“Amazon is Not Your Friend, It’s A Remorseless Shark That Never Stops Eating”
Marketing guru Brad Berens opened ad:tech Sydney this morning with some advice for brands about the future.
First of all, Berens differentiated about two different types of future. First up, there’s the big vision of the future which includes flying cars and dogs that can speak to you. Secondly, there’s the #FTAH (future that’s already here).
He then applied this to different areas including the buzz topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and voice. According to Berens, the “big vision” of the future tells us that AI is going to change everything in the world around us fundamentally.
When thinking about the future that’s already here, AI is already in everyone’s pockets with Siri and Google Assistant.
Berens predicts that the smartphone will (eventually) disappear and no longer be our primary computing device. Instead, we’ll own smart glasses and sensors scattered through our clothing. Apparently Amazon has a prototype where there’s a microphone on your nose and a tiny piece behind your hear so you can have Alexa with you at all times. Scary stuff.
Thinking about the opportunities for brands in this new paradigm is interesting. Berens claims that the future will not be radio-style interruptive ads. Can you imagine asking Alexa “What’s the weather like today?” and the reply being “First of all, a quick message from our sponsor (insert brand name)”?
However, the opportunity could be branding the voice interface like Toy Story has done with Apple watches. Another example is Garmin who have worked with The Simpsons to create a “Homer voice” for users or Darth Vader. If you have a distinctive voice for your brand, this is an opportunity to use it.
Berens also raises an important point about search and brand discovery. With visual searches, you can search something and scan over a range of options. But when you are listening, you don’t want to listen to all the options, you just want one. This has implications for major brands.
For example, Beren states that Amazon is one of the most trusted brands in America. But for brands, “Amazon is not your friend, it’s a remorseless shark that never stops eating, moving and it’s going to attack you from a direction that you don’t expect”.
Beren explains, “When you say, ‘hey Alexa, I need Duracell batteries.’ Alexa replies, ‘Sorry I don’t have them, but we do have Amazon home brand batteries.’ In simple terms, they are training users to accept the generic. Brands vanish in a voice environment.”
This is why, according to Berens, “Brands should be doing everything they can to destroy Amazon and doubling down with Google.” He dismissed Apple with one sentence: “Siri is not interested in selling things.”
Latest News
Think You Can Do A Better Vaccine Ad Than The Government? Introducing B&T’s Good AZ Gold Ad Industry Challenge
Think you can make a better ad than the current crop of vax ads? Well, you're probably right & now here's your chance.
There’s Still Time To Smash Out Your B&T Awards Entry! Submissions Close (For Real) At 5pm AEST Today!
STOP EVERYTHING! B&T Awards CLOSE 5pm THIS afternoon. Obviously, anaesthetists performing major surgeries exempt here.
Acast Adds New Brand Suitability Controls For Advertisers Via Comscore
Acast, the independent power source of podcasting has teamed up with Comscore to provide brand suitability controls for brands advertising through the Acast Marketplace. This new innovation is part of a global partnership with Comscore, and will be available to all advertisers working with Acast Australia and New Zealand. The brand suitability solutions offered by […]
Wavemaker Names Susie Si As New Vodafone Lead
Media agency Wavemaker has appointed Susie Si as group business director – to lead the Vodafone account. Si joins from sister agency MediaCom, where she has spent the last 8 years. Most recently she was group client lead on News Corp. Si will report to Wavemaker Sydney managing director Ian Edwards, and replaces Emily Cook […]
Trade Indy Opens Sydney Office With Appointment Of NSW Commercial Director Ben Mulcahy
Headquartered in Melbourne, Trade Indy is expanding off the back of strong client retention and consistent growth through existing and new business. Founded in Melbourne in 2014, the team have since expanded the business through team members in Singapore, Indonesia, Tasmania and Queensland, and are pleased to announce the full-time employment of NSW commercial director […]
Outbrain Goes Public, Making Nasdaq Debut
Outbrain Inc. has announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 8,000,000 shares of common stock at a price to the public of US$20.00 per share. The gross proceeds to Outbrain from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $160 million. The shares began […]
HubSpot To Support The GO Foundation As Part Of World Certification Week
HubSpot, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform for scaling companies, has announced that as part of its World Certification Week, it is supporting the GO Foundation with its mission to empower young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through education. As part of the support, HubSpot will donate $5 for every HubSpot Academy certification awarded […]
Foxtel Appoints Conor Woods To Head Of Pay Per View
Foxtel appoints Conor Woods to head its pay per view. Soon to be inundated with free subs requests at dinner parties.
