INTEREST CATEGORY: INNOVATION AND TECH
POSTING TYPE: Calls: Journals

Author: Amy Richmond

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Call for Papers

Beyond Tech Gimmicks: Omni-Digital Touchpoints for Products and Brands

Journal: Journal of Product & Brand Management

Guest editors: Alena Kostyk, Seth Ketron, Atefeh Yazdanparas, Yogesh K. Dwivedi

Closes: 15 Dec 2023

Full information is available here.

Digital technologies have grown in number, scope, and capabilities, offering a wide array of tools for marketers and brands in the rapidly developing digitalisation of the marketplace. From extended reality (e.g., VR, AR) to NFTs and from wearables to fully virtual products, omni-digital holds a lot of potential for marketers, but as yet, marketers may still be viewing these technologies as “gimmicks” to gain attention or capitalize on novelty rather than integrating these technologies into an omni-digital customer journey. As such, instead of viewing digital technologies as “one-offs” or tools to be considered in isolation with potentially limited value, an omni-digital approach would create seamless customer journey across digital touchpoints to transform this journey in relevant and compelling ways.

Pursuing such an approach is no longer “nice” but “necessary” given that omni-channel is no longer sufficient. Customers expect not only to engage with a brand on any digital channel convenient to them but also to enjoy the same level of experience across these channels. Managing various channels while offering a consistent experience across all of them makes an omni-digital approach necessary. With an omni-digital perspective, “channel” is no longer the focus because customers’ interactions with digital touchpoints become channel agnostic. As such, technological silos/touchpoints are no longer sufficient, and an omni-digital environment should be created with which consumers interact across their customer journey.

In this vein, omni-digital environments and strategies offer great promise for products and brands, and not surprisingly, consumers and brand managers alike show a lot of interest in omni-digital environments. For example, a late 2021 survey of global internet users found that overcoming obstacles from real life as well as enhancing creativity and imagination were perceived as the biggest benefits of the metaverse (Clement, 2022), yet many marketers fundamentally do not understand the concept of the “metaverse” and the opportunities for their brands it represents (Buecheler, 2022). Further, only 35% of small and medium-sized brands had plans to adopt extended reality technology in their marketing, underscoring lack of strategic guidance for this advanced use of omni-digital technology (Capers, 2020; Kostyk & Sheng, 2022). Vitally, there are many topics on the intersection of brands and omni-digital environments that remain empirically unexplored and are promising from the perspective of theoretical development (Dwivedi et al., 2022b).

Full information is available here.