Stellar* Blog

2012 marketing trends and predictions

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

It’s the time of year when everyone is talking about what will be big in 2012.  By that I mean, what marketing trends consumers, brands – and their agencies – will be participating in.

Tuesday  night we headed to the Networx 2012 marketing trends forecast, to hear what a panel of those in-the-know (including Nigel O’Rorke from Microsoft Australia, Lucinda Barlow from Google AUS/NZ, Seamus Byrne from CNET, and Steve Fontanot from Chieftain Communications) are predicting for 2012. While the topics weren’t that new, it was good to hear different viewpoints from the panel and the diverse audience members, which made for an interesting evening.

Overall, the feeling was that 2012 will see the continued adoption of smart phones and associated technology; augmented reality will start to find its feet in brand communication; and more than likely, we’ll see the death of the flashmob, thank goodness!

Here are my top three takeouts from the night:

NFC technology

What is this, I hear some of you ask?  It’s near field communication (NFC) technology, which exists within next generation mobile phones. This very clever ‘tap and go’ technology allows us to conveniently undertake payless transactions with an instant receipt of information anywhere, in real time. Mastercard has jumped on this ‘mobile wallet’ concept, partnering with Commonwealth Bank and Hoyts Cinemas to offer La Premiere customers the luxury of ordering and paying for food, from their seat, through their QkR app. Handy! Coincidently, this morning I received this latest trend in a briefing from the lovely folks at Trendwatching, which also predicts Point, Know and Buy as one of their crucial consumer trends for 2012. Check it out and see what brands like Google, Heinz, Adidas and Amazon are also doing to capitalise on this opportunity.

Gamification

Our own research and tracking of trends has told us that gamification is a biggie this year, with more and more brands looking to engage audiences through the use of gaming technology across multiple platforms. We are excited to be investing opportunities like this for clients.

Google+

We all know that Google+ is still the relatively new kid on the social media block, but it’s quickly being used by brands who want to offer their different communities targeted ways of engaging with them. Seamus Byrne told of how Logitech Australia is allowing its followers to ‘circle’ themselves, so they can choose to only receive the information they want. This granular approach ensures the brand maintains a good relationship with its customers, without overloading them with irrelevant material. Makes sense right? Google’s Lucinda Barlow highlighted how the ‘hangouts’ feature had particularly caught on, not something Google had originally expected. Obama even did a live Google ‘hangout’ earlier this week, so if it is good enough for him, then it is good enough for me!

What is your top prediction for 2012?

Posted by Jane Outen

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 11:01 am. It is filed under Social Media, Technology, Trends and tagged with gamification, Google, mobile wallet, Networx, NFC technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.