Is Voice Bad for Brands?

‘Voice’ is this year’s most hyped technology and a fresh front in the clash of the tech titans. But is the rise of the ‘virtual assistants’ an exciting new dawn for brands or a terminal threat?

IN THIS EPISODE ⇩

From 1' 30: Henry Cooke, Head of Voice for BBC R&D

- Interaction and interface design for Voice - Use cases and the BBC’s Voice interactive radio drama ‘The Inspection Chamber’ - Feeling out the creative space - What brands can learn about Voice from the BBC - How a brand talks and the sound of a BBC station - Design and branding problems with Voice - Discoverability and attribution on Virtual Assistants - The Voice hype bubble and the narrowing gap between hype and promise - The BBC’s role on Virtual Assistants and flying the flag for audiences - The Cambrian explosion of new tech

From 10' 10: Marcel Kornblum, Head of Creative Tech at BBH London

- Reaching the human threshold in voice recognition - What the data says about uptake and usage of virtual assistants - The opportunities and dangers for brands from virtual assistants - The problems for brands of consumers shopping by Voice - The existential threat to brands from Amazon/Alexa - Is your virtual assistant listening to you? - The creepy thing about contextual data - Google’s failed experiment in Voice advertising - Telling your virtual assistant you love it - The space for branded content, branded entertainment and branded utility - The PR value of new tech - How brands should develop for Voice

From 17' 30: Sarah Watson, BBH Global Chief Strategy Officer

- Literally giving brands a voice - What creative agencies can bring to the party - The new era of AI marketing - How brands can filter the hype from the reality around Voice - Changing consumer behaviour through voice control - The pitfalls of Voice for brands - Paring back your creative and avoiding making digital landfill - The skills of the new age marketer

From 23' 40: Renowned futurist Brian David Johnson, Professor of Practice at Arizona State University

- Effects-based modelling: what it is and how to use it - Science fiction prototyping and how brands can use storytelling to change the future - Being more human with our devices - Defining the AI for your brand - Towards an age of sentient tools and relationship-based interactions with our tech - Why tech disruption will always be with us in marketing - Why we shouldn’t be worried about the rise of tech - How brands can innovate for new technology: if you can imagine it, you can build it - Adam Steltzner and how to land a rover on Mars - Being the hovercraft person - Writing ‘Wizards and Robots’ with Will.i.am - Empowering young minds