• by Michael Miraflor , Op-Ed Contributor, April 11, 2017

I grew up in Southern California, a place where car culture thrives. My father, an immigrant from The Philippines, purchased a Camaro Z28 as a sort of trophy to symbolize his piece of the American Dream. Through my father’s love of cars and an early immersion in car culture, I was raised with a sense of deep emotional connection to vehicle ownership. Life seemed impossible without it.

Flash forward to today, the ideas of ownership and car culture are at odds with my lifestyle as a New Yorker, where getting from point A to point B consists of cabs, public transportation and, most recently, ride-hailing smartphone apps. I have eschewed car ownership as a pragmatic decision: the cost of monthly parking would equal nearly a quarter of my rent plus cost of fuel and insurance; vehicle ownership seems like more trouble than it’s worth. 

These decisions, like my own to avoid ownership, represent one of the many challenges facing auto manufacturers in this age of disruption. Of the alphabet soup of platforms and technologies pushing us into the Third Connected Era — AR, VR, MR, IoT, and A.I. — it is arguably the Mobility Revolution that I find most exciting.

To marketers, it can be difficult and confusing to wade through the many technological advancements and ideas to properly gauge the opportunity that the Mobility Revolution promises. As an advertising professional focused on innovation, I see five major concepts shaping the way auto companies are formulating their evolution strategies, and how marketers can distinguish the signal from the noise to make sense of tomorrow’s realities:

1. Voice as Vehicle User Interface This year’s CES saw Amazon Alexa’s rise to prominence as the voice service of choice in all manner of personal electronics, the most impressive of which was as an in-vehicle user interface by the likes of Ford and Volkswagen.

I don’t see tactile controls disappearing from automobiles, but it makes sense that voice is a supplementary means of control. Not only would it cut down on screen-based distractions, but it also provides a connection to our other Voice ecosystem connected devices including the smart home.

Marketers choosing to invest resources into voice ecosystems like Amazon Echo and Google Home may have an interesting Trojan Horse-like pathway into the connected vehicle.

2. The Car Cabin as a Third Space An intriguing idea to speculate upon is what consumers will do with themselves in automobile cabins once self-diving cars reach Level 4 and 5 autonomy. The car cabin may become a “third space” in addition to the home and the office. Will it be a place for productivity? For relaxation? For commerce? Or in the case of carpool-based models of autonomy — human connection?

Depending on who you ask, true Level 4 and 5 autonomy is either just around the corner, or 5 to 10 years away. Regardless, it would benefit Marketers to leverage evolving and emerging user behaviors to engage users and offer some value. Spotify playlist and Snapchat filter integration into the Uber ride experience are great leading indicator examples of what is possible.

3. Personalization In the past, personalization of one’s ride was limited to color and trim, plus aftermarket customization for car aficionados. Recent studies suggest, however, that technology has leapfrogged body styling and color as a primary consideration in vehicle purchase. For Gen X and Boomers, this technology is understandably related to safety features such as backup cameras and lane guidance.
To young Millennials and Gen Z, however, technology refers to connectivity where the vehicle becomes an extension of the smartphone. Once these young consumers come of age and are in the market for a vehicle, they will actively seek technology features that facilitate a sharing of their data and identity to personalize their ride experience. Marketers can start thinking about how they can leverage this access to personalized data to add value to all aspects of a rider’s journey.

4. Transportation as a Service A possible future of Mobility will involve far fewer cars on the road, with consumers hard pivoting from ownership to sharing. This sounds like an extreme vision, but consider the rise of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft as leading indicators of consumer demand for utility vs. ownership. For city dwellers, services like Zipcar have provided an idea of how transportation as a service can deliver all the benefits of vehicle access without the responsibility of ownership.

As this becomes more mainstream and accepted, it gives marketers the opportunity to explore opportunities against a broader set of consumers who need access to rides because they are unable to drive. This includes the elderly, the disabled, and teenagers who do not yet have their licenses. Would these consumers be willing to take “sponsored” rides to reduce cost? It’s a fascinating possibility.

5. Smart City Infrastructure Much of the news and hype for self-driving cars ignores the massive infrastructure transformation needed for it to work. The promise of the Mobility Revolution cannot be fully realized without the cooperation of municipalities to help manage the systems and data needed for autonomy.

It would benefit marketers to research and study the moves that progressive mayors in cities like Columbus, Ohio, Atlanta, and San Diego are taking to prepare. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart City Challenge would be a great place to start. Cities will be the epicenters and the first port of call for any serious advancements in self-driving cars. Knowing how they are planning to change and what vendors and technology solutions they are investing in will paint an interesting picture of how consumers will interact with both transportation solutions, and each other.

As marketers, we must prepare for and anticipate these changes today in order to truly connect with consumers in every market and to avoid being left behind by the Mobility Revolution.

The author will speak as part of a panel tomorrow at MediaPost’s “Marketing: Automotive” conference in New York.