Exoplanets and multi-planet systems are being discovered by both Astrophysicists and backyard astronomers at an incredible rate. In the past 10 years over 1000 new planets have been discovered. Not all of them are comfy enough to support life as we know it but scientists are confident that a few, which have atmospheres and liquid water, just might.
Planet LHS 1140b is one such real life example. Read about it here. But the big question on everyone’s mind is not whether or not there is life on LHS 1140b and other planets like it, but IF there is…what are the bold, smart marketing leaders of tomorrow going to do about it??
New planets are new markets, and should they contain insecure, egotistical, status seeking, crybaby, bird brain lifeforms who need to feel included in everything or become easily depressed, the sky’s the limit! “It’s an exciting time for CMO’s because we are right at the dawn of intergalactic marketing” said Cal Buttnut of the extraterrestrial marketing think tank Warp Dive. “At Warp Dive we take seriously the implications of inter-species networking and even cohabitation. The effect that this potential new paradigm will have on Branding will be a game changer. We do deep dives into hypotheticals such as how an alien race might be receptive to certain persuasion tactics”. By running sophisticated modeling which combines exoplanet Biologist research on the chemical makeup and cognitive ability of extraterrestrials with Nielsen Buyer Insights and Rentrak-TV Solutions Outcome data sources including credit cards, app downloads, first-party data, point-of-sales data, loyalty cards, CRM systems and digital conversions with prebuilt syndicated audience segments from IRI, Mastercard, and Datalogix, Warp Dive has come up with some eye opening results that should be on every marketers radar. “The predictive power of these models should not be under estimated. With a high degree of confidence we’ve concluded that the right mix of digital, social and traditional Marketing may be useful in influencing any Martian society with an average IQ above 62.3. Furthermore, any Brand seeking to extend their influence beyond Earth might benefit from a test and learn approach in these new environments”, said Mr. Buttnut.
But what if Aliens turn out to be Digital Lifeforms? Virtual environments much like the ones we create today, could potentially, with millions of years of evolution, spawn self-replicating software that triggers complex behavior. New tools may be needed to reach this viciously intelligent and valuable segment. As former Pepsi Digital Innovation and Foresight Director, Ryan Spalding points out, a wait and see attitude may leave some marketers in the dust. “Don’t assume that all life is a natural, biological process. If aliens are indeed cut from ‘digital DNA’, likely they will be advanced enough to circumvent any of the digital marketing tactics that are common practice today. At a big company … there’s a great resistance to reinventing something until it’s time to reinvent it, and then of course it’s too late,” he added. “In reality, change isn’t even an option. The right frame, the real choice, is what kind of change.”
