protected].

Ever since Apple introduced Siri on its iPhone in 2011, voice-enabled technology has sparked new life into human-machine interactions. From digital assistants and smart speakers to voice-activated mechanisms, voice-interface technology is changing the playing field for consumers and marketers. Developments in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and the evolution of the internet of things (IoT) are only propelling the market.

By 2019, over 30% of the U.S. population will use voice assistants at least once a month, while nearly 23% of the population will use smart speakers at least monthly by 2020 1.

For consumers, the benefits are obvious and tremendous—voice technologies are helping people across the globe search for information, conduct business, consume content, stay up-to-date, socialize, and even shop in more seamless ways. Eliminating ‘touch’

Voice Technology is Changing the Way We Speak“Alexa, why is Voice Technology trending?”

and ‘sight’ as gateways to engagement, while relying on conversation, makes it natural for users to be more comfortable with such technology, despite its novelty.

Ways in Which U.S. Virtual Assistant Users Shop with Their Assistants

Source: Narvar, “Connecting with Shoppers in the Age of Choice,” April 17 2018.

51%

36%

30%

22%

20%

18%

17%Research products

Add to shopping list

Track orders

Purchase

Ratings/reviews

Contact support

Reorder items

For more strategic predictions go to mni.com, or email [email protected].

3For more strategic predictions go to mni.com, or email [email protected] Trends: Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

[ Voice Technology / mni.com

improving speech-recognition algorithms continue to expand their capabilities. Consumers are still at the adaptation stage; while some of the largest tech companies are making their name (with Siri and Alexa) in this space, it makes sense for companies to invest in voice technology as part the overall brand experience.

For marketers, a wide range of opportun-ities to engage target audiences is at their disposal—in more personalized and frictionless ways, of course. While monetization is currently limited, platform wars have already begun to surface as brands are investing heavily in their own AI voice assistants and pushing them into multiple devices and environments.

Moreover, the popularity of voice search and similar technologies across generations spells only advantage for brands. The ability to reach the older and more financially well-off generations, as well as the coveted present and future spenders efficiently, is more a reality than a distant dream with voice.

Despite the groundbreaking nature of voice-activated assistants and devices, the nature of storytelling that informs all aspects of advertising and marketing is not likely going to change drastically. The essence of storytelling principles will remain fundamentally similar, regardless of platform.

Voice search is becoming more utilized over typed search, and Google knows it. The search engine giant is relentlessly pushing “Ok, Google” into its video marketing. With search being the central pillar of its identity, leveraging the sound as a marketing tool is the right step toward meeting consumers halfway.

The Voice of Generations Millennials and Gen Z demographics are expected to be far more accepting and embracing of voice-enabled technology and devices. While this expectation does meet reality, the more mature generations aren’t far behind. The technology may seem a bit beyond their comfort zone at first, but many are beginning to engage with smart speakers and voice assistants with little-to-no assistance, given the relative ease of setting up such devices and the benefits they offer.

Add to this the transition—from using digital screens to something more “human”, like voice—and it feels effortless.

“Voice represents a logical next step in the evolution of how we interact with information. It ’s more natural than using a touchpad or keyboard, takes less brain power, and creates even more opportunity for tech to move further into the background and reduce our reliance on screens.”- Publicis Media

Is Your Business Voice-Ready?Voice-activated virtual assistants are becoming our digital butlers; they remind us of tasks and tell us the weather. They make life easier and free us to focus and multi-task on demand, while ever-

U.S. Smart Speaker User Penetration,by Demographic, 2018

Source: eMarketer, April 2018.

% of population in each group

Millennials

Gen X

Baby Boomers

34.3%

25.1%

11.3%

4Digital Trends: Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

[ Voice Technology / mni.comFor more strategic predictions go to mni.com, or email [email protected].

Hearing Voices EverywhereThere will be a proliferation of voice-enabled devices, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, smart speakers, connected TVs, cars, household appliances, and wearables.

By 2020, there will be 870 million voice-assistant devices on all platforms and form factors combined in the U.S. alone 1.

Shopping Concierge Voice-enabled commerce looks like the way of the future, but 2019 may not be the year for its fruition. That being said, we will see some developments on this front.

