Digital Trendspotting Fourth Quarter 2011

ON THE CUTTING EDGE:

December 2011

Fourth Quarter 2011: Trends To Watch

•As 2011 comes to a close, these are the technologies and trends to watch:

- The Brand Empath- Practice Personalization - Repurposing Daily Activities- Digital Goes Physical- Behind The Luxury Curtain- Mad For M-Commerce

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The Brand Empath

Brands Feel Your Pain

• Earlier this year, we shared a trend where brands have been getting personal and showing off their more human side.

• Building off of this, there’s been an upswing of brands showing their understanding for what consumers are going through, and tying that to a promotion or a message.

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The Social Photoblocker

• Cerveza Norte knows just how tough it can be to go out these days. With cameras everywhere, photos of a night of debauchery can end up on Facebook or in the hands of a jealous spouse or an employer.

• Enter the Norte Photoblocker, a specialized beer cooler complete with sensors that look for camera flashes. When a camera flash is detected, it sends back its own flash to ruin the shot.

• This one may also come in handy for the anti-paparazzi celebs among us.

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Easing Holiday Travel Woes

• This holiday season, several brands stepped in to give travelers a little cheer and help along the way.

• The Toronto Pearson airport offered up holiday carolers who would greet the flight of a friend or family member with a song. Requests could be made by Tweeting @torontopearson.

• No time to make a holiday photo? No problem. Southwest and Microsoft took holiday photos at U.S. airports and entered travelers for prizes.

• The TSA says “no” to wrapped gifts and that’s where Virgin Atlantic saw an opportunity. They provided giftwrapping services at JFK (past security) for a small fee with proceedsgoing to charity.

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Pick Your Seatmate

• The right seatmate can make or break your flight. And for some, there’s always the hope of making a love connection.

• KLM is playing into this with a soon-to-be-launched Seatmate Finder that taps Facebook and LinkedIn data to find you the perfect person to sit with. Note: people will have to opt in for their information to appear.

• While the Interwebs have been rejecting this over the “creep” factor, it does show KLM is thinking about what its fliers encounter in the friendly (and sometimes not so friendly) skies. It may even become a helpful service down the line.

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Takeaways For Marketers And Brands

• From the woes of modern day travel to the tech overload many experience, this is a rich territory to watch.

• For a brand looking to make an impact, the key is to ensure a good, logical fit and then offer up a solution.

• In the case of Cerveza Norte, the fit was that its beers are part of nightlife and perhaps those moments not fit for the eyes of a spouse or boss. Even though the solution isn’t the most practical, it fits and shows humor along the way.

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Practice Personalization

Make It Personal

• Whether it goes back to school group projects or to today’s world of gathering mass opinions on just about anything, Millennials are comfortable in groups.

• Even though this comfort level is there, they still want to stand out and show their uniqueness.

• It’s often expressed by aligning with a certain brand or lifestyle. Smart brands are taking note and empowering this audience to stand out from the crowd by personalizing everything from what they drink to what they watch.

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Fan-Created Kicks

• Converse started recruiting members of its passionate Facebook fan base for a jaunt into the world of social shopping and consumer-generated design.

• The first group of participants will create and share their Converse designs via Facebook and also make them available for sale.

• This won’t be the typical Facebook store.

• It calls to mind sites like Zazzle that allow users to create their own designs and sell them. Now, that’s truly social commerce.

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Your Own Personal Soda Brand

• Indiana startup uFlavor points out that people have different tastes and therefore a handful of sodas can’t meet everyone’s preferences.

• Their idea is to give people a chance at creating their own flavor combinations, colors, labels and names – all resulting in soda that can be purchased and shipped.

• The custom soda you create can land in the store and in the future could lead to some revenue for you.

• This idea could also turn into a vending concept down the line.

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Watch What Your Friends Like

• Comcast is testing a service that personalizes the viewing experience based not only on TV watching patterns but also on information related to your Facebook friends and their recommendations.

• It’s the latest in the thinking that if your friends like something, you’re likely to enjoy it too. Search engines have already been integrating this into results.

• The Comcast test that’s known as “Project Xcalibur” could become a reality for general viewers in 2012.

