13 emerging trends and issues that will define how we do marketing in 2013. Check out johnblaskett.com to leave a comment or check out other posts on marketing and advertising.

1. 13 Emerging Trends for
Marketing & Advertising
in 2013
13
for „13
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2. Mobile Finds its Mojo
Every year is meant to be the „Year of Mobile‟ For US consumers, time spent
in marketing circles, but 2013 really is crunch- with mobile is growing at 14
time. Here‟s why:
times the rate of the desktop.
• Mobile ad spending in 2012 was $8.1
billion, double the amount of 2011 - eMarketer
• 45 billion apps will be downloaded this
year, twice as many as in 2012
• Apps are a $6 billion market today and
growing to reach an expected $55.7
billion by 2015.
Major consumer brands are beginning to
channel more of their overall advertising
spending into mobile. As an example, Kraft
recently announced that it has dedicated 10%
of its media budget to mobile advertising.
Many companies still lag behind with mobile
websites and landing pages that aren‟t
optimised for use on smartphones. In 2013
we‟ll see more companies build a mobile-
friendly web presence in an attempt to
capture the huge opportunities in the mobile
market.
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3. Content Marketing 2.0
Rightly or wrongly, “Content is King” was the
marketing cliché of 2012. There are as many
definitions of content marketing as there are
marketers, but I see content marketing as
delivering value-adding information to
consumers at strategic points along the
purchase process.
In 2013 the focus will shift from all-out content
creation to:
1. Paying closer attention to content
marketing ROI and the development of
metrics that measure the effectiveness of
content marketing strategies.
2. Concentrating more on how content can
be effectively delivered to consumers.
2013 will be marked by more carefully targeted
content marketing strategies, and brands will
waste considerable time and effort if they Marketers, on average, spend over
simply throw everything at the wall and then a quarter of their marketing
wait to see what sticks.
budget on content marketing.
- B2B Marketing Insider
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4. Clicks & Mortar
In 2013 online and digital channels will be
integrated into the physical shopping
experience more than ever before.
Driving the integration of digital content in-
store is the market penetration of
smartphones, which in Australia was 52% in
2012 .
Further, 82% of consumers report that they
either have their smartphones with them
always or often while shopping. In 2013 we‟ll
see more retailers begin to exploit this
opportunity.
Specifically, digitally integrated stores will Integrated in-store and web
deliver deals, personalised customer service functionality is instrumental in
and real-time point-of-sale digital interaction driving conversion, boosting
to consumers directly through their mobile sales by 10% to 40%
devices. This approach has clear - SapientNitro
applications for the future of point-of-sale
campaigns and shopper marketing, with the
potential to open up new sales channels and
revenue opportunities.
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5. E-mail Makes a Comeback
E-mail marketing is back.
In 2012 we saw the beginnings of a
resurgence of the use of e-mail as a core
component of campaign delivery. Over the
last few years e-mail has been overshadowed
by other digital channels (particularly social
media and apps) but now studies show that
as much as 56% of brands are planning to
significantly increase their spend on e-mail
marketing campaigns in 2013.
The rise of worldwide smartphone usage has
reignited the marketing world‟s excitement
and imagination with e-mail campaigns, and
marketers are exploring new e-mail designs
and coding techniques to deliver targeted
campaigns.
The integration of mobile landing pages and 36% of all e-mails were opened
clear calls-to-action delivered via e-mail will on a mobile device in early
be one of the key internet marketing 2012, an increase of 9% on 2011.
developments of 2013. - Knotice
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6. Responsive Web Design
Online layouts and web-design is changing
with smartphone and tablet usage beginning
By 2015 mobile internet usage is to reach parity with desktop PCs.
tipped to surpass desktop usage The major challenge for online advertisers in
- B & T Magazine 2013 will be to create consistent online
experiences that translate across different
devices. Advertisers are in the business of
communicating a narrative around the
products their clients sell and, with more
types of devices being used to access
websites, they need to communicate a
brand‟s story consistently across different
devices.
40% of consumers say that they have
switched to a competitor‟s brand after being
frustrated by a poorly designed mobile web
page. With people becoming less
patient, 2013 is the year when responsive
web designs are required to effectively
communicate a multi-platform message.
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7. Gamification
Integrating games into marketing More than 70% of Global 2000
campaigns isn‟t new, but in 2013 I tip that organizations will have at least
games will move out of the periphery and one gamified application by 2014.
be viewed as a core channel of integrated
- Gartner Inc.
campaigns.
Today $100 million is invested in the
gamification of branded marketing
campaigns worldwide, with that figure
projected to grow to a staggering $2.8
billion by 2016.
Mobile technology has enabled games to be
delivered easily to consumers as part of
interactive digital campaigns. An example is
the recently released game-based Fanta
Funstigator campaign.
Games are a great way to build brand
awareness and engage target markets
because they utilise humans‟ innate desire
to compete. Gamified campaigns also lend
themselves to sharing via social
media, where people compete with their
friends for awards and „badges‟.
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8. Location-specific Advertising
With retail competition
intensifying, marketers and advertisers will
aim to deliver geo-located marketing
campaigns to bring more customers through
the door and generate sales.
