Signals

US – Bose is promising consumers an immersive audio experience with its Frames – a new range of sunglasses featuring in-built personal speakers.

Its Rondo and Alto frames take cues from classic sunglasses shapes, but each black nylon and metal frame has in-built mini-speakers and Bose AR technology that enable the wearer to play music, connect to their phone and make and receive calls.

Priced at £158 ($199.95, €175), the glasses and their supporting marketing campaign are being aimed at younger consumers who want to combine style with superior sound that doesn’t disturb others. Unlike Google Glass and Snapchat Spectacles, however, Bose AR will not interrupt the wearer’s vision – instead it’s described as ‘the world’s first audio-only augmented reality platform, where applications will utilise contextual audio to deliver first-of-a-kind experiences’.

Such aural enhancements are helping to elevate consumers’ social interactions and immersive experiences, something explored in our recent interview with John Connell, researcher in residence at 4DSOUND’s Spatial Sound Institute.

Spain – Ikea’s latest seasonal campaign, Connect to Disconnect, is encouraging families to spend more time conversing and getting to know one another and less time engrossed in their devices.

In a nod to the tradition of families playing games together at Christmas, the thought-provoking campaign depicts families successfully answering questions about social media platforms and the lives of celebrities, but struggling to answer how their parents met, which is their son’s favourite band or what their grandmother studied.

In response, the home furnishings retailer has created Familiarised, a board game that lets players test their knowledge about their family members. Ikea will initially distribute the game to all of its Spanish employees, their families and a number of brand ambassadors, with a digital version also available – but only in airplane mode to encourage offline play.

To further encourage more quality time between its staff, customers and their families, Ikea is silencing its Spanish social channels over the festive period, echoing the Righteous Retail trend spearheaded by REI’s #OptOutside campaign, in which its stores are closed on Black Friday so staff can spend the day with loved ones.

Total American smart speaker penetration reached 8.9% this year, according to data from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. In the UK, Amazon prevails – nearly three-quarters (74%) of the country’s smart speaker owners mainly use an Alexa device. However, in the US, the share is just 63%, accounting for nearly two-thirds. Google speakers are also more popular among US consumers than those in the UK.

The report acknowledges that Amazon’s dominance can be linked to the fact that it was the first provider to enter a number of major markets. However, the company’s slow move into Australia means that Google has overtaken the e-commerce giant and has subsequently seen greater adoption rates in the country.

To see exactly how consumers are using these smart speakers – and how they want to them to develop in the future – read our tribes report Subconscious Shoppers.