communications | consumer | D igital | HealtH

communicationstREnDs2016

contRibutoRs:

Trendspotters from

across North America

and Europe identified

the big shifts that are

changing communications,

healthcare, digital

experience, and consumer

expectations. In this report,

you’ll find the top eight

trends in communications,

each with clues into new

possibilities and examples of

brands that got there first.

Abigail Schmelzer

Alex Brock

Allison Pignatelli

Alyssa Kaden

Amanda Joly

Amanda Loban

Amardeep Lally

Andreas Reinbolz

Andrew Glenn

Ann Manousos

Brooke Glanzberg

Campbell Hooper

Chris Devine

Chris Iafolla

Christina Blosser

Christopher Callahan

Dan Smith

Dave Sonderman

Duncan Arbour

Ed Hammerton

Eduardo Menendez

Elizabeth Stelzer

Eric Davis

Eric Sabo

Francine Carrick

Ilya Tetelman

James Tomasino

Jason Sankey

Jeanine O’Kane

Jeffrey Giermek

Jennifer Fleishman

Jennifer Oleski

Joanna Voorhis

Joe Desalvo

John Mucha

Joy Hart

Juli Cavnar

Julie Saal

Kara Kinsey

Kevin Coleman

Kevin Nalty

Kristianne Shanker

Leigh Householder

Liana Federico

Logan Cooper

Maggie Janco

Marci Piasecki

Mark Jazvac

Mark Stechschulte

Matt Mizer

Matthew Bergen

Melissa Morrow

Michael Bonilla

Michelle Casciola

Naseem Allaf

Nate Lemke

Nicholas Capanear

Nick Bartlett

Nicole Sordell

Nina Bressau

Pat Etter

Patrick Richards

Rupert Dooley

Salvatore Cannizzaro

Sarah Brown

Scott Page

Stephanie Jones

Susan Perlbachs

Travis Rooke

Tom Callan

Tom Mullins

Tyler Sax

Vaneeta Verma

Vanessa Rivera

Zach Gerber

At the core of our agency’s approach to innovation is a simple idea:

Knowing how people’s expectations are changing lets us capture

new market opportunities, take smart risks and spur innovation.

We start by uncovering clues. Clues are data points, great stories,

quotes and pictures that shift our understanding of what people

want right now. We find them in practices around the world and in

the technologies, brands, and experiences that doctors and patients

encounter in their every day lives.

Over time, those clues combine and connect to reveal trends, a new

kind of inspiration for creating experiences in the moments before

our customers realize they need them, and, months and years before

our competitors realize the same thing.

trend noun

1. A change in expectations

2. The answer to the biggest question in all of marketing: What do people want right now?

WE’RE folloWing Eight tREnDs that shoW

impoRtant shifts foR maRkEtERs:

#1 PrOgrAmmATiC PredOminAnCeThe machines that united the fragmented digital advertising

space are adding new formats, new buying models and new

channels to become the darlings of the marketing suite

#2 exPerienCe iT Why see it when you can also touch it, try it and share it? in

2016, more marketing will take over physical spaces, creating

experiences people just won’t be able to walk away from

#3 dATA BeATs demOgrAPhiCssure, you could reach all Women 25-54, but why would you

want to when you could just talk to your most likely customers

instead?

#4 VerTiCAl WOrld As consumers the world over turn to their small screens first,

brands are reinventing their content, customer service touch-

points and shopping experiences to deliver inventive new

engagements in hand and on the go

#5 sTAnding WiTh YOuin 2015, we saw a huge swell of pride-vertising. in 2016, we’ll

see brands embrace more customer segments and critical issues

#6 BlOCKed!The new anxiety in the marketing suite? Promotions nabbed by

ad blockers sight unseen

#7 COnTexT mediAin 2016, content marketing is getting more sophisticated than ever

to meet audience demands for more relevant experiences

#8 rAdiCAl AuThenTiCiTY The brands that are earning the hearts and wallets of consum-

ers are creating a kind of intimacy that leaves shoppers feeling

like friends

in shoRt:The machines that united the

fragmented digital advertising

space are adding new formats,

new buying models and new

channels to become the

darlings of the marketing suite

SIMPLIFICATION OR SOPHISTICATION?

In this case it’s both. In its simplest definition,

programmatic advertising isn’t a particularly

revolutionary concept. It’s the automation of ad

buys. Or, how software replaced media phone

calls and insertion orders just like software replaced

meetings with travel agents, runs to the record

store or other pan-industry inconveniences.

