Brands are often categorized by the markets they appeal to and the purposes they serve for their customers–whether regular consumers or other businesses that rely on certain goods or services. Businesses continually explore various avenues of engagement and product or service improvement, and we can’t help but wonder where voice applications might come into play. Let's have a look at the different types of brands and how voice assistants and voice technology, like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, can make an impact.
Consumer Product Brands
What they do
In themselves, products are items that are purchased for consumption, with this specific kind of brand creating and selling goods intended for the average consumer. We, as consumers, encounter and rely on these brands on a regular basis for products used to clean our homes, drive to the store, and feed our families. Consumer products generally focus on end-user consumption, not serving other businesses.
What they deliver
Think of all the different brands you see when walking down the stocked aisles of a grocery store. These items, also known as final goods, are the end result of production and describe anything from clothing to food to technology.
Take the athletic brand Nike, for example. Nike footwear, apparel, equipment, and accessories are made exclusively for consumption by the average person. And with Nike’s staggering $37.4 billion revenue dollars in 2020, there’s no doubt that consumer product brands are meant to appeal to large customer bases.
How consumers can benefit while engaging with voice technology
Consumer product brands are so deeply integrated into daily life, which means constantly improving the customer experience is part of their business equation. Consider all of the ways experiencing a Nike product could be enhanced through voice applications. Could voice-enabled devices offer daily style tips for footwear or clothing that consumers have already purchased? Perhaps Alexa Skills could guide workouts that use Nike sports equipment or offer running tips to users lacing up their brand new shoes.
Let’s stray from Nike for a moment. Maybe your Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant could remind you of your grocery list for your next Trader Joe’s trip and offer a number of dinner recipes once it gets closer to suppertime. No matter their use, voice-enabled technology has the capacity to revolutionize the way we interact with consumer products.
Consumer Service Brands
What they do
Complementary to products, services are means of delivering value to buyers by facilitating desired outcomes without the buyer having to assume certain costs and risks.
What they deliver
Regardless of who they serve, these kinds of brands aim to achieve certain results–whether repairing plumbing or caring for children during their parents’ working hours.
AAA Roadside Assistance is a prime example of a consumer service provider, with its towing, lockout, and other emergency road services. Currently catering to over 61 million members, this brand offers a rather essential consumer service for the average driver.
How consumers can benefit while engaging with voice technology
Given the power of voice-enabled technology today, it’s possible that consumer service brands could perform actions on their Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa to conduct business. Perhaps some of these companies are able to expand their reach to consumers outside of the local area with fully remote services performed by voice assistants. Whether personal consultations, lessons, or other forms of consumer services, voice-enabled devices can play a significant role in making these brands more widely accessible.
Business Product Brands
What they do
While these kinds of brands do provide physical goods in transactions, they differ from consumer product brands in the kind of markets and purposes they serve. As the name suggests, business products are goods that companies purchase in order to produce their own original products or operate their business.
What they deliver
Because of their more specific purpose, business products can often be categorized as raw materials, component parts, and other kinds of supplies for regular operations. Unlike final goods, business products are usually building blocks that support the production of consumer products or services.
While General Electric (GE) produces many different kinds of consumer goods, the company also provides many other businesses with the resources required for their own operation–from industrial aviation products (e.g. engines, integrated engine components, mechanical aircraft systems) to healthcare technologies (e.g. ventilators, monitoring solutions, anesthesia).
How businesses can benefit while engaging with voice technology
With the help of intuitive, voice-enabled technology, companies could take inventory of existing stock and order necessary tools and supplies for their business. With voice, tedious tasks could get much easier for businesses that are preoccupied with day-to-day management and operations.
Business Service Brands
What they do
Similar to the way brands offer physical goods to other businesses for their operation, businesses can provide a plethora of services. These kinds of transactions are usually done if specialized knowledge is required for a specific task or if the relative costs of outsourcing are within a company’s means.
What they deliver
Business service brands can cover a wide range of specialties, including anything from workplace maintenance to services that might inform pivotal business decisions.
Consider the act of insuring a business as a service. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company is a kind of brand that aids other companies in being able to safely and responsibly conduct their own business.
How businesses can benefit while engaging with voice technology
In this example, before an enterprise can be fully insured, it is usually required to submit important information about the company. Business service brands like Nationwide could streamline this process by enabling voice assistants to collect all necessary information from company representatives. Allowing business owners to insure their companies with the use of voice assistants could make this prove to be a significant timesaver.
Enhancing the customer experience is the key to any successful enterprise. As we can see, regardless of brand type, consumers and businesses alike can seek products and services with accessible and intuitive technology like voice assistants.