28 January, 2015

5 Digital Media Trends For This Year

hand touching digital tablet, social media concept

By Grant Flannery

What will 2015 deliver in the world of digital media? Here, Grant Flannery senior digital strategist at creative agency The White Agency Sydney outlines his top five for the year.

Wearables are smoking hot

There is no question that internet of ‘things’ is changing our lives. From smart-lighting to smart-cars, consumers are obsessed by controlling everything from their armchair through being connected to devices and smart phones. Smart watches and fitness devices will increase dramatically this year, especially with the launch of Apple watch.

Mobile climbs the rank of interfaces

Companies spend tons of time and millions of dollars perfecting their ATL messages and media plans supported by a desktop experience not realising that all this work can be undone in the time Chrome takes to load the site on your smartphone.

In 2015 every website must be mobile-ready because everything has shifted to mobile. In fact consumers are starting to use their mobile as their first Internet interface.

Story building set to grow

Consumers want more fun, escapism and immersion and technology is now making this a reality; with the socially shared experience a swipe, gesture or voice activation is part of the experience. Branded events and pop-up experiences are doing their best to embrace this engagement opportunity.

Technology, innovation and a consumer expectation for deeper, more engaging, thrilling and memorable story building has ignited a new trend set to grow in 2015. Consumers have an expectation for the unexpected, unusual and an all-encompassing experience they can post on social media. Technology and innovations will make story building spectacular.

Content creation opens up beyond the industry

2015 is shaping up to be the year when everyday users develop their skills to harness the amazing capabilities of technologies like GoPro and Hyperlapse to develop amazing content.

The ease of use of these tools and the spectacular, high-quality content they can produce will turn the content marketing world on its head. Visual storytelling, the ‘secret’ of agencies and brands, is now in the hands of everyone.

Agencies and publishers will have to act both as creative director and content consultant to harness the best content from consumers.

Cool and creepy – introducing biometric marketing

As consumers become more comfortable using their hands, voice, eyes, facial expressions or movements to communicate with technology, biometric marketing will continue to evolve.

With sensors being embedded into every day surrounding objects or retail stores, and wearable technology growing rapidly (see previous point), the ways in which consumers can experience and interact with daily life is transforming.

Whereas typing, clicking or swiping is natural behavior today, this year we will see new forms of interaction through voice, facial expression, body movement, temperature and gestures.

The possibility to have frictionless engagement with consumers, and to create more personal and responsive experiences, is appealing for both marketers and consumers.

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