IntelligenceBank Secures $50M Investment From Five Elms Capital
IntelligenceBank has today announced a strategic growth investment from Five Elms Capital. The $US37 million ($50 million) investment comes as brands and enterprises have realised that outdated technologies, disjointed data sources, and manual processes make it challenging to efficiently manage essential marketing workflows and ensure compliance across the organization. IntelligenceBank digitally transforms manual processes and […]
SCA Announces Ten New Dab Music Stations Via LiSTNR
Southern Cross Austero (SCA) announced today 10 all-new DAB+ music stations on LiSTNr. The introduction of the 10 new Dab stations takes the number of music stations to 25 and reinforces its commitment to growing exclusive music programs and content. The 10 new stations have been created to cater to a variety of moods and […]
SBS Launches Live Interpreting Of Daily NSW COVID-19 Conferences In Vietnamese And Arabic
SBS has launched live interpreting of the daily NSW Government COVID-19 press conference in languages other than English, to provide communities with access to the latest information and critical health messages. The national-first initiative provides real-time interpreting of the press conferences in Arabic and Vietnamese, streamed live every day on the SBS Arabic24 and SBS Vietnamese Facebook pages, SBS […]
Linktree Chooses Snowflake To Support Intelligence And Analytics Activities
Snowflake, the Data Cloud company, today announced it has been chosen by market-leading linking platform, Linktree, to support the company’s business intelligence and analytics activities. Linktree enables creators, brands, artists, publishers, agencies, and businesses of all sizes to curate an online ecosystem and monetise their passion, instantly guiding their audience to the destinations they care […]
Bridge Road Brewers Launches Non-Alcoholic Beer Campaign Via By All Means
No-alcohol beer also screams "designated driver". Sure, you're sober, but there'll still be vomit on the back seat.
B&T’s Tokyo Wrap: Your Daily Dose Of All The Game’s Best Gaffes, Blunders & Cultural Insensitivities
Olympic gold's the epitomy of sporting success. Not so B&T's daily Olympic wrap, a celebration of mediocrity & misshaps.
“Tone Deaf!” Optus’ #SignYes Campaign Encouraging Aussies To Learn Auslan Pulled After Roasting From Deafness Advocacy Groups
It's funny how that brilliant sticky note on a creative's wall can fast spiral into a total shitstorm. Much like this.
WPP’s Mindshare Exits Facebook’s Global Media Review
Mindshare exits Facebook's global media review. Which gives Mindshare staff more time for idle chat by the water cooler.
Snapchat Sees 116% Increase In Revenue
The last time B&T saw impressive increases the size of 116% was the swipe left rejections on our Tinder profile.
Lorna Jane Fined $5 Million For False COVID-19 Claims
Lorna Jane once again in the bad books and that's despite becoming the ubiquitous lockdown office attire of choice.
Netflix’s Byron Baes Faces New Challenge As Children’s Store Opposes Trademark
Netflix's Byron Bay "docu-soap" doing very little to dismiss town's repuation of being full of narcissistic dickheads.
Sunday TV Wrap: The Olympics Dominates Sunday As Seven Secures Almost Half The Total TV Viewership
B&T's no expert, but is there any correlation between the attractiveness of a sport's athletes versus its TV numbers?
Beforepay Rebrands And Launches First-Ever Brand Campaign Via DesignStudio, The Zoo Republic And iProspect
Australian Pay On Demand fintech Beforepay has launched its first-ever brand campaign: ‘Your pay at your command’. “Beforepay exists to meet a gap in the market where Australians are seeking flexibility and control to access the pay they’ve earned on their terms. As pioneers of the Pay On Demand category, it’s important that we set […]
Zenith Report: Global Ad Spends To Grow 11.2% In 2021, Australia At A More Modest 9.1%
New report says now is a top time to be in the advertising industry. So be thankful you never got into law or medicine.
Sky News Officially Goes Regional
Regional areas now set to suffer the music of Lee Kernaghan and the programming of Sky News.
Cummins&Partners Bolsters Sydney Team After A String Of New Wins
A slew of new recruits at Cummins&Partners' Sydney office. Although it'll be a LONG time before anyone sees said office.
Xandr Sees 125% Lift In Video Spend
Xandr, AT&T’s data-enabled technology platform at the intersection of digital and TV, today shared results of premium video, Connected TV (CTV) and curated media spend on its platform for Q2 2021, which saw significant increases.
Taboola Acquires Connexity For $1 Billion
Taboola (Nasdaq: TBLA), a global leader in powering recommendations for the open web, helping people discover things they may like, announced today that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Connexity from Symphony Technology Group for approximately $US800 million. Connexity is one of the largest independent e-commerce media platforms in the open web, serving over 1,600 direct merchants, and 6,000 publishers.
How To Re-Engineer Your Event Mix With ON24
Events are increasingly shifting online. You can't get loaded on booze & arancinis, but you'll save on dry cleaning
New Study Shows Advertising In News Outperforms Facebook And YouTube
The latest report into ad spends that conflicts the last report B&T ran into ad spends is in. Feel very conflicted here.
Australian Freelancers Prefer Writing About Marketing And Finance, According To New Report
Study says freelancers prefer writing about marketing & finance. B&T's sure cake decorating would have something to say.
Twitter Lifts Revenue 74% On The Back Of Advertising Boom
Twitter has just experienced its fastest growth in revenue since 2014, with the social media platform benefiting from increased interest from advertisers. Revenue was up 74 per cent YoY, according to the company’s Q2 results, reaching $US1.19 billion ($1.6 billion) from $US683.4 million ($925 million) 12 months ago. The strong results came in the same […]
