The document discusses 10 trends in culture and commerce for 2015: 1) Outsourcing control to apps and services, 2) Increased use of multi-sensory experiences, 3) Technology enabling more intimacy, 4) Rise of shallow knowledge in an information-overloaded world, 5) Marketing seen more as a game by consumers, 6) Industries and products becoming more unbundled, 7) Rise of demonstrating good intentions through actions and brands, 8) New types of narratives emerging in media, 9) Conspicuous consumption now focused on intelligence rather than logos, and 10) Continued growth of digital commerce through new methods like drones and 3D printing.
In our ninth annual report, we see how consumers are both welcoming and resisting technology's growing omnipresence in our lives. For many, technology serves as a gateway to opportunity and an enabler of hyper-efficient lifestyles, but those who are most immersed are starting to question its effect on their lives and their privacy. One result is that more people are trying to find a balance and lead more mindful, in-the-moment lives.
Our forecast also puts a spotlight on the growth of immersive experiences; the accelerating shift to a visual vocabulary; the new appeal of imperfection; and the rise of telepathic technology, which will enable brands to better understand minds and moods and react in a very personalized way.
The full report-in which we cover each trend in detail, highlighting what's driving the shift, how it's manifesting and what it means for brands-is available at www.jwtintelligence.com
Y&R once again sent some of its brightest minds to the interactive portion of the annual event and here’s what they had to say about the trends at the intersection of technology and advertising, and what they mean for brands today.
The Flux Paradox - Branding at the Speed of ChangeYoung & Rubicam
Insights on how brands can build loyalty at the speed of change - By Matt Godfrey, President of Y&R Asia.
The erosion of consumer loyalty, or 'The Flux Paradox', is being driven by rapid product innovation. This dwindling brand loyalty, in Asia at least, is borne out by Y&R’s own proprietary research ‘Generation Asia’; a survey conducted by Y&R Advertising and VML, of 34,000 people across 10 countries.
This year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity touched on a range of buzzworthy topics, from artificial intelligence to new media to gender equality. Here's our roundup of key takeaways and analysis from the event.
Womenomic Luxury, Cognitive Technology, New Wave Boomer Beauty—just a few items from our Future 100 list of what’s next in the year ahead.
It’s a wide-ranging compilation that reflects developments surfacing across sectors including technology, retail, food and beverage, travel, sustainability and luxury. The list also includes new types of goods or businesses, new behaviors and ideas with the potential to ladder up to bigger trends.
Y&R Advertising sent some of its brightest minds to the SXSW Interactive Festival and here’s what they had to say about the trends at the intersection of technology, innovation, and advertising, and what they mean for brands today.
Brandhome goes to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity every year to check out the new trends, brands, technologies, meet interesting people and learn from masterminds all over the world. We gathered all our insights from 4 busy days in one handy presentation. Don't hesitate to post any additions in the comment section below.
In our ninth annual report, we see how consumers are both welcoming and resisting technology's growing omnipresence in our lives. For many, technology serves as a gateway to opportunity and an enabler of hyper-efficient lifestyles, but those who are most immersed are starting to question its effect on their lives and their privacy. One result is that more people are trying to find a balance and lead more mindful, in-the-moment lives.
Our forecast also puts a spotlight on the growth of immersive experiences; the accelerating shift to a visual vocabulary; the new appeal of imperfection; and the rise of telepathic technology, which will enable brands to better understand minds and moods and react in a very personalized way.
The full report-in which we cover each trend in detail, highlighting what's driving the shift, how it's manifesting and what it means for brands-is available at www.jwtintelligence.com
Y&R once again sent some of its brightest minds to the interactive portion of the annual event and here’s what they had to say about the trends at the intersection of technology and advertising, and what they mean for brands today.
The Flux Paradox - Branding at the Speed of ChangeYoung & Rubicam
Insights on how brands can build loyalty at the speed of change - By Matt Godfrey, President of Y&R Asia.
The erosion of consumer loyalty, or 'The Flux Paradox', is being driven by rapid product innovation. This dwindling brand loyalty, in Asia at least, is borne out by Y&R’s own proprietary research ‘Generation Asia’; a survey conducted by Y&R Advertising and VML, of 34,000 people across 10 countries.
This year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity touched on a range of buzzworthy topics, from artificial intelligence to new media to gender equality. Here's our roundup of key takeaways and analysis from the event.
Womenomic Luxury, Cognitive Technology, New Wave Boomer Beauty—just a few items from our Future 100 list of what’s next in the year ahead.
It’s a wide-ranging compilation that reflects developments surfacing across sectors including technology, retail, food and beverage, travel, sustainability and luxury. The list also includes new types of goods or businesses, new behaviors and ideas with the potential to ladder up to bigger trends.
