This blog about new business trends is inspired by Wayne Gretzky's quote.
When asked what made him stand out from many other hockey players, Gretzky
responded: "A GOOD hockey player plays where the puck is. A GREAT hockey
player plays where the puck is going to be". Can the same principle be
applied to business? (More)
These are the trends that are going to play important role in the future business as selected by students in Ivan’s Business Strategy class at Capilano University:
- M2M (Machine to Machine Communication)
- Gamification (= the integration of game mechanics in non-game environments to increase audience engagement, loyalty, and fun. )
- Consumer bartering
- Cloud computing
- Brand butler (=focusing on assisting consumers to make the most of their daily lives)
- QR codes
- Random Acts of Kindness (R.A.K.)
- Mutant ads (= online mockery of ads)
- Tribal marketing (using tribal interactions as a way to market and sell products and ideas)
- Innovation Extravaganza
- The F Factor (Friends, Fans, and Followers and their influence on consumer’s buying decisions)
- Location Based Services
- Slow Movement (a cultural shift toward slowing down life’s pace)
- Augmented Reality (AR) (live direct or an indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input)
- P2P Lending (Peer to Peer lending)
- Near field communication
- Planned Spontaneity (the use of real time geo-location services to contact nearby consumers)
- Viral videos
It looks like the growth in the number of browser based searches has slowed. David Szetela, one of the leading search / Internet marketing experts argues that “search” as we now know it may morph into “search in small spaces” – searching within an application or search performed on other devices instead of PC. Read more on Szetela’s blog.
According to TrendWatching.com, “random acts of kindness” (R.A.K.) is going to represent one of the major consumer trends in the coming months. According to one of the world’s leading consumer trends firm “kind and human brands will thrive in a networked economy”. Here is how the site describes random acts of kindness in a business context:
“For consumers long used to (and annoyed by) distant, inflexible and self-serving corporations, any acts of kindness by brands will be gratefully received. For brands, increasingly open communications both with and between consumers (especially online), means that it’s never been easier to surprise and delight audiences with R.A.K.: whether sending gifts, responding to publicly expressed moods or just showing that they care”
Earlier on this blog we have discussed the power of WOW! factor as well as the importance of “surprising and delighting” the customers. It seems that random acts of kindness are actually a perfect strategy to create WOW!
We just got used to Facebook ads, but now also Twitter is introducing its own beta advertising program. You can now promote trends, accounts and tweets, get more followers, etc. Interestingly, Twitter introduces new ways to charge advertisers, such as cost per follower (CPF), or cost per engagement (CPE), instead of cost per click (CPC). Learn more – watch David Szetala’s video on new Twitter’s advertising program, or sign up here: http://business.twitter.com/advertise/start
Ninety-three percent of marketers use various social media to market their businesses, according to a new survey by SocialMedia Examiner.
Of all social media, the most popular are:
- Facebook (92% businesses use Facebook to market their business),
- Twitter (84%)
- LinkedIn (71%)
- Blogs (68%)
- YouTube/other video sites (56%)
As reported by CNN earlier today, Google is making app that would identify people’s faces. This mobile application would allow users to take pictures of people’s faces in order to access their personal information on various sites, including their name, phone number and e-mail address… We have yet to see how Google will sort out legal and privacy implications!? More details.
“Over the course of a typical week, the average American consumer participates in 121 Word-of-Mouth conversations, in which specific brand names are mentioned 92 times…
WORD-OF-MOUTH CONVERSATION is retaking the throne in the social order… The evidence is becoming abundantly clear: word of mouth (WOM) has now become the most important and effective communications channel.”
(Source: Keller, E., Unleashing the Power of Word of Mouth: Creating Brand Advocacy to Drive Growth, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 47, Issue 4, 2007.)
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