Writing at iMedia Connection (@iMediaTweet), Brian Monahan (@brionic), EVP, managing partner, at IPG Media Lab (@IPGLAB), succinctly describes and analyzes 5 trends converging at the “crossroads of technology, consumer behavior, and marketing effectiveness:”
· The identity of things: The proliferation of smart mobile devices are allowing consumers to access information and content tied to objects via various means like bar code scanning, 2D tags, near field communication, or visual search. The digital industry has already seen two waves of content development. The first was anchored to URLs. The second was anchored to social profiles. We are about to witness the third wave of digital content development anchored to objects.
· Mobile is infused: Mobile has become so critical to consumer behavior that it has progressed beyond being a “feature;” it’s now a necessity for all hardware devices and services.
· Life is a game: Game design principles are clearly being woven into all we do. As mobile devices are built with location and context aware technology, the world is being turned into an arena in which consumers enjoy playing. For retailers and brands, this means creating advertising that recognizes users and knows their preferences, delivering messages of value and experiences in the form of rewards, rankings and other game-derived forms of incentives and virtual currency.
· The rise of content marketplaces: To serve the propagation of tablets (which now number 82) and other popular hardware, brands are focusing attention on creating recurring, billable, and easily accessible content. (For example, see Warc’s (@WarcEditors) article, “Tablets lure media owners.”)
· Continuous partial attention: The continued fragmentation of consumer attention is being driven by changes in the device, media, and distribution landscapes. To compete for consumer attention in this complex media environment, brands must develop immersive, empathetic communications to fully engage their audience.
Do you agree with this summary and analysis?