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determining what we’re going to view and hear based on the stereotype they’re
creating for us.
While there are obvious benefits to this filtering, the diversity of my content
stream is also being strangled by every search and social media platform.
Interesting implications for how we learn and discover (or not discover) new
ideas, no?
Let’s push this idea of radical filtering to an even higher level. Apple’s Siri
presents a particularly interesting type of content filter and a plucky problem for
marketers. If you ask Siri a question, you might get a verbal answer, not
necessarily a list of attributed, optimized content (and ads) to choose from.
I recently had a chance to see where this kind of precise search is heading
when I met some people who work with Watson, IBM’s groundbreaking
cognitive computing technology. This may be the ultimate filter because it
doesn’t just tailor content for you, it tailors one precise answer for you, even if
it’s highly complex. Watson can process billions of bits of content and solve
even the most difficult query in a heartbeat.
When I asked a Watson team member about the importance of content to this
breakthrough technology, she paused and said, “It’s not just content to us, it’s
fuel.”
What are the implications for content marketing when we’re tasked to
provide computer fuel instead of merely blog posts and YouTube videos? Will
visual and video content even “count” in that kind of environment?
The necessity to adjust content strategies to a cognitive computing
environment will be here soon. This change will certainly hasten the demise of
marginal content producers and up the game for good ones as precision content
becomes a highly prized resource.
The Internet surrounds us like the air that we breathe
Let’s bring the Content Code full circle now. In Chapter 1, I described three
digital epochs that led us to Content Shock. I hinted that a fourth epoch is before
us. It will be an era of explosive marketing creativity and innovation enabled by
wearable technology and augmented reality.
The impact of this development on content and content ignition will be
profound … perhaps more profound than the Internet itself. The way we learn,
discover, connect, and entertain ourselves will be dramatically altered forever.
Imagine a world in which you’re untethered from devices and the strength of
a Wi-Fi connection. The Internet will surround you like the air that you breathe
—a digital layer on top of the “real world” in any place you choose. Every book,
