13 TRENDS FOR 2013

STEVE WILLIAMSON - KUZUNGA

THE GREAT POWER SHIFT

1.

Slow-moving traditional institutions are being superseded by smaller fast-moving communities and individuals. This is creating an interesting new play on traditional power hierarchies and structures.‘Digital wallets and mobile banking are opening the door for telcos and software players....in an increasingly crowded and cashless financial system, banks may no longer be key players.’Source: economist.com

>CROWDFUNDING> CROWDSOURCING

>PRESUMERISM

2.

MADE WITH YOU

From crowdfunding communities such as kickstarter.com, to crowdsourcing activities such as Wikipedia, to the new pre-sumerism where people are funding and ordering products before they are even developed; there are now limitless opportunities for brands to form deep and lasting connections with consumers.

Create a bespoke experience for your consumers by giving them the ability to customise and tailor your product or service to their needs. Done right, this is a savvy way to create connections, add value, and capture higher margins.

3.

MADE FORYOU

OMNICHANNEL

Consumers now expect and demand a seamless experience of your brand and business identity across all platforms; mobile internet, devices, computers, brick-and-mortar stores, television, catalog, and beyond.

4.

SHOWROOMING

More and more of your consumers are using traditional retail stores purely as a showroom to experience, try on, and evaluate a product. They will then search online to find it at the best price and buy at their convenience. This means your brick-and-mortar presence needs to be more experiential and your retail staff must (more than ever) have exceptional customer service skills in order to create the emotional and human connection with your brand.

5.

MOBILE DEVICE BATTLES

Mark it in your calendar - 2013 is the year that mobile phones are predicted to officially overtake PCs as the most commonly used devices to access the Web. So how is your mobile web strategy looking?

6.

QR CODEENABLED KIOSKS

‘Virtual stores’ consisting of QR codeenabled kiosks are a perfect way to deliver simple ‘point-and-shop’ convenience to your consumers.

7.

STATUS STORIES

Delivering ‘conspicuous’ brand experiences to your consumers is the new luxury. By providing them with content and tools to share their experiences in ways that enhance their status amongst their peers, you can generate new value for your brand.

8.

AUGMENTED REALITY MEETS GESTURE RECOGNITION

You can now use ‘mobile augmented reality’ technologies to generate and interact with digital content that overlays real world environments and objects. This is going to be the next wave in mobile technology and will give your brand/business untold new ways to increase connectivity and engagement with the end users of your products.

9.

PRO-ACTIVELY SHOWING AND PROVING YOU HAVENOTHING TO HIDE

Get on the front foot and open the curtain on your brand. Invite your customers and consumers in, show them your supply-chain, and introduce them to the people and places behind your products and services.

10.

FROM PROFIT TO PURPOSE

Your brand/business needs to give as much as it takes – to balance profits with purpose. Start by measuring both your return on investment, and your return on improvement (that is the degree to which you are contributing positively to society).

11.

NEW LIFE INSIDE

Watch out for the emerging category of ‘propa-products’ - these are products that can be planted and grown, or used to propagate and nourish an ecosystem at the end of their lifecycle.(Like a merino garment for example!)

12.

SOCIAL NEWS IS THE NEWS

Social news refers to websites where users submit and vote on news stories or other links, to determine which are most popular.

So make sure the stories your brand/business is offering are both compelling, entertaining and touch on at least one of the 13 trends listed here!

13.