This document provides a summary of trends in marketing, storytelling, and digital culture from February 2015. It discusses emerging trends and innovations related to augmentation, healthcare technologies, ecommerce, data and privacy, social media, experiential marketing, brand storytelling, and the use of virtual reality in both entertainment and storytelling. Specific companies and projects are mentioned as examples within each trend topic.

1. THETRENDSREPORT
February 2015
Proudly brought to you by NATIVE VML

2. AMONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF TRENDS INMARKETING,
STORYTELLINGANDDIGITALCULTURELOCALLYANDABROAD.

3. AUGMENTATION

4. Fan engagement of
the future.
As devices begin to perceive and process
information like humans, a new world of
possibility opens for brands to engage with
audiences. Robotic and haptic technology
now deliver tactile experiences to connect
people, and brands.

5. Wearable Tech that bring fans closer to the action.
Foxtel’s ‘Alert Shirt’ uses wearable technology to collect real time data that enables fans to feel what the
players experience during the game.
READ MORE

6. Re-imagining the
musical experience.
The power of virtual reality technology
promises to disrupt various industries. The
ability to enhance the sense of presence
makes it an exciting medium for live action
musical concerts.

7. Multi-sensory concerts through virtual
reality.
Acclaimed Director, Chris Milk, launched his
latest project - Hello, Again , which uses
Oculus Rift to create one of the most
interactive concert experiences yet. Building a
spherical, rotating stage for musician Beck,
‘Album of the Year’ winner at 2015 Grammy’s,
to perform on. The concert was filmed using a
specialised 360° camera and audio rig for
recording spherical video and binaural audio
from multiple points.
READ MORE

8. Virtual reality penetrating the mass market.
The Paul McCartney / Google cardboard app,
is a fully immersive virtual reality playback of
the former Beatles' performance of Live and
Let Die. The app allows viewers to watch the
show from various perspectives be it from the
audience, backstage or right next to the artist.
READ MORE

9. INNOVATION

10. Healthcare is increasingly moving away from
being reactive and episodic to becoming pre-
emptive and preventative, thereby
empowering consumers to manage and
monitor their own health.
Healthcare in your
hands.

11. Smart pen checks if you’re getting enough vitamins.
Vitastiq is a handheld device that combines data and the benefits of acupuncture, to allow
anyone to track their bodies’ vitamin and mineral levels.
READ MORE

12. Beyond monitoring, the future of
wearables.
Thync has positioned itself at the
intersection of neuroscience and consumer
technology. Through neurosignaling the
device allows users to alter their mood.
Solutions like this pave the way for treating
chronic behavioural conditions, including
sleep disorders, stress and depression
without the unwanted side effects of
prescription drugs.
READ MORE

13. Until now, ecommerce has lacked instant
gratification. The challenge remains to
continually shorten the delivery process. The
future of online retail lies in utilising existing
data to determine future consumer purchases
to appropriately cater to even the most
specific of needs.
Pro-active
ecommerce
experiences.

14. Having been awarded an anticipatory shipping
patent, Amazon has since launched the Prime
Now app. Customers can make purchases
and complete orders based on an hourly-
based delivery system.
The Confirmed app by Adidas allows sneaker
fans to wait in a virtual line for coveted limited
edition shoes. Users are sent push
notifications of special offers specific to their
geographic zone.

15. MOBILE, DATA AND
SOCIAL

16. The obsession around the need to measure
and quantify continues to grow. The
functionalities of wearables are allowing
people to tap into their most personal habits,
and potentially transform even the most basic
social interactions.
The quantification of
everything.

17. Understanding employee activity with real-time data.
The Sociometric Badge is a wearable device capable of measuring the amount of face-to-face interaction,
conversational and physical activity using signals from vocal features & body motion. It allows
organisations to measure individual and collective behaviour patterns.
READ MORE

18. While mainstream wearables tend to track
and monitor our general health and well-
being, the Pplkpr app quantifies
relationships. Combining the measurements
of a user's biometric data with their social
interactions, the app manages, optimises
and then filters their social relations.
READ MORE

19. Today’s consumers transact online assuming
a high level of trust and transparency, but
major hacking incidents in 2014, have brought
data security and privacy concerns to the fore.
As consumers demand more personalised
experiences, the current systems are unable
to deliver on their expectations of privacy.
The expectations of
privacy.

