Though the fashion industry has long been an arbiter of change, evolution and innovation, the rapid pace at which the internet evolves is something else altogether. Brand marketers need to be immersed not only in this season’s trends, but in the “of-the-moment” buzz words concocted by agencies, developers, social media strategists and new platforms. While most brands are just grasping Web 2.0, the next big wave, Web 3.0, has already started to gain momentum. The first important thing to understand is that this does not imply a new version of the web, but rather new ways that software developers and end-users build and interact with the online platform. These new techniques, when combined, change technology, user-behavior, best practices and expectations.
Here, a way to understand Web 3.0 Through 3 Key Terms:
Semantic Web: This refers to how information is understood and contextualized by computers and computer software. Information is served in two parts. One part represents what we as humans see or read; the other part is the data behind it that is read by the machines. The Semantic Web is evolving to become better at creating relevant groupings of information that provide a context more natural to what we as humans are interested in and searching for. The trend allows the relationship between information to be more easily detected by machines, ultimately making for a more seamless and engaging user experience because the content you are interested in is more readily at your fingertips.
As a brand, think about creating an encounter that includes relevant content where you would expect it to live. Right now, the norm is to section off content into categories, like site navigation might be structured. On a brand website, you might find a navigation like “About/Collections/Shop/Blog”, but the trend is to have relevant information live together. This would mean that if a user is looking at a dress for the spring, the product description, ability to purchase, read comments, share, see the designer’s inspiration or read relevant blog posts all exist within the same frame, without requiring the user to click to different sections/pages.
The Semantic web is based on the true meaning of information in a way that makes sense to people.
Personalization: Many brands are already starting to serve content that feels personalized, for example the “You may also like…” type of feature. However, going back to the semantic web, this is usually based on keywords and how the machine reads information; it is not actually personalized. Going forward, technology is becoming more able to determine your likes and dislikes through your behavior on a web page, and then serve you content that is better aligned with your tastes. StyleMint.com, a new site to be launched by Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen, will present items to different users based on their self-selected tastes and style.
Social: If users are being provided with information more relevant to their needs, and it’s personalized for their likes, the next logical aspect to consider is the ability to shop, share and discuss that content with those they are connected to. This is gradually becoming more accessible, through social media tools and mobile devices, all of which facilitate sharing and commerce within as few clicks as possible.
Brand marketers should be looking to the (not so distant) future to understand how the decisions they make today, be it platforms and partners chosen or the type of content being produced, can be leveraged to scale their online position into the next generation of the internet.
Author: Elizabeth Schofield
Copy Editor: Gina Conforti
Photo credits: Adrien Dewisme
