Whats Next: Digitas Predictions for 2012

What'sonthehorizonfor2012?WesurveyedleadersacrossDigitascapabilitiestogettheirpredictionsforbrands andmarketerseverywhere.Readontoseewhatsnextinsocial,mobile,media,B2B,CRM,andbrandcontent.

Social
Socialcommercebecomesabigdeal.Brandsandretailerswillbothdigintoamoreseriousdirecttocustomer salesstrategy.Throughout2011,theindustryhasseenanumberofpilotprogramstestinguserflowandefficacy ofsocialselling.Toservethisneed,startupshavebeenpoppingupallaroundthesocialgraphofferingdifferent waysin.Asbrandsfindtherighttechnologiesandtheirfollowersonsocialnetworksbecomemorecomfortable withboththeconvenienceandoffersassociatedwithbuyingdirectlywithinthesechannels,weexpectabundant growthinthecategory. Themostimportantpartofmobileissocial.AsU.S.smartphonepenetrationclimbstowards50percentand beyond,socialactivitieswillgrowaswell.Thevastmajorityofmobileappsareeithersocialattheircore(Twitter, Facebook,YouTube,GasBuddy)orhavesocialfunctionalitybakedin(Pandora,games).Consideringthatevery phoneisaconnectiondeviceatitscore,socialconnectivitywillbecomemoreandmoreuntetheredinthecoming year. Nonworkinginvestmentwillscale.Overthepastfewyears,clientshavebeendedicatingtrialdollarsto initiativesbeyondpaidmedia:contentcreation,Facebooktabs,specialaccessopportunitiesandoffersoutsideof theircoreproductoffering.Drivenbytheneedforvalueasthecenterpieceofsocialinitiativesandtheproofthat theseinitiativesworkinachievingbothmarketingandbusinessobjectives,weexpectthesetypesofinvestments toscaleevenmorein2012. JordanBitterman,SVP,SocialMarketingPracticeLead

Mobile
We'llvalidatethatthemostvaluablepartofSocialisMobile.MobileFacebookusersaretwiceasengagedandas mobileplatformsintegratesocialnetworks(e.g.,AppleiOSandTwitter)andviceversa(e.g.,thenotyetpublic Facebookmobileappplatform),wewillseethatthemostinfluentialmembersofsocialnetworksparticipatevia mobile. Mobilecommercegrows...shoppingwithmobilegrowsevenfaster.Morebrickandmortarretailersaretaking advantageofmobiletogrowsalesattheirstores.FromStarbuckstoStop&ShoptoWalgreenstoWalMart, retailersarecombiningthefeaturesofecommerce(detailedproductinformation,userreviews,easycomparison shopping)withtheimmediategratificationofbuyingitinstore.Moreandmoreshopperswillusetheir smartphonestosupportallaspectsoftheirshoppingjourney. Paidmediagetsmoresophisticated...andeasier.Bettermeasurement,trackingandtargetingin2012 (andbeyond)willresultinmarketingdollarsshiftingtomobilepaidmedia,growingtheoverall

January2012

industryandencouragingmoreinnovation.Moreover,moreinterestingopportunitiestointegratebrandand mediapropertiescontentandutilitywillenhancecreativity.Inparallel,operationalinfrastructuresformobile mediawillmaturethusreducingthelogisticalcomplexitiesofrunningsophisticatedmobilemediacampaigns. Brandsstarttosyncacrossscreensinrealtime.80%ofsmartphonesownersarealreadyusingtheirdeviceswhile theTVison.Wecanimagineanynumberofpossibilities,fromdeliveringapersonalizedoffertotheviewer's mobiledeviceasabrandspotplaysontheTVtobeingpartofthesocialconversationastheshowunfolds.2012 willbetheyearthatitbecomespracticalforbrandstofullyparticipateinthemultiscreenworld. ChiaChen,SVP,MobileMarketingPracticeLead

