How did Ancestry.com solve its banner-blindness issue? Humbly, the lineage specialists asked whether its messaging was offering the right value exchange, and perhaps, if it was too narrow. Out of that soul-searching came the idea of asking potential customers about their last names, and what they mean.

There's a big problem with fitness trackers. After learning that they walk 10,000 steps a day, or burn so many calories, consumers often tire of their devices, and retire them to the shelf. To solve this problem, device makers and their partners have to convince consumers that regular device use is the key to long-term health goals, according to Doug Ziewacz, head of NA Media and Advertising at UnderArmour Connected Fitness.

When did Bill Lee, VP of Smart Home Product Marketing at Samsung Electronics America, know he had a problem? It was the day he woke up and realized he owned 50 connected devices, which required 24 separate apps to operate. "I was on the verge of a tech-gasm," Lee told attendees of MediaPost's IOT Marketing Forum, on Wednesday. And, of course, Lee's problem will quickly become the industry's problem if it doesn't think fast. "The industry has certain issues that it has to circumvent," Lee insisted. For one, it's critical to help consumers "understand how all the pieces [in the …

Why hasn't the market for connected devices exploded? Ryan Pritylak, CEO at Unique Influence, asked a panel of experts at MediaPost's IOT Marketing Forum, on Tuesday. After a rather long silence, Greg Boullin, Strategy Director at SapientNitro, said: "It costs a lot of money to implement everything." Sara Bamossy, Chief Strategy Officer at Pitch, insisted that the explosion is definitely coming, but the industry first needs to learn a few hard lessons. "Sometimes we do innovations for innovations sake," she admitted. "Even dumber," she added, sometimes the industry does "marketing for innovations sake." Rather, the goal at the moment should …

What if the Apple Watch used an algorithm that could gauge your mood based on your skin temperature, blood flow, and other biometric measurements? And, what if Apple then used this data to target you with specific marketing messages, whether it was on your watch, iPhone, or some other Apple device? Well, a couple years ago, Apple's ad sales division filed a patent for this exact purpose, according to Chad Vavra, Experience Strategy and Design Director at Isobar. "That's a level of intrusion that's risky," Vavra told attendees of MediaPost's IOT Marketing Forum, on Wednesday. It's "kind of concerning." Vavra's …