The document provides an overview of key communications and consumer trends for 2012. Some of the major trends discussed include a focus on health and wellness in food choices, the rise of stay-at-home dads, an increased interest in collaborative consumption models, and the continued growth of mobile technologies and their influence on marketing. The trends reflect both economic pressures like austerity as well as new technologies and social patterns that give people more options for how they consume, share, and spend their time and money.

1. Beacon Guiding you through
the ever changing
world of communications
2011 saw a plethora of changes to The year ahead will be no different, and we
consumer buying habits and a multitude curious folk at Finn have taken the liberty to
of new communications platforms look ahead and pull together the must-know
blossom, offering us more opportunities trends. In this edition of Beacon, we look at
than ever to creatively engage with the hottest technologies, the latest consumer Powered by
our audiences. quirks and give you a slice of insight about
the campaigns, tools and news that have
turned us on this year.

2. 2012 Trends

3. Health & Wellbeing Functional Food
Food
Health and wellness has long Functional food, those that
since been a driving factor on come with added health
food innovation and research claims, will increasingly line
by Deloitte found that 77 per our grocery shelves in 2012.
cent of top manufacturers, re- Why? It’s an age thing. The ag-
tailers and food service pro- ing Baby Boomer generation,
viders thought it would be the who form the largest group of
primary trend shaping our pal- influencers in the food sector,
ettes in 2012. More than half will take an active interest in
of shoppers are likely to read maintaining a healthy, active
the food label before buying lifestyle as they hit retirement.
The World’s Local Larder a product, so expect more We can expect to spot more
active promotion of health products with glucosamine
The UK is one of the more benefits on shelf. The quest for Mood Food to help strengthen joints and
gastronomically adventurous ‘five portions a day’ is alive omega-3 to improve brain
nations, and this year will be and kicking and remains the Food can make us happy, health and help reduce heart
no exception, with Peruvian message that resonates most energised or even make us disease.
cuisine likely to hit the main- strongly with consumers. This, more passionate in the bed-
stream. However, when we’re coupled with tough new reg- room, but it doesn’t stop
not chowing down on Cevi- ulations, especially on child- there. New developments in
che, we’re likely to be going hood diets, means that health science are revealing that
local in an attempt to reduce will continue to be top of the everything we eat has the
our environmental footprint, consumer agenda this year. potential to change the way
with authenticity, provenance we think and feel. Next gen-
and localness being the most eration foods will be tailored
important factors influencing to meet the needs and the
food choice. Leatherhead desires of an individual con-
Food Research, a global food sumer, whether they want to
research company, actually be woken up, cheered up
predicts a blending of these or chilled out. According to
two trends, with consumers online food resource Food &
demanding internationally lo- Drink Towers, 44 per cent of in-
cal ingredients. A food’s origin dustry experts believe mood
will increasingly become a foods will increase in market
mark of quality, so expect to value, with happiness and
see the likes of Madagascan stress foods expected to be
vanilla become popular. the main areas of growth.

4. Random Acts of Kindness CSR
Corporate
Increasingly open communi- Ethical business is now ex-
cations between brands and pected and consumers are
consumers mean it’s simple increasingly looking for com-
to surprise and delight your munity benefits when mak-
fans with a relevant gesture to ing purchasing decisions. The
brighten their day, help them Food & Drinks sector is one
celebrate or thank them for of the most scrutinised indus-
their opinion. Social media tries, and it’s brands that of-
has prompted a lot of free fer that feel-good factor that
brand-to-fan love, but the seem to be leading the way.
power behind RAK is in its se- Take Innocent for example,
Real-Time Consumer Data lectivity. Last year, one of the who’s whole business strategy
most talked about brands is built around sustainability
2012 will be the year that real- was Interflora, who scoured and fairness - sustainable nu-
time online decision-making the internet for those having a trition, ingredients, packaging,
comes of age. People are bad day and offered to send production and profit shar-
increasingly sharing every- them a bunch of flowers. How- Corporate Volunteerism ing. However, it doesn’t stop at
thing they do, buy, watch, lis- ever, the prediction for 2012 is food and drink; those that go
ten to and read, in real time, that campaigns will have to The value that volunteering beyond simple ethical claims
whether that’s through Twit- become more complex and adds to the UK economy is generally outperform their
ter, Tumblr or social apps on personalised in order to pro- in excess of £21.5billion and peers. Last year’s World’s Most
Facebook (think Spotify and vide that level of cut-through increasingly, businesses are Ethical awards honourees
The Guardian). For business- and talkability. playing a vital part as it be- generated on average 30 per
es, this means a big opportu- comes more central to the cent greater returns than other
nity to align themselves more CSR mix. Despite the financial publically owned companies.
closely with the needs of their climate, volunteerism, particu-
customers. The challenge for larly stemming from business
marketeers is to make sense initiatives is on the up and it’s
of this data mass and use it increasingly done on a na-
to make quick, smart business tional scale. This year, spend-
decisions, identifying and pre- ing cuts within charities, the
dicting upcoming trends to government’s Big Society vi-
capitalise on them. sion and the 2012 London
Olympics, a huge undertaking
that will require up to 70,000
volunteers, are all likely to give
the sector a boost.

