• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, October 1, 2015

With the Internet of Everything, connected objects will be everywhere, even where a person is taking a shower.

And those objects can be wirelessly connected to a screen in the shower, where highly targeted messaging could be sent and displayed.

At the Xperience 2015 IoT conference in Boston this week, I spent some time with the company that is launching an IoT connected shower head.

And the product is not coming from a small IoT startup, but rather from Symmons Industries, a 75-year-old manufacturer of commercial and residential plumbing products sold around the world.

The new connected  showerhead I saw demonstrated comprises a smart device that tracks shower usage data, including water temperature, duration and water used.

The stated goal is to enhance the guest experience, reduce operating costs and generate revenue opportunities.

A Boston boutique hotel has been selected as the test pilot location, according to Beth Mercurio, director of strategic initiatives at Symmons. She said there would be comparisons of hotel rooms with the screens in the showers and rooms without the screens, although both types of rooms will have the shower sensors.

Tim O’Keeffe, CEO of Symmons, who was one of the speakers at the Xperience event, told me the company will be meeting with major brands over the next two months, in advance of the 2016 official product launch.

Part of the intended savings is in water usage, O’Keeffe said.

The screen in the shower shows the water level and provides three different nudges during the shower, suggesting to the person taking the shower how much water they would save if they ended the shower at that point.

O’Keefe said this information could be tied into hotel loyalty systems and hotels could provide incentives, which could be seen at checkout.

A central dashboard also will be provided to the hotel, so that maintenance personnel could identify potential problems in advance, such as if a shower was left on or there was no hot water coming out of it.

Since the screen in the shower would be on the network, any messaging could be sent to it.

This could be advertising, coupons or momentary deals, such as offering a complimentary coffee downstairs in 15 minutes.

The obvious key here is the potential targeting of the messaging.

I could see a future scenario where a company such as American Express wants to reach its top-tier card holders and knows that a hotel chain such as Hilton has connected showers.

Amex then could arrange with Hilton that those who reserve a room with their American Express card receive a room with a shower screen installed. And then the messaging to that screen is bought by American Express and segmented based on card-tier level.

Symmons is not yet at this stage, since the company’s initial primary focus is the pilot and rollout.

However, it’s pretty obvious that over time the connected showers will, in effect, become a platform on which messaging can ride.

This is yet one more example of how the Internet of Things will allow advertising and marketing to be delivered in totally different ways. And in this case, in totally different places.