Human-tech Merge Inevitable, Marketers Must Prepare—PHD Merge Book

By Dipo Olowookere

PHD’s seventh publication “Merge|The closing gap between technology and us” explores a future where consumers will virtually and biologically join with technology through exclusive interviews with inspirational business leaders, academics and researchers.

At this year’s Social Media Week scheduled to hold at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, from February 26 to March 2, 2018, PHD continues its look into the future of technology and the associated implications and opportunities for marketers with the launch of its latest publication, Merge.

Merge sets out how technology and human evolution has progressed since the 1950s and what the world will look like over the next 25-35 years.

Wayne Bishop, Managing Director PHD South Africa, who will be the keynote speaker at the PHD session of the event on February 28, will outline how technology and humanity have evolved in Merge.

He will speak on the five stages of the evolutionary path between 1950 and 2050, and how Merge explores a future where consumers will connect with technology

Merge also explores the urgent implications for marketing and reveals exciting new opportunities for brands. Significantly, it identifies what should be done now in order to prepare for the future

If screens disappear and brain-to-brain communication does take over, what would that mean for advertising? The industry has always relied on interruption, so would ads start to be delivered directly into the brain, interrupting thoughts or emotional state? Or would marketers pay to position themselves to be front-of-mind (literally) when someone might be most receptive to a particular product?

Drawing on insights and foresights of experts including world-leading inventor, author and futurist (and writer of the foreword) Ray Kurzweil, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, futurologist Dr Ian Pearson and Microsoft chief envisioning officer UK Dave Coplin, Merge discusses the five stages of the evolutionary road, between 1950 and 2050, culminating in technology and humanity fusing together both symbolically and literally.

The Social Media Week, organised by Afrika21 and in its eighth year, will explore the social, cultural and economic impact of the social media.