Conversational Commerce Respondents who frequently use their smart speakers to shop are more likely to add items to their cart versus the joy of instant satisfaction. A study by OC&C Strategy Consultant found that 12% of U.S. voice-enabled speaker owners have asked their device to add an item to a basket, likely with the intent of finalizing the purchase online or in-app later on 1.

Voice shopping is expected to jump to $40 billion in 2022, up from $2 billion in 2018 2.

What to Expect in 2019

Digital Trends: Predictions for 2019 and Beyond [Voice Technology / mni.com

Source: Delineate, “Smart Speakers Research - Q1 2018,” March 8, 2018.

Ways in Which U.S. Voice-Enabled Speaker Owners Add Grocery/Toiletry Items to Their Shopping Cart via Voice-Enabled Speakers, by Frequency, Feb 2018% of respondents

Add items to shopping cart

Build basket by adding items without reserving delivery slotOf whom

Reserve delivery slot for smaller baskets with a few items

Regularly do Ever do

22%

21%

15%

35%

37%

34%

5For more strategic predictions go to mni.com, or email [email protected] Trends: Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

[ Voice Technology / mni.com

What to Expect in 2019Voice Technology

Alexa Raises Her Voice Currently, Amazon’s Alexa is the most disruptive technology since the iPhone, and it leads the pack in brand compatibility, with Alexa Skills (apps that give Alexa more abilities, letting it speak to devices and websites). Most of these skills are audibly unbranded—no unique creative audio outside of Alexa’s voice exists, presenting an opportunity for differentiation.

Keeping the Conversation Going and Making it 1:1 Brands will pick up on this opportunity, and view voice control as a way to engage in continuous, personalized conversation with consumers, and to expand their core base of products and services. Online giants Amazon and Alibaba are designing systems that will help enhance voice commerce. Search moguls Google and Baidu are working to make information discovery more natural, while Samsung is looking to enhance brand loyalty by connecting all of its products through seamless voice control.

Earcons and Audio Identity Earcons—non-verbal audio signals indicating an event or relaying of information to the user— will get branded makeovers. With Google, Amazon, Facebook, Snapchat, and others having created intricately branded earcons and auditory icons, these signals will become effective branding tools and will soon replace traditional sonic logos. By branding these audio

signals, companies are ensuring that they become truly household names for everything consumers want and need.

Voice-Activated Content Sharing is Just the Beginning Acoustics-Based Near-Field Commun-ication (NFC) will see more consumer acceptance. Google’s Tez (now Google Pay) and Microsoft’s peer-to-peer system Dhwani, Hindi for “fast” and “sound/melody,” respectively, are examples of acoustics-based near-field communication. Requiring only a microphone and speaker, acoustics-based NFC allows devices to communicate with one another, while making functions like payment via sound simple and secure.

Chirp and LISNR are two emerging companies facilitating soundwave communication. Frictionless peer-to-peer content-sharing possibilities will open doors for brands to transmit their content over audio messaging.

New PartnershipsThere is a voice-activated race in play, and more will join the fray. With the rise of connected cars and the near-endless voice applications that are appended to them, 2019 and the years to come will see several partnerships blossom between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and voice-tech players. In Q3 of 2018, Amazon launched Echo Auto, hot on the

heels of the release of the Amazon Auto SDK, making it known that Alexa wants to step out of the confines of consumers’ homes and ride shotgun in their cars. This creates the perfect opportunity for players across industries to reach consumers when they are on-the-go. For example, grocery stores can extend voice capabilities to their online stores so that the busy mom can order toilet paper, eggs, and milk when picking up her kids from school, by simply speaking to her car.

Google has reached a deal with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance to use its Android operating system (OS) as the in-dash OS for the OEMs that collectively sell more cars than any other auto OEM in the world— around 10.6 million vehicles in 2017 alone 4.

[

30% of web browsing will be done without a screen by 2020. With more and more ads being served via audio, how brands sound will become increasingly important 3.

part 5: voice technology - thought leadership€¦ · 2018-12-05 · chirp and lisnr are two...

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