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Austin is still vibrating after Kurzweils talk yesterday. Enhanced humans. Man-machine connections. For many people it is a bridge too far, a century too early. But if you look closer, it shows that we’re almost there.

The average phone that the average #SxSW visitor uses, packs enough power to shame the most avid chess player, it is a billion billion times faster than the machines that decoded the German Enigma code in World War II. And it is readily available at your fingertips.

Phones are like Swiss Army Knives. Through our phone, we outsource our memory to the Cloud: our contacts, our pictures, our music, our social calendar, our cv. It’s virtually stored on a faraway server, accessible to 3 or 4 G connections and Wifi.  Our phones give us directions while driving, tells us where our friends are, and where we can find food. They are quickly becoming the number one gateway to the internet. More and more calls on Google, maps, Wikipedia and other information libraries are done on a mobile phone.

I’ve seen people giving presentations at #SxSW with their phone directly linked to a beamer, people who travel without laptop or iPad, and solely rely on the processing and connection power of their smart phone.

Phones are voice controlled, location savvy, and can connect to a multitude of external devices, from Nike Run, over Bluetooth sensor devices, to cars and home entertainment systems. The few people you see at SxSW that lost their phone are bewildered: it makes them feel thrown back in time, exposed, and vulnerable. Phones have more impact on our daily life than we care to imagine.

For brands and their agencies, the phone has become the target for the years to come. Here is the opportunity to link with your target audience at the very point of decision, the very point of purchase. The ability to connect to people wherever they are, and use the phone as a two way gate way is priceless. Contextual information, peer-driven opinion, profile and location linked behavior… it opens a ton of exciting possibilities, and a can of grim worms.

Use it wisely…

Danny Devriendt is the Managing Director of IPG/Dynamic in Brussels, and the CEO of The Eye of Horus, a global think-tank focusing on innovative technology topics. With a proven track record in leadership mentoring, C-level whispering, strategic communications and a knack for spotting meaningful trends, Danny challenges the status quo and embodies change. Attuned to the subtlest signals from the digital landscape, Danny identifies significant trends in science, economics, culture, society, and technology and assesses their potential impact on brands, organizations, and individuals. His ability for bringing creative ideas, valuable insights, and unconventional solutions to life, makes him an invaluable partner and energizing advisor for top executives. Specializing in innovation -and the corporate communications, influence, strategic positioning, exponential change, and (e)reputation that come with it-, Danny is the secret weapon that you hope your competitors never tap into. As a guest lecturer at a plethora of universities and institutions, he loves to share his expertise with future (and current) generations. Having studied Educational Sciences and Agogics, Danny's passion for people, Schrödinger's cat, quantum mechanics, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fuels his unique, outside-of-the-box thinking. He never panics. Previously a journalist in Belgium and the UK, Danny joined IPG Mediabrands in 2012 after serving as a global EVP Digital and Social for the Porter Novelli network (Omnicom). His expertise in managing global, regional, or local teams; delivering measurable business growth; navigating fierce competition; and meeting challenging deadlines makes him an seasoned leader. (He has a microwave at home.) An energetic presenter, he brought his enthusiasm, clicker and inspiring slides to over 300 global events, including SXSW, SMD, DMEXCO, Bluetooth World Congress, GSMA MWC, and Cebit. He worked with an impressive portfolio of clients like Bayer AG, 3M, Coca Cola, KPMG, Tele Atlas, Parrot, The Belgian National Lottery, McDonald's, Colruyt, Randstad, Barco, Veolia, Alten, Dow, PWC, the European Commission, Belfius, and HP. He played a pivotal role in Bluetooth's global success. Ranked 3rd most influential ad executive on Twitter by Business Insider and listed among the top 10 ad execs to follow by CEO Magazine, Danny also enjoys writing poetry and short stories, earning several literary awards in Belgium and the Netherlands. Fluent in Dutch, French, and English, Danny is an eager and versatile communicator. His BBQ skills are legendary.

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