Media
WellwelcomeMobileThursday.MobileactivityonBlackFridaysignalsmobilehasmostcertainlyarrivedwith mobilepurchasestriplingasapercentageoftotalsalesto9.8percent,includingmanypurchasesmadeon ThanksgivingDay.In2012,"MobileThursday"willjoin"BlackFriday"and"CyberMonday"asrecordshopping days.Thehomepagetakeover,popularinpromotingBlackFridayandCyberMondaywillcometomobilethrough "MobileDominations."Allofthiswilldeliveradoublingofmobilemediaspendin2012. Socialinvadesthepreroll.Oneareawheresocialengagementisoverdueisvideo.In2012,wellseetheabilityto gobeyondthestandardadapted:30commercialprerollandcreateamoreengagingvideoadexperience,which isprojectedtobea$2B+marketnextyear.Inthecomingyear,weexcepttoseeprerollsbasedonbrandsyouor yourfriendshaveengagedwithinthesocialgraphoravideobasedexperiencehighlightingfriendsbrand engagementonFacebook. DaveMarsey,SVP,Media,Digitas

B2B
Tabletappsacceleratesaleseffectiveness.Tabletappswillbecomeaprimarycatalystinimprovingthe effectivenessofSales,allowingB2Bsalespeopletoaccessthelatestcompanycontent,pitchmaterial,product information,customertestimonials,etc.,whichwillenablethemtohavemorenimbleandcompellinglive interactionswithprospectsandcustomers.Thecombinationofappandliveinteractionwillhaveadramatic impactontheoverallbrandexperiencethesalespersondeliversandassuchwilldrivebothmarketingandsalesto createcompellingappexperiences. Mobileadoptionspeedsresponsetimes.Tabletandsmartphoneappswillaccelerateresponsetimebetween customer/prospectandsales/servicerepsandenablethemtoimmediatelyrespondwiththerightcontent.The HarvardBusinessReviewreportsthatcompaniesthatcontactprospectsinanhourorlessareseventimesmore likelytohaveameaningfulconversationwithkeydecisionmakersthanthosewhowaitlonger. Raisingthebarondigitalcontent.Thequantityandqualityofdigitalcontentwillrapidlyriseasdemandand viewershipincreases.ArecentForbesstudyreportedthatCleveldecisionmakersaredevouringdigital contentfromavarietyofpaid,ownedandearnedmediatohelpthemmakedecisionsaboutwhat

January2012

companiesandservicestoengagewith.Marketerswillbechallengedtoeffectivelyproduceandcuratehigh qualitycontentthatrepresentstheircompanysvaluepropositionforavarietyofowned,earnedandpaidmedia. Additionally,marketerswillneedtosupplementtheirskillsettoincludestorytellersandcontentcreatorsvs.just campaignbasedadvertisingtalent. Evergreenpresenceandmoredependencyonownedandearnedmediachannels.Insteadoftimebased campaigns,marketerswillinvestmoreinprovidinganevergreenbrandpresencethatsupportsbothSalesandthe customers/prospectswithvalue365daysayear.Assuch,therewillbemoredependenceoncosteffectiveearned andownedmediachannelstosupplementpaidones. Socialscalesfromnetworkingtoconversationandcommerce.Socialnetworkswillmovebeyondnetworking venuesandinfluenceB2Bbuyerswholookatsocialchannelstovetpotentialpartners,opportunitiesandresolve businessdilemmas.B2Bmarketerswillneedtotakemoreaggressiveandactiverolesinthosesocialnetworksto contributemeaningfulcontentthatisvaluedbybothitscustomersandprospects. Liveeventswillbecome365daydigitalevents.Whiletheimportanceofliveeventswillnotwane,theoverall experiencewillbetransformeddigitallysuchthataccesstopresentationsandothereventactivitieswillbe professionallyreproducedtoprovidericherandbroaderaccesstothecontent.Additionally,livesocialvenues withintheeventwillbeexpandedtocarryonvirtually.Again,MarketingandSaleswillneedtocollaborateclosely toincorporatetechnology,digitalcontentandsocialvenuesinordertotakeadvantageofthistransformation. B2BROIautomationdrivesaccountability.ROIwillbebetterdefinedthankstomarketingautomationand analyticsthattapintotransparent,realtimedigitalchannelsandenableB2Bmarketingprogramstobemore accountableindrivingsales.WiththisadvancementinROImeasurement,B2Bsalesandmarketingdepartments (andwithhelpofmarketingautomationandanalyticserviceproviders)willneedtoalignwithnewskillsetsand adapttofastercapabilitiestoadaptthelatesttechnologiesandstayaheadoftheircompetition. DennisReilly,SVP,DigitasBusinessDirector