5. Stay at Home Dads
Social Commerce
Lifestyle
This budding set of home
Social Commerce is about
bodies is one to watch, par-
consumers using peer rec-
ticularly if you work in the
ommendations to make pur-
food, beverage and FMCG
chases through social me-
sectors. Research by Aviva re-
dia, whether these be ratings,
ports that there are now 1.4m
reviews or comments. For
stay at home dads in the UK,
brands, it means harnessing
10 times as many than a dec-
the power of word of mouth to
ade ago, with one in seven fa-
drive purchases and includes
thers now the main childcare
everything from group buy-
provider. The trend has been
ing and check-in rewards on
Super Premium driven by increasing numbers
Foursquare, to selling limited
of women earning more than
edition products through a Fa-
Despite ever tightening pock- their partners and reflects
cebook shop. 2011 saw some
ets, UK food lovers still like to changing attitudes amongst
of the more daring brands ex-
treat themselves with posh couples, with more men able
periment with social selling,
nosh from time to time. This to relinquish their the role as
such as Starbucks and ASOS,
year will see a divergence in family breadwinner and in-
but as user recommendations
food purchasing habits, with DIY Health stead take on more work in
and reviews increase their in-
consumers looking to the ex- the home.
fluence on consumer behav-
tremes of both discount and Who needs professional
iour, social commerce will stop
super-premium products, with health advice when there’s
being a “nice to have” and will
centre ground brands feeling an app for that? Do it Yourself
start to fuel sales volumes on a
the squeeze. A premium treat Health will naturally be driven
par with traditional channels.
can be justified as an afforda- by technology in 2012, with
ble indulgence, particularly if novel apps and quirky de-
it includes a feel-good health vices increasingly letting con-
benefit and we’re likely to see sumers track, manage and im-
this trend extend to 2012 and prove their health themselves.
beyond. And If you don’t be- Apple’s App Store currently of-
lieve us, you may want to note fers 9,000 mobile health apps
the success of Heston’s pre- and by mid-2012, this number
mium Christmas pud that flew is expected to reach 13,000.
off Waitrose’s shelves over the One of our personal favourites
festive period. is the Skin Scan app, which
helps early identification of
malignant moles.