But as programmatic evolves and grows from a line

item on a media plan to the way an entire media

plan is procured, it’s also becoming a much more

sophisticated tool. Marketers are able to personalize

mass reach, unite fragmented inventory, and target

more precisely than ever before.

In 2016, programmatic will take big leaps

forward in becoming the global standard for

digital as well as TV and radio ads. Look for

more integrated solutions that bring together

self-service real-time bidding on dashboards that

show integrated ROI.

Programmatic by the numbers:

85% of advertisers use programmatic buying strategies. 91% expect to over the next two years

—IAB, 2015

Programmatic sales are projected to spike from $15 billion in 2015 to $32 billion by the end of 2017.

—Magna Global, 2015

Decoding the jargon

Real time bidding (Rtb)

Buying digital, TV and radio ads in

blind auctions based on the people

(or person) who will see the ad, not

the place where the ad will appear.

programmatic direct

Set-priced purchases (not RTB) that

take advantage of the automation of

programmatic platforms while also

showing a buyer exactly where that

ad will appear.

private auctions

is an invitation-only RTB auction

where one publisher or a select

number of publishers invite a select

number of buyers to bid on its inven-

tory. Inventory purchased is transpar-

ent – the buyer knows exactly which

site the ad will run on.

2015: $15 B 2017: $32 b

Among the favorite buzz words going into

2016 are mobile, native and programmatic.

In late 2015, Google delivered all three by

letting publishers expose native ad inventory

in their mobile apps via the DoubleClick Ad

Exchange. In early 2016, the native inventory

will be available on both open and private

exchanges for mobile and desktop. The

move is expected to bring a flood of new

advertising dollars, particularly by helping

big brands move beyond Facebook and

Twitter to a full range of native placements.

Automating placements in display has

been easier because it simply required

standardizing ad sizes. Marketers could

send in any creative that fit that box. Native

was much more challenging – with endless

templates and publisher requirements

to make the advertising content work

seamlessly with the editorial content.

To make it possible to automate native

placements, Google gave publishers two

standard native templates to customize to

the look and feel of their properties: one

for content-driven marketing and one for

app install ads. Marketers then upload a

collection of ad assets: champion image,

headline, body copy and so on. Google

assembles the native ads on the fly and

serves the ad according to the publisher’s

user experience.

GIVING SCALE TO NATIVE

PROGRAMMATIC PREDOMINANCE01

An overview of the six different types of native ads

paid search units

Premium paid placement on search engines that

places the ad in a format and layout similar to organic

search results.

Recommendation Widgets

Widgets that typically appear at the end of a piece

of content and are often presented with the pretext

of “suggested reading.”

promoted listings

Paid-for premium placement of certain vendors,

products, etc on the publisher’s domain.

in-ad (With native Elements) units

Standard display ad unit that contains content with

contextual relevancy to the publisher.

in-feed units

Ad unit designed to exist directly within the

publishers ordinary content.

custom/“can’t be contained”

Any ad unit that is clearly a native ad, but is in a

unique format for a specific publisher and fails to fit

within the other 5 pre-determined categories.

1

2

3

4

5

6

BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO BANNERS?

Now that native has gone templated, could the most creative, engaging work in advertising in

2016 be on a humble banner ad?

Pummeled by ad blindness, ad blockers, and creative apathy, those rectangle reminders haven’t

been the powerhouses of the media plan in recent years. But, ad tech may change that when

programmatic buying expands to true programmatic creative platforms. Those platforms let teams

automatically customize ad experiences by everything the technology knows about an individual

user from location and gender to browsing habits or affinities.

Paired with retargeting and more high-profile ad units, creatives can radically evolve banners

from the static 90s product pitches to interactive, engaging experiences that will earn attention

through their utility. Some are even predicting a cross-screen future where clever advertisers can

deliver synched content experiences to audiences on their televisions and mobile devices using

banners that act a lot more like mini apps.

Why go native?

pEoplE sEE thEm

Consumers look at native ads 53% more frequently than display ads

ViEWED as EDitoRial

Consumers looked at native ads 2% more than editorial content and spent the same number of seconds viewing

puRchasE DRiVERs

Native ads registered 18% higher lift in purchase intent than banner ads

—Sharethrough/IPG Media labs survey of 4,770 consumers and eye-tracking technology study of 200 consumers

in shoRt:Why see it when you can also

touch it, try it and share it? In

2016, more marketing will take

over physical spaces, creating

experiences people just won’t

be able to walk away from.