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Bring Your Own Cup Day

• To promote its Slurpee beverage, 7-Eleven in Australia embarked on “Bring Your Own Cup Day” this fall.

• Consumers were asked to let their imaginations run wild and for 24 hours bring any type of cup in for Slurpee goodness. Everything from briefcases to shoes and watering cans were used, also inspiring print ads along the way. Suggestions of alternative cups became fan-inspired print ads.

• The promo generated much buzz online and impacted the bottom line. Sales increased 270% with 320,000 liters sold and 80,000 people served in 24 hours.

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• Whether it’s putting a different twist on an existing product (Slurpee & Converse) or giving people something brand new to create and experiment with, there are more avenues than ever before to get personalization off the ground.

• For this approach to be successful, it has to go beyond just being a gimmick. It has to be something that’s fun, fits the brand personality, and falls in line with business objectives.

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Repurposing Daily Activities

The Everyday Becomes Fun

• Thanks to technology, the things we do on a regular basis can generate all sorts of data points.

• For content creators and creative companies, this is becoming a ripe area to work within and in effect turn run-of-the-mill activities into something entertaining or useful.

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Exercise In An Immersive Zombie Game

• Anyone who’s ever found a daily run to be a solitary or boring experience, this game’s for you.

• Zombies, Run! turns running, jogging or even walking into an immersive game where zombies are on the loose and it’s up to you to outsmart them.

• A narrative around the zombie attack and instructions are provided via audio as you exercise.

• The game is slated for launch in early 2012 and it should be noted that crowdsourced Kickstarter funding is helping make this happen.

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Frictionless Sharing

• Facebook released Frictionless Sharing this year, a feature that shares what you’re up to in real time.

• The tool has been tied to countless activities like reading a news item on Yahoo! or listening to a song on Spotify.

• The feature has been controversial and has raised the question whether users are interested in what is essentially Lifestreaming. Just how relevant is all of that information to friends anyway?

• Whether this lives on in its current form or gets tweaked, it’s a trend to watch in 2012.

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Knowing What You’re UP To

• Jawbone’s UP bracelet and corresponding iPhone app is a new technology that helps people keep track of health related info.

• Meant to be worn 24/7, the device tracks everything from sleep patterns to eating and exercising.

• UP not only tracks data over time, it also sends alerts, including one that’s perfect for desk jockeys. It lets you know when you’ve been inactive for too long.

• The bracelet’s cool looks may helpit catch on. Down the road,a stylish bracelet could alertdoctors or maybe even becomesomething more – a wearable “phone” anyone?

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• As daily activities become catalogued, it opens up possibilities that entertain, assist, and even provide relevant advice or offers.

• For example, if location enters into the equation in Zombies, Run! perhaps a food or beverage brand could be integrated, showing nearby spots to hydrate or eat, along with an offer. Fighting zombies surely makes people thirsty and/or hungry.

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Digital Goes Physical

Let’s Get Physical

• The buzz around technology doesn’t mean people want to live their lives entirely in the cloud.

• They still crave tangible items, experiences and face-to-face interactions.

• Technology has just added another layer.

• And in some cases, technology is helping create the physical world.

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Printed iPhone Creations

• Mobile apps like Sincerely Ink, Stickygram and Canvaspop turn digital photos into physical goods including postcards, greeting cards, magnets and prints.

• It’s an extension of the digital content getting created everyday on mobile phones.

• With ongoing smartphone camera improvements, this trend could fuel a new print revolution.

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A Tech Take On Retro Design

• Retro propaganda posters have been popular collector items for years.

• That type of print-heavy work is getting a digital spin thanks in part to sites like Etsy and to artworks like these by Aaron Wood.

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Those Amusing Angry Birds

• Popular mobile game Angry Birds made the leap into the physical world with plush toys and a T-Mobile ad that brought the game to life—literally—in Barcelona earlier this year.

• Now, what could have just lived on as a simple game is coming to Finland in the form of two amusement parks in 2012.

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• When brands embrace a particular technology, too many of them stop there.

• These days, with consumers playing in so many different tech and physical worlds, there’s opportunity to go deeper.

