I was
visiting my 7 year-old niece Mallory and we went up to her room to play. As we crossed the threshold she said:
"Alexa, turn the lights on."
And then she turned to me and said; "I got Alexa for my
birthday."
And
just like that, I saw the future. Or
should I say, I heard it?
Mallory
is at the tail end of Gen Z, currently ages 7 - 22. And, while she knows how to type, my guess is
that her interactions with technology will be mostly verbal.
In
2017, 35.6 million Americans used voiced activated assistants at least once a
month, an increase of 128.9% over 2016. Amazon's
Echo, aka Alexa dominates with 70.6% of users. (2017)
So
it's time for brands to consider what they sound like. That way, when someone has enabled Tide on
their Alexa, and says: "Alexa, ask Tide how to get out a coffee stain on
my tie," the answer can come in Tide's voice, instead of Alexa's." (Ioffe, 2017)
But the
need to think about sound goes beyond finding an actual voice. VISA has developed
a "signature sound" ala the "Intel inside" chime, primarily
for mobile users. Their goal is to
associate the brand with the sound, and the sound with trust, so users will feel
more comfortable making mobile purchases with it.
It
will be interesting to see how they accomplish that. And I will also look forward to hearing what
Tide sounds like.
Bruell,
A. (2017, December 7) Visa Spent a Year Developing a ‘Signature
Sound’ wsj.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/visa-spent-a-year-developing-a-signature-sound-1512644401
(2017,
May 8) Alexa, Say What? Voice-Enabled Speaker Usage to Grow Nearly
130% This Year. emarketer.com. Retrieved January 31, 2018, from https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Alexa-Say-What-Voice-Enabled-Speaker-Usage-Grow-Nearly-130-This-Year/1015812
Ioffe,
D. (2017, November 15) Give Your Brand A
Real Voice. mediapost.com. retrieved
January 31, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/310249/give-your-brand-a-real-voice.html
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