Y&R Advertising sent some of its brightest minds to the SXSW Interactive Festival and here’s what they had to say about the trends at the intersection of technology, innovation, and advertising, and what they mean for brands today.
Brandhome goes to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity every year to check out the new trends, brands, technologies, meet interesting people and learn from masterminds all over the world. We gathered all our insights from 4 busy days in one handy presentation. Don't hesitate to post any additions in the comment section below.
In January 2016, a team of J. Walter Thompson Company researchers spent 10 days in Cuba interviewing more than 40 Cubans about their lives, the economy, and opportunities as relations with the United States improve. The result is The Promise of Cuba. Here we offer a free excerpt of the full 78-page report.
The Future 100 - trends and change to watch in 2016; cultural shifts that affect businesses and consumers alike, by the J. Walter Thompson Intelligence.
MTM - 2021 Seminar - Bright Side of Technology - Feb 2021SamuelWarner9
With lockdown shaping much of our experience in 2020 - and having a continued impact into 2021, the role of digital tools and platforms has never been more prominent. As a result, our relationship with technology - how we use it, and how we feel about it (or perhaps more importantly, how it makes us feel) is undergoing a transformation. The same digital platforms and devices we have told ourselves to detox from have become the only means of keeping in touch with others, providing us with endless entertainment and offering us community.
As we kick into 2021, we ask how brands can adapt to these changes, reaching out to displaced, remote consumers and meeting their expectation of a more positive role of tech.
Today, the word "innovation" is often overused to describe a number of lackluster things and has really become meaningless in a lot of senses. However, we were really floored when we heard that Cannes was hosting its first ever "Innovation Conference" during the 2015 Cannes Lions festival in France. We sent the Labstore team to check out the conference first-hand, and brought back 5 key takeaways we believe represent innovation, framed through the lens of retail. From robots in the retail space, to the rise of RFID technology, we saw some, what we'd call, innovative showcases.
Having participated in both SXSW and Cannes Lions Innovation festival this year, we've uncovered lots of insights on the current communications climate and have put together 9 trends which should serve as guidance for the areas to focus on in 2016.
Try to name an industry that is not threatened by tech disruption. Our 2020 vision for consumer, media and technology trends is centred in our belief that the marketplace is increasingly converging around the global tech-giant ecosystems.
Many of the trends that we will comment upon are the ripple effects of the diversification of these platforms away from their original specialism.
The more lines of business the big platforms develop the more complex they become – and the further the ripple effects travel into the economy and society.
Our driving trend for 2020 is entitled ‘Colliding Ecosystems’. It reflects the points made above about the expansion of and ultimately heightened competition between the big tech-platforms.
The digital age disrupted the music world, ushering in a new era for fans, artists, retailers and other key stakeholders. This year, we got a clearer glimpse of what the second decade of digital music will look like—and it’s quite different from the first in many ways. In our Things to Watch: Music Edition, we chart what’s changing from both a macro and micro perspective.
Carat has been producing trend reports for several years, to focus our minds on themes for the year ahead.
This year sees a big convergence between content and commerce, messaging and gaming, and ever more creative uses of data, all driven by the speed of connectivity.
Carat Trends 2021 - The Year of Emotionally Intelligent Marketingdentsu
In 1970 American writer and futurist Alvin Toffler wrote his best-selling book Future Shock. The book defined the phrase as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies brought about by a personal perception of “too much change in too short a period of time”.
2020 has undoubtedly been that year.
The world feels like a very different place to the end of the previous decade. For brands, the volatile times mean a greater need for emotional intelligence; listening and understanding how their consumers feel and helping people navigate the new world through their products, services and actions.
This year’s SXSW Interactive was bigger than ever, with over 33,000 attendees and hundreds of panels and events. Our latest report explores key themes from the ballooning festival, from innovations in sustainability to the new frontier of artificial intelligence and virtual immortality. The report features on-the-ground insights, brand examples and interviews with experts from tech and academia.
20 Trends for 2020: MTM looks to the futureNatalia Kumar
As we ring in a new decade, our team of cultural enthusiasts and industry experts has identified 20 trends that span across a diverse range of categories, including culture, tech, communications and media.
It’s only in the last few decades that cheap and easy alternatives to the post have proliferated, radically reshaping the way in which we correspond. But postal services are here to stay. We still need packages delivered, for one thing, and we’re also developing a greater appreciation for the act of sending and receiving physical mail.
“The Future of Correspondence” assesses the role of mail in the digital age, delving into the rise of “slow communication” and the fusion of digital and physical. It examines what’s driving these developments, the ways in which they’re manifesting and what they mean for marketers. The report also spotlights eight innovative direct mail campaigns and takes a look at how email is evolving, the advent of delivery lockers and new approaches to stamps and addresses.