• Think beyond the basic technology idea and see where else it could expand.

• For example, say you’re executing something on Foursquare. There is so much that can go beyond just Foursquare thanks to its open API. Look no further than ideas coming from Hackathons and geeks everywhere. A favorite is the Foursquare “hack” that turned New York City activity into a game of Risk.

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Behind The Luxury Curtain

Transparency Goes Luxe

• Much has been changing in the luxury brands world recently. Social media and sites like Gilt Groupe have been making luxury brands feel more accessible to the masses.

• Some longtime luxury marketers and brands have tried to resist this, preferring to keep the unattainable allure rolling.

• Others have begun embracing transparency, bringing consumers behind the curtain.

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The Making Of Sunglass Sculptures

• When McGarrah Jesse produced a series of print ads for Costa Del Mar sunglasses, they didn’t take the obvious approach of showing models in the glasses. Instead, they made sculptures from the glasses, making the statement that the brand is the lifestyle.

• A “making of” video was also created, showing that the sculptures are real and not photoshopped.

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Gucci’s Artisan Parade

• Gucci took an unexpected path with its Artisan Corner, a series of in-store events and web content that offers a rare look at how its items are made from mood boards to sketches and actual production.

• Rather than being concerned about showing insider secrets, the brand’s focus is driving home the message that each Gucci item is handmade and well-crafted.

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• Especially with a name like Gucci jumping into the world of transparency, other luxury brands are expected to follow suit in 2012.

• Beyond the luxury category, brands that have been wary of testing these waters should also take note and identify ways to show off their unique craftsmanship.

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Mad For M-Commerce

Mobile Rising

• Talks of mobile wallet payment systems were big throughout 2011. While we may not be there yet, people are already using mobile devices to shop through ecommerce sites or apps. And researching items is of course also big on mobile.

• According to comScore, 38% of smartphone users have used a mobile device to make a purchase.

• On Black Friday, 10.2% of shoppers used an iPhone or iPad and 6.6% did so on Cyber Monday, up from 2.3% last year, according to IBM Corp.

• Gilt Groupe got in on the Black Friday action, offering mobile-only deals perfect for shoppers waiting in long lines. It paid off – 30% of their Black Friday sales came from mobile.

• Other brands are taking note of this trend and getting creative in driving purchase.

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eBay’s Inspiration Shop

• eBay went the brick-and-mortar route for the first time with a 24/7 shoppable storefront.

• The e-retailer tapped designer Jonathan Adler to create interactive store windows complete with QR codes that could be scanned to generate a purchase.

• The message here is clear. Mobile technology means businesses can always be open.

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Amazon Creates An Army Of Price Spies

• Scan a product’s barcode with Amazon’s price checker app and determine if it can be picked up cheaper online.

• It’s a handy research tool for shoppers but not one without controversy. Politicians and small businesses are on the defensive, claiming it harms competition.

• The app provides Amazon the opportunity to collect a wealth of pricing data at stores nationwide. But some retailers have offered to match any lower prices obtained via mobile apps in an effort not to lose a sale.

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Bypass The Line

• For shoppers out on busy days like Black Friday, the ability to bypass long lines with a payment app worked well for baby gear and toy retailer Magic Bean.

• Their branded app came in handy as 18% of its brick-and-mortar shoppers used it on Black Friday to pay.

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Order Up!

• Domino’s released its Pizza Hero app for iPad this fall, a game where you compete to make virtual pizzas fast. Players must keep quality in mind and when they do, certain achievements are unlocked.

• Virtual pizza surely makes players hungry so a mobile ordering component has been integrated so they can order their creation.

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• As we await the full release of Google Wallet and technology from Google competitors, mobile shopping is still an important area for brands of all types and sizes.

• It’s important to factor in the consumer experience from start to finish. Identify the things your brand can impact in a way that’s helpful as a shopping or research tool.

• For some brands, this might mean simply making sure the website is mobile friendly. This is critical in on-the-go research and often overlooked.

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Digital Trendspotting Fourth Quarter 2011

Business

Transcript of Digital Trendspotting Fourth Quarter 2011