Technology Newsmaker Q&A Steven Sturm

Jan. 22, 2015
Steven Sturm, category development for autos at AOL Advertising, spoke to Aftermarket Business World about the implications of connected vehicles.

The idea of the connected car isn't just of interest to OEMs and repairers. With mobile devices interacting with vehicles, and onboard systems that plug drivers into the Internet while on the road, marketers also have a stake in the way repair shops, dealerships and other companies communicate with vehicle owners.

Steven Sturm, category development for autos at AOL Advertising, spoke to Aftermarket Business World about the implications of connected vehicles.

Where are some of the most immediate areas where we see connected car technology taking off? Infotainment?

Entertainment first, so you can make a restaurant reservation or pick a music channel. Now we can engage them to act on something they are interested in, whether that's stopping at a fast food restaurant or a hotel. The technology can allow us to engage the customer through a message while they are engaging in a particular area of activity.

Car companies or dealer environments can engage them by promoting special deals on a particular make and model, and get them to come to a store that's a few miles away from their location. That can help close the cycle of the auto purchase, where they might not have thought of that particular dealership had they not been engaged in their automobile. We've seen a test where a restaurant can send messages to registered users and engage them in the automobile. You can send a digital coupon to them that they can take it to the store on their mobile phone.

We're still two or three years away from this being a mature technology, but it's close.

What are some the challenges that remain to making connected vehicles more mainstream?

Some of it is platform related, because the various companies have not quite synchronized how they are doing this. And, do you reach drivers through their phone or the entertainment system in the car?

The second piece is standardizing the advertising messages we can put into a car, and making sure we have certain guidelines in terms of being safe. You want to message them, but not at the expense of safe driving.

What's being worked out now is, are we going to do this car company by car company, or category by category, or are we coming up with a unified effort so we can go after the market in a more holistic way? Within a year that should be resolved. The car companies don't want to lose control. They want the analytics protected for the car companies, especially the owner information.

What about vehicle-to-vehicle communication?

I went to the L.A. Auto Show, and saw a presentation where two people are engaging each other through their cars. They decide to go to a different restaurant, and using voice commands one person changed the GPS directions in the other person's car. He made a reservation at the same time by voice command. The technology exists, it's just the next generation of vehicles away from happening. All of the car companies are at the precipice of that process.

Autonomous cars are five to 10 years out, but within our lifetime we will see vehicles that will drive you someplace via computer. Marketers can then engage you in the vehicle in a more complete way, because the driver is not worried as much about the road in that scenario.

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