This report is the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted by JWTIntelligence throughout the year. For this report, JWTIntelligence interviewed relevant influencers and experts, and surveyed 1,200 adults aged 18-plus in the U.S. and the U.K. from Feb. 1-4, 2013, using SONAR™, JWT’s proprietary online tool.
Download the full report at www.jwtintelligence.com
Edible Packaging, Heads-Up Movement and Haptic Technology—just a few items from our annual list of 100 Things to Watch for the year ahead.
It’s a wide-ranging compilation that reflects developments surfacing across sectors including technology, television, food and spirits, retail, health care and the arts. The list also includes new types of goods or businesses, new behaviors and ideas with the potential to ladder up to bigger trends.
Note: Please download the report for fully functioning links.
Highlights from WPP's Stream (Un)Conference 2015Young & Rubicam
The WPP Stream (Un)Conference was a mash-up of discussions on the industry's biggest challenges, demos of new potentially-disruptive technology, a pitch to solve a major world crises - and so much more!
With no agenda, no PowerPoints and no pre-determined content planned, Y&R worked with an on-site illustrator to capture the loose structure of the conversations, the honesty of the questions, and the openness of the participants.
Enjoy the highlights...and Stream On!
Every year, planners at Y&R share a roundup of today’s most interesting trends and their inherent tension. This year’s North American Trends with Tension report takes on an array of topics from privacy, wellness, and gender fluidity.
As an oil and gas distributor, we distribute to businesses in the automotive industry, commercial fleet & trucking, agricultural, manufacturing & industrial, convenience stores, and many other types of businesses.
In January 2016, a team of J. Walter Thompson Company researchers spent 10 days in Cuba interviewing more than 40 Cubans about their lives, the economy, and opportunities as relations with the United States improve. The result is The Promise of Cuba. Here we offer a free excerpt of the full 78-page report.
The Future 100 - trends and change to watch in 2016; cultural shifts that affect businesses and consumers alike, by the J. Walter Thompson Intelligence.
MTM - 2021 Seminar - Bright Side of Technology - Feb 2021SamuelWarner9
With lockdown shaping much of our experience in 2020 - and having a continued impact into 2021, the role of digital tools and platforms has never been more prominent. As a result, our relationship with technology - how we use it, and how we feel about it (or perhaps more importantly, how it makes us feel) is undergoing a transformation. The same digital platforms and devices we have told ourselves to detox from have become the only means of keeping in touch with others, providing us with endless entertainment and offering us community.
As we kick into 2021, we ask how brands can adapt to these changes, reaching out to displaced, remote consumers and meeting their expectation of a more positive role of tech.
Today, the word "innovation" is often overused to describe a number of lackluster things and has really become meaningless in a lot of senses. However, we were really floored when we heard that Cannes was hosting its first ever "Innovation Conference" during the 2015 Cannes Lions festival in France. We sent the Labstore team to check out the conference first-hand, and brought back 5 key takeaways we believe represent innovation, framed through the lens of retail. From robots in the retail space, to the rise of RFID technology, we saw some, what we'd call, innovative showcases.
Having participated in both SXSW and Cannes Lions Innovation festival this year, we've uncovered lots of insights on the current communications climate and have put together 9 trends which should serve as guidance for the areas to focus on in 2016.
Try to name an industry that is not threatened by tech disruption. Our 2020 vision for consumer, media and technology trends is centred in our belief that the marketplace is increasingly converging around the global tech-giant ecosystems.
Many of the trends that we will comment upon are the ripple effects of the diversification of these platforms away from their original specialism.
The more lines of business the big platforms develop the more complex they become – and the further the ripple effects travel into the economy and society.
Our driving trend for 2020 is entitled ‘Colliding Ecosystems’. It reflects the points made above about the expansion of and ultimately heightened competition between the big tech-platforms.
The digital age disrupted the music world, ushering in a new era for fans, artists, retailers and other key stakeholders. This year, we got a clearer glimpse of what the second decade of digital music will look like—and it’s quite different from the first in many ways. In our Things to Watch: Music Edition, we chart what’s changing from both a macro and micro perspective.
Carat has been producing trend reports for several years, to focus our minds on themes for the year ahead.
This year sees a big convergence between content and commerce, messaging and gaming, and ever more creative uses of data, all driven by the speed of connectivity.
Carat Trends 2021 - The Year of Emotionally Intelligent Marketingdentsu
In 1970 American writer and futurist Alvin Toffler wrote his best-selling book Future Shock. The book defined the phrase as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies brought about by a personal perception of “too much change in too short a period of time”.
2020 has undoubtedly been that year.
The world feels like a very different place to the end of the previous decade. For brands, the volatile times mean a greater need for emotional intelligence; listening and understanding how their consumers feel and helping people navigate the new world through their products, services and actions.
