What Google’s investment in Nest means for brand marketers

January 14, 2015 · 2 minute read · via Punchkick

Brand marketers have tons of digital entryways to connect with consumers throughout their smart homes: Apple has HomeKit. Samsung has SmartThings. Now, Google’s Nest is truly entering the fray.

To coincide with CES last week, Google announced that its “Works with Nest” program would be expanding to include all-new third-party integrations. This opens the door for brands to have more intimate and relevant conversations with their audiences right at home, across all of the connected devices they love to use.

Nest opens the door for brands to have more intimate conversations with their audiences.

Companies like August Smart Lock, Philips Hue, and even connected car accessory maker Automatic have signed on to support the new platform. Nest has brought bleeding-edge smart home products to customers since 2011, but following its acquisition by Google is now broadening its vision to bring third parties into the fold.

Just as Apple’s HomeKit allows iOS devices to serve as the smart home’s central hub, helping a myriad of devices communicate with one another, Nest’s program is designed to foster collaboration between smart home product developers and tighter integration with the Nest ecosystem across platforms.

With Nest’s program, brands can provide anything from software services to connected hardware that integrates tightly with the growing internet of things, and connects immediately with one of the most promising smart home ecosystems from one of technology’s largest players. This provides opportunities to provide value in new ways, and gain new understandings about user behavior and preferences throughout the home.

Nest is opening the door to one of the most promising smart home ecosystems.

As Nest grows more aligned with Android, Google’s product family will support its vision of a more connected and integrated future—and brands have the tools to reach their audiences in more integrated and contextual arenas. From the smart home to the smart car, Nest is broadening the horizons for connectivity and audience access, and building the bridges that companies need to communicate and integrate with one another.

Soon, the major mobile players will each have a fully realized smart home platform. Thankfully, with each ecosystem’s promises of openness and compatibility, brands with apps or hardware don’t have to choose just one.