Here's my latest FUTURE Perspective trends newsletter focusing on Data Visualisation, Gamification, “Quirky Alones” & Food Security.

1. January 2011
This edition covers:
•Data Visualisation
•Gamification
•The Power of One
•Food Security

2. Many Eyes “living laboratory”
DIGITAL/DESIGN
➔ Data visualisation is something that IBM – COMMUNICATIONS TAKEOUT
DATA VISUALISATION one of the most innovative companies in the
world – is taking a keen interest in.
Infographics are big ➔ They have even launched a website called
➔ Regardless of the medium, PR professionals Many Eyes which they see as a “living
are still essentially in the business of creating laboratory” allowing you to upload data sheets
compelling ways in which to get their client’s and see them be transformed into a variety of
messages across. visualised formats.
➔ One of the key trends in this area is Data
Visualisation or Infographics. Best practice
➔ You are sure to remember the story of the
Impactful Chilean miners. There were 33 Chilean HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF
➔ A study at the University of Pennsylvania miners trapped in a mine who were not INFOGRAPHICS:
showed that in presentations, when going to be able to be freed for months.
➔ Ideas should be topical
information is conveyed orally, people retain Although this was headline news when it
➔ Research is key and data needs to be
only 10 percent of the content. But when a first broke there was an element of
accurate
presentation includes visuals and words, that compassion fatigue over time. To counter
➔ Design is critical to take you on an
number increases to 50. this Newsweek produced this amazing
entertaining visual journey
➔ In an era when we are inundated with news infographic called “Think of the Miners”
➔ The title is important and needs a
and media stories that have to fight for space showing how small the bore hole was that
recognisable theme
amidst this deluge, infographics can make a real was used to send them all their daily needs.
➔ Spread the word aggressively among
difference in helping a client stand out from its As you can see, it’s a very powerful medium
key online and offline influencers
competitors. for getting your narrative across.
➔ Promote your content/Infographic on
social media e.g.. Digg, Facebook, Twitter,
Not just a pretty picture ➔ Take a look at these stunning examples of
Reddit, and StumbleUpon,etc.
➔ Infographics are much more than a pretty creative infographics and these data
➔ Establish metrics to measure success
picture. visualisations.
➔ Make sure you have the URL of your
➔ They provide users with 4 distinct elements:
firm and the research links embedded in
1. same mental model ➔ This video is well worth taking the time to
the image so that you always get the credit
2. attention-getting mechanisms watch – journalism in the age of data:
for your work and in return, credit those
3. content retention http://bit.ly/idY8ki
whose research made it possible for you to
4. engagement from start to finish
create a visual representation.
➔ The New York Times and the BBC websites
are also good reference points, as they are
both at the forefront of data visualisation. READ: 10 Awesome Free Tools To
Make Your Own Infographics
http://bit.ly/hwQmx7