This year’s SXSW Interactive was bigger than ever, with over 33,000 attendees and hundreds of panels and events. Our latest report explores key themes from the ballooning festival, from innovations in sustainability to the new frontier of artificial intelligence and virtual immortality. The report features on-the-ground insights, brand examples and interviews with experts from tech and academia.
20 Trends for 2020: MTM looks to the futureNatalia Kumar
As we ring in a new decade, our team of cultural enthusiasts and industry experts has identified 20 trends that span across a diverse range of categories, including culture, tech, communications and media.
It’s only in the last few decades that cheap and easy alternatives to the post have proliferated, radically reshaping the way in which we correspond. But postal services are here to stay. We still need packages delivered, for one thing, and we’re also developing a greater appreciation for the act of sending and receiving physical mail.
“The Future of Correspondence” assesses the role of mail in the digital age, delving into the rise of “slow communication” and the fusion of digital and physical. It examines what’s driving these developments, the ways in which they’re manifesting and what they mean for marketers. The report also spotlights eight innovative direct mail campaigns and takes a look at how email is evolving, the advent of delivery lockers and new approaches to stamps and addresses.
This report is the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted by JWTIntelligence throughout the year. For this report, JWTIntelligence interviewed relevant influencers and experts, and surveyed 1,200 adults aged 18-plus in the U.S. and the U.K. from Feb. 1-4, 2013, using SONAR™, JWT’s proprietary online tool.
Download the full report at www.jwtintelligence.com
Edible Packaging, Heads-Up Movement and Haptic Technology—just a few items from our annual list of 100 Things to Watch for the year ahead.
It’s a wide-ranging compilation that reflects developments surfacing across sectors including technology, television, food and spirits, retail, health care and the arts. The list also includes new types of goods or businesses, new behaviors and ideas with the potential to ladder up to bigger trends.
Note: Please download the report for fully functioning links.
Highlights from WPP's Stream (Un)Conference 2015Young & Rubicam
The WPP Stream (Un)Conference was a mash-up of discussions on the industry's biggest challenges, demos of new potentially-disruptive technology, a pitch to solve a major world crises - and so much more!
With no agenda, no PowerPoints and no pre-determined content planned, Y&R worked with an on-site illustrator to capture the loose structure of the conversations, the honesty of the questions, and the openness of the participants.
Enjoy the highlights...and Stream On!
Every year, planners at Y&R share a roundup of today’s most interesting trends and their inherent tension. This year’s North American Trends with Tension report takes on an array of topics from privacy, wellness, and gender fluidity.
As an oil and gas distributor, we distribute to businesses in the automotive industry, commercial fleet & trucking, agricultural, manufacturing & industrial, convenience stores, and many other types of businesses.
BRaSS UCC - Entrepreneur of the Year Presentation 2014Peter Duffy
Presentation for the UCC Entrepreneur of the year competition 2014, created by Sean Murray. Sean secured the merit award in the competition with his Building Retrofit Support Software (BRaSS).
Quran learning for_kids-a_life_of_pietySchoolQuran
A life of piety - A lovely chapter of Quran learning for kids, ignorant are not able to differentiate between the urge to sin and sin itself. Visit:
http://www.schoolquran.com/Quran-Learning-For-Kids.php
Top Trends from SXSW Interactive 2014. The Big Roundup.Ashika Chauhan
SXSW wasn’t just about one or two pieces of new tech, what it actually felt like was a glimpse into the not-so-distant future.
Trends you might of heard of like wearables, data and the internet of things are still around, but they’re beginning to grow-up and different industries are beginning to be disrupted as a result.
More than anything, the conference instilled a sense of responsibility in me. The decisions we make today, as people, as agencies and as brands will define the future we live in tomorrow.
The deck covers the most prominent trends from this year. I'd love to hear your thoughts, say hello @ashikachauhan.
Ashika Chauhan is Big’s Digital Experience Director and is passionate about creative innovation.
What’s trending in 2015 for wearables, virtual reality, consumer technology adoption? Find out (and more!) in GSW’s third report of their 4-part annual trends series: Digital Trends. With a unique perspective on behavioral trends at the cross section of digital + health, the report outlines the top eight trends expected to change the landscape in 2015.
Liberty & Co Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity - Top 5 Trends 2014Shannon Lewis
As ever, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity was a marathon of ideas and insights. Now into its 61st year, this action packed festival, set along the French Riviera, attracted over 12,000 people from 94 countries. There was no shortage of data or points-of-view.
Liberty & Co. took a few steps back to distill for you what we found to be the key, and consistent, themes.
The world is recovering from the pandemic and adapting to new ways of life, both in changed habits and behaviours, but also new rules for businesses to navigate to continue to prosper.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Times of crisis and recession have been, in retrospect, times of enormous opportunity and innovation, and times of growth for those who make the right decisions.
Technologies and ways of working that might have seemed an interesting experiment in other times have become essential.