WAIT ‘TIL yOu SEE THIS

Last summer in London, underground riders

had to mind the gap…and the dinosaurs. To

promote Jurassic World, universal Pictures

transformed the Waterloo station into the

legendary Jurassic theme park. Static and

digital visuals of dinosaurs and park scenes

were paired with ambient sounds of the

prehistoric world to surround commuters with

the movie. Audio tours, a museum and even a

popup store let fans explore even more.

The dinosaur invasion is just one example of how brands are investing in creating experiences –

not mediated by screens – that consumers can share, explore and make their own.

The Apple Store was the first to make the investment in creating a browsable space where

purchasing was secondary to experimenting. Now, marketers the world over are creating

experiences for customers to explore, from a Turner Classic Movies popup museum with

movie-set walls and memorabilia to Absolut’s inflatable igloo bars to Etsy shops that bring

the digital collections into physical space.

One of our favorites is Seatview from Virgin Atlantic. At interactive bus shelters, users can

stroll the Airbus A320 using an interface like Google Streetview. The perspective makes the

cabin seem decidedly roomy… especially because the only place a commuter might find less

comfortable than an overseas flight has to be a bus shelter.

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ExPERIENCE IT 02

At Victoria Secret, women are encouraged to leave the store with lists (not bags) of their favorite bras.

At Best Buy, customers are free to browse without pressure because, commission doesn’t incentivize

the sales teams. At Sephora, top customers are sitting for makeovers, no purchase necessary.

This is a new era of in-store experiences designed for browsing. Retailers are increasingly focused on

making shopping more fun with experiences designed to delight customers and – ideally – give them

something to instagram back to their friends and networks as well.

A few years ago, this trend was driven by consumers. It was called “showrooming” and declared as

the #1 threat to retail. Consumers were shopping in store and price comparing on their phones to

try to get a better deal (with free shipping, of course) online. In 2016, retailers are flipping the trend

and making it their goal to earn preference among customers and better integrate their online and

offline investments.

SHOP IT, DON’T Buy IT

What’s driving the “reverse showrooming” phenomenon?

in-sTOre PiCK-uP

Of Online Orders

in-sTOre Wifi

exPerT sAles sTAff

BeACOn-POWered

exPerienCes & disCOunTs

TABleTs & mOBile

PhOnes used As regisTer

sYsTems

digiTAllY-enhAnCed dressing

rOOms

SERVICE AND STAFF:

CONNECTED IN-STORE ExPERIENCES:

THE BIG TEASE

2016 will be a big year for teaser campaigns. Look for lots of symbols and hints that encourage

people to ask: What is that??

Why? Consumers who dig in and find out more become invested in the story. Their own research

has let them in on a secret worth sharing. Often these teasers are custom made for brand-fans; so,

they’re “in” on the story from the first sighting.

In Germany, Airbnb dropped its name and simply used its

familiar-to-fans symbol with the “belong anywhere promise.”

In Canada, Drake went a lot farther with the most viral billboard

of 2015. The enigmatic 30-by-60-foot sign in his hometown of

Toronto simply read “The 6 God is Watching.” Photos were posted

on Twitter and Drake himself added a cryptic post on Instagram.

The billboard was a sly promo for an

upcoming album, bringing together

lots of in-the-know clues; “6 God”

and its accompanying iconography

are symbols for Drake’s brand,

the “6” is a nickname for Toronto

derived from its area codes (416 and

647), the praying hands reference

the prayer hands emoji, and God is

apparently an all-too-humble allusion

to Drake himself. Drake is watching,

people. And, watch out, he thinks

he’s a god.

Earned media impressions resulting from Drake’s ads totaled a whopping

86 million, not counting broadcast coverage. Online outlets that featured

the billboard included MTV, Time, GQ, Pitchfork and Complex.

in shoRt:Sure, you could reach all

Women 25-54, but why

would you want to when you

could just talk to your most

likely customers instead?

My DATA ‘S yOuR DATA

Marketers are actively migrating from relying on third-party data to mining their own.

That first-party data can include anything from website engagements to subscription

data to interactions with specific campaigns. Those first-hand observed behaviors point

to comparable attributes that go much deeper than demographics. Together they

reveal preferences that third-party data can match to, uncovering many other targets

who are searching for similar experiences or products.

Advances in machine learning are the tipping point that’s making first-party data more

valuable in 2016 than ever before. Searching through those reams of data manually

would have been prohibitive, but now algorithms can quickly identify non-intuitive links

by simply comparing one behavior to a long list of other attributes.