20. Providing peace of mind with a single online verification tool
ThisIsMe helps distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent users. Linking users’ banking and social
accounts, the platform provides a third party validation for all future transactions.
READ MORE

21. By 2020, the amount of digital information in
existence will have grown from 3.2 zettabytes
today to 40 zettabytes. With every like, click,
photo share, blog post and transaction,
consumers are provided compelling insights
into who they are. Yet despite the intrinsic
value of user-generated content, established
users are not receiving value for what they are
creating.
Examining social
media value.

22. Connecting content creators with brands.
Consumers, particularly Millennials, are
increasingly starting to think of themselves
as brands, curating their online image and
monetising it through social media and
micro-retail platforms. Tumblr announced the
Creatrs network, which connects artists to
content platforms and advertisers.
READ MORE

23. MARKETINGATTHE
SPEED OF
CULTURE

24. In our ever-changing digital culture, there is a
growing demand for brands to be braver.
Integrating low-risk, playful experimentation
and exploration into campaign strategies can
enhance the brand vision, while creating
meaningful and exciting consumer
experiences.
Playful marketing.

25. The Ice Bucket Challenge inspired people
to raise awareness of ALS by creating
compelling content around a fairly simple
concept; dunking yourself with a bucket of
ice water, then nominating friends and
family via social media to keep the cycle
going.
Combine the thrill of a simple challenge and
the emotional resonance of a deserving
cause and you have a campaign that will be
hard to replicate, proving just how powerful
earned media can be.
READ MORE

26. IKEA prides itself in being an innovative brand
that is able to identify opportunity in unusual
places. Using Instagram to build their web
based catalogue, IKEA PS 2014, IKEA
created an account that functions much like a
website, using the tagging feature to link
products.
Something
hacking
IKEA
READ MORE

27. Society is experiencing fundamental cultural
shifts due to the speed of change and
technological innovation. Consumers now
have a growing appetite for new experiences,
not new products. Winning marketing
strategies need to create carefully crafted,
personal and immersive experiences.
Experiences over
products.

28. Connecting with consumers at the
greatest moment of impact.
Special digital editions of James Patterson’s
novel, Private Vegas gave readers 24 hours
to finish, before it disappeared. Readers
were able to see hours wind down and
simultaneously steal time from other readers
through social media.
Similarly the Magnum Pleasure pop-up
store in Johannesburg and Cape Town
allowed customers to design their own
perfect Magnum ice-cream.

29. STORYTELLING

30. Stories are a powerful and dynamic force,
justifying the status quo or acting as a catalyst
for change. For consumers demanding more
honesty from brands, the notion of brand
purpose is hugely important. Brands are
increasingly initiating the hard conversations
about our realities and moving towards
genuine storytelling.
Brand honesty.

31. With millions of views worldwide, the Like a
Girl video from Always is changing
perceptions of what it means to be a girl.
Further illustrating P&G’s commitment to
female positive brands.
A candid Instagram post of fathers braiding
their children’s hair turned a gay black couple
into an internet sensation and the stars of
Nikon’s IAMGENERATION IMAGE campaign.
And while these campaigns might not be the
most original, they provide a much needed
platform to widen the spectrum of
representation in mainstream media.

32. Increasingly, all entertainment is becoming
grassroots-led and putting consumers centre
stage. The power of virtual reality allows story
makers and marketers alike, to engage
audiences through captivating, first person
interactions and narratives.
Virtual reality meets
storytelling.

33. Bridging the gap between art, technology
and storytelling.
Facebook-owned Oculus VR is expanding
beyond gaming and setting up the Studio
Story division, dedicated to virtual reality
filmmaking.
In trying to overcome the problems associated
with oil fields in deep waters, GE (General
Electric) and Oculus Rift partnered to create a
3D virtual exhibit of an oil factory on a seabed.
The headsets mimic GE's subsea oil
technology, that collects and discovers gas
and oil deposits in the ocean.
READ MORE

34. WE ARE NATIVE VML