• by Abbey Thomas , Columnist, January 21, 2016

The car is the next threshold for video entertainment.

With rumors of a Ford/Google team-up and the show-floor obsessing about what’s happening in the auto space, coupled with one headline after another emerging from this year’s Consumer Electronics Show — GM investing $500 million in Lyft for a national network of self-driving cars, Google’s former head of robotics getting “picked up” by Toyota — the future of autonomous driving is virtually here. 

To take it one step further, Volvo and telecom giant Ericsson announced the development of high bandwidth video streaming in autonomous cars, allowing passengers to watch video content in places where mobile broadband connectivity is scarce. And we can likely expect something similar out of Faraday Future’s new concept car. Backed notably by LeTV, the “Netflix of China,” it’s no accident that the company’s chairman put $1.2 billion into what will undoubtedly be a new venue for video entertainment.

While flying cars used to be the paradigm of the future (I always loved Judy Jetson), driverless vehicles have become their contemporary surrogate. Sixty percent of people are already streaming content while in the car or on public transportation, according to a recent survey from Rovi Corp. But there’s plenty of room for growth when the driver is no longer driving, and is mostly free to stream video or surf the web on a mobile device or screens built into the car, without worrying about being distracted from the road. 

Says Deiter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, “The car is growing beyond its role as a mere means of transport, and will ultimately become a mobile living space.” 

The seating area becoming a "new living space” will fundamentally change the concept of a daily commute by adding a new opportunity for activity, and a forum for personalized video entertainment and information. 

Entertainment hits the pavement

Imagine a pod-like space on wheels, outfitted with personal space that entertainment companies (like LeTV) will program to entertain a fully captive audience. People will need something to do as this new territory becomes, quite literally, an extension of our homes. As opposed to New York City’s soon-to-be discontinued Taxi TV, where everyone sees the same video and ads endlessly, the personal in-car TV of the future delivers relevant content specifically for you. Whether it’s subscription-based like Netflix (binge-watching “House of Cards” on a pop-up 19” car screen) or ad-supported shows on Food Network in time to cook dinner, your entertainment appetites will flow seamlessly from home to car and vice versa. 

Simply programming the route to work and back can provide endless data insights for the delivery of targeted video that speaks to a passenger’s immediate needs based on geography or personal preference. Location-based advertising can live up to its promise. When, for example, directions are requested to a nearby clothing store, passengers can employ reverse showrooming through video ads that show merchandise, and provide information on its availability.

And, to add to the in-car agenda, a collaboration between Ford and Amazon will allow a seamless link between car and home, enabling passengers to “turn on the living room lights while driving or start the car from their kitchen.” But future car-to-home connectivity can include the ability for Amazon to know where the passenger paused a show on Prime in the car upon arrival home, and pick up from the same spot once inside.

Video will be ubiquitous 

The growth of video is already undeniable – online video ad revenue is set to almost double what it was just three years ago, with revenues expected to reach $5 billion by the end of 2016. 

While the sheer numbers are impressive, video has the propensity to provide more — and better — brand awareness. Video ads enable consumers to lean back or lean in, from pre-roll to interactive formats, which enable the use of brand metrics like frequency or awareness, and limit dependence on viewability.

Video will explode alongside tech advancements like these. But in this Space Race of our time, the “living space” race, it is essential that marketers understand that video is the strategy as the number of screens continues to grow (as opposed to mobile, tablet or auto), in order to truly engage consumers.