The document outlines trends expected to emerge in 2015, focusing on climate change awareness, changing dietary habits, and the tension between governmental regulation and innovation in industries like ride-sharing and accommodation. It highlights key initiatives such as Skype's campaign on climate change, the documentary 'Fed Up' on sugar consumption, and Amazon's new one-hour delivery service. Additionally, it discusses the growth of Instagram for brands, crowdfunding insurance trials by Indiegogo, and the online release strategy for the film 'The Interview,' emphasizing a shift in consumer engagement and business practices.

1. Trends for 2015
photo: Bonita S
PEOPLE’S INSIGHTS MONTHLY BRIEF: DECEMBER

2. Every month we look at a couple of inspiring initiatives to track how
brands and organizations are engaging with people in the conversation
age. This month, we picked new initiatives that are indicative of
larger trends that will unfold over 2015.
We’re seeing campaigns from people, activists, brands and
governments to change the way we consume – live, shop, eat and
engage. Technologies are maturing and governments are trying to
shape the new world, with quite some friction between the two.
Overall, there’s a demand that brands and tech companies behave
more responsibly.
Here’s an overview of what to expect in 2015:
• Stories about Climate Change. Skype opened the gates with its
story about Kiribati, an island that could be one of the first victims
of rising sea levels. 2015 will be filled with demonstrations, stories
and pledges of action as governments convene to create a new
agreement on climate at the UN’s COP21 next December.

3. • “Eat less. Move more.” gets replaced with “Eat different.” In
earlier issues of People’s Insights, we covered initiatives by the US
and UK governments to tackle the growing epidemic of obesity.
Now a new documentary, “Fed Up,” urges people to reduce their
consumption of sugar.
• Governments ‘versus’ Innovation. Governments worldwide have
been criticized for taking action against companies like Uber and
Airbnb… but are simultaneously expected to safeguard people’s
safety, privacy, jobs and the larger economy. As this continues in
2015, can governments overcome the perception of being ‘anti-
innovation’ and be seen as ‘shaping a better future’?
• One-hour delivery. Amazon just announced one-hour delivery for
Prime members in parts of New York, with plans to expand to more
cities in 2015. Other retailers will have little choice but to offer
similar services.
• More brands on Instagram. Instagram recently announced it has
more than 300 million monthly active users, surpassing Twitter’s
284 million. The platform can certainly be used for major brand
activations, and we expect more brands to get on Instagram in
2015.

4. • Insurance for crowdfunding. Crowdfunding platform Indiegogo is
testing a new feature – people can purchase insurance on projects
they choose to fund. Will this sense of security encourage more
people to back projects, with higher investments?
• Digital releases for movies. With theatre chains shying away from
Sony’s The Interview, the studio decided to releasethe movie at
independent theatres - and online. Online sales totaled an
impressive $15 million in the first few days. Can we expect more
digital releases of blockbuster movies?
Let us know what you think at @PeoplesLab on Twitter. We look
forward to your feedback and comments, and hope you enjoy this
issue.
Nidhi Makhija-Chimnani
Director – Research and Insights, MSLGROUP

5. • Skype’s Turning the Tide
• Fed Up
• Governments ‘versus’ Innovation
• Amazon Prime Now
• Instagram’s 300 million
• Indiegogo’s Insurance Trial
• The Interview
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6. South Bend Voice on Flickr
2015 will be a significant year for
the movement to address climate
change. This past September, over
300,000 people participated in
the People’s Climate March in New
York, demonstrating to
governments and corporations
that climate change is high on
their priorities. The last few
months have also seen world
leaders and lawmakers proceed in
their negotiations to find an
agreement that governments can
sign at the next UN conference on
climate change (COP 21) in
December 2015.
We expect more companies and
brands to join the conversation,
to announce their support for the
movement or highlight their
efforts to protect the
environment.

7. together.skype.com/en-us/kiribati
A great example is Skype, which
shared a powerful story of island
nation Kiribati which is on the
“front line” of climate change. In a
video called “Turning the Tide,”
Skype follows journalist Anna
Therese Day and photographer
Gianluca Panella as they
investigate the effects of higher
sea levels on the people of Kiribati
and the government’s dual efforts
to preserve the islands and
relocate the population.
The connect to the brand? Skype
helps Day and Panella, a “modern
mobile news team,” “get to the
heart of the story quickly.”
Simple, subtle, powerful.
 Watch the video
 Follow the duo’s coverage of
Kiribati on CNN and Mashable

8. fedupmovie.com
Obesity and diabetes rates
continue to increase globally.
According to WHO, 1.4 billion
adults (2008) and 42 million
children (2013) are overweight or
obese, and 347 million people
worldwide have diabetes (2011).
Anti-obesity programs launched by
governments and the food &
fitness industries usually revolve
around eating less or moving
more. A new documentary, Fed
Up, argues that the problem lies
in what people are eating and
targets sugar consumption.

