Don’t be led by tech

There are always new and interesting technologies appearing in the marketplace, some of which cause a big stir in the marketing community. When we see something new and shiny, it’s easy (and quite fun) to start thinking about its potential applications and how it could promote our brand.

A good recent example of this is augmented reality (AR). This technology has been around for years, but was previously mostly limited to consumers with webcams. Users could hold up a symbol to the camera and see clever things appearing on their screen.

Now smart phones with cameras have reached mainstream adoption, this technology has become a viable option for brands to engage their audience.

Unfortunately, many marketers have got carried away with this. Some are simply overly excited about the tech, others are interested because people they respect/follow are advocating it. To be clear, AR is not a new technology. It has simply just become more useful and applicable.

It’s important that we don’t put the cart before the horse when making technology work for our campaigns. It’s important to be aware of current tech capabilities, but starting with, ‘how can we make this technology work for our brand?’ is a backwards approach. First, define your brand’s goals and who you are trying to reach. Then you can start thinking about the best tech for the job.