ON THE CUTTING EDGE:

September 2011

Third Quarter 2011: Trends To Watch

•2011’s third quarter saw new technologies and trends emerging in several key areas:

- New & Niche Social Networks- Bridging Physical & Virtual Worlds- Next Gen Shopping- Extreme Grouponing- Music Battles

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Social State Of Mind

Social Networking Around The Globe

• Facebook dominates in 119 of the 134 countries represented here.

• Notable exceptions are Orkut in Brazil, QZone in China, Hyves in The Netherlands, and locally grown networks in Russia.

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Niche Networks On The Rise

• Say goodbye to one-stop social networking.

• It’s not that people are leaving Facebook in droves but American Millennials are flocking to niche networks in search of:

– Specialized Topics– Privatized, Smaller Communities

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The Low Down On Notable Niche Networks

Instagram•Photo sharing network where people add filters and tweak their images in fun ways•Approaching 10 million users•Brands get involved with their own accounts

Path•Social network that limits your circle to 150 friends.•Idea is to create a network where you can be comfortable sharing personal info, photos, etc.•Brand involvement is a possibility if a small community of super fans is desired.

Ravelry•Super targeted network of knitting enthusiasts•1.4 million members•Brand involvement for clothing designers, yarn-makers and knitting stores

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The Low Down On Notable Niche Networks

Pinterest•A virtual pinboard where you share & organize interesting things you find online.•Helpful for anything creative or visual in nature•Primary users are women•Brand involvement with a Pinterest account and even corresponding contests

Foodspotting•Location-based network where users share photos of food from spots all over the world.•Way to search for restaurants and foods•1 million+ users (foodies)•Brands can create accounts, guides and contests

BakeSpace•Grassroots food and recipe oriented community•Brands can create accounts and interact with the community over recipe swaps

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Google Gives Social Media Another Go

• Google has taken note of the logic behind sites like Path and other niche networks, recognizing that people don’t want to share everything with everyone.

• That’s a big feature within Google+– Create circles of friends and choose which circles see your content

• In its initial limited trial phase this summer, 10 million users joined. Google+ is now open to the public, no invite required.

• Official accounts for brands will come later.

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Takeaways For Marketers And Brands

• As always, keep an eye on your audience and where they’re spending time.

• Don’t write off smaller, niche networks.

• Having a presence there can mean standing out from the crowds on busier networks, as well as goodwill from people who have bought in to the smaller communities.

• Keep an eye on Google+ and its rollout for brand integration.

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Bridging Physical & Virtual Worlds

Physical World, Meet Virtual World

• Mobile technology is opening up the possibility of bridging physical and digital worlds.

• For users, it means the chance to:

–Play games–Beautify or personalize the world –Interact with objects & locations in new ways

• Campaigns and technologies to take note of:

–McDonald’s Pick ‘n’ Play–Philips Buying Guide–OutRun–Street Tag–The Anti-Billboard

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McDonald’s Pick ‘n’ Play

• In Sweden, McDonald’s turned a billboard into personalized gaming. • For users, there was no app to download, just a web address to visit via

smartphone. • From there, play the game, see it on the big screen, and complete it in 30

seconds to score coupons.

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Philips TV Buying Guide

• When making a TV purchase, it’s tough to decide on the right size for the room.

• Philips offered support with an app that uses augmented reality to place a customized virtual TV object in a consumer’s home.

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Imagining The AR Possibilities

• OutRun is an augmented reality game that combines old school video gaming with real world driving.

• While it’s not available to general consumers, it shows the possibilities of where AR may take us.

• The creator hopes it will lead to new technologies for the disabled.

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Just Tag It

• Street Tag is a free app that turns an iPhone into a can of spray paint. • Using the phone’s camera mode, it allows users to virtually tag locations and

share their artwork via Facebook or Twitter.

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Transforming Billboards Into Art

• Can you imagine Times Square without any advertisements?

• This augmented reality app by the The Public Ad Campaign makes that a reality by turning Times Square billboards into visuals created by street artists.

