The document summarizes several technology trends for 2010, including the growth of geolocation applications that use GPS and social networks, the rise of real-time search and user-generated content, increased use of mobile payments, more global digital agencies opening offices in Russia, local tools influencing brands across borders, the dominance of mobile apps over websites, and the future of communication shifting to voice calls over broadband internet. It also discusses trends in online communication like social CRM, crowd-sourcing in marketing, the production of viral content for TV and the internet, and communication splintering across micro groups.
4. Geolocation
Combination of GPS sensors in mobile
phones and revolutionary mobile
applications with social networks makes
geolocation one of the most
essential tools for any killer app.
We are talking not only about retranslates like Foursquare и Gowalla. Geo APIs for Twitter’,
SimpleGeo are already functioning and, hopefully, there is one more coming for Facebook. It
is shifting our attitude by putting online all the geographical information that physically exists
in our community.
5. Real-time search
Users had done UGC-
revolution by opposing
themselves to the regular
media. 2010 will bring us new
Internet reality: content is
going to become live.
6. Mobile payment transactions
Mobile phones are become full-featured portable
computers and can be used for commercial
activities. Mobile is a new point of sale
now.
In 2010 we foresee a global battle among producers of mobile
devices and software companies for the market share of mobile
payment transactions. The idea is quite evident and simple:
interface is already created, the device itself exists and widely used,
easy Internet access is affordable for almost anybody not
mentioning easy verification of each user. Jack Dorsey, the Twitter
founder, had just launched a start-up called Square and capable to
turn iPhones into card-readers. Verifone is developing similar
product as well as Mophie (mobile accessories producer) does.
7. Global digital agencies in Russia
Business globalization and TA similarity had lead to the
fact that more and more large foreign agencies
are opening their offices in Russia. And we are not
talking about Russian representatives, it is about global
offices with international staff.
8. Local tools influence the brand across the
state borders
With the rapid growth of Internet usage
communication has become international.
Mobile applications, viral and TV reels created originally for other countries are
traveling to and from Russia avoiding all the boundaries, beyond national mentalities and
regional specifics.
In the nearest future all the agencies are going to become more universal, global
campaigns will be created and implemented easier, faster and more effective.
9. Le Roi Est Mort, Vive Le Roi!
Just like all the sciences originated
from philosophy all the media entered
Internet. And it is there to stay.
That is why all the marketing is going to be digital and to save the words we
will not call it digital-marketing.
It will be just MARKETING.
10. Mobile apps boost
In 2012 applications will become more popular than websites. Each application is
capable of solving only one problem. Applications fulfill users’ needs and it is as easy and fast as to push
one key on the keyboard. It is here and now.
Remember the computer mouse taking over the keyboard? Hot-keys were no longer useful because of
the Internet and website development.
In 2010 Apple Tablet was announced with its fabulous AppStore. Android Market and Nokia Ovi store
are following its tracks. We are rushing into the Apps World.
11. The future of communication
Personal and portable devices are going to
transform tremendously in the nearest 2 or 3 years.
Overpowering broadband Internet penetration will
save us from paying for GSM traffic, we are
going to pay for megabytes only. We be using
only Skype and webcams to talk to others.
12. Content revolution
Steve Jobs started his iPad presentation with the words:
"This is the most important thing I have ever done". It is
hard to make any objections. We are more than sure that
this event will be called the beginning of The Age of
Enlightenment 2.0 in the digital-history schoolbooks.
Pretty soon we will read the freshest issue of The New Yorker instead of
Moskovskii Komsomolets (Russian newspaper) right in the Moscow metro.
More over the First digital issue of The Russian Pioneer (magazine) will hold
more video-content than all the telecasts on Pervyi Kanal (Russia’s leading
national TV channel) during the week and the editors of The Pioneer and
their point of view will influence Presidential elections 2012 and other major
decisions.
13. Touch screens and
surfaces is the new
reality for
interfaces - new
level of users’
experience
Touch screens are TAKING OVER all the other types of interfaces. The latest Apple’s
iPad brings it the next level up. Also some “craftsmen” had created electric guitars
with the touch screen instead of the strings. 2010 and 2011 will let various touch
interfaces enter and influence our lives even more.
15. Social CRM
We are experiencing the real boost of social media tools: Vkontakte, Twitter, Facebook, etc. This year brands are
coming even close to their customers by socializing business-processes. Salesforce.com launched
Chatter - new collaboration online system that puts together all business flows in real-time using the best
technics and interfaces from Twitter and Facebook and converting it into a business tools.
16. Crowd-sourcing in marketing
Years ago user-made advertising
provoked nothing but irritation. This
year brands are going to inspire
and trigger their consumers
to work on the new form of
communication. We are about to face
UGC-billboards, shopwindow displays
and even TV commercials.
