• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, September 9, 2015

Another day, another brand joins the Internet of Things.

We’re starting to see many introductions of IoT gadgetry aimed at various aspects of expected future consumer behavior, some of which will take hold and others likely won’t.

In addition to tech companies like Samsung, LG and Apple continually introducing various iterations of wearable devices, some well-known brands are dabbling with IoT within their own worlds.

For example, Diageo’s Johnnie Walker Blue Label bottles became ‘smart’ with sensors built in to make the bottle scannable by smartphone. The sensors on the bottle trigger messages, such as recipes or promotions.

At the Patriots-Steelers season opener this week, The National Football League will have sensors on the shoulder pads of every NFL player so their moves can be monitored in real time.

Jeep got involved with IoT, but only to deal with sensors that had the potential of being hacked

Beacons are being installed in London’s famous black cabs so targeted advertising can be delivered inside the vehicles.

This is yet another set of examples of how the Internet of Things won’t arrive one day with a big bang, but rather will come through the introduction of many small things, as I wrote about here recently (Marketing & Riding the Internet of Things Wave).

Many large retailers already had been experimenting with beacon technology and messaging and will soon be making major rollout announcements. Many already are in place, though not publicly advertised.

As time goes on, more brands will see how and what IoT works for them. Some will be small and some will be transformational. 

The next big thing in IoT may start small.