A monthly snapshot of trends in marketing, storytelling and digital culture locally and abroad.

1. Proudly brought to you by NATIVE VML
THETRENDSREPORT
December 2015

2. A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF TRENDS INMARKETING,
STORYTELLINGANDDIGITALCULTURELOCALLYANDABROAD.

3. CREATIVITY
ANDANEW
REALITY

4. Virtual Reality is fast-becoming the best way to
have a fully immersive experience and is
extending to all corners of the entertainment
world.
With an unparalleled ability to capture users’ full
attention, Virtual Reality films enable an
immersive experience, triggering emotions and
reactions.
Virtual Reality films

5. A new approach to a Halloween thrill.
Exzeb, a cutting edge production studio, recently
launched a Virtual Reality film, titled “Meet The
Family”. Using binaural sound and real-time dynamic
lighting, the movie takes the viewer right into the
minds of a creepy virtual family. The film transforms
virtual reality into a stage to explore imaginary worlds
with our emotions.
READ MORE
Source: PSFK.com

6. Facebook debuts virtual reality-style video ads.
The high-definition capabilities of Facebook’s Oculus
Rift are calling on brands to be a bit more creative
with their Facebook ads. The video creation tool is
allowing publishers and brands like Nestle and
Mountain Dew to post 360-degree clips organically to
their pages, giving the viewer a fully immersive
experience. Desktop viewers just have to drag their
mouse over a clip to change the angle, and on
mobile, swiping across the screen changes the view.
READ MORE
Source: adweek

7. Gesture control technology is changing the way
people interact with technology and the world
around them.
Along with new ways of interfacing with the
world around us, comes new ways to make
experiences with brands and products more
seamless.
Gesture control

8. Gesture control makes Photoshop more
user-friendly.
With the gesture-tracking Gest wearable, a “turn of a
knob” can control Photoshop brightness levels. The
Gest (derived from the word “gesture”) lets you
control your device by waving around your fingers
and waving your hand around. The Gest can detect
every flick, point, twist, grab or flick.
READ MORE
Source: PSFK.com

9. Gesture control in the all-new BMW 7 Series makes
driving safer and more enjoyable.
The 2016 edition of the all-new BMW 7 Series will be
the first production car with gesture control. The
technology involves using a 3D sensor to detect a
series of pre-selected hand movements, each of
which is tied to certain functions like volume control,
smartphone interfaces and others.
READ MORE
Source: digitaltrends.com

10. INNOVATION
AND DISRUPTION

11. Brands, products and services in today’s
business landscape have become highly
fragmented, over saturated and ultra-
competitive.
It has become a necessity to any brand’s
survival to innovate and constantly disrupt.
Digitally-led business
transformation

12. KFC SoundBite Audio Table
KFC South Africa wanted to increase the
relevance of its offering and drive an exciting in-
store experience for the urban youth market
creating brand love, word–of-mouth and return
visits. With this core target audience heavily
interested in music, KFC South Africa decided to
create a new one-of-a-kind music
platform. Using a digital-first approach, they
turned an ordinary eating experience into an
immersive digital sound experience to support
and amplify local up and coming artists.
READ MORE
Source: Creativecriminals.com

13. Starbucks Order & Pay App
Starbucks has created a full-feature app that lets
you order before you get to the store, and pay
via mobile. You also get to earn rewards while
you're at it. Mobile Order & Pay now comes in a
new update, allowing you to select hot/cold
drinks and food via its in-app menu. As soon as
you've ordered, the app will give you an
approximate pickup time, allowing you to arrive,
slip past the queue and grab your stuff.
READ MORE
Source: engadget.com

14. A tiny disc turns watches into smart ones.
The Chronos disc sticks to the back of your
watch. It’s a small metal disc that turns your
watch into a smart watch. It doesn’t matter if
your watch doesn’t run on batteries, this is one
nifty high-tech device. Despite its size, the
Chronos packs a punch. Inside the stainless
steel case is a haptic vibration module,
accelerometer and LED lights in seven colours
that peek out of a polycarbonate window.
READ MORE
Source: PSFK.com

15. MEDIA
JUJITSU

16. Digital media creates
tailor made
experiences
The combination of digital technology and the
online world has created the perfect space for
brands to deliver tailor made, one-on-one
experiences to people.
With the ever-changing landscape of media and
digital technology, brands are finding more and
more ways to be innovative and unique.

17. More than just “likes”
The Brazilian Association for Organ
Transplantation wanted to remind people about
the importance of organ donation. So they ran
an Instagram campaign drawing on the use of
the platform’s popular “heart” symbol aka “like”
symbol to help visualise their campaign.
READ MORE
Source: thestable.com.au

18. The application of digital thinking to traditional
media is creating the space for brands and
products to provide consumers with more than
just a message - they are providing an
experience and adding value to consumer’s
lives.
Digital thinking turns
traditional media from a
message into an
experience

19. KITKAT Massage Billboard
The KITKAT Massage Billboard campaign
proved to be a huge success in Columbia. All
people had to do was lean against them to get a
soothing lower and upper back massage – for
free. The billboards used tiny motors to trigger
pressure sensors and in turn vibrations to give
massages.
Context Identification
READ MORE
Source: adweek

20. Coca Cola “Wish in a bottle”.
Coca-Cola, along with the creative use of drones
and fireworks, made wishing upon a star a
reality for teens in Israel. Coca-Cola created
custom-made bottles especially for an event.
These bottles included a transmitter shaped like
a star, which turned them into connected bottles.
When a bottle was opened, it triggered a Wi-Fi
signal sent up to one of three drones flying at
1,000 ft. The drones were programmed so that
they launched a firework resembling a shooting
star as soon as they received a signal.
Context Identification
READ MORE
Source: PSFK.com

21. CONNECTING THE
UNCONNECTED

22. The possibilities of digital technology are
endless, and while the skill demand is rapidly
increasing, digtally skilled people are becoming
harder to find. Brands and companies that can
empower not only their own emplyees, but the
greater population, will benefit from feeding the
skills funnel from the bottom up.
Connecting the
unconnected

23. Digital bootcamp for a free education Digify is an
organisation that takes selected young people,
between the age of 18-25 and gives them
intensive training in digital marketing, social
media and content strategy as well as key
Google modules including SEO, AdWords and
Analytics, along with ongoing training in
WordPress and/or app development. The three
month boot camp is free, and supported by
Google South Africa and the Interactive
Advertising Bureau (IAB).
READ MORE
Source: bizcommunity.com

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