9. Fed Up makes a dramatic impression, throwing facts, numbers and
simple-to-understand visuals at audiences. It also features prominent
figures – the executive producers are American TV host Katie Couric
(who also narrates the film) and Laurie David who also produced An
Inconvenient Truth. The film also includes a brief interview with Bill
Clinton.
The trailer has received 5 million views on YouTube; and 90,000 likes,
960,000 shares and 15,000 comments on Facebook. It has received
high ratings on IMDB and Amazon, and conversations around the film
on social media reveal that it’s making people scrutinize the sugar
content of the food they’re consuming. On the documentary’s website
itself, 55,000 people have pledged to go sugar free for 10 days.
LA Weekly’s Amy Nicholson predicts that “Fed Up is poised to be
the Inconvenient Truth of the health movement.”
 Watch the trailer

10. It’s increasingly common to hear people complain that governments
are slow, archaic and ‘anti-innovation,’ especially when the
conversation turns to legal action against ‘new age’ companies like
Uber and Airbnb. Uber users tout the convenience of the mobile app,
availability of Uber rides and occasional freebies (water, magazines,
mints etc.). Airbnb users highlight the wide range of affordable
accommodation and community feel, and Airbnb hosts appreciate the
added income (in some cases their primary income).
Governments are not so thrilled.
Apart from complaints by taxi unions and hoteliers, they also have to
consider public safety and legal & economic implications. For
example, many city and national governments have acted against
Uber for non-compliance with license regulations, unfair competition
and insufficient background checks. The list includes cities in the
U.S., Brazil and India, and the countries Belgium, France, Germany,
Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Colombia and Canada. Airbnb users, on the
other hand, tend to get in trouble for breaking local laws, rental
agreements, insurance terms and even tax collection.
City Hall San Francisco Rally for Passing
the Airbnb Law (photo: Kevin Kreji)

11. The way the two companies (are perceived to) have responded is
vastly different. Uber’s position is that governments must update their
laws to cope with current technologies. Airbnb is more collaborative,
publishing studies about the benefit of Airbnb on local communities
and negotiating arrangements with governments. For example, Airbnb
now collects taxes on rentals in Portland, San Francisco and
Amsterdam, and is working to simplify local renting laws.
Governments do benefit from some press in their favour, but don’t
seem to have sufficiently addressed the accusation that they are
“anti-innovation.” As Airbnb and Uber use online petitions to rally the
pro-sharing economy audience, governments may have to start taking
control of the way they are perceived.
airbnbnyc.com,
action.uber.org/illinois

12. Same-day delivery has picked up in the last few years, with same-day
services offered by Amazon, Google, eBay, Walmart and startups like
Instacart, in select cities. The companies typically offer their own
range of goods and have partnered with chains (like eBay has) or local
stores and restaurants (like Amazon has) to provide people with daily
essentials, groceries, electronics and more.
People pay a fixed amount or subscribe to a service to qualify for the
speedy delivery. But critics doubt the services create a profit, let
alone break even. In fact, eBay slowed down its plans to expand its
eBay Now service and may have shut it down altogether, choosing
instead to focus on in-store pick ups.
So it’s an interesting time for the deep-pocketed Amazon to shake
things up with its new one-hour delivery offer. Will Amazon dominate
the instant delivery market in 2015 and attract more local partners?
Will competitors ramp up their investments to compete? Will one-hour
delivery become the new norm for urban dwellers?
youtu.be/ODLp4ZGQwzk

13. Amazon Prime Now is an extension
of Amazon’s Prime membership
($99/year) which includes free
two-day delivery and unlimited
access to an online library of
content. Members can download
the Prime Now app and browse
items available for delivery at
their location. They can opt for
one-hour delivery for $7.99
(there’s no minimum order), or
two-hour delivery for free –
between 6am and midnight, seven
days a week.
Prime Now is currently available
only in Manhattan, with plans to
expand to other cities.
 Watch the video
 Check out what users are
saying on the Google Play
store and at iTunes

14. In December, Instagram
announced it has more than 300
million monthly active users,
helping it cross Twitter’s 284
million.
The platform is already popular
among top brands, who use it to
share images and videos of
products, celebrities, behind-the-
scenes photos, promote
campaigns, regram people’s
photos, engage with influencers,
sell products (through platforms
like like2buy), advertise and so
on.
2015 will see even more brands
embrace Instagram.

