The Society of Digital Agencies Global General Meeting is currently under way in Barcelona. IE Agency’s Berry Driessen is bringing you the key highlights, trends and insights for the year ahead from the industry’s leaders exclusively for B&T readers.
SoDA hosted a panel discussion in the Global Mobile Centre to kick of its SoDA Global Member meeting week. The topic centered on what’s next for many of the popular digital trends engaging our attentions. The heads of Stimulant, Vasva, SOAP Creative and Blue Cadet all weighed in on what was an enlightening discussion.
For the year ahead it’s time to focus on:
1. Teching up
Though agencies are always at the forefront of the most innovative technology, looking at a more in-depth focus on hardware will be a focus point. Whether it’s time for your agency to partner with hardware providers like AOPEN, or educate yourselves on the intricacies of hardware and software integration, it’s time to tech-up. As an example, AOPEN recently launched its Innovation Lab, which features products and hardware from Australia’s leading technology providers.
2. Connection through connected devices
Clients are looking more and more to connect with their customers through devices. It’s going to be about following the trends and targeting your customers based on their device usage. For example, if your target audience is between 16-25 you’ll be looking at a mobile device and possibly Instagram or Snapchat as your next digital focus point.
3. New roles
There will be a rise of the account manager within partnering companies, like Microsoft, to understand the requirements of an agency’s clients better than ever. Through creating this new role, a strong hardware company can facilitate knowledge building, provide guidance on the right hardware to go with software, and which products will engage best with the interface’s agencies build.
4. Danger areas
It’s crucial not to buy in to gimmicks. By putting an unwavering focus on user experience, the right technology will be used to engage with the right audience. Applying user testing to the project from an early stage, and learning what your client’s customers really want, will enable this.