Digital Trends Report 2015
Welcome to our sixth annual report on the trends in digital communication that will shape the marketing and communications landscape in the year ahead.
We’re delighted to say that this year’s report is a truly global effort – with contributions from our offices around the world.
We’d also like to say a special thank you to Nicholas Lansman and the team at Political Intelligence for their insightful contribution on how digital is changing the UK political landscape.
As ever, we look forward to discussing and debating these trends with the wider world. Whether you agree, disagree or think we’ve missed the point entirely, we’d love to hear from you – just drop us a line @hotwirepr.
Introduction: Choose Your Own Content
Businesses are spending more time and money than ever before on generating content. We are drowning in a sea of pithy blogs, in depth whitepapers and tongue in cheek videos. But are we all a bit too obsessed with getting as much out there on as many topics as possible? Wouldn’t it be better to take a step back and give people the choice as to how they want to consume that awe inspiring opinion piece you’ve just written?
As marketers and communication pros, we’re (mostly) pretty good at understanding our audiences’ interests and preferences and are able to apply that knowledge to our content creation, but what about its…
1. Unified Digital Experiences
The long awaited launch of Apple’s Watch confirmed it – wearable devices are here to stay. You may be sceptical, but people were dubious of the iPod and iPad and we all know how they turned out.
Research by Facebook suggests that over 60% of us already use more than one device and this will only rise as tablets become cheaper and wearable devices become more widely adopted. With the next generation, it’s already happened – the average teenager now owns sixth digital devices.
So we need to find a way of telling the story we want to tell whatever device someone is using. Despite all the evidence, we…
2. Multiple Screens, Multiple Methods, One Story
Businesses are spending more time and money than ever before on generating content. We are drowning in a sea of pithy blogs, in depth whitepapers and tongue in cheek videos. But are we all a bit too obsessed with getting as much out there on as many topics as possible? Wouldn’t it be better to take a step back and give people the choice as to how they want to consume that awe inspiring opinion piece you’ve just written?
As marketers and communication pros, we’re (mostly) pretty good at understanding our audiences’ interests and preferences and are able to apply that knowledge to our content creation, but what about its…
3. The Content Car
The connected car has been touted even longer than the dreaded self-ordering fridge. In 1966, the creators of the original Batmobile built a car for the TV series that not only had a computer but a ship’s compass and a BatNav system built into the dash.
For years, we have been told that technology, with power akin to a small datacentre, will end up in our beloved Toyota Corollas somehow. Yet…
4. Making Advertising Routine
Foursquare was supposed to be the next big thing in social media and advertising.
By tracking where users were, brands could supply them with the right offers at the right time. The problem? It required too much conscious effort on the part of the end user. Rather than being seamless, they had to remember to check in every time they visited somewhere. As marketers, we can’t and shouldn’t rely on data…
5. Dr Data is around the corner
They say you can’t walk three blocks without seeing a Starbucks. Soon you won’t be able to walk three blocks without your health tech device congratulating you on reaching your steps for the day and Starbucks telling you it’s now OK to come in and enjoy a Pumpkin Spiced Latte – you’ve earnt it.
Health is the new black
Health is currently in vogue, with an army of passionate quantified selfers wearing FitBits, Jawbones and Galaxy Gears to keep track…
6. There’s no such thing as a (digital) free lunch
No ecosystem is guaranteed to be 100% safe, which means your data isn’t 100% safe either.
Apple iCloud users were brutally reminded of this in September 2014, when a collection of almost 500 private pictures of various celebrities were leaked to the public.
Did everyone who read about it or stole a glance at the photos use the opportunity to reflect on their own behaviour and check their…
7. Tech is so not in darling
While there are many early adopters out there scrambling around to get their hands on the latest smartwatch or iPhone, there are a group of much cooler kids working out ways to kill tech altogether.
Welcome to the era of the neo-luddite. They’re here to make sure you switch off.
Talk to the hand, the phone ain’t listening
Most of us are either happy, ambivalent or a little irritated at the appearance of adverts on our mobile apps, YouTube videos or web searches. But overall…
8. Moving fashion forward
Where Burberry leads, the rest follow. So, what should we make of the designer’s decision to launch an innovation division tasked with exploring the intersection of fashion and technology?
In an industry where chasing the new, new thing is not so much an ideology but a business model, staying two steps ahead of the competition is a smart move.
For fashion retailers, that means considering…
9. Going Digital: The Road to the General Election
The 28th of April is ‘Ed Balls day’, where the internet commemorates the time the Shadow Chancellor accidentally tweeted his own name. Three Digital Trends Reports later, it’s a good starting point to see how far politics has come in using digital technology.
Digital hasn’t radically changed what politicians do or why they communicate, but it has transformed how they do it. They are still attacking their opponents, engaging with their constituents, expressing their opinions, but they are doing it faster, with…
Conclusion
Choosing your own path. It’s such a simple idea, but one digital marketers have struggled to give consumers until now.
We all want to feel in control of our experiences and the smart marketers will be those who place this choice firmly in the hands of their audience.
Whether it’s letting them…
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