6. Near Field Communications Smart Phones
Digital
Soon every mobile device will Up until recently sky high
come equipped to handle prices have kept the major-
Near Field Communications ity of the population out of
(NFC), a technology that al- the smart phone market but
lows consumers to perform thanks to the emergence of
seamless, no-nonsense trans- cheaper models, penetration
actions and exchange infor- has more than doubled in
mation wirelessly. Early use of the UK over the last two years.
NFC has been about stream- This year usage is predicted
lining the shopping experi- to reach a tipping point, with
ence, such as a Starbucks Gamification 50 per cent of consumers ex-
Open Graph app that allows consumers pected to own a smart phone
to snap up coffees through Gamification has evolved by the end of the year.
Facebook’s Open Graph is a phones pre-loaded with cred- from buzzword to viable on-
set of programming tools that it, and a register-free eBay line strategy and it’s now be- For marketeers, mobile was
make connections between shop where bargain-hungry ing tipped as one of the top once a way to reach those in-
Facebook and external ob- bidders snap up deals with tech trends for 2012. Based on fluencers that stayed ahead
jects on the web. On one level, their smart phones. However, the idea that rewards are cru- of the curve, but as mobile
it lets you take Facebook’s so- being marketers, we’re also cial in creating an engaging devices become an ever
cial experience and integrate excited about the possibilities digital experience, the phe- more common touch point
it within your website. Even for NFC to be used to push nomenon involves engaging between brands and every
more exciting is its ability to deals, coupons and mes- people by applying game day consumers, there’s much
take the platform’s rich social sages to consumers’ smart mechanics, for example use more motivation for brands to
data and turn it into a person- phones at relevant times and of level progression, leader- invest in mobile technology
alised web experience. The locations. boards, badges and achieve- and campaigns.
thing to watch out for in 2012 ments, in an online business
is its addition of social actions environment. It all started with
over and above the now ubiq- Foursquare’s check-in based
uitous ‘like’, such as reading, badge system, but we’ve
writing and watching, that will seen other innovative incar-
allow more dynamic content nations of late, such as Sam-
sharing through the new Time- sung Nation, a game-based
line profile. website that allows users to
earn points and progress by
reviewing products, watching
videos and participating in
user-generated Q&As.

7. 2012 Consumer

8. In 2012, 23 per cent of the UK’s popula-
tion will be over 60. The significance of this
statistic is that the baby boomer genera-
tion is reaching retirement, meaning that
many of tomorrow’s pensioners will be
more well informed, well educated, health
conscious, and discerning than their pre-
decessors. They’ll exercise twice as much
as the previous generation and more
will continue to work. These seniors are
interested in successful ageing, extend-
ing their middle years by maintaining a
healthy, active lifestyle, sparking demand
for products and environments that ac-
commodate their changing physical and
sensory capabilities.
Collaborative consumption de-
scribes an emerging economic
model based not on ownership,
Amongst 2012’s utopian vision of collaboration, but on sharing, swapping, bor-
gamification and random acts of kindness, there’s rowing and renting access to
still an ever present undercurrent of austerity loom- products and services. If it all
ing large. Research shows that the number of Brit- sounds grubby and socialistic,
ish shoppers that feel they have little or no spare it’s not. It’s set to be one of the
cash has reached an all time high at 32 per cent. hottest and far reaching trends
The average family has around £2,000 less dispos- of 2012 and is reinventing not
able income than in previous years. 71 per cent just what we consume but how
have changed their shopping habits and 65 per we consume it. We’ve already
cent of these have switched to cheaper grocery seen it permeate emerging
brands, an acceptable compromise that is set to sectors such as social lending
continue even as financial pressure eases. (check out Zopa if you’re short
on cash!), accommodation
(with peer-to-peer travel provider
CouchSurfing) and car sharing
(Zipcar), and you can expect a
raft of imitators in 2012.

9. While traditional coupons are consid-
ered tired, outdated, and cumbersome,
and bargain hunting was once some-
thing to hide, new and innovative uses
of online deals, discounts and coupons
are driving a new and affluent breed of The mass of data readily available on-
hagglers to seek out the best prices in line, particularly through social media,
2012 and beyond. Consumer attitudes has driven a mega trend in personalisa-
are shifting in a big way, and such fru- tion. Custom made, personalised goods
galicious behaviour is now considered and services are growing in popularity
smart, admirable and dare we say it, among consumers who desire complete-
darn right cool. The lure of attractive on- ly individualized products and services,
line technologies touting deals will en- blending creativity with purchasing pow-
sure this is a big trend in 2012, with 9.2 er. Everything from customised online ex-
million consumers expected to use on- periences, to personalised gifts, to large,
line coupons throughout the year. That’s custom built creations. Early instigators
a helluva lot of savings! this year include Toyota, which is encour-
aging fans to create bespoke music vid-
eos alongside their ad campaign’s pup-
pet characters, and airline KLM, which is
We’ve already explored Near Field Com- letting passengers choose who sit next
munications (NFC) and it’s that very to them based on their social media
technology that’s contributing to what compatibility.
is fast becoming a cash-less society.
It’s not that far away. We’re serious! The
initial lure of this system is convenience
and speed, but it will eventually open
up a whole new world of payments,
rewards and targeted, real time offers.
We’ve followed this trend for a while and
it’s been a slow burner as the technolo-
gy has been gradually made affordable
and available. While 2012 will not be the
year that the UK adopts cashless pay-
ing en masse, we’ll see big boys such as
Google, Mastercard and Paypall roll out
cashless initiatives worldwide.

