Emerging technologies and implications for marketing strategy and planning

Maybe this is my bias — I am a bit of a geek. But I like to encourage my students to speculate about how future technological advances might impact marketing strategy and planning. This falls into the discussion of the external market environment in Chapter 3 (see In-Class Activity 3-1 for example). This article in USA Today, “AI, 5G, ‘ambient computing’: What to expect in tech in 2020 and beyond,” offers an opportunity to examine some of these emerging technologies. The article includes a 5 minute video on 5G that you could show in class to put students on a common base. What can be interesting for students, is to think about is the implications of new technology on traditional businesses. So for example, I could see asking students how this technology might impact:

• Starbucks or a small local coffee shop,
• A law office,
• A fast-food restaurant chain (say McDonalds),
• A grocery store,
• A clothing maker — say Levi’s or Lululemon

Push students beyond the obvious. Or of course, you could have students come up with companies on their own.