In healthcare, a pivot to first-party data could mean a major revolution in

segmentation. No longer will physician identification rely on deciles of prescribing

(a blunt instrument that can’t account for emerging adopters or saturated practices).

Instead, it can look for prescribers and other influencers whose behaviors and

attributes look most like our best customers and deliver them contextually relevant

marketing at the just-right moment.

Marketers’ plans for data in 2016

INCREASING uSE OF 1ST PARTy DATA

oooooh yeah!!! yep! eh.

49% strongly agree 33% agree 18% are neutral

—Econsultancy and Signal, 2015

DATA BEATSDEMOGRAPHICS03

THE POWER OF PuRCHASE INTENT

In 2016, marketers are talking a lot more about intent than identity. They’re responding to a wealth

of mobile and online data that has revealed that demographics may not have been the powerful

proxy for product interest that we had hoped. Recent research at Google, for example, revealed that

brands using demographics may be missing more than 70% of potential mobile buyers. The issue:

demographics don’t help us understand what customers are looking for at any given moment or

what resources they might be using to find it.

The new goal in marketing suites: connect with people in that moment they’re actually looking for

something. Age, loyalty, affinity? None of it means nearly as much as being in the market to buy.

Mobile behavior is a big determinant of that intent.

Whether a consumer is looking for a spot for dinner or tips on how to deep fry a turkey or advice on

how to start insulin, those mobile searches are the best opportunity marketers have to connect with

them at the exact moment they’re ready to make a purchase – or, ready to have a great experience

with a new product. Paid search, native placements, and video content are letting brands be there in

those first critical moments. In fact, many are calling youTube, particularly, both the ultimate buyers

guide and fast-start new-owner’s manual.

Who are you missing?

onlY 31% of mobile searchers for video games are men aged 18 - 34

68% of skin and body care influencers in the past 6 months were men

56% of sporting goods searchers on mobile are female

40% of baby product purchasers live in households without children

—Mobile search & video behavior analysis, Millward Brown Digital, U.S., January-June 2015

JuST-FOR-yOu TV

2016 is the year that addressable advertising moves from an experiment by advertisers and providers alike

to a core way television and cross-screen marketing is targeted. Instead of buying segments or programs,

advertisers will be able to invest in very specific audiences, ones identified at the individual household level.

The main sources of addressable advertising in 2016—on either live or on-demand programming—are

enabled devices, such as connected TVs and set-top boxes from a cable or satellite provider. But leaders

like AT&T are quickly moving to push that farther with better targeting solutions that combine set-top box

data with real-time audience profile data across devices. Brands are able to target anything that might be in

a household profile, like young children in the household, or cross-match third-party data, like households

with an expiring auto lease.

Experts and early adopters are calling addressable the most

effective model for optimizing viewer engagement because

it enables advertisers to deliver relevant messages to best-fit

audiences, while eliminating excess inventory buys and

reducing viewer burnout. The convergence with programmatic

buying is also making it easier for media companies to run

algorithms to determine when and where it’s financially

beneficial to break flat-rate ad blocks into addressable segments.

The market for connected-TV

viewers is expected to reach 75.2%

(93 million) of uS households by 2018

—eMarketer

How To Get 48 Million Views

Home Depot was one of the first to figure out that DIYers

were using their phones as quick guides for everything

from installing backsplashes to mulching. So, they decided

to focus their content marketing strategy on those I’m-

ready moments with Youtube how-to videos. Their library

has hundreds of videos. The top 10 have over one million

views each and the full set has 48 million and counting.

in shoRt:As consumers the world over turn

to their small screens first, brands

are reinventing their content,

customer service touchpoints and

shopping experiences to deliver

inventive new engagements in

hand and on the go

WILL IM REPLACE THE BROWSER?

In 2016, many brands are migrating their

mobile-first strategies to chat-first strategies.

We’re returning to a simpler time in

interactions. Left behind are the playful user

interfaces and the dream of the Next Great

App. Instead, we’re finding a return to text in

chat interfaces that are taking over everything

from customer service to casual shopping.

Chat services break down barriers of time and

location between brands and their customers.

Nordstrom’s TextStyle messaging service lets

customers make purchases via text based on

a recommendations sent over the phone by a

favorite salesperson or personal shopper. The

Magic service goes even farther. It promises to

deliver any (legal) item anywhere in the u.S. in

under an hour. users just text their request to

83489, effectively aggregating services they

would have once received from groceries, travel

agents, office supply stores, and more, in one chat.