Along with geo-location apps like Foursquare
and Facebook Offers, advertisers can also
create custom opt-in mobile campaigns that
can send display ads, coupons and other
digital content directly to consumers if they
are nearby or inside a store.
An emerging field of geo-location marketing
is near-field communications, or NFC. NFC
is short range wireless technology that
facilitates the transfer of information between
devices. NFC is an emerging trend that is Foursquare has over 25
currently used mostly for content million users worldwide that
delivery, but in 2013 we‟ll start to see NFC have checked in over 3
used more broadly in campaign delivery as
billion times
the technology gains greater penetration as
new smartphone models are released. - Foursquare
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9. Blocking Social Media Noise
Social media marketers to date have
largely focused on maximising fan
count instead of maximising fan
engagement, but in 2013 the focus
needs to be on quality not quantity.
The „hide‟, „unlike‟ and „unfollow‟
buttons are going to be used more
than ever this year. People are
cutting back on their social media
traffic by eliminating unwanted noise
from their feeds. This means that
brands will need to concentrate on
adding value by providing relevant
Fans are more likely to simply content to their online fans.
block all your posts instead of Building relationships by providing
unfanning your page on relevant content is what will be
Facebook - just because your required to both attract and retain an
brand’s page has lots of engaged online community in 2013.
followers, it doesn’t mean that
they are seeing your content.
- Fast Company
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10. Big(ger) Data
2012 was another year of growth for the use of
big data. Back in 2010 companies invested $3.2
billion in big data, and that spend is continuing to
grow and expected to reach $16.9 billion by
2015.
Companies rely on big data to inform all kinds of
business decision making. But in 2013, as
competition intensifies across many
markets, brands will leverage big data primarily to
enhance existing CRM strategies and target
consumers more closely.
Further, in 2013 new analytical models will be
developed and implemented by big brands to
deliver the insights that are crucial to creating
highly targeted and effective marketing
90% of all the world’s data has
communications campaigns. been created in the last two
years alone.
- IBM
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11. Social Media Staffing
2013 is crunch-time for late-adopting
companies to go social.
83% of marketers think that social media is
important to their business but many
companies still don‟t allocate adequate
resources to do social media marketing
properly.
In 2013 brands are going to need to make the
call to give social media marketing a shot or
risk falling behind. The choice is either to
engage external agencies or dedicate in-house
resources to take on the challenge of
managing online communities.
Social media staffing can require significant
investment and senior management needs to
be convinced of the benefits of marketing via
social media. 59% of marketers are using
By the end of 2013, I believe that we‟ll see social media for 6 hours or more
more newly created social media marketing each week, 33% are using it for
roles in organisations being filled by dedicated 11 hours or more each week
social media staff. - Social Media Examiner
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12. More Sales Move Online
Department stores are continuing to lose out as their customers defect to
online shopping, often a cheaper and more convenient alternative.
Online grocery shopping is one example of a sector that is experiencing
steady sales growth. By mid-2013 online grocery shopping is set to
increase to 26% of overall grocery sales, an 8% increase on December
2012.
In 2013 we‟ll also start to see more hybrid online shopping experiences
emerge, known as „click and collect‟ retailing. Major retailers overseas Australian online
(including Tesco and Asda in the UK) are offering click and collect
alongside their existing online shopping options. Click and collect retail sales grew
shopping occurs when customers order groceries online and then pick up 27% in 2012
the items themselves from their nearest supermarket.
I also think that in 2013 we‟ll see more low-involvement purchase - National
decisions being made online, with traditional in-store shopping being Australia Bank
viewed more as an experience rather than a necessity.
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13. Connected TV & the 2nd Screen
Connected or Smart TV‟s integrate TV with the “49% of people say they are
internet, and are becoming more common on simultaneously watching
store shelves. Stats show that as many as 1 in TV and interacting with a
4 US households now have a Connected TV.
mobile internet device every
The second screen refers to the device you use day”
while watching TV, for example surfing the web
- eMarketer
on your laptop computer while the ad breaks
are on.
2013 will see the worlds of TV and the internet
converge, opening up a new dimension of TV
audience engagement.
The implications for social TV are huge for both
the entertainment and advertising industries. I
anticipate that usage of social TV apps like
Fango and Zeebox and penetration of
connected TV‟s will increase significantly in
2013 and a handful of brands will have
integrated the technologies successfully.
johnblaskett.com

14. Privacy & Regulation Debate
There is clear tension in the marketing data
world: consumers want more personalised
advertising material, while regulators are
threatening to restrict the amount of information
available to advertisers to protect consumer
privacy.
The debate has intensified in recent years with so
much personal info being published online via
social media, and in 2013 I think that intense
debate will be triggered that could threaten the
future of responsible data-driven advertising.
Being a marketer I‟m biased, but I believe that
implementing restrictions which significantly block
data availability to marketers would not be in the More than 7 in 10 US consumers
best interests of industry or consumers. prefer to receive promotional
Regardless of opinion, something is likely to offers that reflect their likes and
happen in 2013 that will significantly change the dislikes.
way marketers use data and gather insights in the - UK Direct Marketing
future. Watch this space! Association
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