In this report we look at three megatrends that are helping to define the recovery, each with smaller manifestations or sub-trends, with major implications for brands.
Social Media as a Force Multiplier for the Travel IndustryMarc Lefton
This is a modified version of the keynote presentation I gave at the ATCA travel conference in Aruba, 4/2011. Includes more bullet points on visual slides and I removed case studies which need explanation.
An excerpt from a presentation I have been giving to various Digitas teams and clients, these slides walk through 6 emerging media trends that marketers need to be aware of and think about today. There are of course more than 6 trends to watch, but these 6 give marketers some food for thought. Other portions of this presentation (not shared) lay out the social media landscape, the current state of mobile, gaming and personalization, brand content creation and distribution, etc.
Retail is changing fast. Customers are embracing digital and behaving in more complex and challenging ways. They are shopping everywhere and at any time. They research and compare. They want to make their own versions of the product. They want to know how things are made.
Companies need to start tailoring people retail experiences.
A co-creation with Maria Lumiaho, at Futurice.
Retail is changing fast. Customers are embracing digital and behaving in more complex and challenging ways. They are shopping everywhere and at any time. They research and compare. They want to make their own versions of the product. They want to know how things are made.
Companies need to start tailoring people's retail experiences.
Presented at Service Design Drinks Helsinki, 14.2.2015.
Curiosity Stop Special: Techcrunch Disrupt 2016We Are Social
Techcrunch Disrupt is where some of the world’s most game-changing technologies and tech innovations are first revealed. Didn’t get a chance to go? Fear not. We've identified six of the most interesting themes and talks from this year to keep you in the know of what’s going to be big over the coming months.
Similar to Culture vulture trends_report_2015 (20)
5 big bets to drive growth in 2024 without one additional marketing dollar AND how to adapt to the biggest shifting eCommerce trend- AI.
1) Romance Your Customers - Retention
2) ‘Alternative’ Lead Gen - Advocacy
3) The Beautiful Basics - Conversion Rate Optimization
4) Land that Bottom Line - Profitability
5) Roll the Dice - New Business Models
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
Everyone knows the power of stories, but when asked to come up with them, we struggle. Either we second guess ourselves as to the story's relevance, or we just come up blank and can't think of any. Unlocking Everyday Narratives: The Power of Storytelling in Marketing will teach you how to recognize stories in the moment and to recall forgotten moments that your audience needs to hear.
Key Takeaways:
Understand Why Personal Stories Connect Better
How To Remember Forgotten Stories
How To Use Customer Experiences As Stories For Your Brand
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
Core Web Vitals SEO Workshop - improve your performance [pdf]Peter Mead
Core Web Vitals to improve your website performance for better SEO results with CWV.
CWV Topics include:
- Understanding the latest Core Web Vitals including the significance of LCP, INP and CLS + their impact on SEO
- Optimisation techniques from our experts on how to improve your CWV on platforms like WordPress and WP Engine
- The impact of user experience and SEO
Monthly Social Media News Update May 2024Andy Lambert
TL;DR. These are the three themes that stood out to us over the course of last month.
1️⃣ Social media is becoming increasingly significant for brand discovery. Marketers are now understanding the impact of social and budgets are shifting accordingly.
2️⃣ Instagram’s new algorithm and latest guidance will help us maintain organic growth. Instagram continues to evolve, but Reels remains the most crucial tool for growth.
3️⃣ Collaboration will help us unlock growth. Who we work with will define how fast we grow. Meta continues to evolve their Creator Marketplace and now TikTok are beginning to push ‘collabs’ more too.
The Forgotten Secret Weapon of Digital Marketing: Email
Digital marketing is a rapidly changing, ever evolving industry--Influencers, Threads, X, AI, etc. But one of the most effective digital marketing tools is also one of the oldest: Email. Find out from two Houston-based digital experts how to maximize your results from email.
Key Takeaways:
Email has the best ROI of any digital tactic
It can be used at any stage of the customer journey
It is increasingly important as the cookie-less future gets closer and closer
Digital Commerce Lecture for Advanced Digital & Social Media Strategy at UCLA...Valters Lauzums
E-commerce in 2024 is characterized by a dynamic blend of opportunities and significant challenges. Supply chain disruptions and inventory shortages are critical issues, leading to increased shipping delays and rising costs, which impact timely delivery and squeeze profit margins. Efficient logistics management is essential, yet it is often hampered by these external factors. Payment processing, while needing to ensure security and user convenience, grapples with preventing fraud and integrating diverse payment methods, adding another layer of complexity. Furthermore, fulfillment operations require a streamlined approach to handle volume spikes and maintain accuracy in order picking, packing, and shipping, all while meeting customers' heightened expectations for faster delivery times.
