The Rise of the Marketing Robot

Recently, The Wall Street Journal ran an article on the experiences of Rachel Emma Silverman, who literally was a robot in her office for several weeks this summer.  She became a lot like R2D2—only better.  She worked remotely from Austin, TX, but used a QB-82 robot on wheels to replicate her physical presence in New York, NY.  As it tooled around the New York office, it showed her face and emitted her voice.  How cool!

Called a “telepresence robot,” the idea is to semi-humanize a remote co-worker in order to better facilitate collaboration and increase productivity. As if that concept wasn’t interesting enough, there’s another, even more useful, insight.  Apparently, research has verified that employees are more open with human-operated robots than with human colleagues.

Now, imagine if marketers were able to take this idea one step further and apply it to consumer research.  If robots can provide more honest, real time feedback on traffic drivers, shopping behaviors, product features, user experience, customer needs and expectations, it would make the $9,700 cost per robot a true bargain.

When you think about it, one evening crowded in a dark room eating M&M’s at a focus group often costs more and yields less.  And like all technology, the price is certain to come down as demand goes up.

Besides, it would be fun to roll around the aisle of a grocery, department or big box store talking to shoppers and customers.  Surely every CEO and CMO will want one.  What better way to conveniently get out there and listen first-hand to what your most important stakeholder has to say!

So, which of you will be the first?  And perhaps more importantly, what will you name your robot?

Tags: CBD Marketing, consumer research, Customer Needs, Humanized Robots, Liz Brohan, Marketing Robots, Procut Features, Robots and Marketing, Shopping Behaviors, Technology, Technology and Marketing, Telepresence Robot, The Future of Marketing, The Wall Street Journal, Traffic Drivers, User Experience

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