Marketing expert Mark McCulloch takes a look at some of the trends likely to impact on the sector over the next few months, and warns that brands rushing to develop apps for their products may have to brace themselves for disappointment:
With technology moving as rapidly as it is, this article is likely to turn out to be a look at the big things that will strike a chord in the next three to six months rather than the year as a whole because who knows what will have captured the customer’s imagination by the end of 2016. This year witnessed the rise of Uber, emojis, Airbnb and Deliveroo, and this time last year I was unsure that we would see all of these becoming a big part of daily life in modern cities across the globe.
We are now living in the age of the millennial or MillEnnial – the ultimate age of ME. This means that businesses should be focusing on the individual; letting people experience and wear brands in their own way according to their ‘tribe’. They will want to be able to access and consume your brand in an instant, have low engagement with your people (unless they really want to) and be able to completely customize the experience/product/service that you provide. They will be attracted to brands that are authentic, specialists in the one thing that makes them famous and will feel compelled to use brands that are altruistic and give back.
Where we will be focusing our attention and working on client development will be in the following areas – a top six that should command your full attention in 2016:
1) Wearables. These have got off to a slow start, but this year (and after Christmas), more people will have smartwatches and fitbits than ever. These will come into their own as people become more self-conscious and self-aware. The discussions that you will be having soon will be bragging or commiserating about your calorie intake, steps taken, heart rate in rest and active states and how you slept. The basic human needs and functions are ripe for gamification and more and more brands will reward and recognise their customers for displaying the behaviours that fit with a brand’s value. The insurance market, for example, is currently rewarding people for their daily behaviour (submit your iHealth and you will gain better quotes for your life insurance).
2) Voice. Most things in life come full circle and technology is no exception. Customers will expect soon, to be able to use their voices through gadgets and wearables to ask questions of your brand, place orders and amend their experience. This will come as soon as people don’t feel as much of a pillock as they do today, speaking into their watch. See Amazon Echo, for example, in terms of us having an answer centre in our house where we will be able to control our home and gadgets using simple voice commands.
3) Email. Due to the spread of wearables and access to smartphones, we are becoming more open to receiving emails depending on who they are from, timing and the mood we are in. Email is not going anywhere just yet, but the future is about your company stopping the push mindset and adopting a smart and action-based customer relationship management (CRM) strategy. Lots of brands we work with have amazing vision and are using the Aston Martins of CRM to reward their customers, but that is where it tends to stop. They have an Aston Martin but only drive it in second gear. If you can get your CRM humming like a well-oiled machine, the pay off should be sizeable.
Customers are giving brands points for interacting with them based on their last action. For example, if you drop out of the basket process, Ocado will write to you and ask if there is an issue and try to resolve it. Amazon and eBay are the kings of converting you from the digital equivalent of customers pressing their noses up against the window to thinking ‘what the heck’ and buying the product or gift you were coveting. All by a well-timed email that basically says ‘Go on, go on, go on’.
4) Don’t waste your money on building apps. I saw a guy speak at a web summit last year and he held his phone aloft to the crowd and said: “guess how many additional apps I have on my phone that Apple don’t force me to have?” The answer was five. This year we will see customers being even more choosy about what app icons are on their precious home screens. You would be arrogant to think that every customer or even a high proportion of them would give you space alongside their lifeblood apps of social networks, message app, BBC/Sky News, Uber, train times, weather, bank, TV on demand and Spotify. Effort and cost v return here could be unrealistic and you may well be very disappointed with the result. Aggregator apps will win out (Deliveroo, Airbnb, Booking.com, etc).
5) The year of ultimate customization. As this is the age of ME, we will see a move from taking what companies want to give you, to customizing food and drink your way. A good example is MOD Pizza in the US. You can have anything you like on your pizza and unlimited toppings for one price. This shows that customers should be helped to curate your brand, their way.
6) End of WordPress template sites. We have been in a lazy period for websites with most small and medium-sized enterprises taking the easy option of designing and building their site in WordPress. This means that most sites you visit are economical yes, but bland and have little standout. If you are building a website in 2016, take a look at some creative examples such as YO! Sushi’s effort where the WordPress, on-page scrolling website has been thrown out of the window in favour of a site that shows creativity, that immerses you in a brand-relevant experience and takes you through the streets of Japan to find what you are looking for.
Mark McCulloch is founder and group CEO of branding and marketing agency WE ARE Spectacular.