Amid these operational challenges, customer data has emerged as an important strategy. By focusing on personalization and enhancing customer experience from historical behavior, businesses can deliver improved website and brand experienced, better product recommendations, optimal promotions, and content to meet individual preferences. Better data analytics can also help in effectively creating marketing campaigns, improving customer retention, and driving product development and inventory management.
Innovative formats such as social commerce and live shopping are beginning to impact the digital commerce landscape, offering new ways to engage with customers and drive sales, and may provide opportunity for brands that have been priced out or seen a downturn with post-pandemic shopping behavior. Social commerce integrates shopping experiences directly into social media platforms, tapping into the massive user bases of these networks to increase reach and engagement. Live shopping, on the other hand, combines entertainment and real-time interaction, providing a dynamic platform for showcasing products and encouraging immediate purchases. These innovations not only enhance customer engagement but also provide valuable data for businesses to refine their strategies and deliver superior shopping experiences.
The e-commerce sector is evolving rapidly, and businesses that effectively manage operational challenges and implement innovative strategies are best positioned for long-term success.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
First Things First: Building and Effective Marketing Strategy
Too many companies (and marketers) jump straight into activation planning without formalizing a marketing strategy. It may seem tedious, but analyzing the mindset of your targeted audiences and identifying the messaging points most likely to resonate with them is time well spent. That process is also a great opportunity for marketers to collaborate with sales leaders and account managers on a galvanized go-to-market approach. I’ll walk you through the methods and tools we use with our clients to ensure campaign success.
Key Takeaways:
-Recognize the critical role of strategy in marketing
-Learn our approach for building an actionable, effective marketing strategy
-Receive templates and guides for developing a marketing strategy
For too many years marketing and sales have operated in silos...while in some forward thinking companies, the two organizations work together to drive new opportunity development and revenue. This session will explore the lessons learned in that beautiful dance that can occur when marketing and sales work together...to drive new opportunity development, account expansion and customer satisfaction.
No, this is not a conversation about MQLs and SQLs. Instead we will focus on a framework that allows the two organizations to drive company success together.
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
3. THE TRENDS
OUTSOURCING CONTROL1
SENSORIALISM2
INTERNET-ENABLED INTIMACY3
AGE OF SHALLOW KNOWLEDGE4
MARKETING IS A GAME5
UNBUNDLED6
RISE OF GOOD INTENTIONS7
NEW NARRATIVES8
THE NEW CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION9
LONG TAIL OF COMMERCE10
p. 4
p. 8
p. 12
p. 15
p. 19
p. 23
p. 27
p. 30
p. 34
p. 37
5. Many of us know that controlling our impulses is key to our success in life - from
navigating the side of fries to shutting off Facebook to get some work done. The
digital age has made self-control even harder – with the likes of Facebook,
Twitter and Youtube giving us more ways to while away the hours when we
could be doing something more productive. And with smartphones, we can be
distracted anytime, anywhere.
6. 6
But technology isn’t just the problem, it’s also increasingly the solution. Apps
like Moments and Offtime help consumers measure and manage distracting
smartphone usage. The Acorns app helps consumers save money by rounding
every purchase up to the nearest dollar, and invests the difference in low-cost ETFs.
The iBag is a programmable handbag that prevents you from accessing your wallet
at certain times of the day, and in certain locations. And products like Sproutling,
Kuduso, and Pawtrack all help outsource management of family members (from
babies, to kids, to pets).
Sprouting
iBag Vessyl
Kuduso Paw Track
7. 7
Consumers are looking to brands to help them outsource control. The percent
of Americans who agree that “I would like a trusted company to help simplify my daily
life” has increased from 31% in 2012 to 42% today.
% AGREE “I WOULD LIKE A TRUSTED COMPANY TO
HELP SIMPLIFY MY DAILY LIFE”
SOURCE: MINDSHARE’S MINDREADER
2012
31%
2013
36%
2014
42%
9. With fragmented audiences and increased multi-tasking, consumer attention is
harder to come by. One solution is to create more multi-sensorial experiences -
psychologists have found that using more of our senses increases engagement
and memory of content.
10. 10
Technology is providing new canvases for such multi-sensorial experiences. The
most obvious recent examples are virtual reality and 4D. Both Nissan and Dos
Equis have both recently used Oculus Rift to create new experiences with their
products and advertising. Volvo recently created a virtual reality experience with
Google Cardboard (which turns smartphones into virtual reality machines) for
the launch of its new SUV. And both Marriot and Ralph Lauren have recently
created 4D experiences to engage consumers.
Marriott “Teleporter” Ralph Lauren “4D Catwalk”
Nissan “Chase the Thrill” Dos Equis
“Most Interesting Man”
Volvo Google Cardboard
11. 11
“Station to Station” Project
Homeland vibrating mobile ads
Drone Painting, Ars
Electronica Futurelab
Sonos, NYC
In the same way Andy Warhol combined art and commercialism to create a new
movement in modern art, technology is combining with the senses to give new
palettes for creative media. The opportunity for brands is to use these palettes
to create new ways to stimulate consumer senses.