Chat-style communications are making everything

from journaling to healthcare easier to fit into

people’s lives. The Emojiary gives users a custom

set of emotive icons to log their daily feelings

and experiences. Talkspace lets users share

even more of their feelings in 1:1 IMs with

certified therapists.

Nordstrom’s TextStyle service

98% of SMS communications in the u.S. are open and read.

(By comparison: a 22% open rate is considered very good for email

and a 12% read rate is considered very good for Facebook posts)

—Pew Research, 2015

52% prefer texting customer support more than any other method of communication

—eWeek, 2015

VERTICAL WORLD 04

It started with a challenge from the podium at

Cannes: Think Vertically. Snapchat’s 20-something

CEO told the audience that the first brands to test-

drive marketing on the Snapchat Discover app saw

nine times more engagement when their ads were

vertically oriented. He and many other social, mobile

and video players were recognizing the simple fact

that people just don’t rotate their phones.

Now, Mashable, Periscope, Meerkat and others have

made vertical video a primary form of new content

creation. Even filmmakers are making the switch,

creating short films designed for long screens.

Advertisers are being swayed to vertical both by

the new platforms and the missed opportunities.

Barton F. Graf 9000 recently created a fun hack for

Little Caesars Pizza to show just how much space

creatives are missing out on. The initiative allows

users to connect their Twitter account to a “Bacon

Timeline,” which then pumps out 42 image tweets

of bacon in one long, vertical row to replicate the

amount of bacon Little Ceasers uses in their pizza.

VERTICAL VIDEO GETS LEGIT

Got bacon?In order to spare your

Twitter feed we’ve provided

a taste of what the “Bacon

Timeline” looks like

SOLVE IT

When trouble arises, consumers turn to their

phones first. Flat tire? Static cling? Ache that just

won’t quit? The solution is likely in their pockets.

In 2016, we’ll see more brands be white knights

with mobile-ready solutions to right-now problems.

One of the favorites of this often-traveling trend

team is Red Roof Inn’s stranded program. It monitors

flight delays in real time and triggers search ads

for Red Roof Inn’s near airports when significant

numbers of travelers are stuck at the gate. The

“Stranded at the airport? Come stay with us!” ads

increased bookings across non-branded search

campaigns by a whopping 60%.

Esurance took another approach. When current or

potential customers are searching for help on their

phones, it serves click-to-call ads to help consumers

engage in whatever way they choose. In just a year,

they saw both an increase in traffic to their mobile

site and tripled customer acquisition in the channel.

90% of smartphone users say they’ve used their phone to make progress towards a long-term goal or multi-step process while “out and about”

— Google, 2015

in shoRt:In 2015, we saw a huge swell

of pride-vertising. In 2016,

we’ll see brands embrace

more customer segments

and critical issues

TAKE A STAND, BRAND!

Brands are increasingly using their megaphones and media to celebrate the diversity of

their customers. In part, because those consumers expect them to. In 2015, that meant

messages of inclusion, equality, and diversity from brands big and small.

Burger King showed its proud support of customers on Pride Week with a limited

edition Whopper at a flagship store.

Cameras rolled to capture reaction to the Proud Whopper and the video quickly earned

7 million views. The accompanying ad reached 20% of the u.S. population, and young

millennials over-indexed by 4.8x.

Hundreds more brands nearly exploded with pride after the u.S. Supreme Court

legalized same-sex marriage across America.

Many, like Honeymaid, were already actively

including messages of inclusion and pride in their

advertising. Honeymaid’s “This Is Wholesome”

campaign has made portraying the many faces

of the changing American family a key focus for

the brand.

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Long after green gave way to greenwashing, ethics became the new sustainability for

business. Today’s strong brands take stands on social issues to make a positive impact for

their communities of customers.

Those stands can be unique to the category. In 2015, even business hours became an

important stand with stores earning significant positive feedback for keeping their doors

closed on Thanksgiving and Black Friday in order to encourage employees and customers

to enjoy valuable time with family, and some restaurants, including Chick-fil-A, receiving

renewed praise from not opening on Sundays.

One thing all brand stands share is a focus on a specific kind of customer. These programs

show who a brand believes is its base – and who it doesn’t. That creates affinity and loyalty

that are difficult to engender in other ways.

In 2016, look for brands to bring empathy and opinion to economic disparities,

refugee crises and caregiving.

