Resound, The iPhone And The CES,

Resounds appearance at the CES, a piece of genius

Resounds recent appearance at the CES with the made for iPhone hearing aids was a piece of genius. They have pushed hearing aids into the consumer electronics space and the wearable tech space. People within the consumer electronics world were really taken by the product, it’s premise and its connective ability.

The move made headlines around the world because it was audacious. A hearing aid manufacturer baldly stating that their latest product was a consumer electronic. There has already been a great deal of interest in the devices and the accompanying app. The hype is building internationally for the release and I am not sure I can ever remember anything like it.  

What does it mean to us though, what opportunities does it present and how best to use them? As a Practice manager, no longer a manufacturer’s rep, it’s all the manufacturer’s fault, they’re sticking it us to us independent owners! 😎 I think it gives us some pretty strong marketing opportunities. Marketing opportunities that will attract and touch a different Patient than we are perhaps used to seeing.

I think it will give us a much stronger opportunity to attract the fifty and even forty somethings to our Practices. I think that it will also give us all an opportunity to really flex those digital marketing muscles. Because this product is god’s gift to digital marketing because of the attractiveness to a lower age profile.

I think that Resound have made the first successful push to move hearing aids towards consumer electronics. I don’t think it will be their last and I don’t think they will be alone for long. I think that initiatives like this one will change our industry for ever. There is nothing as constant as change, I  think that the pace of that change just might be about to speed up.

Tech bloggers all over the world are talking about these devices with awe. They think the concept is fantastic, they see the benefits of such a connected audio device. One was musing about being able to adjust the bass and treble of his normal hearing at a rock concert. Or reducing the background noise in a noisy restaurant. Modern society is coming to accept wearable tech as an attractive thing.

Tech that makes life easier, tech that allows us to stay connected to our world, tech that makes us better that enhances us. Joggers wear bracelets to monitor performance, intelligent shoes that report steps data to phones, what about a hearing aid that gives running commentary from their devices? Hearing aids that give audible warnings from connected health monitoring devices?

A Person’s heart monitor picks up the early signs of a cardiac infarction, it passes the warning to the person’s phone which calls the emergency services notifying them of the person’s details and location whilst audibly warning the Patient through their hearing aid giving instructions in a calming manner. I don’t think that scenario is far fetched, what about a diabetic’s blood sugar monitor giving an audible warning to eat some fruit or take an injection?

This is a possible future for hearing instruments, it may be that in the future what we know as hearing aids are seen as not just corrective devices but enhancement devices. How often has a normal hearing person wished that they could hear a little better in a noisy situation? The possibilities are only limited by our imaginations. It can’t be too long before Resound releases a device with little or no amplification but that fantastic connectivity as an integrated wireless audio system to hungry consumers.

I am looking forward to the release of these devices, I really welcome the opportunities that come along with them. I am also excited by the futures that are opening up before us. I have already planned out my activity and the channels I will use, you should probably give it a thought too.

Regards

Geoff

P.S. It’s all the manufacturer’s fault! 😈