It’s that time of year again, here’s our list of the trends that will change the way we work and approach the market in 2015.
Disruptors 2.0
A new generation of businesses will rise based on the first generation of digital disruptors. While
Tinder became a hit by matching 1.2 billion profiles a day,
Hinge have raised $12M by adding another layer to the service. Hinge allows users to meet with a “friend of a friend”, pushing boundaries and exploring new potential that old dating websites, ala match.com or eHarmony haven’t explored yet. This new generation is copying and improving every possible idea.
Dirty tricks no more
Consumers will condemn and react to amoral businesses practices, for example Uber
raising fare prices in Sydney during the recent siege. Users will have an opinion, and they will share it with their networks, customers will expect CEOs to explain unreasonable business behavior.Uber has had a spate of bad PR, including their NYC General Manager cancelling bookings for competitor services, and allegedly
aggressive lobbying in the US. The scandals have extended to litigation, with numerous
law suits being brought against the company. This should serve as a reminder that a businesses need morals in the age of the connected consumer.
Pics Pics Pics
With
Instagram overtaking Twitter by hitting 300M monthly users, and pictures delivering the
highest engagement rates, brands will be looking at further ways to utilise photography. This year, brands will try to create branded images by capturing new angles with drones and GoPros.
Space missions
The recent footage from
Rosetta has reignited the world’s passion for space conquest and all the mysteries that brings. The recent
Virgin Galactic crash reminds us that we are still at the beginning of space exploration.
Lunar Mission One has raised £ 571,000 from 6,000 backers on Kickstarter by offering the world first “user-generated” space mission. The recent NY Times feature:
28 months on Mars highlights the current level of interest in space conquest.
Space X’s work with reusable rockets are also generating a lot of attention.Red Bull has already tapped into this insight with Stratos… but how can more brands fulfill of our intergalactic dreams?
Elementary my dear
IBM Watson
opening up its API means that cognitive computing will continue turning big data into smart data. Marketers will tap into new, powerful sources of information to help connect with consumers. Imagine being able to merge data from different industries and discover new clusters of opportunity. This intelligence will bring a whole new world of possibility. Your business might not be ready yet but it’s worth having a look at Watson and understanding how it may be used in your industry.
The OPEN WORLD of APIs
Businesses will keep on opening up APIs to speed up their capacity to innovate and generate new business models out of their core ideas. Ecosystems of APIs will start emerging around innovative brands who are willing to share and learn fast. Industries like
banking will benefit from plugging into the API ecosystem to help them swiftly catch-up with their disruptive competitors.
Robot love
They’ve been in the background for years as a dream but Robots are becoming a reality, with consumers apparently ready to make them part of their lives. Jibo has raised more than $2M on Indiegogo by promising the start of the
family robot. And many more robots have been welcomed and supported by Kickstarter community, from Stompi,
Sparki to
Kibo everyone is making Robots a reality.
Momath have just launched a new interactive exhibition featuring robots and celebrating artificial intelligence, another sign this is going mainstream.
