| |June 201719CIOReviewThe topmost challenge brands face today owing to evolving consumer behavior is communication in the digital economy Vivek Bhargavaup paying for the advertisement irrespective of whether it was watched or the channel was switched. Several brand marketers are still wary of readily making the shift from television to digital ­ but once they do, there is no looking back. The challenges that lie aheadThe topmost challenge brands face today owing to evolv-ing consumer behavior is communication in the digital economy. Firstly, we live in the times of an `instant' generation ­buy something today and it's delivered to your doorstep tomorrow­ they never have had to wait for anything in their lives. The generation of millenni-als demands everything instantly without any interrup-tions. Thus, communicating to this sector is going to be an immense challenge though advertising till now has predominantly been interruption led.Secondly, today a brand is perceived as a totality of experiences of the product or service. Previously, brands stood for one specific quality e.g. Volvo for safety, Ferra-ri for speed. However, today there are million consumers who each have a different image of the brand they buy. While one may associate a particular car for its resale value, another may view it as a portrayal of their status symbol. How does one run with a single communication message when your brand means different things for each consumer? This one-on-one communication where one can't say a single thing about the brand is a chal-lenge. Vendors will soon come up with new innovative solutions based on this customer evolution in the future. Mapping out the future trendsThe future belongs to exponential technologies ­ great digital transformation will take place on this front. Technologies will eventually intertwine to make a single virtual ecosystem. Robots, drones, 3D printing, nano-technology, block chain are a few amongst others.Artificial intelligence software solutions are likely to be the top disruptor in technology in the coming decade. Cloud computing and machine-learning algo-rithms have fueled the jump in artificial-intelligence so-lutions. It is interesting to note that no two machines make the same mistake. However, machines can only replace the functions human beings do, not human beings themselves.Additionally, virtual reality provides an immersive experience. There may be the possibility of virtual real-ity utilized as an advertising format, since that pretty much increases the screen size to infinity and can make quite the impact.Furthermore, in the last two years alone, five billion GB of data was generated which accounts for 90 percent of the world's data created till date. Making sense of this data, creating actionable insights through this data and its applications will prove to be a game changer and en-able wealth creation.
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