12 Predictions for 2012
How the game will change in the year ahead – our predictions, with links!
1. Profit from me > Pay me
As consumers’ engagement – even more than their money – becomes even more intensely coveted by brands, consumers will demand compensation, monetary or otherwise. The cat’s out of the bag: consumers have an ever-increasing suspicion of targeted online marketing and a sharp awareness that their participation is a crucial commodity for brands.
Chime.in “A Social Network that Pays You” MIT Technology Review
Socialvibe offers users an otherwise paid service in exchange for lengthy, interactive advertisements – “SocialVibe’s Voluntary Ads Aim to Make The Internet Free” Fast Company
2. Bus stop ad > Bus stop shop
The age-old spaces of marketing, like bus stop shelters, will make way for interactive, shoppable walls, screens, and codes, as urban transit will develop into a key “3rd place” for retail. “Urban culture is retail culture”: as urbanization explodes globally, and shopping becomes increasingly ambient, mobility and retail will converge, with both consumers and shops on the move.
Tesco/Homeplus Virtual Subway Store in Korea
P&G/Mail.cz Virtual Grocery Store in Prague Subways
The Apple store in Grand Central
3. East/west > North/south
A new story will emerge around north to south as the rapidly growing economies of South America and Africa position themselves powerfully on the world stage. We’ll need to think beyond BRIC – and perhaps beyond acronyms all together – as geopolitical poles get scrambled.
PWC’s The World in 2050: The projected list of fastest growing economies to 2050 is headed by Vietnam, and the top 10 includes Nigeria, Philippines, Egypt and Bangladesh
4. Ambassador > Organizer
Giving consumers a statement to act around, instead of just a platform to say it, is a major lesson from the Occupy movement: the best brands will be a purposeful cause for self-organizing and getting things done. Superficial social media stunts will ring increasingly tinny in the ears of consumers, who know their real affinity cannot be bought with a tweet.
“The Branding of the Occupy Movement” The New York Times
5. Flexible 9-5 > Flexible environments
A mobile workforce that works anywhere, anytime will become fully mainstream, and more new businesses will be office-free from the ground up. As the 9-5 erodes, so will the (already blurry) divide between personal and professional lives, otherwise known as Bleisure.
“This Organization is Dis-Organization” Fast Company
6. Supermarket > Superbank
In an atmosphere of intense consumer skepticism toward big banks, more non-banks will start to offer financial services (think Tesco and Starbucks)
Walmart check-cashing services
UK Convenience store chain the Co-operative offers everything from financial services to life insurance
7. Criminal hackers > Civic hackers
Anonymous data maneuvers geared toward the public good, rather than pranksterism or criminal activity, will gain speed and attention, especially as the public continues to grapple with the significance of data analytics. The hacker will become a mainstream image of community progress.
Data Without Borders partners computer scientists and hackers with non-profits to help them leverage their data
8. Channel surfing > Queuing up
Ditch your remote control: 2012 is the year that digital set-top boxes will become more intuitive and hands-free (via Kinect technology), shifting TV out of its traditional mode once and for all.
9. Storage unit > Data broker
Infomediaries, which go between big companies and consumers, will become new versions of banks: trading everything from time to attention to data to cash
Personal.com “Personal could be a way for consumers to regain power over their data on the web.”
Simple (formerly Banksimple) is an example of a financial infomediary that holds sensitive info and brokers the interactions between consumers and banks
10. New economy > “She-economy”
Close to 1 bil women will become new economic contributors in the world resulting in more targeted efforts at women, especially in emerging economies
The Goldman Sachs 10000 Women Program
11. Robot care > Human care
Healthcare brands that provide varied, personalized user experiences will be the only survivors among an aging population with a gamut of needs. In short, healthcare companies will truly have to become brands after all, and the ones that foreground customer service will prosper.
Sickweather is a social network that charts trends in health, one smart possible strategy for new healthcare
12. Hoodie > Heattech
Even more common, inexpensive objects will become embedded with an extra experiential, technologically-advanced sensory layer, as the internet of things permeates the consumer universe.