10. Tightening pockets and the growing
influence of cookery programmes will
fuel a growing interest in entertaining
in the home, with consumers investing
more time and effort into meal times
to add fun and theatre to the ordinary
working week. Original recipes and un-
usual ingredients will be the focus for
home-cooks in 2012, who will be influ-
enced by TV, foodie magazines, web-
sites, social networks and Smartphone
apps.
Alongside the renaissance in high
quality home dining, consumers
will also look to extend this pre-
mium food experience outside
the home. Despite anxieties over
the economy, many commenta-
You’ve heard about crowdsourcing, employing tors suggest that where there are
the collective wisdom of consumers to help de- cutbacks elsewhere in the house-
sign products, create content or solve business hold budget, eating out will re-
problems, but democratic buying takes things one main central to our lives. Dining out
step further. It bases product design and produc- used to be a special occasion, but
tion entirely on the votes of the crowd. Take shop- research has shown that it’s now
ping website Shopping Forecast as an example. considered a regular treat. 70 per
It lets you view, comment, vote on and share next cent of us now claim to visit a res-
season’s styles, with votes on each item affecting taurant at least once a month and
where and in what volume the piece appears in the market is expected to grow six
stores. per cent to reach £36.6bn this year.
Increasingly social media will lead
The democratic buyer is not a passive voice decision making, with location-
amongst the throng of the bazaar, but an active based deals, mobile couponing
contributor to the market place. Expect their voic- and group buying discounts dic-
es to be heard loud and proud this year! tating where people eat. Who said
it was all doom and gloom?

11. Over recent years, our ailing econ-
omy has accelerated the trend for
locally sourced food, as consum- Today’s consumer typically looks to Google
ers seek to support the economy before hitting the shops, a trend that has sig-
and local communities. In Decem- nificantly contributed to the decline of the
ber last year, over half of shoppers British high street. While total growth in online
claimed to buy local products to retailing slowed to eight per cent last year,
support local producers, a quarter there are now an estimated 37m regular on-
to support local retailers, and over line shoppers in the UK. What we also saw was
a fifth to keep jobs in their area. massive growth amongst the under 45s who
Supporting British producers has have adopted it as their primary purchasing
now become the most important point, a sign that internet shopping is reach-
ethical concern for grocery shop- ing maturity.This year we’ll see consumers em-
pers, with more than four in ten brace online shopping in new and innovative
consumers intending to buy more ways, such as through social commerce, mo-
locally sourced goods this year. bile coupons and daily deals, which should
breathe further life into the channel.
Forget the regular weekly shop. With group buying, there truly is
Rather than stocking up on all the strength in numbers. Last year,
essentials, grocery shoppers are in- group buying took off in a big way
creasingly hitting the stores on nar- through sites like Groupon, Living-
rowly focused missions. They may Social and MyCityDeal, who be-
be looking for a specific meal, they gan offering huge discounts on
may have run out of something, or products once a certain number
could just be hungry for a snack. of people signed up. Brands got
Shopping has not completely be- on the bandwagon too, with cam-
come a spontaneous activity and paigns like Innocent’s Tweet and
the majority employ some form Eat, which unlocked bigger and
of planning beforehand, such as bigger discounts as more people
making a list, devising recipe so- tweeted a hashtag. This year, we
lutions and looking for deals, but expect much more emphasis on
we could see a shift from category geo-located deals through mo-
management to mission manage- bile devices, market consolidation
ment as retailers and brands seek as consumers develop preferred
out ways to capitalise on the trend. group buying brands, and expan-
sion into other sectors, as media
providers and others get on board.

