Guest editorial: Beyond tech gimmicks: omni-digital touchpoints for products and brands
| Date | 07 January 2025 |
| Pages | 1-5 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2025-026 |
| Published date | 07 January 2025 |
| Author | Seth Ketron,Alena Kostyk,Atefeh Yazdanparast |
Guest editorial: Beyond
tech gimmicks: omni-digital
touchpoints for products
and brands
Digital technologies have evolved remarkably in recent years.
They have expandedin number, scope and capabilities,thereby
providing an extensive array of tools for brands in the swiftly
transforming digital marketplace. For example, artificial
intelligence(AI) technology plays an increasinglycritical role in
the digital marketplace by enabling personalized customer
experiences, optimizing marketing strategies and automating
interactions across multiple digital touchpoints to ensure
consistency and efficiency. From extended reality applications
like virtualreality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)to wearable
technology, the realm of fully digital solutions presents
substantialpotential for brands.
However, many marketers still perceive these technologies
as mere “gimmicks”designed to attrac t attention or capitalize
on novelty. This perspective overlooks the opportunity to
integrate these technologies into a comprehensive omni-
digital customer journey for products and brands. Instead of
treating digital technologiesas isolated tools with limited
value, an omni-digital approach would seamlessly connect
various digital touchpoints, enhancing the customer journey
in meaningful and engaging ways and ultimately enhancing
the value of products and brands.
An omni-digital approach refers to the interconnectivity of
the variety of digital touchpoints offered by brands to their
customers and users. Thus, omni-digital marketing can be
conceptualized as a holistic and integrated approach that
leverages the full spectrum of digital technologies and
platforms –such as AI, extended real ity, wearables and more –
to create a seamless and cohesive cu stomer experience. While
this term has begun to emerge in industry (e.g. Rio, 2019),
academic literature appears to treat digital touchpoints more
broadly, as part of omni-channel marketing (e.g. Cai and
Choi, 2023;Calvo et al.,2023;Confetto et al.,2020;Gillison
et al., 2021;Hayes and Kelliher, 2022). Inprinciple, the
omni-digital concept is akin to the omni-channel concept,
which involves a similarly integrated and ostensibly seamless
experience. However, unlike traditional omni-channel
strategies, which often treat digital and physical channels
separately, omni-digital marketing views all digital
touchpoints as interconnected components of a unified digital
ecosystem. We provide a diagramof omni-digital marketing in
Figure 1, which features an extensive, albeit non-exhaustive,
list of digital solutions to be integrated by brand s.
An omni-digital approach provides customers with the
opportunity to communicate wit h brands at any time without
experiencing temporal, geographical or logistical constraints.
The interconnectivity of digitaltouchpoints and interaction
platforms has made the circulation of information possible,
contributing to seamless interactions between customers and
brands. With the proliferation ofdigital touchpoints and
growing consumer preferences for digital interactions, driven
by the convenience and flexibility they offer, omni-digital is
increasingly embraced by companies, especially in service-
oriented industries such as banking and insurance (Rio,
2019). By doing so, brands can better meet the evolving
expectations of consumers, who seek not only convenience
but also a rich, immersive and coherentexperience
throughout their digital interacti ons.
Adopting an omni-digital approach is now essential rather
than optional. Thetraditional omni-channel strategyno longer
suffices as customers demand the abilityto interact with brands
across any digitalchannel with ease and expect consistent, high-
quality experiences throughout. Managing multiple channels
while ensuring a uniform experience necessitates an omni-
digital approach. In this framework, the focus shifts away from
individual “channels”to creating a channel-agnostic
environment where customer interactions with products and
brands are fluid acrossall digital touchpoints. Thus, relying on
isolated technological silos is inadequate; a cohesive omni-
digital environment must be developed to facilitate seamless
consumerinteractions throughoutthe journey.
The promise of omni-digital environments and strategies for
products and brands is immense. Take extended reality as an
example: its market growth has significantly exceeded initial
forecasts. Initially projected to reach $1.6bn USD by 2025, the
market reached $18.8bn in 2020 (Clement, 2022)andis
anticipatedto exceed $100bn USD by the end of 2026 (Statista,
2024). Even a one percentincrease in the adoption of extended
reality technology by B2C brands could generate additional
sales opportunities worth $66bn USD (XR Today, 2022).
Other digital technologies, such as smart devices enabling
access to the metaverse, show great promise for enhancing
social networking, gaming, entertainment and multisensory
experiences (Dwivedi et al., 2022a). Moreover, wearables, the
Internet of Things and AI are capturing significant attention
from marketers and consumers alike, with exponential growth
projected over the next decade (Grandview Research, 2023;
Nagl and King,2024;Watters, 2023).
Consumers and brand managers alike are increasingly
interested in omni-digital environments.A survey conducted in
late 2021 amongglobal internet users revealedthat overcoming
real-life obstacles and enhancing creativity and imagination
were viewed as theprimary benefits of the metaverse (Clement,
2022). Despite this, many marketers lack a fundamental
understanding of the “metaverse”concept and the
opportunities it presents for their brands (Barrera and Shah,
2023;Buecheler, 2022). Additionally, only 35% of small and
medium-sizedbrands had plans to incorporate extended reality
technology into their marketing strategies, underscoring the
need for strategic guidance in leveraging omni-digital
technologies effectively (Capers, 2020;Kostyk and Sheng,
2022). Numerousareas at the intersection of brandsand omni-
Thecurrentissueandfulltextarchiveofthisjournalisavailableon
Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
34/1 (2025) 1–5
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-02-2025-026]
The authors contributed equally and are listed in alphabetical order by last
name.
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