THE NEW SuSTAINABILITy

STANDING WITH yOu05

20% of 26-35 year olds

are more likely to shop

at companies whose

social-political stance

mirrors their own

56% of Americans now

believe corporations

should engage in dialogue

surrounding controversial

social-political issues

Opinions matter

—Global Strategy Group, 2015 —Qualtrics study, 2015

READy WITH A PLANAs more brands get involved in social issues, we’re also seeing more planning put in place to guard

against potential pitfalls.

These campaigns enter the market with the expectation of attracting naysayers. So, brands are

developing preparedness strategies that include proactive content marketing and response tactics.

Campaigns are often previewed with influencers so that they can enter the market with instant

advocates who can both spread the good word and take on negative comments. They also come with

an integrated paid and earned media strategy to tell the story around the brand commitment. From

launch, the brands are actively listening for feedback and have responses and spokespeople ready to

support the cause when it’s needed most.

Honeymaid is again a great example. Although response to the “This is Wholesome” campaign was

overwhelmingly positive, Honeymaid took the negative responses and did something positive with

them. They created a video showing two artists using printouts of all the negative tweets and emails

about the spot to build the word “Love.” Together the spot and videos earned more than 12 million

views on youtube.

Honeymaid’s creative response to negative comments was to turn them into a work of art

in shoRt:The new anxiety in the

marketing suite?

Promotions nabbed by

ad blockers sight unseen

ExTERMINATING ADS

For today’s digitally empowered consumers, removing ads from their online lives is

as easy as a simple download. The number of people who use ad-blocking software

jumped from 21 million to 198 million in just 5 years. (Adobe) It’s projected to grow

even faster in the year ahead, in part because of new iOS software that makes it easy for

iPhone users to block ads on their handhelds.

Why all the ad ducking? The #1 complaint is about the ads themselves, but they’re

definitely not the only culprits. Roughly 1:2 ad blockers blame the disruption of ads,

particularly the auto-play videos and banners that expand without warning. They say

they would be less likely to use ad blocking software if brand messages did not impinge

on their experience. Another 36% believe too many ads are shown. (IAB UK and

YouGov, 2015)

Other issues are speed and security. People worry about viruses, information capture

and simple load time. 40% of ad blocker users saw the software just make their devices

work faster. A New York Times analysis substantiates the claim: They found that the

news site The Verge, as an example, includes 1.4 MB of content and 85 MB of ads and

Boston.com drops from 19.4MB to 4MB on mobile when ad blocking software is used,

reducing its load time from 39 to 8 seconds.

The buck stops here

CANADA 16%

2015:$21.8 billion

2016:$41.4 billion

Pagefair and Adobe have

estimated that $21.8 billion in

ad revenues will be lost globally

to ad blockers in 2015, rising

to $41.4 billion in 2016

FRANCE 30%

Page views impacted

by ad-blocking:

GERMANy 28%

—Sourcepoint and comScore

06

After years of hawking subscriptions and piloting pay walls, many publishers are left

with the simple truth that advertising is the funding formula. To continue to serve their

impressions, they’re taking on the ad blockers visit by visit.

The Washington Post uses occasional notifications to woo readers into white listing their

site. yahoo tested a little more muscle by preventing people using ad blockers from seeing

their mail with this message, “uh oh … We are unable to display yahoo Mail. Please disable

Ad Blocker to continue using yahoo Mail”.

The German newspaper Bild laid the financial argument

out a little more clearly by requiring that its users either

pay $2.99 per month or disable their ad blockers.

PuBLISHERS BLOCK BACK

BLOCKED!

CuSTOMIZED AD ExPERIENCES

In 2016, we’ll start to see publishers experiment with more tailored responses to ad

blocking that require more input from both advertiser and customer. Look for new

tools that let readers report problem ads and new ways for them to whitelist “good

for me” content.

Sites with large loyal audiences (like Gawker) may give readers control over their

ads, selecting topics or even brands they want to hear from. Publishers that rely

on significant ad revenue (like CNN or the New York Times) may move to their own

ad tech instead of third party ad serving, to make it more difficult for blockers to

distinguish between editorial and marketing assets.

Media journalist Jeff Jarvis believes this could be the tipping point for a new era

of “consensual advertising.” One where ads are “less irritating, more useful,

more relevant [and] more respectful” and brands have permission to partner

with publishers and web services to create and commit to quality standards that

automatically whitelist their ads from the start.

“ Imagine what such a system of customer control would do for

the quality of advertising — if customers themselves fire bad

advertisers and reward good ones with their consent and perhaps

attention and business. Advertisers will be motivated to improve

their quality and they will also know who is willing to connect with

them. Media could enable that.”

