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

1. THETRENDSREPORT
January 2016
Proudly brought to you by NATIVE VML

2. A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF TRENDS IN
MARKETING, STORYTELLING AND DIGITAL
CULTURE LOCALLY AND ABROAD.

3. CREATIVITY
ANDANEW
REALITY

4. The Next Era of Anticipatory Design is not so much about
eliminating unnecessary choice, but rather liberating
consumers from all choice.
In fact, Gartner predicts that autonomous mobile
assistant purchasing will reach $20 billion annually by the
end of 2016.
While anticipatory design is not new (think Clippy from
Microsoft Office), the need to cut out unnecessary
consumer steps and reduce the time-constrained users’
cognitive load continues to become even more critical.
Gartner predicts that the Internet of Things (IoT) will
reach 21 billion connected devices by 2020. This will
surely see the blur between products and services, as
well as marketing and product design get even hazier.
The Next Era of
Anticipatory Design

5. GlowCap andAT&T raise prescription medicine
adherence from below 75% to 95%
GlowCap is a tool designed to help those on chronic
or prescription medicine remember to take their
medicine. It is simply a cap that fits on top of a
medicine bottle that alerts the user through light and
sound that it is time to take their pills. It also sends
messages to the user’s phone in the event of a
missed dosage. GlowCap even sends refill requests
to the user’s pharmacy with its press for refill button,
so the user doesn’t have to stress about tracking their
prescription schedules.
READ MORE
Source: Vitality

6. Healthier pets through the Canhe-Fit pendant
The Canhe-Fit pendant was unveiled recently at
CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2016. The
device helps pet owners monitor their pet’s food
intake and physicial activity level.An app then sends
the owner nutritional advice depending on the pet’s
breed, age and weight.
READ MORE
Source: I4U

7. Next-Gen WIFI for the Internet of Things (IoT)
Advances in Wi-Fi standards will come to solve the
limitations of IoT devices caused by poor connectivity.
Called Wi-Fo HaLow, this long-range, low-power Wi-
Fi caters directly to various wearables, smart sensors
and other IoT devices by extending transmission
range and penetration capabilities.
READ MORE
Source: WiRED

8. INNOVATION
AND DISRUPTION

9. Not only has Ad Blocker usage been on the rise,
but the newly released iOS9 includes support for
Ad Blockers too. There is a clear cry from online
audiences to not have to contend with disruptive
advertising. This means that brands will need to
work a lot harder to essentially be invited into
their consumers’ worlds.
It would appear that native content is the best
solution to this dilemma.
With Burberry’s Festive Film and Mercedes-
Benz’ ‘innovative’ Elf-Driving video setting the
scene for holiday-themed branded content, the
race is on to create truly entertaining and
emmersive content that consumers welcome
and share within their own online ecosystems.
The end of advertising
interruption

10. “WE NEED TO STOP
INTERRUPTING WHAT PEOPLE
ARE INTERESTED IN AND BE
WHAT PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED
IN.”
Craig Davis, former Chief Creative Officer
at J. Walter Thompson

11. CES (Consumer Electronic Show) 2016 saw
many innovative and disruptive technology
demos, but one to certainly watch out for is
Samsung’s unveiling of their modular display
technology.
Modular Display

12. Samsung Future TV
An innovative new way to make your TV screen
even bigger, the modular display design uses
multiple screens that come together in different
configurations seamlessly.
READ MORE
Source: Samsung Newsroom

13. MEDIA
JUJITSU

14. 2015 saw the rise of self-destructing social
media and the pursuit of ephemeral data. In
2016, we will begin to see more and more
brands looking to engage with consumers on the
platforms that answer their needs for temporary
consumption.
Content: sharing vs
preservation

15. Advertisements with an expiry date
Taking advantage of Snapchat’s ‘self-
destructing’ qualities, the Danish World Wildlife
Fund ran a campiagn on the platform that
illustrates how quickly endangered species are
going extinct.
Titled the #lastselfie campaign, images of
endangered animals are posted, fleetingly, with
the call for it to ‘not to be my last selfie’.
READ MORE
Source: AdWeek

16. With Facebook working on its on search engine
and social media site content being better
indexed within Google, search visibility will
greatly improve for Facebook and Twitter. This
will surely shake things up a bit.
Furthermore, e-commerce capabilities and
appetite from consumers within social media will
certainly continue to grow if not proliferate in
2016.
Beyond Social
Networking

17. Nescafe declares ‘the Brand Website is Dead’
Nescafe recently converted its .com domain
into a Tumblr blog with their marketing chief
Michael Chrisment saying that “the dotcom is
a reflection of us talking to people; this
approach is dead. It should be much more
inclusive and allow conversations.”
With brochure content found on most brand
websites and visible within the search results
on Google cards, it does then beg the
question, “How relevant are brand websites?”.
READ MORE
Source: The Verge

18. CONNECTING THE
UNCONNECTED

19. Peter Sunde, founder of The Pirate Bay recently
gave an interview in which he stated that he has
given up trying to win the fight for a free internet.
Regardless of whether or not you share this
outlook, topics around Internet Freedom,
centralisation, and access will most likely find
their way into more watercooler conversations
than ever before.
The Open Internet to
become a hot(ter) topic

20. ProPublica as the first news publication on the
Dark Web
ProPublica became the first known major media
outlet to launch a version of its site that runs on
the Tor network. This means that readers are
able to access the news with complete
anonymity.
While the Dark Web is known mainly for its more
sinister and infamous endeavours, this move by
ProPublica is more about allowing for
anonymous access and consumption of the
news in otherwise heavily monitored or
regulated situations.
READ MORE
Source: Wired

21. With robots and smartphone-controlled gadgets
on toystore shelves everywhere, there is no
doubt that the types of toys children will become
accustomed to unwrapping on their birthdays are
going to be incredibly advanced.
With impressive capabilities infusing themselves
into toys, it is clear that manufacturers are
looking to further innovate with purposeful toys.
Toys with a purpose

22. Code-A-Pillar teaches the Internet’s next wave
of developers.
Fisher Price recently launched its Code-A-Pillar
as part of their Think and Learn Series.
Designed for children of pre-primary age, each
segment of the caterpillar can be strung in a
sequence - like a line of code to form the rest of
the body. Each segment dictates whether the
caterpillar turns left or right, continues straight or
sings a song.
READ MORE
Source: TheStreet

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