THE TRENDS REPORTJune 2016

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A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF TRENDS IN MARKETING, STORYTELLING AND DIGITAL

CULTURE LOCALLY AND ABROAD.

CREATIVITY AND A NEW

REALITY

It may sound like a broken record at this stage, but the honest truth is that the arrival of convincing virtual reality is going to fundamentally change our lived reality more than any other technological breakthrough in recent memory. So with that said, apologies in advance for what must feel like a VR inundation, but VR is quite literally going to be all around us.

Virtually overwhelming.

This Week In Virtual Reality…The days of virtual reality and 360-degree video are just beginning, but there has already been a host of campaigns that have sought to take advantage of this emerging technology.

What’s so impressive about these campaigns is how low-fi they feel. Each utilises the medium of interactive video in a unique way that doesn't require a headset, and that is memorable and relevant to the message of the campaign. It goes to show that possibly the best time to get creative with new media is before it’s even fully developed. That and apparently Russians are really into interactive video.

READ MORESource: CampaignLive

Image: Polygon

And In Other VR News…It seems virtual reality is hogging the limelight, with stories featuring the tech appearing almost daily. But perhaps marketers can use this fascination to their advantage.

Indeed, major brands are starting to jump onboard the VR bandwagon, hoping to capitalise on this surge of excitement. Most recently Etihad has used 360 video to make a real-deal commercial spot/luxury virtual reality experience to promote their new fleet. VR may still turn out to be a headache-inducing flash in the pan, but right now it’s certainly begging the question… is this the future of advertising?

READ MORESource: The Drum

Image: Colortran

And Now Unrelated to VR…Just kidding, this is about VR too. But not entirely…

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet — Google parent and the second largest company in the world by market cap — has revealed his list of tech products that he believes are going to change the world. The list includes (of course) virtual reality, fake meat, and even 3-D printed buildings. A notable omission appears to be AI, but looking at Schmidt we suspect this may be because Schmidt himself is a robot and feels it might be considered a conflict of interest to promote his own kind. But that's just conjecture.

READ MORESource: Business Insider

Image: YourNewsWire

INNOVATION AND DISRUPTION

The last few years have seen the marketing field disrupted again and again, both by evolving technology and by changing culture. What do these new times spell for marketing products and services? What will the new norms be? And what fresh challenges will we encounter?

Marketing, reimagined.

The Luxury Technology Paradox.We can all decry the ills of capitalism ravaging Silicon Valley (if we’re so inclined) but to give them some credit, the tech industry has done a great job democratising technological advancements. Sure, it may be in their best interests to make products that are accessible to the widest possible market, but as a recent article points out: “It’s mind-blowing that the iPad Pro I can buy is indistinguishable from the iPad that [billionaires own].”

What does this level technological playing field mean for the future of luxury? Is there a place for luxury in a world where everyone has access to the cutting edge?

READ MORE Source: The VergeImage: Media-tics

The Rise Of People-Based Marketing.As opposed to, you know, cake-based marketing.

But it certainly looks like the opportunity to use digital technology to increase the relevancy of media buys has been met with open arms by much of the advertising community. And it’s really kind of a no-brainer, especially when you consider that “There is simply too much technology that exists to allow for non-relevancy to continue.” Shame, that seems a little harsh — poor traditional media never hurt anybody.

READ MORE Source: ForbesImage: CMO

The Power Of Brand Diversity.Apple is nothing if not a pioneer, and where the largest company in the world has tread many have tried to follow.

But, as a recent AdAge piece points out, there is an area of marketing where no other company has really been able to mimic Apple’s success (either by a lack of intention or by a lack of ability). This is the idea of ‘multiple brands’. Al Ries, one of the Ries’s in Ries & Ries, makes a strong case for the strength of having a range of brands under one brand umbrella, as Apple does with its products. He contends that this concept is “the major marketing issue of the 21st century.” Quite a proclamation there Al.

READ MORE Source: Advertising AgeImage: Apple

MEDIA JUJITSU

Present-day media marketers need to be jugglers. Or acrobats. Or perhaps magicians is most apropos. New media best practices are in no way firmly established, especially as platforms keep changing, and the ability to stay on top of the cultural wave is perhaps the most enviable skill a media strategist can bring to bear. That and actual magic tricks.

Social media juggling extravaganza.

Not Just Pretty Pictures.Visual-based social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Snapchat are exploding right now, but how can marketers best make use of these new media opportunities?

The idea that even though these platforms are all image-based, marketers shouldn't approach them as “similar propositions” is very compelling. Each is fundamentally different and serves different audiences in different ways. Savvy marketers must understand the idiosyncrasies of each, and how best to use them. To stand on the cutting-edge, you have to have good balance.

READ MORE Source: The DrumImage: Getty

The Robots Are Coming!Community managers have a tall order when needing to stay on top of their social networking demands. To do so, social media automation has become more and more necessary to keep up with the workload. But there are some obvious constraints to using social robots, most notably that if you are using social media to connect with your customers, robots have never had the greatest interpersonal skills.

Check out the useful list linked below for some guidelines on how best to work with social media automation.

READ MORE Source: WeRSMImage: ReadWrite

The Social Spread.As we are now almost halfway through 2016 (good lord) it may seem late to get stats from 2015. But good research takes time and when analysing macro trends you want to have some good, solid research.

There are a couple of interesting tidbits from analytics company Quintly’s study, most significantly that brand posts on Facebook increased more than on any other platform in 2015. Additionally, Instagram looks to be growing quickly and has the highest engagement rate when compared to Facebook or Twitter. That’s the dish — just some food for thought.

READ MORE Source: WeRSMImage: LiveAloud

CONNECTING THE UNCONNECTED

In this age, either everything is connected, or anything can be connected. From ‘connected’ devices to connecting people across the world, to even connecting competitors, the only limitation is your imagination. So what, and how, are people connecting? What kinds of connections might we see more of that could shape the world to come?

Connecting in to out of the box.

The Most Delicious Peace Offering Ever.Now a Cannes Grand Prix winning campaign, the McWhopper out of Y&R New Zealand is a true example of out-of-the-box thinking (unless that box happens to be the one that burgers come in).

The campaign, which proposed the joining together of decades-long rivals in service to a social cause, took the world by storm and is definitely well deserving of its success. But the idea to find a common ground and connect competitors is both incredibly risky, and something more brands should maybe consider in today’s fractured world.

READ MORE Source: Campaign LiveImage: Seattle Times

Everything Can Be ‘Connected’.When even bathtub rubber ducks are now ‘connected devices’, we have truly reached a saturation point in our ‘Internet of Things’. But most of the time, the ability to connect a device improves people’s lives in myriad ways, and now furniture manufacturer Haworth proposes an entire ‘connected office’.

In a recently published white paper, the company suggests that the office of the future will be a place where “everyone likes to be”. With more and more people drawn to working remotely, perhaps the ‘connected office’ is the salvation the entire office system needs.

READ MORE Source: DezeenImage: Flickr

Like Fibre Without The Fibre.Fibre optic broadband internet is almost mythical in nature — we’ve all heard that it’s the fastest internet out there, but few of us have ever seen it or have access to it ourselves.

However, it now looks like there may be a more accessible alternative. G.Fast is a service that would offer internet connection speeds that rival those of fibre but delivered over ordinary phone lines. What! It almost sounds too good to be true, but if this technology is legit, it could revolutionise access to hyperfast internet, which is becoming increasingly necessary for a range of online services. G.Fast could be a game-changer... if only it could get here faster!

READ MORE Source: CNNImage: SigmaLive

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