In addition, technology is creating new ways to stimulate the senses individually. These
include Levis placing video installations on trains, drones that paint light
pictures in the sky, British Airways pairing their food menu with music (to
help improve the taste experience at 35,000 feet), and Homeland launching the
fourth season with vibrating in-app ads.
13. A combination of consumers feeling safer in the world, Millennial trust, and
more digitally connection has helped technology fuel more intimacy between
strangers and friends alike.
14. 14
The rise of the sharing economy continues. In a similar vein to AirBnB, the
startup Eatwith brings strangers together for dining experiences. EatWith
provides a marketplace that connects diners and hosts, creating a unique social
experience where guests get to know one another while also eating an authentic,
home-cooked meal.
Technology itself is opening up new routes to intimacy. Apple’s new iWatch
will enable users to share their heartbeats, the artist Daniel Sher has created a
number of technologies that enable people to physically share their feelings at
a distant (e.g. blowing a kiss), and the T.Jacket is a jacket that hugs its wearer
and can be controlled remotely – designed specifically for mothers of autistic
children in mind.
Brands should look to how they facilitate or create consumer intimacy with technology
in creative ways.
Apple iWatch “Heartbeat” Daniel Sher, “Saying Things That
Can’t Be Said”
T.Jacket
16. As the amount of daily content increases, our ability to read, watch and listen
to everything we want to gets harder. At the same time the pressure to know
what’s going on is increasing. A third of Americans agree ‘I feel a pressure to
stay up to date, but I don’t have time to read all the articles I want’.
17. 17
To cope we skim the surface. For example we’ll read a headline and the first
couple of paragraphs of a story, then move on. 47% of Americans ‘prefer to
browse the headlines rather than read detailed information’. We’ll pick relevant
pieces of information from Facebook, Twitter or emailed news alerts and then
regurgitate them. And new tools like The Skimm are helping us do this. As the
New York Times points out, ‘it’s never been so easy to pretend to know so much
without actually knowing anything’.
“I PREFER TO BROWSE HEAD-
LINES RATHER THAN READ
DETAILED INFORMATION”
47%
SOURCE: MINDREADER
18. 18
We’re living in an age of shallow knowledge where brands need to keep
things to the point, and where there’s an opportunity to give consumers the
toplines they need to navigate the world of content and information.
20. Many consumers have always understood how marketing works. However, with
the explosion of new marketing tactics and the pressure to grab consumer
attention in a fragmented media environment, marketing feels more like a game
now than ever.
21. 21
Consumers generally feel less interested in ads. The percent of consumers who
agree “advertising helps me learn about the products companies have to offer”
has decreased from 52% in 2005 to 41% today. And 66% of consumers agree
that they “feel like I’m always being marketed to”.
Tactics like retargeting and native advertising, though effective, only highlight
the new ways the game is played, with savvy consumers on the lookout for ways
in which to play the game to their advantage. For example, knowing that there
may be patterns in travel companies’ dynamic pricing, 47% of consumers have
tried to “purchase travel tickets on days when I believe prices are lower”. And
31% of consumers say “when shopping online, I’ll intentionally leave items in a
“shopping basket” in hopes of receiving a discount from the store (e.g. via email,
or in an online ad)”.
31%
23%
74%
62%
52%
41%
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
%
Adults
Agree
I
o/en
read
ads
in
magazines
just
out
of
curiosity
I
like
television
commercials
that
make
me
laugh
AdverEsing
helps
me
learn
about
the
products
companies
have
to
offer
SOURCE: SIMMONS
22. 22
As a reaction, going forward we may see more examples of companies looking
to help consumers step out of the game. Recent examples include the anti-Face-
book service Ello, and the data privacy company Disconnect.
As a brand be aware that some consumers will understand how the marketing
game works, and will either be put off by it, or play it to their advantage.
Ello
Disconnect
24. As consumers continue to expect more tools, products and services tailored to
their needs, industries continue to follow suit.
25. 25
Content is unbundling in the media space. Following Netflix’s success, the cable
networks HBO and CBS are both setting up digital streaming services available
to non-cable customers – a potential start in the unbundling of cable content.
And Amazon has been unbundling TV show production, allowing consumers to
vote on pilots they want to see turned into full series.
In the technology space, Google’s modular phone prototype that consumers can
swap out pieces of (like the camera) is moving forwards, and Tesla is opening up
its patents to companies who want to use them in good faith – a move to encourage
a step change in the electric car space.