— Jeff Jarvis

in shoRt:In 2016, content marketing is

getting more sophisticated

than ever to meet audience

demands for more relevant

experiences

THE RIGHT ANSWER

Today’s buying questions are more likely to start with “how to” than “how much”.

Consumers expect to be able to learn in the moment with instant answers to questions

from “what’s this symptom” to “how can I childproof my house” to “can I really make

kimchi?” They gravitate to brands that help them uncover those answers. In fact, 69%

of consumers say they’re more likely to buy from brands that make it easy to find

answers to their questions (Google, 2015).

The effectiveness of content marketing has led to something of an explosion of free

content. Research estimates that the amount available online is doubling every 9 to

24 months, while our ability to consume it remains relatively stagnant. Mark Schaefer

dubbed the trend “content shock.”

the result: High expectations. Consumers are increasingly choosy about what content

they spend time with, showing big preferences for expert, original content and video or

images over text.

—Mark Schaefer, adapted from http://www.businessesgrow.com/2014/01/06/content-shock

TODAy

2020Content shock—the changing economics of content

Conservative estimate of content production

Content consumtion

Forget the go-tos. Leave the evergreen behind. Today’s brands are creating content that’s of the

moment, native to its location, and ready to be replaced. In 2016, that content will increasingly have

an expiration date because it will be designed to continually position a brand as a relevant part of the

changing conversation.

Brands from Target to Hallmark are launching new campaigns with robust content strategies that

include distinct experiences on Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Each is integrated with topics already

trending on the platforms.

unilever is using the search graph to anticipate and

create content in the moments before consumers

demand it. They’re tracking early trends on Google to

anticipate new hair care behaviors and trends. Then,

their content marketing team creates videos for the

brand’s “All Things Hair” youTube channel and quickly

attracts the growing search traffic. All Things Hair

became the #1 hair brand channel in just 10 weeks

and has earned 50 million views and counting.

THE RIGHT MOMENT

CONTExT MEDIA07

“All Things Hair” leverages international beauty

vloggers to produce authentic and organic content.

The vloggers are nimble enough to respond quickly to

rising search terms, as well as trending topics, such as

celebs’ hair at awards ceremonies or holiday seasons.

THE RIGHT VOICE

Global content marketing strategies will bring new opportunities and new challenges to brands in

2016. As more and more work to scale their content investments across regions and languages, we’ll

see new approaches to both cross-border collaboration and localization.

Look for more brands to leverage Intel’s planning cycle approach that brings key global voices

together to establish shared annual investments and identify the content areas best-served by local

responsiveness and agility.

Also, look for more accountability in 2016. Many brands have already followed GE’s example by

creating global dashboards that track content utilization by geography and track both KPIs and

specific business metrics.

1,000 CONTENT CREATORS

30 GLOBAL BRANDS

OVER 20 MARKETS ACROSS THE GLOBE

To help ensure brand consistency and create

effective content at the regional and global

level, Unilever leverages a dashboard to

optimize content being created by teams all

around the world

Mission control

in shoRt:The brands that are earning

the hearts and wallets of

consumers are creating a

kind of intimacy that leaves

shoppers feeling like friends

JuST BE STRAIGHT WITH ME

Call it the Pope Francis Effect. In 2016, people just want brands that are genuine, and

are what they say they are. Brands that walk away from the edifice of know-it-all power

and speak simply about making things better – whether that “thing” is the world or just

a really great cup of coffee, are igniting a new era of authentic brands.

In marketing, that authenticity is all about the story and the consumer’s ability to see

their own life in the it: forget perfection, embrace what’s real.

In 2016, there is still a role for commercials with

super star athletes, but there’s an even bigger one

for campaigns with every day athletes. One of our

favorites from 2015 was This Girl Can, featuring the

unforgettable line “I jiggle therefore I am.” Sport

England launched the series in response to research

that found that 75% of women want to be more active

but aren’t due to “a fear of judgment… worries about

being judged for being the wrong size, not fit enough

and not skilled.” Each one shows the real struggle and

real encouragement that gets people off the couch.

RADICAL AuTHENTICITy08

Price is no longer the #1 driver of preference. Today’s buyers want to know more about

quality, manufacturing and impact. The new consumer preference lexicon is all about the

source of products.

As manufacturing has grown more opaque, with far-flung factories and difficult-to-pronounce

ingredients, consumers have started to show a preference for sources they can more easily

understand. While terms like “artisan” are fading away, the desire for goods created by

people (not faceless corporations) continues to grow.

