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

1. THETRENDSREPORT
June 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
AND A NEW
REALITY

4. It may sound like a broken record at this stage,
but the honest truth is that the arrival of
convincing virtual reality is going to fundamentally
change our lived reality more than any other
technological breakthrough in recent memory. So
with that said, apologies in advance for what must
feel like a VR inundation, but VR is quite literally
going to be all around us.
Virtually overwhelming.

5. ThisWeekInVirtualReality…
The days of virtual reality and 360-degree video are
just beginning, but there has already been a host of
campaigns that have sought to take advantage of this
emerging technology.
What’s so impressive about these campaigns is how
low-fi they feel. Each utilises the medium of interactive
video in a unique way that doesn't require a headset,
and that is memorable and relevant to the message of
the campaign. It goes to show that possibly the best
time to get creative with new media is before it’s even
fully developed. That and apparently Russians are
really into interactive video.
READ MORE
Source: CampaignLive
Image: Polygon

6. AndInOtherVRNews…
It seems virtual reality is hogging the limelight, with
stories featuring the tech appearing almost daily. But
perhaps marketers can use this fascination to their
advantage.
Indeed, major brands are starting to jump onboard the
VR bandwagon, hoping to capitalise on this surge of
excitement. Most recently Etihad has used 360 video
to make a real-deal commercial spot/luxury virtual
reality experience to promote their new fleet. VR may
still turn out to be a headache-inducing flash in the
pan, but right now it’s certainly begging the question…
is this the future of advertising?
READ MORE
Source: The Drum
Image: Colortran

7. AndNowUnrelatedtoVR…
Just kidding, this is about VR too. But not entirely…
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet —
Google parent and the second largest company in the
world by market cap — has revealed his list of tech
products that he believes are going to change the
world. The list includes (of course) virtual reality, fake
meat, and even 3-D printed buildings. A notable
omission appears to be AI, but looking at Schmidt we
suspect this may be because Schmidt himself is a
robot and feels it might be considered a conflict of
interest to promote his own kind. But that's just
conjecture.
READ MORE
Source: Business Insider
Image: YourNewsWire

8. INNOVATION
AND DISRUPTION

9. The last few years have seen the marketing field
disrupted again and again, both by evolving
technology and by changing culture. What do
these new times spell for marketing products and
services? What will the new norms be? And what
fresh challenges will we encounter?
Marketing, reimagined.

10. The Luxury Technology Paradox.
We can all decry the ills of capitalism ravaging
Silicon Valley (if we’re so inclined) but to give
them some credit, the tech industry has done a
great job democratising technological
advancements. Sure, it may be in their best
interests to make products that are accessible to
the widest possible market, but as a recent article
points out: “It’s mind-blowing that the iPad Pro I
can buy is indistinguishable from the iPad that
[billionaires own].”
What does this level technological playing field
mean for the future of luxury? Is there a place for
luxury in a world where everyone has access to
the cutting edge?
READ MORE Source: The Verge
Image: Media-tics

11. The Rise Of People-Based Marketing.
As opposed to, you know, cake-based marketing.
But it certainly looks like the opportunity to use
digital technology to increase the relevancy of
media buys has been met with open arms by
much of the advertising community. And it’s really
kind of a no-brainer, especially when you
consider that “There is simply too much
technology that exists to allow for non-relevancy
to continue.” Shame, that seems a little harsh —
poor traditional media never hurt anybody.
READ MORE Source: Forbes
Image: CMO

12. The Power Of Brand Diversity.
Apple is nothing if not a pioneer, and where the
largest company in the world has tread many
have tried to follow.
But, as a recent AdAge piece points out, there is
an area of marketing where no other company
has really been able to mimic Apple’s success
(either by a lack of intention or by a lack of
ability). This is the idea of ‘multiple brands’. Al
Ries, one of the Ries’s in Ries & Ries, makes a
strong case for the strength of having a range of
brands under one brand umbrella, as Apple does
with its products. He contends that this concept is
“the major marketing issue of the 21st century.”
Quite a proclamation there Al.
READ MORE Source: Advertising Age
Image: Apple

13. MEDIA
JUJITSU

14. Present-day media marketers need to be jugglers.
Or acrobats. Or perhaps magicians is most
apropos. New media best practices are in no way
firmly established, especially as platforms keep
changing, and the ability to stay on top of the
cultural wave is perhaps the most enviable skill a
media strategist can bring to bear. That and
actual magic tricks.
Social media juggling
extravaganza.

