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CRYPTO CURRENCIES WILL EXPAND INTO MAINSTREAM COMMERCEBitcoin and other crypto currencies have been and will continue to fuel the black-market economy, owing to their electronic convenience and cash-like anonymity. Last year, however, Bitcoin got a huge boost in legitimacy (and value) as panicking Cypriots turned to the currency in droves, looking to shelter their savings during Cyprus' banking crisis. Bitcoin will become increasingly common in 2015 as more major retailers begin to accept it. Bitcoin banks like Circle, with its fully insured deposits, will increase consumer confidence and help to make catastrophic collapses (like the Mt. Gox fiasco) a thing of the past.

CHANGING THE WAY WE PAY: MOBILE PAYMENTS ON THE RISEThe ways that we exchange money are rapidly evolving. In 2015, mobile payments will continue to grow, fueled by the recent rollout of Apple Pay. The consumers' eagerness to adopt this next gen technology indicates that NFC payments will soon be as mainstream as credit cards. In addition, Facebook is entering the money transfer arena soon with through Messenger and "Buy Now" buttons. Peer-to-peer money transfers will grow substantially as indicated by the runaway success of Paypal's Venmo, and the ambitious upstart Snapcash. This means that services like Facebook and Twitter will be promoting their services aggressively in order to stake a claim in this wildly lucrative market.

APPLE WATCH WILL MAKE THE MASSES DESIRE WEARABLE TECHProving that their sense of irony is alive and well, Apple, the company that put the final nail in the coffin of the venerable wristwatch, will start a revolution with a wristwatch. Until now, wearable tech was a novelty; something for joggers who wanted to brag on Facebook. All of that changes in 2015. Since its announcement in late 2012, techies have been whispering about the iWatch killing the iPhone. If the rumors prove true, smart watches and other wearable tech will rise from novelty to necessity and alter our daily lives as dramatically as smart phones did in the mid 2000s.

PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING AND DYNAMIC CREATIVE WILL CONTINUE THEIR TAKEOVERProgrammatic media will put price pressure on traditional media (TV, Radio, Print, OOH, and Tradigital Media), making it, as a whole, more efficient. Media companies will need to consolidate to maintain market share and business health. Also, big data intrusion will continue to be a hot topic fueling programmatic and contextual advertising discussions. Traditional Media will see a surge in usage but not necessarily a surge in revenue due to price pressure from programmatic media competition. Programmatic advertising will see new avenues of growth via efficient native advertising and dynamic creative technologies that adapt to the properties they are being served on.

VIRTUAL REALITY EXPERIENCES WILL TAKE A MASSIVE LEAP INTO THE MAINSTREAMWhen Facebook bought Oculus earlier this year, the Internet held its collective breath. Could their brilliant minds and limitless coffers deliver the VR technology that sci-fi has been promising us for decades? The answer, it seems, is "yes, sooner than you think." Oculus recently debuted their Crescent Bay prototype, and by all accounts, it's incredible. Competition from giants like Samsung will only make it better sooner. Companies like Meta and Magic Leap are working on augmented reality systems that will blur the line between reality and the virtual world. At this point, the possibilities for gaming, film and TV, education, and medicine (to name just a few) are limitless.

SOCIAL MEDIA BEHAVIORS WILL SHIFT TOWARDS TRIBES AND SMALLER INTEREST-FOCUSED COMMUNITIESWe'll see a resurgence of old web technologies and a decrease in the popularity of all-encompassing social platforms. Due to the recently increased focus on privacy, forums, private messaging, and anonymous social platforms are on the rise. Facebook's "Rooms" for example, is a throwback to the days of "pseudonymous" forums. Cyber bullying and illegal activity will lead to the rise and fall of any number of anonymous chat rooms and social networks such as Yik Yak due to pressure from government, communities/citizens, and investors.

THE CONNECTED SERVICE ECOSYSTEM WILL CONTINUETO EXPANDIn 2015, we're going to go far past novelty Internet-connected gadgets and shift more into the connected service. The release of Amazon Echo will mark the beginning of the connected personal assistant hardware revolution. The number of connected devices will continue to increase, creating a community of symbiotic tech offerings. Dropcam, Nest, and Uber are all examples of how services will extend and intermingle, allowing each user to create a personalized ecosystem. Home automation will extend into personal automation with smart algorithms helping predict what we want when. In 2015, a greater focus will be placed on creating curated content experiences to accompany all the colored lights and smart thermostats.

