Recently, talks have been doing the rounds everywhere about autonomous vehicles being the next big thing. If it becomes a reality, as a pedestrian it would be frightening to see vehicles whizzing past you down the road, and there is no one behind the steering. However, from the marketing perspective, autonomous vehicles come as a good news as it opens up a broad new marketing avenue for publishers. This implies that the screens of vehicles will now become the space or platform where publishers and advertisers will compete against each other.
A new report from Forrester suggests that these vehicles, if and when becomes a reality, are sure to have a massive impact on the global economy. The report further states that it would be no surprise if global brands become sponsors for the rides in the near future. You may see ads like your next vacation is sponsored by XYZ brand.
For instance, a family vacation to Disney Land in Florida can be sponsored by Disney and can provide the customers with an experience of their lifetime. The screens inside the vehicle can play Disney videos, and even the vehicle itself can be turned into a pirate ship. The report claims that autonomous cars would give the advertisers a belief that the interiors of the vehicle that are equipped with screens, speakers and interactive sensors would resemble a living room or dens. With autonomous vehicles plying on the roads, according to the reports, in the future, the automakers would evolve into publishers and feed the consumer with car-based news and entertainment and also develop a direct relationship with the customer who are essentially the owners of mobile theatre.
The different possibilities of marketing and advertising through autonomous vehicles is only one aspect of the report, which quintessentially focuses on the impact that autonomous vehicles are likely to have on various businesses including logistics, shipping, insurance and data privacy.
Apart from the marketing point of view, there are many other pros and cons of autonomous vehicles. While, it could significantly reduce the traffic on roads, on the other side, it could lead to massive loss of employment, especially for truck drivers. According to Forrester’s reports, the self-driving vehicles would have inherent features such as obstacle avoidance technology, image recognition, road sensors and vehicle-to-vehicle communication system. Not to mention, in the wake of Tesla testing the self-driving cars, it is reported that nearly 94% of all road accidents are caused due to human errors. Having said about the pros and cons of autonomous vehicles, the technology is not going to be implemented tomorrow; it still has a long way to go before it becomes a reality.