15. Not Just Pretty Pictures.
Visual-based social platforms like Instagram,
Pinterest, and Snapchat are exploding right
now, but how can marketers best make use of
these new media opportunities?
The idea that even though these platforms are
all image-based, marketers shouldn't approach
them as “similar propositions” is very
compelling. Each is fundamentally different and
serves different audiences in different ways.
Savvy marketers must understand the
idiosyncrasies of each, and how best to use
them. To stand on the cutting-edge, you have
to have good balance.
READ MORE Source: The Drum
Image: Getty

16. The Robots Are Coming!
Community managers have a tall order when
needing to stay on top of their social
networking demands. To do so, social media
automation has become more and more
necessary to keep up with the workload. But
there are some obvious constraints to using
social robots, most notably that if you are using
social media to connect with your customers,
robots have never had the greatest
interpersonal skills.
Check out the useful list linked below for some
guidelines on how best to work with social
media automation.
READ MORE Source: WeRSM
Image: ReadWrite

17. The Social Spread.
As we are now almost halfway through 2016
(good lord) it may seem late to get stats from
2015. But good research takes time and when
analysing macro trends you want to have some
good, solid research.
There are a couple of interesting tidbits from
analytics company Quintly’s study, most
significantly that brand posts on Facebook
increased more than on any other platform in
2015. Additionally, Instagram looks to be
growing quickly and has the highest
engagement rate when compared to Facebook
or Twitter. That’s the dish — just some food for
thought.
READ MORE Source: WeRSM
Image: LiveAloud

18. CONNECTING THE
UNCONNECTED

19. In this age, either everything is connected, or
anything can be connected. From ‘connected’
devices to connecting people across the world, to
even connecting competitors, the only limitation is
your imagination. So what, and how, are people
connecting? What kinds of connections might we
see more of that could shape the world to come?
Connecting in to out of
the box.

20. The Most Delicious Peace Offering Ever.
Now a Cannes Grand Prix winning campaign,
the McWhopper out of Y&R New Zealand is a
true example of out-of-the-box thinking (unless
that box happens to be the one that burgers
come in).
The campaign, which proposed the joining
together of decades-long rivals in service to a
social cause, took the world by storm and is
definitely well deserving of its success. But the
idea to find a common ground and connect
competitors is both incredibly risky, and
something more brands should maybe consider
in today’s fractured world.
READ MORE
Source: Campaign Live
Image: Seattle Times

21. Everything Can Be ‘Connected’.
When even bathtub rubber ducks are now
‘connected devices’, we have truly reached a
saturation point in our ‘Internet of Things’. But
most of the time, the ability to connect a device
improves people’s lives in myriad ways, and
now furniture manufacturer Haworth proposes
an entire ‘connected office’.
In a recently published white paper, the
company suggests that the office of the future
will be a place where “everyone likes to be”.
With more and more people drawn to working
remotely, perhaps the ‘connected office’ is the
salvation the entire office system needs.
READ MORE
Source: Dezeen
Image: Flickr

22. Like Fibre Without The Fibre.
Fibre optic broadband internet is almost
mythical in nature — we’ve all heard that it’s the
fastest internet out there, but few of us have
ever seen it or have access to it ourselves.
However, it now looks like there may be a more
accessible alternative. G.Fast is a service that
would offer internet connection speeds that rival
those of fibre but delivered over ordinary phone
lines. What! It almost sounds too good to be
true, but if this technology is legit, it could
revolutionise access to hyperfast internet, which
is becoming increasingly necessary for a range
of online services. G.Fast could be a game-
changer... if only it could get here faster!
READ MORE
Source: CNN
Image: SigmaLive

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