By Molly
Borchers, Senior Account Executive
Curious
about what new marketing and communication trends 2014 will bring? In part one of
this post, we identified three key trends for the New Year: social media
becoming pay-for-play, branded journalism, and wearable technology and the
Internet of Things. Today, we’ll discuss three more trends
Collaborative economy: Crowd
sourcing, crowd funding, crowd storming: Fab, AirBnB, Uber, TaskRabbit. These
are all examples of the collaborative economy. Recent advances in technology
like mobile, social, 3D printers and the Internet of Things are empowering
people and businesses to share existing resources with each other rather than
buy anew or reinvent the wheel. It’s a simple, but revolutionary concept. The collaborative
economy was a huge trend in 2013, but is likely to grow in 2014 and marketers
should challenge themselves to think about how they can leverage it. ‘My
Starbucks Idea’ is a good
example of how a brand creatively harnessed the power of crowdsourcing, not
only for marketing, but to innovate their business.
Anticipatory computing – This is the act of serving up information
a person wants before they even know to ask for it. Mobile users have been
checking into their locations, listening to music on their phones, and updating
ical events for years. Now, companies like Foursquare and Circle are using the
data from these mobile interactions to tailor suggestions specific to the user,
which effectively means that your smartphone could dictate your preferences and
purchases.
For example,
Foursquare is rolling out push notification recommendations to help users find
what’s happening in their area. People who opt-in to the push notifications
will get suggestions on where to eat or what to do in their neighborhoods. I
predict that this idea will proliferate in 2014, and will have a significant
impact on advertising and marketing.
Super fans as marketers: The idea of engaging an audience that is
already passionate about your brand isn’t new, but social media makes ‘super
fans’ even more valuable. It’s easier than ever before to find and reach super
fans, and they have a menagerie of tools at their fingertips to evangelize
their brand affinities.
A recent Mashable article stated that a Facebook friend is now worth about $174,
which 28% higher than 2012, and that figure is expected to increase. Online
friends are clearly valuable, but if recommendations from Facebook friends are
worth almost $200, what’s the value of a recommendation from a real-live
friend? Super fans can be a brand’s secret weapon, not only because of their
power online, but also offline.
As we
progress through the age of the ‘super fan,’ marketers will enlist these
‘assets’ to market and sell for them, both online and in-person. Here’s an
example: Pepsi rewarded selected Beyoncé fans who created videos based on the
singer's latest commercial with the chance to appear in a video made with her
choreographer, as well as a trip to her concert in Brooklyn. Smart.
What do you
think will be the major marketing trends in 2014? Tell us in the comments.
Click here
to read part one of this series.
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