Penelope Bettison | Thursday 4th April 2013
Following part one of this blog, here are the other four marketing trends for 2013.
You can read about the first four – Social Media Grows Up, Social advertising can’t be ignored, Mobile is exploding, Content, content, content, in Part 1, here.
5. Gamification on the rise
Gamification is applying game-design thinking to a non-game context or application. It enables increased engagement by utilising key strategies including rewarding consumers, enticing competition, and promotion of learning. As consumption is rewarded, loyalty is developed and word-of-mouth is driven by consumers promoting themselves. From engaging teenagers with their favourite brands to delegates networking at a conference, a gamification strategy can provide unparalleled engagement, as it encourages users to participate with (tangible or non tangible) rewards. Foursquare is a perfect example of Gamification, awarding badges, points and titles for check-ins. Clever companies have piggybacked this to offer their own deals through FourSquare checkins.
6. Real-time marketing
The abovementioned trends lead to a change in campaign development due to consumer control. Rather than developing a campaign and planning out the appropriate channels, the real-time channels are starting to lead the campaigns. Ideas, concepts and movements are now developing on social media, blogs and interactive websites. Brands need to be fluid enough to embrace opportunities that are presented out of the blue. The blackout during the 2013 American Superbowl provided fantastic examples of companies on their toes. Oreo posted a picture of their biscuit in torchlight with the caption ‘You can still dunk in the dark’.
Additionally real-time opportunities are presented through local marketing and geo-tagging. Content needs to be in context, as brands try to anticipate consumer needs and desires. For example, incentives and coupons can be offered to people in identified locations. Again, improved opportunities as a result of mobile marketing.
7. QR codes maturing
While many have toyed with QR codes, the depth of opportunity they present has rarely been realised. This could change in 2013 with examples such as JC Penny in the United States, demonstrating innovative simplicity. JC Penney is a department store that sends gift boxes with “Santa Tags”. The QR code on the tag links to a personalised recorded voice from the sender.
8. Improved data
The term “big data” refers to large volumes of data that are hard to manage, store and analyse, and this is what most big brands are struggle with daily, not to mention the little brands. With an ever-increasing amount of data available to us, particularly from the digital channels, which promise such great measurement and insights, marketers continue to struggle to use it effectively. New services and tools are empowering us to take more control of the data for evaluation but also to gain more insight for effective planning and to target the right audience at the right time, allowing us to create relevance through context.
Others to watch (yes, I couldn’t limit myself to just eight):
Crowd funding – empowering individuals to fund a project of a united cause. This has been evident in micro-financing for funding third-world entrepreneurs, but is now moving into the mainstream where people can get their friends and family to fund their cars, check out the Dodge Gift Registry http://dodgedartregistry.com/
Smart Clothing – The Nike+ running shoe with sensors that link to your ipod and social media streams. Watch out for motion detecting pants (records speed, rotation and flexibility to your computer), proximity sensing shirts (connecting you with people close by in the same brand), heart sensing bra (transmits heart rate to watch). Smart clothing has just begun.