CRM
Brandslookbeyondbigdatatogettosmartdata.Asbrandsstrivetounderstandthevaluethatdrivescustomer engagement,marketerswilldigdeeperintolargedatasetstodeterminewhatisimportant.Newpartnershipswill becreatedtofacilitatethesourcingandlinkageofsocial,contentandmobiledata,tosearchbehavior,siteand displayactivityandCRMinitiatives.Marketerswillneedtonavigatetheexponentialgrowthofdigitaltechnology anddataproviders,andlearntoliveinbetaastheypilotnewinitiatives. Marketersmovebeyondtransactionstodrivingconnections.CRMisnolongeraboutyourmarketingdatabase. Today,mostoftheinteractionsthatbrandshavewithconsumersstartthroughthirdpartyencounters,whether itssearchingforinformationontheweb,discussingaproblemwiththeirpeers,orconsultingatradejournal.The volumeofthoseencounterswillonlygrowin2012,whichmeansthatmarketerswillhavetofocusonbuilding relationshipsacrossalloftheseoutsidechannels. CRMprioritizesmobileandsocial.Consumersarevolunteeringlargeamountsofinformation

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throughsocialchannels,andtheyreusingmobiletodoso.Brandsmustlistentothat.WhileCRMasweknowitis amuchmorematuredisciplinethansocialandmobilecombined,todaysmarketinglandscapedemandsthatCRM redefineitselfwithmobileandsocialatitscore.Theinsightsgarneredthroughthosechannelswillbridgethe othermarketingsilostogetherandhelpinformsmartbusinessdecisions.Yourjobwillbetotakethatdataanduse ittocreatedynamic,interactiveCRMcommunications. MarkMiller,SVP,CRMPracticeLead,Digitas

Brand Content
Brandsbecomenewprogrammingexecs.Brandswillquicklybecomethenewprogrammingexecsfillingtherole ofthestudiosinfundingcontentasthetraditionalstudioscontinuetobecautiousaboutdevelopingoriginal onlinecontent. Moredollarsshiftintocontentandvideoads,awayfromdisplay.Associaltransformsfrombuilding infrastructuretofeedingthebeast,dollarswillshiftintocontentinadditiontothedollarsmovingfromdisplay.TV addollarswillalsocontinuetotrickleintovideoadvertisingwiththemajoritygoingtoTVonthewebwithsome "innovative"dollarsgoingtothenewYouTubepremiumchannels.Ifadvertiserscanlearnfromsuccessful YouTubers,thelatterwillhaveabigimpactontheevolutionoftheTVandvideobusinessmodels. PaulKontonis,VP/GroupDirector,BrandContent,Digitas

Contact For More Information

JordanBitterman,SVP,SocialMarketingPracticeLead,Digitas Jordan.Bitterman@digitas.com ChiaChen,SVP,MobileMarketingPracticeLead,Digitas Chia.Chen@digitas.com DaveMarsey,SVP,Media,Digitas Dave.Marsey@digitas.com DennisReilly,SVP,DigitasBusinessDirector Dennis.Reilly@digitas.com MarkMiller,SVP,CRMPracticeLead,Digitas Mark.Miller@digitas.com PaulKontonis,VP/GroupDirector,BrandContent,Digitas Paul.Kontonis@digitas.com

January2012