THE CONSUMER-FIRST WORLD: 8 DIGITAL TRENDS CHANGING THE WAY CONSUMERS CONNECT WITH BRANDS
Nathalie Krup@nathaliekrupGlobal Consumer Insights ManagerMicrosoft Advertising
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MICROSOFT GLOBAL CONSUMER INSIGHTS
Focus on understanding the
underlying consumer motivations that
drive attitudes and purchase decisions
Dual Pivot: Internal to Microsoft
product/R&D teams; External to assist
clients in optimizing these insights for
their businesses
USA
Sweden
Brazil
Russia
China
UK
Germany
Czech Republic
45early adopters
online consumers
8,000
Microsoft Executives
& Industry Leaders
Value Me
Right to Anonymity IntelligentlyON Age of Serendipity Enhancing the Real
My Analytics Creator Culture Niche Networks
Value Me
Right to Anonymity IntelligentlyON Age of Serendipity Enhancing the Real
My Analytics Creator Culture Niche Networks
Enhancing
The Real
What is the trend?
Going Beyond Tactile & Touch
Increasing desire for technology to immerse consumers in enhanced, multi-sensory experiences
To an Enhanced World
36% say digitaldevices and services already enhance their experiences in the real world, especially Chinese consumers
Digital Humanisation
Consumers are looking for products and services that offer more engaging and ‘human’ digital connections
Enhancing
The Real
Go Dos for brands
Be Digitally Alive! Mind the Gaps
Consumers say they are much
more likely to buy products/
services that let them use
technology to make shopping
more seamless offline to online
– especially Millennials
Think Immersive!
47% already expect brands to heighten everyday experiencesby engaging more of their senses
Enhancing the Real
The digital space will evolve into a new layer to the real world, and technology will bring to life once-intangibleobjects or experiences.
The future
Enhancing
The Real
Brand Toolkit &
Discussion
Have all the human senses in mind. Enhance and engage, but be careful not to invade or overpower
Show, don’t tell. Engage consumers in your brand and campaign and seek out opportunities to collaborate with brands that are pioneers in sensory technology
Create multi sensory experiences. Across brand touchpoints, give compelling interactions in real & virtual space
Don’t overwhelm. Ensure multi-sensory engagement does not confuse or create unnecessary noise
Age of
Serendipity
I expect the
unexpected
Surprise & Delight
Consumers want more than the predictive…they want experiences they’d never even thought of that surpass imaginations
One Step Ahead
At their most powerful, digital technologies can perform a kind of magic -a Human Feeling that feels like a happy accident –almost like ‘fate’
A Growing Expectation
55% expect technology to deliver surprising experiences that areuniquely tailored and ‘feel like coincidences’
Age of
Serendipity
I expect the
unexpected
Engagement at Another Level
It sharpens the senses, encourages emotional engagement with the world, people – so be the brand that goes beyond past behaviours
Know me intimately
42% already expect
brands to know them and
offer something they
didn’t even know they
wanted
Harness the Power of Surprise
Deliver us a pleasantly surprising experience and
61% of us are more likely to
buy from you – up to 86% in
China and 81% in Brazil
Value Me
What am I worth?
Why is it happening
Misuse of personal data
(by companies,
governments, etc) means
managing data online is a
growing topic of
conversation
A “free” service
Consumers understand
their data is valuable feel
they are due a slice of the
pie. When they share their
data, they expect value in
return
My Specific Needs
45% of consumers are willing to sell ALL their digital data collected over 6 months to the right brand at the right price
Value Me
Nike pop-up vending machines in NYC allow customers to trade Fuel points for Nike merchandise –turning a points system into a consumer currency
Customers don’t feel that they’re currently getting a fair value exchange
66%
31%
Importance Satisfaction
Microsoft Financial Services CDJ
Information
sharing…
67%
58%
38%
Full knowledge & control Stop or delete at any time Get reward or benefit from it
And seek more transparency about that exchange
Serendipity &
Value Me
Brand Toolkit & Discussion
Deliver pleasantly surprising experiences. This could be outside of the product and service portfolio
Build serendipity into loyalty programs. This will ensure longer term engagement
Serendipity can be simple and small. Coincidence and surprise do not need to be complex
Gateway to Millennials. Double the percentage as Boomers expect brands to know & recommend things to them
Transparency is King. Understand you are in a two way relationship with customers and communicate their value
My Analytics
What is the trend?
Data is Insights!
Tracking habits and activities, measuring performance and seeking insights and self betterment from personal data
Strategies for Improvement
51% use digital devices and apps to track habits and performance and make strategies for living a better life
A ‘Better ’ Me
27% use digital devices/apps to track, and analyse data to optimise habits, activities, performance and set goals for the future
My Analytics
Why is this
happening?
Health Focus & Tech Innovation
Combination of cultural changes in social attitudes and technological innovation
Mobile, Mobile, Mobile!
Revolution in mobile technologies has driven innovation – led to explosion in self-quantification for self-improvement
Fighting Fit
Increasingly frantic world, consumers are seeking ways not just to be fitter, but to be more productive
My Analytics
What is Next?
Disappearing Wearables
With tech shrinking and ingestible sensors on the horizon, wearable technology will become less visible
And ‘Sci-Fi’ Tech
38% are interested in being able to track and analyze our data using devices implanted or easily dissolved into the body
To Cloud Projections
Ambient displays around will inform us of our short and long term data trends – a snapshot of our health and wellness
My Analytics
Brand Toolkit
Adopt positive language. Focus on achievement, improvement and ability
Collaborate with health and wellness brands. As well as data-driven products and services
Help consumers. To develop their skills, who can capture and analyse their individual aggregated data
Go beyond tracking data for the sake of tracking. Ensure that the data can deliver real value and measured improvements in consumer lives
Creator
Culture
What is the Trend?
A New Creator Culture
Experimentalism, creativity and a desire for the satisfaction of building something new lie at the heart
Still Niche
Due to its niche nature, awareness low compared
to other trends at 23% -but does skew young and male
Make Do & Mend 2.0
39% express a desire to learn more about how to make or adapt their own digital devices and services
Creator
Culture
Why is this
happening
Growing Expectations
Spend more and more time with digital tech & increasingly eager to understand their inner workings
Coding Less Geeky
Amateur developers’ overnight success has inspired others to learn to code, and access this potentially lucrativemarketplace
More Accessible
Barriers to learning to code and hack are lowerthan ever – including free and open courses
Creator
Culture
What is Next?
Empowering Creativity
Consumers will increasingly create their own personal ecosystems of tools and services that are tailored to their specific needs
Focus on ‘Creating’
54% are interested in making their own digital products in the future
About the Blueprints
The future will be increasingly about digital designs and intellectual property, rather than physical products
Creator
Culture
What this means
for brands
Collaborative Experimentation
Brands must develop collaborative relationships with consumers opening themselves to consumers’ experimentation
Creative Involvement
Brands should find ways to encourage consumers in creating new products or services, whether tweaks of their own or entirely new experiences
Hacking Openness
49% expect brands to be open and allow them to create a new product or service by using the brands original design and features
Creator
Culture
Brand Toolkit
Get Involved with Generation I. They are the crusaders of the future Creator Culture.
Engage with emerging markets. Consumers who, by necessity, are the established creators
Align with coder clubs, science clubs and events
Start planning now. For a world in which we are all co-creators and more self-sufficient
Focus on the blueprints. Customisation should be built into products and services pre shelf