Brands and technology have worked together to become experts on you, building a window into certain patterns of personal data. They might know the perfect outfit for you to wear, the tastiest food for you to eat and the most exciting ways to spend your time. Chance happenings are something that the digital world is playing catch up to recreate. But it’s more than recommendation or discovery. It’s the immense satisfaction of receiving something at the right time and place, having not even realized that you wanted it.

1. Microsoft Digital Trends
Age of
Serendipity
What if?
Brands and technology worked together to become
experts on you. They might know the perfect outfit for
you to wear, the tastiest food for you to eat and the
most exciting ways to spend your time.
Chance happenings are something that the digital
world is playing catch up to recreate. As technology
evolves, the more opportunities there will be to be
pleasantly surprised.
But it’s more than recommendation or discovery. It’s the
immense satisfaction of receiving something at the right
time and place, having not even realized that you
wanted it.
“I expect the unexpected.”
So now?
A florist monitors a social media site to find people they
believe might need cheering up. The florist contacts
people directly to get their postal address and sends a
bouquet of flowers as a surprise.
20% love digital devices and services that provide them
with new recommendations or content without actively
seeking them out.
Opportunities for marketers
Retail, technology, entertainment, alcoholic beverage,
CPG and leisure and tourism brands can all win big by
delighting their consumers with pleasant surprises. By
combining information from many different apps with
insights from other trends like Value Me and
IntelligentlyON, brands can make coincidences even
more rewarding.
Example:
Music streaming companies do this well now. They play a
song from an artist you may not know based on your
playlist. Consumers are eager to hear from brands based
on their preferences, especially if it feels unexpected.
Learn more about this and other digital trends at
advertising.microsoft.com/research, and contact your
Microsoft Advertising account team to discuss how these
insights can impact your digital strategy
Methodology
Microsoft Advertising partnered with IPG Mediabrands and
The Future Laboratory to conduct quantitative with earlyadopter consumers aged 18-34 n=45 and qualitative
research with heavy internet users during January-March
2013 n=8.805 in the UK, USA, China, Brazil, Sweden, and
Czech Republic.