2014 was a big year for technology and digital marketing and 2015 will be no different. Here's what Daniel Christos, technical director and partner at Sydney-based digital creative studio Cypha, feels are the top 10 digital trends to watch in 2015.
1. The Internet of things The Internet of things began to take shape last year as more and more companies were experimenting with connected devices. This year we will see a move away from the kick starter type projects for early adopters and move into more everyday consumer products providing real world, valuable solutions.
2. Wearables Wearable technology providers will begin to
consolidate as market leaders are established. The apple iWatch is on
the horizon and the 2015 CES conference has seen a flood of wearables
that are ready to hit the shelves. Accenture research confirms that
nearly half of consumers would consider purchasing some type of smart
wearable such as a smart watch or fitness tracker in the next few years.
3. Smart data With a flood of new connected devices set
to hit the market the demand for quality analytics and data services
will increase. A tonne of new data will now be available and brands need
solid tools in order to accurately translate this data into valuable
insights. It's no longer just about big data; big data is useless
without smart insights from specialised analytical services.
4. Education We are already starting to see an increase in online
training with MOOCS and Cloud LMS providers expanding at a rapid rate.
Companies like Pluralsight, Lynda, Udemy all offer access to great
online course content for a relatively tiny investment in comparison to
traditional education. It will be interesting to see how government
schools embrace these new ways of learning as department schools support
students bringing their own devices into the classrooms with a move
away from the laptop rollout of the previous years. We should start to
see an increase in app development targeting 'in class room' experiences
that bring learning to life.
5. Product development Brands
are moving into product development utilising connected technologies an
in 2014 we received numerous enquiries from brands curious about product
development and as a result, we have prototyped several products with
more in the pipeline for this year. Check out the McWilliams Wines "Wine
O'clock" prototype that allows users to control an automatic wine
pourer and aerator based on the time of the day set using a mobile.
6. Beacons Some brands are still apprehensive about using beacons or
Bluetooth LE, however we predict we will see more real world
applications this year as brands are educated as they talk to
specialised providers who demonstrate the creative applications of
beacons beyond just pushing offers.
7. Merging online and
offline A common thread of the year will be the further blurring of
the line between online and offline which underpins a number of the
trends for the year. Advances in payment solutions, data management,
analytics, connected devices along with consumer and brand education
will allow brands to monitor and react more effectively to consumer
needs across online and offline channels.
8. Mobile traffic
surpasses desktop As of today a number of sectors are already
reporting the 50% threshold has now been passed from desktop to mobile
as being the main device for consumption including retail and some major
publishers here and in the UK. As a result we will see more and more
online experiences target specifically mobile and tablet devices with
the desktop experience trailing.
9. Content Marketing More
brands will begin to adopt content marketing as an important part of
their overall marketing strategy as traditional marketing continues to
struggle. Branded storytelling, video stories, user generated content
and owned content will continue to deliver great results in the New Year
as consumers continue to respond stronger to branded storytelling and
less to content selling. A great example of this is Airbnb's magazine
Pineapple.
Mobile apps will also begin to be utilised as a
greater communication channel, with the sheer amount of users on some
app platforms, it is a natural progression for brands to begin to
utilise this as a communication channel.
10. Personalisation We will start to see an increase in personalised digital experiences.
E-commerce sites have done this well for quite some time with product
recommendation algorithms, however we will see this expand to general
web browsing with retargeting, recommended content and placements based
on previous use, referring site, time of day, location or current
device. This will also call for advancements in analytics and CMS
software which a number of software providers are beginning to offer.
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