THE TRENDS REPORT
Proudly brought to you by NATIVE VML

A MONTHLY SNAPSHOT OF TRENDS IN MARKETING, STORYTELLINGAND DIGITAL
CULTURE LOCALLYANDABROAD.

Digital convergence is fast becoming the norm where technology allows a shift from one-to-one to
one-to-many quick, easy and affordable services. We look at how smart devices are changing how
we relate to illness and disease and how in-home devices can automate convenience with a click of
a button.
Social Media has reinforced consumer power that demands a level of honesty and transparency
from brands. Disclosing product information is not new or without controversy. Brands and content
producers need to consider legal and ethical implications of product promotion if they seek to be
authenticand credible to their audience.
Lastly we look at branded content that stops speaking to people as consumers and demographics
but as human beings. A great brand should not be self-serving. A brand’s real value lies in creating
engagement around the solutions thattheir productspresent.

AUGMENTATION

The bio-future of
fashion. Advances in biological research are redefining
the concept of sustainable consumer
products. Smart biomaterials with less impact
on the environment are giving fashion a new
edge.

Designing clothes to be grown in a
lab.
Dubbed the future of fashion, bio-fashion uses
living cultures of micro-organisms such as
yeast, fungi and algae to produce fabric. Eco-
leather, a bio-based leather that turns chicken
feathers, natural fibres and plant oil resins into
shoe soles, has already captured the attention
of large retailers like PUMA and Nike.
READ MORE

Self-regulating shoes.
Perhaps a glimpse far into the future, The
Protocells trainer is created with a fibre that
will fit to a user's foot like a second skin. The
3D-printed Protocells are molecules that can
create artificial living systems, capable of
being responsive to pressure, light and heat
felt by a foot. The cells of the shoes
essentially responds in real-time during a run,
then are able to rejuvenate themselves after.
READ MORE

Smarter medicine.
Medical researchers are constantly looking for
ways to administer treatments to patients in
less painful and inconvenient ways. Smart
devices and wearables are changing the
relationship patients have with illness.

On-body injectors for post chemotherapy medicine.
The Neulasta Delivery kit is an on-body injector device that administers post-chemotherapy medicine.
Clinicians fill and activate the syringe with the correct dosage and patients can receive their medication within
the comfort of their own homes. READ MORE

A smartwatch that prevents seizures.
The Embrace smartwatch uses data to detect potentially life-threatening epileptic seizures. Parents and care-
givers can use a companion device to be alerted as well. Over time the device learns to pre-empt possible
seizures and sends haptic messages for a user to adjust behaviour accordingly.
READ MORE

INNOVATION

Technological innovations are changing the
way art is made, consumed and sold.
Museums are increasingly becoming
experience-driven. The use of location and
personalisation technologies help deliver
large-scale ad campaigns that inform, educate
and invite participation with the gallery. It is all
about a real-time or personalised focus.
Smart Art.

Art experiences for the blind.
The Touching the Prado exhibit in Madrid is
designed to give the blind (or those with
limited visibility) an opportunity to create a
mental image of artwork through touch.
Elaborate 3-D replicas of famous artwork
were created using textures and contours.
The exhibit also included a braille text guide,
audio guides and opaque glasses to create
a truly enhanced experience.
READ MORE

Preserving and democratising street art through digital tech.
The Google Art project’s Street Art Collection has partnered with several art organisations and collectives in
34 countries. The collection has over 10,000 photographs, that users can observe and interact with online.

Companies like Amazon, Uber and Airbnb are
offering services via on-demand platforms.
Digital convenience is increasingly becoming
non-negotiable, where consumers demand
goods and services that are just a click away.
The on-demand
economy meets the
internet of things.

Making in-home purchases with a
click of a button.
Amazon Dash are branded Wi-Fi enabled
buttons created by Amazon. Attached to
household appliances, they let consumers
reorder common household products
through their phones and Amazon Fresh
account. Over time, the buttons will connect
to multiple smart devices in the home,
allowing Amazon Dash to predict and
automate purchases.
READ MORE

The coffee maker that orders its
own coffee beans.
Poppy-Pour-Over is a smart coffee-maker. It
uses sensors that can detect low levels of
coffee beans, and then automatically orders
using the Amazon Dash Replenishment
Service.
READ MORE

MOBILE, DATA
AND SOCIAL

The impact of big data continues to be felt
across various industries. Humanitarian data
is becoming an essential tool to identify
people who are in danger and what resources
are needed to save them.
Utilising digital for
humanitarian
efforts.