12. UK Social Media Landscape
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter

13. UK Social Media Landscape
Youtube
Foursquare
Flickr

14. Things To Look Out For In 2012

15. F-Commerce QR Codes
Why do brands use Facebook? Generally because of its po- Will 2012 mark the tipping point for QR codes? They were every-
tential as a viral medium, its propensity to allow dialogue with where last year – on products, posters, in magazines and shops
consumers and increasingly, its ability to house apps that pro- – but questions still remained about their usage and value. A
vide engaging, interactive content. We’re now also seeing F- study late last year found that despite their ubiquity as a market-
Commerce, the act of selling products through Facebook, start ing tool, only a third of consumers knew what one was and how
to take off in a big way. to scan one, but it’s still early days for this technology. The beauty
This year we’ve learnt that Facebook is a great place to of QR codes is that they enable brands to provide something
trial exclusive or new products. Heinz sold limited edition ketch- exclusive to smart phone users with the knowledge to use them,
up with balsamic vinegar through its page, creating a lot of but up until now, they have largely been used as URL alterna-
talkability; and more recently, Magners started selling limited tives, driving consumers to brand homepages. A novel way to
edition cider through its page. However, the primary goal be- drive traffic, but hardly revolutionary!
hind these campaigns is to drive advocacy and conversation, However, we did start to see evidence of brands starting to
rather than large sales volumes. use them to add real value to the consumer experience. We saw
There is mounting evidence to suggest that F-commerce Tesco create a QR code store in a Korean subway that saved
is already a viable retail platform. Around 50,000 retailers have time for busy commuters; Heinz used QR codes to let Americans
opened an F-store through the e-commerce platform Payv- show their appreciation to their troops by leaving them person-
ment and 75 per cent of retailers plan to use Facebook for so- alised messages; and Victoria’s Secret launched a naughty bill-
cial commerce in the future. The top three brands on Facebook board campaign with QR codes covering the modesty of nearly
(Coca Cola, Starbucks and Disney) all sell directly through the nude models. Phew! With smart phone usage expected to sur-
medium and have reported healthy sales figures. Over 1m Star- pass 50 per cent of the population this year, there’s a real possi-
bucks users are using the brand’s e-commerce enabled Face- bility that the creative use of QR codes will become a real value
book loyalty program and over 5,000 used Walmart’s group- driver in the world of mobile marketing, so get your thinking caps
buy Facebook app on the day of its launch. on!
The jury is out as to whether the average consumer is
ready to adopt Facebook as a mainstream buying medium
and it will be up to brands to provide compelling reasons to
use the medium over others in 2012.

16. Social TV Instagram
How many of you have ever Facebooked while watching X Fac- An homage to the old Kodak Instamatic and Polaroid cameras,
tor? Or Tweeted your opinion during Question Time? Chances Instagram is a free app that allows users to take photos, add
are you have. In fact, 44 per cent of UK consumers say they quick stylistic fixes like vintage hues and dream-like blurs, and
use social networks to enhance their TV viewing. These days, then share them instantly with their social network.
the majority of prime time television shows already have their You’ve probably heard about it, the chances are you’ve
own hash-tag to group together social media discussions and used it or at least spotted a photo run through one of its array
many programmes, particularly faux reality shows like TOWIE, of filters. It was iPhone’s app of 2011, currently boasts 14 million
have their participants tweet during air time to engage with users and before its year anniversary, a whopping 150 million
fans. Whilst television ownership is in decline, ratings for live en- photos had been uploaded.
tertainment are creeping ever higher as viewers look to watch Its popularity is undisputed, but why do we think it rose
in real-time so that they interact socially through these chan- to fame and why should you keep an eye on it in 2012? We put
nels. its success down to a winning combination of quality, ease of
Up until recently, social media and television have been use and people’s never ending appetite for sharing their lives
separate mediums that just happen to be complementary, but visually. Essentially, it gives a mass of casual photographers the
we’re now seeing the first forays into a fully immersive social ability to produce images with some sort of artistic merit with-
TV experience, with second screen apps such as Unami and out the need for any professional design skills, and at the click
Zeebox (which you’ll learn more about later) being released for of a button, lets them share it amongst their peer groups to
the iPad. For those with smart TVs (TVs with online technology), garner instant gratification and admiration.
the possibility of having all this interaction all in one place will We think this is just the tip of a booming mobile photo
become a reality over the coming months and make sure to sharing trend, and the increasing prevalence of high megapix-
keep an eye out for Apple, as its launch of a television set this el smartphones amongst the population is only going to throw
year could signal a complete reinvention of the concept. further fuel to the fire. Last year, the app made its first hint at wel-
coming brands by introducing a hashtag feature for grouping
content, but we wouldn’t be surprised if additional campaign-
friendly features are added in 2012.