3. ENGAGEMENT/HR/MARKETING ➔ Interestingly, 30% of gamers “like” real
GAMIFICATION world brands. Some of the world’s biggest COMMUNICATIONS TAKEOUT
brands have taken notice of how game
Gamification is the use of game play mechanics can help their strategies.
mechanics or non-game applications, Airlines, hotels, and credit card companies
particularly consumer-oriented web and all understand our desire to be rewarded
mobile sites, in order to encourage people to and to achieve status and have recognised
adopt the applications. that gaming is just making it more of an
➔ Gamification works by making technology adventure, and more social. The scale of the
more engaging, and by encouraging desired social gaming is such that, according to
behaviours, taking advantage of humans' TechCrunch, Google has invested US$100M
psychological predisposition to engage in in the social gaming behemoth Zynga and is HOW TO USE GAME MECHANICS:
gaming. The technique can encourage people preparing to launch Google Games in the ➔ Integrate games from the outset
very near future. Start with your vision and work backwards.
to perform chores that they ordinarily consider
Define your end goal: what do you want to
boring, such as completing surveys, shopping, or accomplish, what’s the big vision?
reading web sites. The next frontier
➔ Make a list of required user actions
➔ In 2011, watch out for major media
What behaviour patterns do they need to adopt
Facebook at the forefront companies and consumer goods brands in order to sustain your business model? Think
➔ The phenomenon of gaming , particularly launching gamified experiences. Expect to in verbs, not nouns. What do you need people
Farmville, on Facebook has been something see the most innovation in finance, travel to do? Once you have this list, rank the items
of a surprise success. and TV. from most to least critical and from most to
➔ The statistics speak for themselves: ➔ A Farmville equivalent will become a useful least plausible. Now you know where to focus
• 53% of Facebook users play games teaching and/or business simulation and your game-based psychology experiment.
• 19% say they are addicted learning tool in the enterprise; perhaps a ➔ Motivate the most important
• 69% of Facebook gamers are women user-powered cooperative. Companies like behaviours
• 56 million people play daily www.wisestep.com [Beta] are also pushing Give users a series of meaningful choices. Layer
the boundaries of traditional business tasks over time to create a share sense of past,
networking sites like LinkedIn by adding a present and future to make the experience
Crossing into business “sticky.” Pull them towards the most critical
➔ It’s a phenomenon that has inevitably been gaming element that encourages and
behaviours with rewards.
latched on to by marketers who have seen rewards interaction.
➔ Evaluate and adapt
the potential benefits of tapping into the ➔ 2011 will be a very exciting year for Success lies in evaluating and adapting both the
growing “gamification” of our lives. gamification and customer engagement game mechanic layer & the behaviours that are
overall. From small start ups working on critical to motivate. Both change as you learn
Big brands getting in on the act energy consumption to the world’s biggest about your customer & they learn how to play
➔ Big brands also understand the need for media properties, tools like points, badges, your game.
game-like connections. Traditional leader boards and challenges will be
advertising continues to lose effectiveness increasingly deployed to create emotional READ: 5 Predictions for Game
with younger consumers, and customer and brand loyalty.
Mechanics in 2011:
acquisition costs remain stubbornly high.
http://on.mash.to/fIjzZV

4. MARKETING
Gender divide: the Freemale
THE POWER OF ONE ➔ A new label - Freemale - has been given to a COMMUNICATIONS TAKEOUT
certain type of woman - those who are
It’s a lonely planet – or is it? happy without a man. According to the
➔ The rise of social networking over recent ONS, only 25% of women live with a
years and the internet over a longer period, partner.
has seen a concurrent rise in lone ➔ There is also the seemingly unavoidable fact
communication. Keeping in touch with that women outlive men. The widowed
friends does not necessarily need to be demographic is one that should not be
made face to face or in groups - each user is ignored - with men in the West dying
alone with his or her computer. around four years earlier than women, on HOW TO TARGET THE “QUIRKY
➔ The mobile phone has perhaps been the average. This female-heavy market is ripe
prime modern cause of this solo
ALONES”:
for brands and companies to tap into.
➔ Brands can sensitively target
communication, however. Texting and the
singletons, emphasising the bachelor or
ease with which conversations can be cut Lifestyle Choice
bachelorette status (rather than
down to ‘txt spk’ has meant that the need to ➔ Overall being single is no longer perceived
emphasising loneliness) and underline
physically interact with others has been as a depressing fate - a la Bridget Jones - but
the social status of such a demographic.
dramatically reduced. as more of an active lifestyle choice.
➔ This target group is ripe for the luxury
➔ We are becoming more and more ➔ A group called Quirkyalone has been set up
category, having more disposable
accustomed to being alone – but with the in the US for Singletons or people with
income and more liberty to indulge
rise of digital entertainment and the ease “singleton attitudes”. The members of the
themselves.
with which we can travel the world in our group are not opposed to being in a couple
➔ Individual holidays are no longer
second lives online, being lonely does not but they are happier alone than in an
confined to the gap year student. There
have to mean being bored. unhappy relationship.
is plenty of scope to tailor independent
➔ The media agency Carat did some research
adventures to explorers of all ages,
Socio-economic drivers on the topic of Singletons. The research
especially in the area of health tourism.
➔ The slowdown in growth of the global revealed that when asked what one thing
➔ Singletons acknowledge experiencing
population has been matched by a growth in would improve their lives, only one in six
some feelings of loneliness at certain
the number of households - meaning that Singletons said “finding a partner” compared
key times such as Christmas,
more people are living alone. to a third who answered “a large sum of
Valentine’s Day, New Year and
➔ According to the UK Office for National money”; 60% of those surveyed believe that
sometimes on Saturdays when there
Statistics, as people marry later and live single people are as happy as couples.
tends to be a heavy media focus on
longer, the number of single person Respondents mentioned the following
families and couples. These times may
households is expected to increase by over 2 upsides to being single : having more time to
create an opportunity for brands to
million within the next 10 years - on top of spend on hobbies (76%), being more
play a role in Singletons’ lives and
the seven and a half million who are already spontaneous (62%) and having more close
create an emotional tie with them.
living alone. friends (53%).
READ: The Singleton Society
http://bit.ly/fTXdM4

5. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Global land grab
FOOD SECURITY ➔ The world community is in widespread COMMUNICATIONS TAKEOUT
agreement about the urgency of more
The world we eat in is changing investment in agriculture. The food crisis,
➔ Close to a billion people in the world are partly characterized by unstable markets
hungry and there is growing poverty, and low reserves, has led governments to
unemployment, and displacement in the rural seek measures to meet their food security
sector. Conditions have rapidly been getting needs more directly than through global
worse for families globally as they are trade.
battered by surging food prices. Rising costs ➔ Governments and corporations, looking to
are dragging more people into poverty, outsource food and energy more directly
fuelling political tensions and forcing ever themselves, are promoting a new wave of
land acquisitions, known as "land grabs."
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE:
more people to go hungry. ➔ Improve smallholder productivity
➔ Food is now costing up to 70% of family Persian Gulf states are working out land
deals in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. ➔ Link smallholders to markets
income in the poorest areas of the world. The ➔ Keep trade open
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization’s food India has set up agricultural projects in
Brazil. South Korea recently tried to buy up ➔ Promote productive safety nets
price index — which covers 90 countries — ➔ Integrate climate change into strategies
was up 22% in March 2010 from the previous nearly half of the island of Madagascar.
at all levels
year. ➔Reform global food governance system
Longer term food supply problems looming
From credit crunch to food crunch ➔ Currently, the world’s population stands at
A deep-rooted set of factors is destabilising the 6.8 billion and is predicted to rise to READ: Achieving Sustainable
world food market: between 8 billion and 10.5 billion between Food Security: New Trends &
➔The US, once the world’s greatest exporter of 2040 and 2050. Emerging Agenda
grains, is now diverting 20% of its cereal ➔ In 1996, the World Food Summit set a goal
of halving the number of undernourished
http://bit.ly/i4iAZO
harvest to biofuel. The grain needed to fill the
tank of a typical American SUV would meet people by 2015. The Food and Agriculture
the annual needs of one person in developing Organization says that target is not going to CONTACT
countries. be met: World Agriculture towards
➔ The rising demand for animal feed for 2030/2050. To request further information, give
intensive meat production. This has given rise ➔ The UK government, in consultation with feedback or suggest a future topic for
to a campaign for Meat Free Mondays. the EU, has put together a strategy around
the newsletter, please contact:
➔ Poor harvests from traditional cereal 6 core issues: healthy diet; resilient food
system; sustainable production; reducing
Elaine Cameron
exporters, such as Australia and Russia, which
have been linked to climate change. emissions; reducing waste; increasing Strategic Research & Trend Analysis,
impact of knowledge & technology: Food EMEA elaine.cameron@bm.com
2030.
And don’t forget to follow on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/FUTUREPersp