EXPERTISE AS A SERVICE WILL EXPAND THROUGH DIGITAL MENTORING AND BETTERMENTRather than having just one mentor or Life Coach, people will connect to individual "Skill Coaches" digitally through apps like Rise, Google Helpouts, and other platforms that link users with experts. These apps and experts can offer advice and answer questions about virtually anything (e.g. healthcare, gardening, fitness). Whatever the topic, it's very likely that there is a knowledgeable expert out there ready to connect and help. This will lead to the idea of "betterment" going beyond "measurement" to improvement. Platforms like Basis, Fitbit, and Arccos will use algorithms and crowd-grouped data to give you insights on how to improve. Tools like GOQii not only track diet and exercise, they also pair users with trainers, combining their powerful algorithm with human experts to help users become their best selves.

CONSUMERS WILL GET KICKSTARTER AND PRE-SALE FATIGUEWhile its 2009 launch drew accolades from virtually everyone, a growing number of increasingly high profile campaign failures imply that the honeymoon period is over for Kickstarter (and similar crowd funding sites). Delivery delays (only 25% of projects are delivered on time), shoddy products, and flat out scams are leading to a rise in wariness among funders. Many have learned the hard way that an amazing pre-sale bargain can turn into a tremendous waste of money in the space of a few short months. A staggering 90% of Kickstarter campaigns fail to reach even 30% of their funding goals. Whether this is due to lack of trust or lack of interest is a question that all crowd funding platforms must address in 2015 if they wish to remain relevant in the future.

THE UBIQUITY OF ON-DEMAND CONTENT PUTS CABLE COMPANIES UNDER THREATThe separation of streaming video and broadcast TV will continue to erode. As streaming devices (Amazon, Roku, Chromecast) get cheaper and evermore ubiquitous, the threat they pose to cable companies grows. For this reason, expect pushback from the big providers as the FCC moves to enact strict net neutrality laws in 2015. All of their sound and fury will ultimately signify nothing, however, as the days of channel surfing in search of the least objectionable program are numbered. Consumers will continue to demand the ability to build the content that fits their needs, on-demand.

HTML5 & JAVASCRIPT-POWERED EXPERIENCES WILL FORCE MARKETERS TO QUESTION NATIVE APPSRobust, app-like experiences will become more popular as an alternative to actual apps. More and more brands will move towards HTML5 responsive solutions to deliver better user experiences across the myriad of mobile browsers that consumers are now using to connect with brands. Adding to the attractiveness (and increasing the adoption rate) of this strategy is the low barrier of entry, negating the need to visit an app store. These browser-based mobile experiences will begin to incorporate more complex elements like more robust animation, WebGL 3D, and interactions that utilize the phone's built-in hardware, especially for gyro-driven motion.

PERSONALIZATION AND DATA LAKES WILL EMPOWER SMARTER RETAIL COMMERCEPredictive personalization will continue to dominate. Personalized merchandising strategies for ecommerce have always been difficult to execute, creating headaches for both brand managers and their teams. Now, with sophisticated and agile cloud commerce platforms like Demandware, as well as platforms from Apteryx, Attivio, Lattice, SAS, etc., these models can easily be fine tuned to drive personalized value. Additionally, as predictive personalization continues to expand and improve, expect increased discussion and debate about where to draw the line when it comes to customer privacy.

CUSTOMER HAPPINESS AND EXPERIENCE METRICS WILL TRUMP OTHER MEASUREMENTSSince the dawn of ecommerce, brands have been striving to increase check-out conversion, decrease cart abandonment, and increase average lifetime value through user experience and conversion enhancement. In 2015 we are going to see customer happiness metrics driving bespoke experiences. Things like sending a custom tailor to your doorstep via a comped Uber ride or inviting you to a VIP event that taps into the lifestyle side of commerce will be some of the ways that quasi pop-up stores and superfan early reveals will help to increase a brand's net promoter score (NPS) and other experience metrics.

HANSEL AND GRETEL HAD IT RIGHT: THE RISE OF DIGITAL BREADCRUMBINGDigital "breadcrumbing" will grow in popularity. People will increasingly utilize apps like Foursquare to keep up with friends and leave their digital mark on the physical world. Apps like Spayce will bring social networking into the real world, connecting people like never before. Instagram location tags and Pinterest Place Pins will drive visual and contextual searches. Brands will begin to leverage this data to spot trends and develop new products.

PREDICTIVE PRICING SOLUTIONS WILL RESHAPE THE PURCHASE FUNNELProgrammatic advertising has become hugely popular with marketers recently. Soon, algorithm driven pricing will give brand managers the power to adjust prices based on both the market and the context. Is a storm prediction in Freeport driving up demand for umbrellas? No problem! Price elasticity will be controlled automatically in real time with a customizable trading desk style machine. A tool this powerful will obviously be expensive, but wise brand managers who adapt early will realize a handsome return on their investment.

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