A favorite choice: local. It may have started with the resurgence of farmers markets, but

today nearly everything local is imbued with greater authenticity than those things boxed

and trucked in. For brands that aren’t local, the key elements of a trusted providence are

heritage, high quality and transparency.

PROVIDENCE MATTERS

foR EXamplE: SHINOLA

shinola has built a rapidly growing watch and lifestyle brand largely by putting

their manufacturing story at the heart of everything they do. Their communications,

from online video to the actual packaging, provide a transparent look-in at the

craftsmanship behind the watch assembly, the location of the plants, and portraits

of the individuals who built them.

By utilizing this source story strategy, the brand went from small startup to $80

million in revenue in just 18 months. last year they sold 170,000 watches, which

was triple the previous year. They’ve made purchasing their products feel like

buying the revival of a great American manufacturing city, not just the product.

THE ROLE OF EMPATHy

The first role of authenticity: know your audience. In 2016 the way more and more brands are

accomplishing that is empathy.

Creative professionals have long sought empathy with their “audiences” – living with the products

they are trying to sell, touring the factory floor, walking miles in their shoes. In creativity, empathy

leads to audience insights and more relevant creative solutions.

Now, in the business suite, empathy is leading to a new kind of authenticity. Rita McGrath, a Professor

at Columbia Business School, suggests that it’s part of the evolution we’re seeing in business.

Companies existed in an Execution Era to create scale and in the Expertise Era to provide advanced

services. Today, she says, in the Empathy Era, many are looking to organizations to create complete

and meaningful experiences.

Being considered an empathetic company is becoming increasingly important as social media

feeds demand for transparency and authentic interaction, and holds companies accountable

during controversy. However, empathy may prove to be critical for more than just avoiding social

media backlash or learning how to respond to complaints in 2016. Putting empathy at the heart of

brand innovation, design thinking, and even running meetings, may be the difference between a

memorable, loyalty-inducing brand experience and a forgettable one.

Take American Girl for example. In early 2016, American

Girl released a memorable, empathetic health-related

collaboration. They created a Diabetes Care Kit for their

dolls, equipped with a blood-sugar monitor, insulin pump,

and lancing device, in order to help girls with Type 1 feel

more comfortable with their condition. Empathy-centered

initiatives like this are a glowing example of how the

healthcare industry can thrive in this new Empathy Era.

American Girl’s Diabetes Care Kit accessory

2015 Trend uPdATe

amuse me, Dear advertiser

–sTill GrOWinG

The line between entertainment and

advertising continues to blur.

*poof* – instant advertising

–sTill GrOWinG

The surge of social advertising

hubs like snapchat and

facebook has made of-the-

moment brand content more

important than ever.

focus group adjourned

–sTill GrOWinG

Brands continue to look for

new, more powerful ways

to test ideas, including

everything from sophisticated

split testing to mri tracking.

local, now more local

–sTill GrOWinG

Providence is big in our radical

Authenticity trend.

content isn’t king, it’s the kingdom

–GrOWinG FAsT

see our update in Context media.

humble brands

–sHiFTinG

in 2016, we’ll see brands take

big stands on issue that are key

to their unique consumers.

teaming up

–sTill GrOWinG

What strange bed fellows will

2016 bring?

Right-sized Video

–sHiFTinG

This year it’s right-shaped video.

see our update in Vertical World.

u S I N G T R E N D S T O u N C O V E R N E W I D E A S

it all starts with asking What could be?

Our 6-week What Could Be programs use trends to discover

innovation opportunities unique to a brand and customer.

After a kickoff and briefing, the process includes three

engaging, creative meetings:

Know what’s changing: Collaboratively identify specific

trends that are shifting your customers’ expectations

Think broadly about the possibilities: use proven innovation

thinking exercises that combine brand strategies and market

trends to uncover specific, actionable ideas

focus on the best-fit opportunities for innovation: Review

descriptions, demos and prototypes that bring the ideas

to life. Score each on three critical criteria: value to your

customers, relevance to your strategy, and feasibility within

current plans and resources.

The result is 3–5 high-impact opportunities for innovation

that give your brand new, more relevant ways to connect

with customers.

1 .

2.

3.

Our annual series of trends reports includes insights into the

big shifts that are changing communications, healthcare, digital

experience, and consumer expectations.

To discuss this report live, request another trend book, or schedule

a presentation of trends, please contact leigh householder at

614-543-6496 or leigh.householder@inventivhealth.com