Customer World

I was watching this lovely chat with Brian Grazer - celebrated writer, producer of successful movies and TV shows like 24, Empire, Arrested Development etc. on how he develops curiosity! Brilliant and thought provoking. I have observed over time that when you lose touch with curiosity, you lose touch with your customers. Also, you lose touch with the world around you. He also talks of inter connect of random things that he observes and learns.

If we don't  have this curious mind, we tend to stagnate. There is a lovely question in this video when somebody in the audience asks Brian a question - What comes first - interest or competency? His answer, after a lot of thought, comes with a bang - interest comes first and competency comes next. I tend to agree with him.

With mobile device in the hands of customers and quick adoption of smartphones, will it redefine the shopping habits of customers? I believe it will. 

Mobile will increasingly act as research and shopping tool in their hands. Right now, I don't think it is widely used but with increasing app downloads & penetration, mobile internet adoption etc. this is certainly going to change shopping experiences - right from the way they search for products/brands/services and helping them choose & buy them too.

I believe it will  be a " check, learn, ask & walk "(CLAW) shopping model on the mobile. It will be a mix of ' text & mortar' shopping. Mobile will overtake internet shopping in my opinion and adoption of mobile in certain categories will be significant.

Which categories need to get ready for this change?  An nice study by emarketer can used as a benchmark by marketers to ensure they get ready for this shopping  habit transition. In countries like India, China & Japan where the mobile penetration & growth is high - the impact will be felt the maximum.

This mobile shopping habit will have to encompass a mix of mobile apps, call-in advisors, chats, mobile alerts, location based services, mobile coupon downloads & redemption@ the store. Marketers will have to plan for an Integrated Mobile Shopping Experience (IMSE). 

Bokode is expected to be the tagging technology of the future.

Barcodes may have been extremely useful to us over years but what it provides is just information to the person who uses the scanner. But in the new era of technology enviroment that we live in, customers  expect tons of information and help about the brands or products that they use. For example - from the exact place they came from, to how safe they are and their carbon footprint.

See how Bokode works:

Bokeh-code or Bokode for short is a barcode design which is has lenses over the pattern. This new development is going to be presented by its developer, MIT, next week at the Siggraph conference in New Orleans. One of its developers, Dr. Ankit Mohan, is very enthusiastic about the Bokode because of its potential to open up a new way of tagging. The Bokode can be used to set nutrition data on food packaging, and even in developing gadgets to be used in video games! The possibilities are endless. This potential alone makes it very different from the conventional barcode being used now in various products.

As mentioned previously, the Bokode is made up of a LED that is enclosed in a tiny mask and lens. The light within the mask contains the information, and this light can appear either dark or bright. And the Bokode can be read even up to a distance of 12 feet!

Looks like there can be interesting customer applications over this to me right from Auto, FMCG, Healthcare brands.