1. THE DIGITAL LANDSCAPE – Four key trends to keep top of mind
Everyone’s a storyteller
The democratisation of social technologies have given people freedom to create, document, and
express the ―moments‖ of their lives and organise around common passions. And unlike
previous years, the freedom is greater, the impact wider and the forms of expression are
becoming richer. This is evident with the popularity of such rich social tools like instagram,
Pinterest, YouTube and Tumblr. Smartphones have evolved from text-based communication
tools to multimedia hubs. Facebook posts that include a photo album or picture generate about
120% to 180% more engagement than the average post.
This is changing the way we think about journalism at Mi9 and how marketers should think
about their products. People want to have their say and get involved with the brands they love.
What does this mean for marketers?
 Marketers will need to continue to engage consumers in conversation and be collaborative.
 Create personalised experiences and give people the ability to help shape or define a new
product or a brand. Social connectors and storytellers want to have a voice – allow them to
take part in your brand and your story and they will be loyal for years to come.
 Think Rich. Tap into photography and video to enable consumers to connect. What are the
platforms that your consumers are on? Where are they finding content and sharing it? Find
out what they are and establish a presence by drawing them in to your story.
 Create ―contagious content‖. The five key share-ability traits Mi9 sees:
1. The Reverse
2. Animals
3. Deviance
4. Awe
5. Humour
See more on share-wars.com
The New Face of Fun
The explosive growth of smartphones, tablets, and the app ecosystem, has put games within a
finger’s reach. There’s a game anytime, anywhere, and for anyone! But the big change is that
the fun of games — competition, rewards, achievements, mastery – is being applied to other
non-game activities. As more software becomes ―funware,‖ consumers expect to be engaged
and entertained whether they’re shopping, learning, exercising, or even working.
What does this mean for marketers?
 There is a real opportunity to unleash "fun" and build it into your marketing approaches.
Brands should capitalise on the human need of wanting recognition and connection, and of
simply wanting to be entertained.
 When building campaigns, think of ways to give consumers opportunities to compete, share
and do things that set them apart, make them feel special. Perhaps build in a game or a
competition that also demonstrates the benefits of specific products.
 Key elements to consider when creating your gamified experience:

2. • Set a compelling challenge or task
• Clear rewards and motivations
• Ensure a sense of progressiveness to keep users coming back
• Make is social. Provide a way to share their experience or collaborate with others
Contextual World
Our research shows, context improves consumer’s receptiveness to messages and ideas. This
will lead to a more contextual world, where technology understands and reacts to every
situational cue available – identity, time, location, mindset, social relationships, and even
emotional states.
One of the easiest ways today to take advantage of this is to align your content, with similar
content. With more sophisticated collection and curation of data, you can also pin-point your
target audience with niche creative messaging. In the future, pervasive screens will allow even
more sophisticated versioning.
What does this mean for marketers:
 Create relevance for consumers — through both content and context.
 Better understand your target audience’s shifting device behaviours and mindsets to
tailor the right message at the right time.
 Developing a deeper understanding of the data you have access to both internally and
from your publishing partners can unlock some amazing opportunities. Mi9 can create
bespoke targeting segments allowing you to pin-point your most desirable consumers
and generate deeper insights into their behaviour.
More Human Experiences
The rise of natural user interfaces is enabling people to interact with technology just like they
do with each other – using voice, vision, gestures and touch. Technology is becoming more
intelligent, equipped with the ability to sense us, anticipate our needs and perform tasks on our
behalf.
As consumers gravitate towards these more natural, more human ways to interact with
technology, marketers will be challenged to create brand experiences that are immersive,
intuitive and yes, more human.
What does this mean for marketers? Ask yourself, what should your brand sound, feel and
smell like? How can you empower consumers to virtually experience things they never have
before?
If you have questions or would like more information, feel free to contact:
Matt James, Managing Director Mi9 Media
Matt.James@mi9.com.au