Why the internet of things should deliver services rather than ads

The internet of things is a truly exciting opportunity, not only for people but also for the media industry and brands at large.

by Matthew Knight - Media Week, Aug. 12, 2015 – 

The idea that objects have embedded connectivity that allows them to not only communicate with us as people, but also each other as objects, unlocks a new paradigm in data and insight, and therefore the opportunity to create new and extremely helpful services.

As a media industry, people are at the heart of what we do - we always start with people, combining multiple sources of information about how people behave, their attitudes and passions.

Much of this data is self-reported, through qualitative studies such as our CCS consumer study, and much of it is anonymous through third party sources, like Google search data.

The internet of things changes this. IoT objects collect huge amounts of data - how many steps fitbit wearers are taking, what temperature a Nest thermostat is currently registering, what time the connected washing machine is on, how frequently the Evian fridge button is hit to order a new pack of water, or what chocolate bar is out of stock in the vending machine.

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