Google’s Modular Phone
HBO GO CBS All Access
26. 26
Finally, we see the effect unbundling has had in the QSR space. McDonalds’
recent sales decline has been attributed in part to the customizable options
offered by companies like Chipotle, and the new Taco Bell ordering app
that enables customers to customize the ingredients in their orders.
As a brand consider how unbundling affects your industry, and how you can be
an early mover if appropriate.
Taco Bell Mobile Ordering App
28. We know from psychological research that as humans we are notoriously
obsessed with the intentions of others. Gossip (which takes up around 60% of
our day-to-day conversations) is all about helping us understand the reputations
and intentions of others – so we know who to befriend and who to avoid.
29. 29
In a social media age where our ability to build and maintain friendships is on
full display, showing our intentions is even more important. Things like the ice
bucket challenge, #givingtuesday, and Movember all help to raise money and
awareness for important causes, but also give consumers a way to communicate
to the world that they care and that their intentions are noble.
Brands themselves are often chosen on their intentions – especially among highly
social and socially connected Millennials. Toms Shoes, Whole Foods, Chipotle
and Starbucks are all examples of these types of brands. If you want to show
that you have good intentions as a brand, showing you support your employees
is the number one thing you can do as a brand to show you care, followed by
following through on promises, and putting people over profits.
Ice Bucket Challenge #givingtuesday Movember
Starbucks offering up free college courses to employees
via Arizona State University
Toms – helps people
31. Digital media and a changing consumer mindset have given rise to new ways to
tell stories with content.
32. 32
A smarter more educated consumer means that a market for shows and content
with substance has grown. For example, Short of The Week, a site dedicated to
showing a new, smart short movie every week. Game of Thrones has spurred a
number of mash ups – from “Simpsons” artist Adrien Noterdaem visualizing
the entire cast in the famous yellow, Simpsons form, to The Bleacher Report
creating The Game of Zones - a blending Game of Thrones characters and themes
with the context of the NBA Playoffs.
Short of the Week The Game of Zones
33. 33
Different narrative approaches have been trending too – from the shifting
character perspectives in the movie Gone Girl and the TV show The Affair, to the
recent ‘choose your own adventure’ executions by Honda and Philips.
Finally there have been interesting creative uses of existing media inventory.
Virgin America produced its 6 hour pre-roll ‘ad’ called Blah Airlines which
followed minute-by-minute the apparently tedious experience of flying from
the east to west coast on a competitor airline. And the comedy short Too Many
Cooks became a viral hit after appearing in the ‘dead’ infomercial timeslot at
4am ET in October.
Virgin America “Blah Airlines”: 6 hour preroll Adult Swim “Too Many Cooks”: 4 AM
35. Consumers are changing how and what they say about themselves with the
products and brands they buy. As Tommy Hilfiger and Abercrombie and Fitch
have found out in recent years, the appetite for wearing big logos is waning.
36% of US consumers say they dislike wearing brand logos of any kind.
36. 36
The logo-less movement relies more on other cues about the product consumers
are using. For example, in the fashion space Lily Pulitzer and Salvator Ferragamo
are recognizable from the patterns they use – and you have to be in-the-know to
notice them.
To this end, we see a trend towards being conspicuous about how smart you are.
For example, interest in brands like Tesla and products like craft beer have been
increasing, and many of the new wearables play to consumers’ desire to show
their tech savviness.
If you’re a brand that consumers buy to display their identity, then you may need
to consider whether you’re part of the new conspicuous consumption trends.
Athos fitness Intel and 50 Cent Smartwatches
38. Over the past few years there’s been an explosion in mobile payment products
and services. Though still not the dominant transaction method for many
purchases, there have been pockets of success. For example, the Starbucks
app continues to rise in popularity as does the money transaction service
Venmo. Instagram and Twitter both allow consumers to purchase off the
service, and though Apple Pay hasn’t taken off yet, many expect an upsurge in
usage this year or next.
39. 39
Outside of payments, commerce is changing in other ways. Google recently
announced ‘Project Wing’ – a drone delivery service that competes with the
potential Amazon drone service – as well as expanding their shopping delivery
service, Google Express, to more cities and merchants. Amazon themselves have
announced a 3D printing store for consumers to customize a set catalogue of
products.
Finally, in the new world of digital commerce consumers seem unaffected by the
recent spate of data hacks among the likes of Target, eBay and Home Depot.
The assumption may be that their banks and credit card companies have got
their backs.
Commerce is changing, slowly but surely. As a brand, ensure you’re keeping up
with the next step change in this space.
Google ‘Project Wing’ Google Express
40. Team
AIMEE GOLDFARB
ALEXIS FRAGALE
AMANDA DEMAURO
ANQI ZHU
ASHLEY FITZGERALD
CATHERINE O’BRIEN
GRACELYN BATEMAN
JAMIE KHOO
MALU BONJANOVICH
MARK POTTS
TIFFANY JACKSON