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Takeaways For Marketers And Brands

• Remember: what was just a static print ad or billboard in the past can now be so much more. It can even be fun.

• Empowering consumers to personalize or interact with the world around them is exciting.

• Requiring an app download can be a deterrent to success. McDonald’s went around this by using a mobile-friendly website.

• If an app is required for interactivity, be sure to get the word out about it.

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Next Gen Shopping

Next Gen Shopping

• Whether it’s about making shopping a social experience or something interactive, next gen shopping is a ripe territory for brands and up-and-coming technologies.

• From location-based services like ShopKick and CheckPoints to music tagging app Shazam, it’s a big world out there.

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Shopping Gets Gamified

• CheckPoints is an app where users check in at retailers, and interact with products by scanning them and answering questions.

• Points and rewards are earned along the way.

• For brands that get involved, it means the chance to reach consumers at the point of purchase—a good way to drive sales.

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Does This Dress Make Me Look Fabulous?

• This summer, Topshop treated shoppers to something unique: Instagram photo shoots in the dressing room.

• Once shoppers had their photos snapped and stylized, they could grab a printed postcard of the image or share it to Facebook for instant feedback from friends.

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Shop Via Shazam

• Shazam isn’t just for tagging songs anymore.

• It’s also getting used increasingly as part of commercials and TV programming.

• Tag the audio from your TV for more info on a brand, exclusive content and links to e-commerce or coupons.

• Old Navy is among the brands trying this tactic.

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Bringing The Store To The Busy People

• Tesco (aka Home Plus) brought its goods to busy South Korean commuters.

• Product shots complete with QR codes were attached to subway walls where people could scan groceries, add them to a virtual cart and have them delivered.

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Takeaways For Marketers And Brands

• Drive sales and buzz by encouraging people to interact with your brand before, during and after the purchase process.

• Look for opportunities both in store and in unexpected physical or digital places for optimum success.

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Extreme Grouponing

Extreme Grouponing

• The jury is still out on whether Groupon and similar services are a wise investment for brands.

• But that hasn’t stopped companies from trying extreme tactics in the deals space.

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A Tuition Deal Like No Other

• National Louis University in Chicago was the first school to try Grouponing.

• To grow its graduate teaching program, they offered a 60% discount for an intro to teaching course, taking the usual $2,232 price down to $950.

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From The Medicinal To The Gross

• Services at spas, medical clinics and plastic surgery locations have become a mainstay with Groupon and other deals sites.

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Takeaways For Marketers And Brands

• Groupon and other deals sites get a lot of buzz but there are some important questions to ask before jumping in:

–What are your goals?–Are you trying to reach new customers or existing loyal ones?–In either case, are there other ways to reach these groups or is a deals oriented service worth a test?–What will the cost of the promotion be to your brand?–Does deep discounting synch up with your brand’s identity?

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Music Battles

Music Battles

• The digital music world was busy this summer:

– U.S. launch of streaming music service Spotify– Songza has a playlist for everything and takes them to iPhone &

Android.– Turntable.fm gets people interacting around sharing music in a

game-like environment

• There have also been a number of brands doing interesting things around music and co-creation.

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Blink-182 Addresses Illegal Music Use

• To launch its first single in eight years, Blink-182 partnered with AT&T and put a spotlight on fans in a unique way.

• AT&T helped track down every instance of fans using the band’s music without permission on YouTube.

• Instead of punishing them, they rewarded them in the form of a music video that incorporated all of those examples.

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Crowdsourcing Cash

• For the eighth anniversary of Johnny Cash’s death and his posthumously released song “Ain’t No Grave,” Google Chrome crowdsourced a video project.

• People from all over the world contributed the images that make up the video, in addition to info about themselves, which enhanced the community vibe.

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Takeaways For Marketers And Brands

• Digital music offers a rich territory for brands looking to:

– Build community around music– Co-create with consumers– Get people interacting actively (by creating something)

or passively (by listening)– Show personality

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