Using Big Data for the greater good.
The Tactical Technology Collective aims to raise awareness of online security risks. It actively develops methods and tools
to counter injustice. For example, services such as Me and My Shadow helps users to explore and minimise the online
information they leave behind each time they use the internet.

Mapping Xenophobia.
Closer to home, iAfrikan and Ushahidi have launched Report Xenophobia. It is a real-time tool for users to
report and alert others of Xenophobic incidents in their area. Communication is sent out via SMS, email,
Twitter, the Ushahidi app and the website.

Research suggests that 32% of marketers are
not exploring the opportunities presented by
geo-targeting technology for delivering
location-based notifications. Popular mobile
geolocation-centered campaigns continue to
drive customer loyalty; the space is ripe for
innovative and experimental ideas.
Geo specific
marketing.

Reviving one of digital advertising’s oldest formats to find lost pets.
Pedigree and Google launched the Found app that allows dog owners to pre-register their dog. When a dog is
reported as missing, a banner ad featuring their dog is created and instantly served across the Google Display
Network.

MARKETING AT
THE SPEED OF
CULTURE

Consumers and fans hungry for new and
novel experiences are digitally empowered to
take control. On social platforms, engagement
is driven by consumers, placing the fans at the
centre, with the brand as facilitators of
communities only. With personal reach as a
valued currency, it becomes increasingly
important to not only encourage but recognise
and reward fan engagement as well.
Community first
strategies.

Authentic brand connections with fans through humour.
A seemingly innocent tongue-in-cheek social media post promoting a plastic shell that protects bananas led to one of
Groupon’s most successful Facebook posts. The Groupon Banana Bunker gathered 11,000+ comments, 46,000 shares
and over 19,000 likes, providing fans with unique and personal interactions with the brand.

Crowdsourced live action marketing.
Amazon gaming platform, Twitch and Old Spice launched the The Old Spice Nature Adventure, which merged
elements of gaming, live video and a participatory experience. The campaign followed a man into the woods, his
actions guided by commands crowdsourced from the chat room.

Influencer marketing is one of the most
powerful tools in social media marketing.
Research suggests that when exposed to a
positive endorsement of a product on social
networks, 16% of people will actually
purchase that product. The strategy blurs the
line between personal and business and there
is a fine balance influencers need to strike
between both sponsored and regular content
to remain authentic and credible to their
audience.
Disclosure in
social media.

Disclosure, important for both brand
and content partner.
In November 2014, five YouTube
videos featuring vloggers “Dan and Phil,” were
banned by the Advertising Standards Authority
in the U.K. for not being clearly labelled as Oreo
advertising.
More recently, Lord & Taylor asked 50 bloggers
to style a dress from its new line, garnering
enough likes to infiltrate Instagram feeds and
sell out the dress in store. However, the
campaign lacked transparency with neither
brand nor content partner alerting followers to
the deal.

STORYTELLING

Getting content to work for a brand is not
easy; it requires strong ideas and execution,
content that serves to simply push product will
struggle to compete with all the other noise on
the market. Real brand value lies in creating
conversations and engagement around the
issues for which a brand’s products offer
solutions.
Branded solutions
not products.

Branded content sparks a national
conversation about spending and saving.
The One Rand Man social experiment followed an
ordinary South African who for a month made all
day-to-day payments in R1 coins, in an attempt to
understand the relationship we have with our
money.
The month-long campaign, broken into five
webisodes, received over 900 000 views, and at
the end, 80% of comments across social media
spoke of how people were actively making
changes in their lives.
The documentary is currently available on
YouTube and includes expert advice and insights,
as well as learning material for schools and
financial advisers.

Toothpaste brand gives a lion back his bite.
Oral brand, Fixodent released an online video chronicling the story of Aslan, a 9-year old rare white lion who had lost two
of his canine teeth and struggled to survive in the wild. Gathering over 1.4 million YouTube views in just 36 hours, the
short film may be an unusual departure from traditional oral care marketing, but the story is authentically rooted in the
brand’s values.

Digital games represent a new type of
storytelling. Instead of passively listening to or
watching a story, in games players are
actively part of the narrative, their actions
impacting how the story unfolds.
Telling stories
through Gaming.

Indigenous storytelling use digital
gaming for interactive narratives.
Never Alone, is a puzzle-platformer game
aimed at preserving the Inuit folklore and
culture. Developed by Upper One Games in
conjunction with the Cook Inlet Tribal Council,
the game provides an opportunity to pass on
these stories to a new local generation, and
share them with the rest of the world. The
development process sought input of Alaska
Natives, from the creation, design and
narrative to marketing and distribution.

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