15. Check out the GlobalWebIndex
infographic at allfacebook.com
Here’s why.
Instagram has a large number of users…
• 300 million monthly users (2014)
• 75 million daily users (2013)
….including the prized teens and millennial audience…
• 41% of users are young adults (16-24) (2014)
• 42% of US teens (13-17) use Instagram (2013)
…who are very active.
• 70% of users log in at least once a day (2013)
• 20 billion photos shared (2014); 70 million a day (2014)
• 1.2 billion likes/day (2014)
 For more stats, visit: expandedramblings.com

16. indiegogo.com/projects/olive-a-wearable-to-manage-stress
Even as crowdfunding grows
(Kickstarter records over $1.5
billion pledged by 7.6 million
backers), the risk of fraud has not
been addressed sufficiently. The
person raising funds is not liable to
anyone. Instead, the burden lies
solely on the backer to do ‘their
own homework’ on the starter’s
credibility and the soundness of
their project.
While platforms like Kickstarter are
relatively stricter about the
crowdfunding process, others like
Indiegogo are more flexible and
perceived as being more risky – even
though both platforms have had
their fair share of ‘scampaigns,’
delays and defaults.
In this context, Indiegogo’s
experiment to offer insurance is a
good move.

17. The experiment seems to have covered only one product to date – the
Olive stress management band which is available for $129 on
Indiegogo. For an additional $15, backers can purchase insurance
which secures them a full refund if they don’t receive the product
within three months of the estimated delivery date. Indiegogo offered
insurance on up to 25 bands only, cutting their own risk in the
experiment.
The surprising part – despite all the coverage the insurance offer
received in online news sites, only three people paid for it.
This could mean any number of things… backers felt more confident
after seeing Indiegogo back this particular product… they were
confident in their decision to back the company… they were unwilling
to shell out more money… and so on.
Time, and more experimentation will tell if insurance will have any
impact on people’s trust and the size of their investments.
What do you think? Tweet us at @PeoplesLab

18. After the cyber-attack on Sony
Pictures, major theatre chains
were wary of releasing the
controversial the movie The
Interview on Christmas Eve.
This forced Sony to consider
alternate ways to distribute the
movie. The studio decided to go
ahead with independent theatres
and made the movie available
online on YouTube, Google Play,
XBox, iTunes, Crackle and a
standalone website. Viewers in
the US and Canada could rent
(stream) the movie for $5.99 or
purchase (download) it for $14.99.

19. The Interview raked in $15 million in online sales in its first four days,
as compared to $3 million from the independent theatres. While $15
million isn’t really comparable to what larger theatre chains would
bring in, it did help the movie set the record as Sony’s highest online
grossing film of all time.
Inspired by the initial success, Sony is now expanding distribution of
the movie to its Playstation Network, to cable television through US
pay-per-view network In Demand, and to Walmart’s video-on-demand
service Vudu. As the studio continues to experiment with its release
strategy and see more signs of success, could we expect to see more
movies launched simultaneously across theatres, TV and online? It
would definitely be more convenient for viewers, and perhaps quite
profitable for studios as well. But not so for theatres, and therein
could lie a problem.
twitter.com/TheNationalUAE

20. People’s Insights is a collection of inspiring initiatives, insights and
foresights shared by MSLGROUP’s SPRINTers – our global team of 100+
strategic planners, researchers and insights experts.
We feature the best of these initiatives as People’s Insights monthly
briefs, and original insights and foresights – from our SPRINTers and
other MSLGROUP experts - in our People’s Insights magazines. We
share these reports on our social platforms and distribute them freely
to inspire more engaging campaigns.
People’s Insights covers the latest trends in engagement on both
consumer and corporate sides. Check out our latest magazine, The
Future of Business Citizenship, for data and insights on how Millennials
want businesses to be better active citizens.
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The People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform helps organizations build and
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The People’s Lab crowdsourcing platform and approach forms the core
of our distinctive insights and foresight approach, which consists of
four elements: organic conversation analysis, MSLGROUP’s own insight
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deep dives into these communities. The People’s Insights reports
showcase our capability in crowdsourcing and analyzing insights from
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22. For more, visit:
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