17. Viral rush
Brands will try to fill every TV spot
with viral content
Viral reels production can be equal to the shooting for national TV
if talking about the budget. But it is possible and wise to save here
by making one reel for both TV and Internet. Marketing directors
will challenge their brand-managers to create originally-viral TV
reels which are also capable of capturing the Internet audience’s
attention.
18. New realities in the users’ world
Existing technologies allow us to
describe the environment more that
ever.
We are changing not only our behavior starting every day with the twit, we
make our life much more interesting by observing the things we have never
noticed before. For instance, we discover that janitors at public restrooms at
the shopping malls never lift up their heads and spend the lives staring at the
marble floor.
19. Stop counting, start buying!
Smart clients were always talking about the efficiency of
Internet campaigns but everybody used different
measuring approaches. During the last ten years we
went all the way from counting the clicks to users’
actions and measuring the number of sales. We do
count sales! What in the world can be more
important?
The freshest trend. A couple of weeks ago one of our major clients had said that
they were not into the clicks and views any more. Instead they take into
consideration only the real actions that users perform on the website. And
advertising systems are ready for it too! Of course, it is not true for all of them
but all it takes is for one trend-setting resource to start operating like this. We
believe that it will happen this year.
20. Fight for the audience
Major social media are coping competitors’ technics
to keep and involve the audience instead of
developing something new. The brands are
about to face similar war.
Major services are following the competing networks and launching twin-
services and functions in order to keep the audience from migrating. To catch
on Twitter Facebook marks the users with the @ sign, renews the main page
to make it look more like activities stream on Twitter, creates
lite.facebook.com to be weightless just like Twitter, planning to launch Skype
analog.Youtube gathers trends. Wordpress "speeds up" RSS with the help of
RSS-Cloud.
21. Lego sequel
Using the brand or
product in projects
like “Be kind rewind” or in
“folk” sequels can build up
popularity out of nothing.
22. Micro groups
At the end of the year all the digital communications will
be split among micro groups. There is not going to be
many different communications for the TA. Instead we will
have 100 different digital-experience for a
hundred different (maybe overlapping) groups.
Audience is growing quality and quantity wise and it is almost impossible to
meet their expectations with three websites, they are constantly searching for
the new media. The relevant TA is harder to get every day and it is better to
make small activations on the small websites creating digital tools individually
for each resource. This kind of message looks much more natural and
trustable for the customers.
23. Games are more and more
popular in social networks
For the brand it is much easier to get into
online gaming world than into the real world.
Besides it means obtaining long-time and daily
contact with the audience.
In 2010 games in social media are
going to become individual
advertising resources.
24. New lead format
Progressive websites and projects are taking chances with
various types of logins: it is started with an openid that did not
really worked out. Here comes Google connect, facebook
connect, etc. Login and registration are almost
blended together, the only thing that is left is
authorization. That is it. We think that Vkontakte must
develop similar service for Runet.
The lead is not the same any more. Not so long ago lead was the true user
identification with his/hers personal data + gave the opportunity to
communicate through e-mails. At this time lead is a composition of all the
user’s profiles in various social networks and it gives us the opportunity to
give the message through any channel.
26. The brand are paying for your purchases
Almost anything is worth doing to keep the
loyalty of the customers... Even paying
them their money back!
GAP Canada had already demonstrated it with the Sprize
project by providing the insurance anti-sales packages for the
customers for 45 days. In March of 2010 CashBack system is
going to be launched by Grape’s partner Sales Generator: buy
whatever you want to and get some cash back.
27. Web 2.0 is able to influence the society and
political life in Russia
Alexey Dymovskyi’s video message uploaded on
Youtube started the new style for the users‘ video with
many fans. Social media are taking an active part in the
development of the new-formation of the
civil society in Russia.
28. Public indulgences
All the public actions users are making due to their
religion, for example, are now accomplished through
social media. Twitter is quite good for it.
You can say sorry to each and every friend at the proper day. Why
calling and sending sms to each one personally if you can do it only
once? You can as well forgive your “enemies” all together. And it is
even easier than doing it via vkontakte or odnoklassniki (here you
have to select all the recipients manually) while in Twitter you can
write 140 symbols and it is all done - you are forgiven by those who
saw it.
29. Digital world and virtual life are blending in
with personal and even intimate actions.
Japanese man is getting married to the virtual beauty from the computer
game, newly weds are announcing supposedly the most valuably event in their life
by posting the status on Facebook, a monkey at a zoo has a mobile
phone with a camera for taking photos and posting it into social network
accounts. Is there a place in the whole world where a human being can stay face
to face with his own thoughts without socializing and continuous content
replication?
There are too many electric plugs in
this world. Leave the country.
Tonight.