Personalized Brand Innovations at Mobile World Congress

From the 27th of February to the 2nd of March, the agents of value creation flocked to the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. There were two brand innovations introduced that we feel represent the next generation of customer-centric product creation. As technology increasingly become more human and offers something on a deeper level, customers will be drawn towards it.

Imagine you are on a flight and a baby starts crying. Or you're in an unknown city and the cab driver is honking the horn. Or you just want a good nights sleep. Earbuds only go so far and white noise headphones don't always do the trick. Sony has unveiled the Xperia Earpersonal assistant earphone that cancels out all background noise, adapting to the personal noise reaction of its master. Biometric recognition technology for the iris, earbud, fingerprint and voice are cropping up everywhere, promising to personalize the human feedback loop.

Procter & Gamble debuted the Olay Skin Advisor which is an artificial intelligence for marketers meant to analyze the skin in selfies and pinpoint areas of improvement. Naturally, Olay's product range just happens to be the preferred solution for all skin queries. Powered by VizID deep learning technology, the Olay Skin Advisor is a brand innovation that pinpoints which areas of the selfie takers skin are aging their appearance. Promising to deliver personalized product recommendations, the synaptic technology narrows down varying combinations of products for a personalized face care regimen. The platform cuts deep in the awareness part of the customer journey, informing them of their aging skin and leaving no time for considering Olay's competitors.

These are just two examples of forward-thinking brands that are solving the problems that haunt real people. By offering them a discrete solution with the risk of judgemental human interaction, P&G and Sony are setting themselves up for capturing customer mindshare. A stronger understanding of the motivations behind purchase decisions will empower marketers to create brand innovations that are digitally tuned, as the above, adapting to the human condition.