17. 3,2,1 Share At the end of each month, we like to take
the time to relax with a glass of wine and
3, 2, 1 Share is three slides and two min-
utes on one topic area and in this final
present each other the content, ideas section, we’d like to give you some insight
and campaigns that have been catch- into the topics we’ve been pondering
ing our attention. A show and tell of sorts, over. Below you’ll find a teaser on each
it’s rather like being back in primary Finnster’s latest loved topic and if you’re
school, in a good way. eager to find out more you can follow
the QR code or URL to a blog post on our
website.
A suitably strategic topic for the boss, Greg attended a Geo-location lunch as James likes grandiose ideas, so it’s no
Rich explores the quandary of social me- part of Leeds Digital Festival and that got surprise his topic of choice is “one idea
dia measurement and our fixation with him thinking about, you guessed it, Geo- that will change the world”. He takes a
big numbers, whether this is reach, im- location. He explores the past, present look in more detail at the trend, or rather
pressions, clicks or followers. In the social and future of the technology, focusing on the revolutionary movement that is Col-
space, this fixation can lead to a skewed the countless opportunities there are for laborative Consumption. He muses over
view of success, so in his post, he argues brands in this space. some of the most successful organisa-
the case for digital communications to http://bit.ly/geofuture tions that are facilitating this new eco-
be measured for quality, depth and na- nomic model and how all this swapping
ture of engagement and trading is affecting us
http://bit.ly/bnsyndrome http://bit.ly/collabconsumption

18. Jessica illustrated the mega trend of A lover of all things social, Chris drills We love the idea of marrying brands with
customization by looking at two stand- down into the emerging world of so- culture to create credibility. Tom spotted
out campaigns launched last year: cial television, exploring the recently an innovative campaign by Volkswagen
Heinz’s Get Well Soup campaign in launched free iPod app Zeebox, which Canada called ‘The Great Volkswagen
which the brand gave its 80k Facebook works in tandem with Facebook and Art Heist’, which effortlessly blends art,
fans the chance to send personalised Twitter to let TV chatterboxes get together ambient activity and social media to cre-
cans of soup to their friends; and Nivea’s around programmes they are watching, ate truly talkable content.
Christmas campaign that allowed fans and even feeds them relevant content http://bit.ly/artheist
to send gift sets enveloped in wrapping about the people, places and products
paper made from their friends’ pictures. they see on screen.
http://bit.ly/customking http://bit.ly/zeebox
Rachel explores the continuing progres- Always the joker, Janelle took to a clever Sophie dug up a fantastically useful
sion of digital magazines. She takes a tongue in cheek campaign from Kel- iPhone app called ‘Can I Eat It’. It allows
look at a new food trade title, Encounter logg’s Rice Crispie Squares. Based on the food conscious consumers to upload
Magazine, and uses it as a vehicle to idea that Rice Krispie Squares are in fact their dietary preferences, whether aller-
weigh up the pros and cons of maga- rectangular not square, the brash cam- gies, lifestyle choices or dislikes, and use
zines moving into the digital space and paign catches people’s attention with it to check the appropriateness of prod-
the opportunities for brands to gain outrageous lies, subverting the conven- ucts by scanning the barcode. A genius
added value in this new environment. tions of traditional advertising while pok- choice for those on a January health
http://bit.ly/digimags ing fun at the industry. drive!
http://bit.ly/squarelies http://bit.ly/canieatit