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December 17, 2007
What Will be Important in 2008
'Tis the season for top ten lists of trends in communications we can supposedly look forward to in 2008.
I do enjoy these lists though they dumb-down the complex a bit too much. I am also curious about whether the authors of these lists ever evaluate their accuracy year to year? I have been scanning a few of these already and they include: customers as your brand, increases in consumer generated content, a focus on authenticity in communications, the further decline of loyalty, and more and more branded entertainment. As you can see there is no big leap of faith when drawing up these lists (kind of like making a planning forecast of a 2% climb in revenue based on historic numbers). What happened to all the Futurists of the 1997 to 2001 era? That was a time when you could not attend a corporate function, seminar, or conference without a Futurist headlining it. One Futurist I saw in 1999 at a University function told us we would be watching first-run movies shown on the inside lens of our sunglasses by 2001 (where are you now Mr. Futurist?).
Trends like brands have to be relevant and credible. They have to make tangible impact to the performance of a business. And they have to motivate us to pursue the purported benefits. How about you folks - what will be important for you in business communications in 2008?
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on December 17, 2007 3:18 PM.
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Comments (5)
Ali Zafar
With campaigns like Dove - Real Beauty and Coke Side of Life, one key trend to watch out for is simple human ideas like 'being nice' or 'real beauty' touching consumers and becoming big.
The world in my opinion is realizing the value of simple truths, told well!
From an advertisers view point, not a bad way to break the clutter I'd say!
Posted by Ali Zafar | December 30, 2007 1:44 PM
Maureen Quinlan
Let's hope that Ali is right-
that the world is realizing the beauty of the simple truths of brands.
It sure would be welcoming to see more of the simple truths about the value of a brand told in more simple formats without a bunch of clutter - just exposing the core of the brand's value in a simple way - I like it!
Posted by Maureen Quinlan | January 2, 2008 2:04 PM
Chylee Seng
Hmmmm i do belive with Ali. Lets hope that trend continues... i do love seeing feel good ads.
i'm also glad that Going Green is a continuing trend.
it gives me just a little more hope that people in the business world actually care for the world... even though it maybe just following a trend, at least its positive.
Posted by Chylee Seng | January 3, 2008 6:05 AM
Facundo Bertranou
Following the discussion on ‘simple truths’, when I hear those ‘truths’ I also hear in my head my grandfather’s speeches, I imagine kids playing on the streets and those long talks on the latest books. The world we want to live in resembles a lot to the world we used to live in.
I’m not just getting emotional, but pointing out that brands will probably be using more and more communicational tricks to connect to that simple world we yearn for, and of course, reaffirming emotional links with their hesitant clients. Not in a ‘sad nostalgia’ tone of communication, but in an optimistic and realistic way, based on simple traditional knowledge (…I think, I hope…)
Posted by Facundo Bertranou | January 9, 2008 2:15 PM
Mel Schoen
With the futurists unable to predict their own demise, there has been some reticence in making any predictions beyond the obvious. Here are three which... well are not really that unobvious either:
- The trend will continue to campaigns as an event - see Sony Bravia, iphone etc. - which are trailered in advance and hyped, pretty much like a movie. This is great news for filmmakers and Youtube fanatics, not so great for brand builders.
- As a result of the expected economic downturn, (let's lend money to those people who can't normally afford a loan - hey, they can't pay it back!,) there will be a move away from campaigns which are obviously horrendously expensive. This is good for ideas, not so great for ad. directors with Hollywood.
- The conversion of all possible functions into one mobile device will continue - and the device they will end up being will be worn on the wrist. Unfortunately, as the screen size of a watch-type device is physically limited, these devices will be notoriously difficult to read. Some, therefore, will come with a magnifying glass built in which will detract from their design considerably, while for glasses wearers, the content will be projected onto the inside of the lenses...
Posted by Mel Schoen | January 14, 2008 4:42 PM