Can the IBrand Be Replaced?

“Connected” advocates have been waiting for the last few decades for technical advancements to catch up with and enable the vision of a completely connected world. What if it is not the technology we should all be waiting for?

We are well on our way to a technically connected world:

· Significant capital investments have occurred to build out the wireless network, making it virtually ubiquitous.

· Hosting companies have configured their data centers to become “clouds” supporting new transaction based consumption models.

· Processor and local storage continue to get more compact and less expensive

· Standards are even allowing for technologies to work with one another in a fairly significant manner.

Technical integration, however, only paints part of the picture. With data able to flow, who or what will be entrusted with linking it together into seamless connected experiences. In other words, who will enable our “connected lives”?

Good Ol’ Integration

For decades, as it is today, there really has been only one entity that consumers have entrusted to bridge together separate life experiences to be relevant for them. The most trusted brand to integrate your life is the brand of “I”. Not the well-known Apple Corporation’s product naming strategy. The “I” spoken of here is much older than that. For it is “I”. Defined as the pronoun that is used to refer to oneself.

The most trusted brand to integrate your life is the brand of “I”

For our entire life, it is has been our own job to connect the disconnected. It has been “I” who has decided which information should be shared when and with whom. It is “I” that determines which information should inform each unique situation. It is “I” who can recognize how information mash-ups create more value or distract from it. Each of us individually has been able to knit together the separate, yet relevant, experiences from our day-to-day activities to make a relevant “connected” life.

Of course individuals have always bonded together socially or professionally to reflect on information. They bond together as a team to accomplish tasks that no one individual could accomplish on his or her own. In the last decade some of these interactions have been supported and made more efficient through electronic means. Social media has helped to be an aggressive conduit of making multiple “I’s” share a voice.

No matter as an “I”, or a socially media supported “we”, perhaps the real question needs to start to move from technology to trust. Is our civilization prepared to entrust the management of true connected lifestyles to come from an integrator beyond ourselves?

Replacing Ourselves

Could a small number of brands start to replace us as the ultimate integrator of experiences? If so, which brands are best poised to connect our lives in a significant enough manner that people will trust them to manage experiences that extend outside of their traditional space? There are several macro classifications of potential integrators that could effectively grow to properly manage major elements of our connected life.

Technology companies that are already trusted with managing a vast array of personal and professional information often come to forefront of this discussion. These companies already have huge footprints of users, technological infrastructure to store and process vast amounts of information, and diversified businesses that are connecting across major life segments.

Companies like Google continue to invest in connected products like the autonomous vehicle and connected home companies like NEST. This cross platform and cross industry positioning helps these companies to bridge user trust in one segment to another. Other firms like Apple and Microsoft have strong footings in the product, service, and content offerings making the Apple experience a lead candidate for some form of integration.

Brands that have already captured a major segment in a consumer’s life will try to use this as a beach head, from which they can establish relevancy of connected experience trust. Mobile service providers have been doing this for years, as they have had an advantage to always be with the user. Car companies, like other big ticket items, can use the significant purchase price to establish an importance factor to attempt to force integration through them. Connected solutions that integrate in one’s home or in one’s workplace have use time on their side. Companies that outfit devices in the kitchen, laundry room, bedroom, office, and living rooms have a great case for integration already.

Content has always been king, and those who provide it are taking on an ever more important role. Companies like Netflix or Comcast provide primarily digital content but have effectively shed any dependency on location. Companies like Amazon have bridged the digital and virtual world.

An under appreciated set of entities that already have earned trust for highly sensitive information are potential sleeping giants in the connected life integration game. Financial institutions and insurance companies are established primarily to protect your assets and protect you from harm. Some of these have already bridged the connected space with adjacent industries. Look at Progressive’s Snapshot program that has successfully established consumer trust with some of the most sensitive information: how consumers drive their cars.

It may turn out to be an out of the box brand that ultimately earns trusted integrator status. Many entrepreneurs are clawing at this space. There are new connected companies popping up every week. New entrant doesn’t need to mean bootstrapped garage company. Many large traditional companies are in a position to white label cross industrial connectivity. SAP, Salesforce, and even EDI transaction companies are excellent examples of mega corporations that have the platform to assist brands in making connected brands a reality.

A Paced Evolution

It may not be easy to predict which of these different brands will begin to augment the individual as the ultimate integrator, but the evolutionary pattern is starting to emerge. Aside from a very small set of “connected believers”, the majority of the market will learn to transfer its personal control through a slow adoption process that will slowly hand over the reins.

As can be seen below, connectivity will be limited to single devices, but brands are starting to recognize the value in ensuring that connected enabled processes and experiences are consistent across its own products and services. In some cases these are being bridged across brands, eventually allowing for defacto integrators to emerge and support a true connected life

This evolution will not be fast by the standards of today’s technology development lifecycles, but the pace is blazing when compared to human evolution. As this path is walked, key attributes of the trusted connected integrator will become apparent.

The promise of the connected life is too strong to not think that we will reach it. Until then, the “I’s” will have it.

Gregg Garrett leads a team that advises clients on how to harness innovation in the connected economy as CEO and president of CGS Advisors. He is adjunct faculty member, lecturing at several universities. Previously, he served as chief strategy roles at Volkswagen Group of America and Deutsche Telekom in North America. He can be reached at greggory.garrett@cgsadvisors.com