Exhibit A: Nike quietly laid off members of its FuelBand team, spurring rumors that the fitness device was on its way to pasture. While Nike claims it will continue to support the iOS-run device, recent talk of Apple’s iWatch and partnership with Nike lead many to believe that the two corporations are planning to launch an even more impressive device together that people may actually wear.
As an early adopter, your refined tech taste is a source of pride. You’re ahead of the curve and, dare I say, smarter than the mainstream. In some ways, your tech wisdom is membership into an elite segment of society. If anyone’s going to buy a futuristic fashion device, it’s you.
And therein lies the problem.
The wearable tech industry has worked hard to cultivate an image as geek bait. But this image is damaging to mainstream adoption. It’s not aspirational; it’s elitist.
Wearable tech is currently an $8 billion industry, projected to hit $50 billion in the next five years. With a change in image, the wearable tech industry could accelerate — and possibly even surpass — that potential for growth. As a PR professional, my job is to shape public image. Fixing wearable tech’s problem is relatively simple. But it has to happen immediately.
#### Lisa Calhoun
##### About
Lisa Calhoun is founder of a tech public relations firm, Write2Market, with operations in Atlanta, Austin, and Amsterdam. Her agency was recently recognized among the Top 100 Agencies in the U.S. Connect with Lisa on Twitter, LinkedIn, or her personal blog.
The tech sector has done a poor job of positioning wearables for mainstream consumers. People don’t get why they should care, not least because of the language.
Buzzwords like “futuristic” and “breakthrough” shine a spotlight on the technology, not the user experience. This is fine if you’re marketing to hardcore early adopters, but that doesn’t describe most consumers. Most people won’t buy something in the present simply because it’s from the future. They’re utilitarian and risk-averse.
Compounding the confusion is the fact that the mainstream doesn’t yet understand what “wearable technology” actually means. The sector blurs the parameters with statements such as “wearable technology will soon be in your car.” This sentence alone could derail a non-techie’s grasp on the concept.
>If you have a body, you can use wearable technology.
For all the accolades the tech industry is giving itself for wearable innovation, it’s pushing mainstream consumers away.
Fixing the image of wearables requires looking at technology from a much broader perspective, and it starts with how we describe and market these futuristic products.
Take a look at gel nail polish. It’s a seemingly simple product. But, in fact, gel polish is a high-tech polymer that works because of a free-radical reaction between the monomers and oligomers, which allows the photo initiative in the resin to interact with a specific wavelength of the LED lamp.
From a chemical perspective, gel nail polish is a breakthrough. But chemical engineers aren’t the primary target market for a modern manicure.
Instead of focusing on the science, gel nail polish ads feature women in the salon putting on their shoes or holding their car keys. The key marketing points are that gel polish is hard, fast, and shiny — everything a pricey new mani/pedi moment should be.
Sportswear company Asics does something similar with its “Better Your Best” campaign. The company is selling shoes made with the most advanced polymer technology known to man. But the tagline isn’t “wearable tech for your feet”; it’s “destroy your limits.”
People want to know what tangible improvement a product will bring to their lives. Instead of telling them about the technology, we need to show the impact.
Another problem with wearable tech is that there is a lack of communication about how it feels to wear the product. If someone is going to wake up, go to work, and sleep in the product, then you need to make it seem natural and easy. Having a mini-computer attached to your wrist isn’t the selling point. Having a mini-computer that provides you with data you can use to improve your life is.
In 1976, Apple ran this ad. It’s text-heavy, industrial, and wholly unappealing — but it did get a lot of geeks onboard with Apple’s ideas, which was the whole point. A decade later, going mainstream, Apple ran this one, which features just two things: an image of a finger clicking a mouse and the tagline “A funny thing happens when you design a computer everyone can use."
>People want to know what tangible improvement your product will bring to their lives. Instead of telling them about the technology, we need to show the impact.
These ads reflect the evolution marketing messages undergo as brands transition from targeting early adopters to pursuing the mainstream. The focus shifts from the technology and the product itself into the joy an everyday user experiences when interacting with the product.
And this is what consumers are beginning to expect from technology. It should make their lives easier, more fulfilling, and less painful. Case in point: Have you ever heard of trypanophobia? It’s also known as needle phobia, and it affects around 23 percent of adults. Amy Baxter, a pediatrician and pain researcher, saw how her son’s experiences with needles triggered a fear of both shots and doctors. But she doesn’t discuss how her product Buzzy “saturates sensory nerve endings with cold and vibration, interfering with the transmission of pain.” Instead, she talks about empathy and shame and describes Buzzy as a “secret weapon” kids can use to make them brave when facing vaccinations.
Give your product to a beta tester community; share their stories about how it feels to actually use your product. Show your product helping people do what it helps them to do. You’ll convey to a mainstream audience the feeling your product inspires.
Wearable tech products are fairly new, but that doesn’t mean consumers aren’t ready for them. The broader consumer base just needs to feel that these products are inclusive of their lives.
Look at Nike: Despite its recent upheaval with the FuelBand team, its strikingly egalitarian mission statement is a smart approach to the mainstream. According to its website, the company exists “to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world.” The asterisk underneath the huge print states, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.”
If you have a body, you can use wearable technology. Tap the potential of the market by dropping technical jargon. Open your community and invite everyone to play.
From a design perspective, wearable tech is begging to be integrated into our daily lives. Due to its current image, many potential customers are oblivious. Others are skeptical, and their doubts are valid. Not only are there real privacy concerns, but it’s an intimate decision to embed any product in our personal space.
The tech sector needs to work with this mindset in order to make the leap from early adopters to the mainstream majority.
Wearable tech has the potential to change the world. It can’t do that from a pedestal.
- Editors: Sonal Chokshi and Emily Dreyfuss*
