The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

Leveraging Emerging Technology to Generate

Hyper-PersonalizedCustomer Experiences

Interview with Tom Emrich, @tomemrichFounder of We are Wearables

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2 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

Introduction

As technology grows and evolves, so do the ways in which we work and do business. Tablets, smartphones, wearables and other mobile devices keep us constantly tethered to the Internet and one another. But how this affects the way business gets done — both inside the enterprise with employees and outside with customers — is not yet fully understood.

Organizations are rethinking the way they’re structured, breaking down traditional silos in favor of productivity and collaboration. They’re also rapidly trying to keep up with today’s demanding customers to understand where, when and how they want products and services at exactly the right instant.

Tom Emrich is the Founder of We Are Wearables. He was recently interviewed to shed light on these challenges and unveil what the coming years hold for the future of mobile.

About Tom Emrich

Tom Emrich sees a future that leverages emerging technology to generate hyper-personalized customer experiences. Tom Emrich is a wearable-tech thinker, writer, consultant and community builder who uses his passion for emerging technologies as a catalyst to move the future forward.

We Are Wearables is an organization that rallies the tech community to learn, discuss and celebrate the wearable tech space in order to foster adoption and facilitate innovation. Follow Tom on Twitter @tomemrich or connect with him on LinkedIn.

3 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

The biggest change in mobile applications is that five years ago we were curating the experience. So we created the content, and we pushed that content to the users. Now we’re giving the users a lot more freedom to be able to personalize and choose the content that they want to see in the applications. We’re shifting that power from the content provider, or the developer, to the actual users so that the users can create the apps that are best for them.

Moving five years from now, we’re going to see that these mobile applications are going to get data inputs from a variety of different technologies such as the Internet of Things and wearable technology, as well as the other various screens. This is going to enrich data, furthering personalization and evolving to a hyper-personalized environment.

As a result, the user experience will be catering specifically to a single person versus a group of people. This is really exciting because we’re moving down that value chain, making that app experience completely cater to who the person is and what will offer the most value.

The future user experience for mobile apps will cater to a single person versus a group of people.

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Enriched Personalized Experiences

How are we building apps differently today compared with five years ago, and what will they look like five years in the future?

4 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

The biggest challenge right now for companies when it comes to the sharing of data is the fear that’s attached to giving up that data in the public sphere. This is likely because of the large scandals that have occurred over the course of many years.

A company needs to provide an excellent value proposition to the users, which helps them feel comfortable with sharing their data. At the same time, the organization should be completely transparent about what it’s doing with that data. As a result, the users will feel at ease with the fact that they’ve given their data to a brand that can be trusted with their personal information.

Enhanced Transparency

What issues or challenges are companies facing to protect data sharing?

Companies can build consumer trust through transparent data sharing practices.

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5 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

This is my favorite question. Mobile analytics is unique because there are entirely new data sets for mobile, especially when it comes to proximity. You’re not necessarily carrying your laptop open as you walk around a room. But this is different for mobile, where you’re able to utilize GPS, Wi-Fi triangulation or beacons to better understand where the user is located. So the data sets are obviously very different, and they’re much more intimate than what we see on the traditional computer side of the fence.

When thinking about utilizing mobile to empower the workforce, I think immediately about field-workers, such as people who are working in oil and mining. These are folks who don’t have the luxury of sitting at computers to do their jobs. Mobile goes hand in hand with being able to aid these workers with what they need from a digital perspective while they’re on the go.

Empowering Employees

What is unique about mobile analytics compared with other types of analytics? And how can we use mobile to empower the workforce?

Mobile analytics provide unique new data, especially when it comes to proximity.

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6 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

What sets mobile apart from any other technology is the fact that you’re able to understand the location of the individual. By utilizing the proximity, the specific location of the consumer, you can really help target offers to customers.

For example, you can present an offer to customers when they walk into the store, versus when they’re walking past the store or when they’re five blocks away from the store. If you’re able to tap into the location of your customers at a specific moment, you can really adapt your message to make it extremely valuable to them.

Customized Messaging

How can you capitalize on mobile context to ensure that you are gathering actual insights in the moment?

Utilizing mobile consumer’s proximity data helps companies target offers to customers.

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7 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

Moving into the Future

If we look 10 years into the future, we can’t count on anything that we know today being the same then. Don’t take for granted that your business, industry, role or team structure will remain unchanged. Embrace and lean into the change and disruption. Allow them to go where they need to go.

I’m also really excited about moving past mobile and looking forward to wearable technology. It’s refreshing to break through the screens as we allow digital to pour into the world around us and wake up everything from our chairs to our fridges to our floors.

So this whole notion of being able to automate data and the Internet actually knowing who we are just because we’re living, and then also allowing us to really rise to the occasion from a physical perspective, is quite exciting for me.

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IBM MobileFirst Can Help

Mobile is significantly impacting how organizations approach engagement and has the power to transform professions and industries.

Customers, employees and partners are connecting and collaborating in new ways, using their mobile devices across all stages of evaluating, buying and using products and services. To drive mobile business innovation, barriers to adoption must be eliminated — it must be safe and easy to unleash enterprise mobility, and create user experiences that bring the power of mobile to the individual.

IBM’s 6,000 mobile experts have been at the forefront of mobile enterprise innovation. IBM has secured more than 4,300 patents in mobile, social and security, which have been incorporated into IBM MobileFirst solutions that enable enterprise clients to radically streamline and accelerate mobile adoption, and help organizations engage more people and capture new markets. Through IBM’s partnership with Apple, the two organizations are transforming enterprise mobility with a new class of industry specific business apps.

For more information on the IBM MobileFirst portfolio visit IBM.com/MobileFirst, and join the conversation at mobilebusinessinsights.com

9 | The Future Project: Vol. 1 Envisioning the Impact of Big Data & Analytics on Mobile

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