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Take Five: Trends for 2012
Despite so much being unpredictable just now (from the weather to the economy), we have consulted our crystal ball and come up with a few 2012 trends you may wish to consider. Whether in the workplace or at home, it is certainly going to be an interesting year….
- Devolved Social Media: Whereas this year saw corporate social media largely controlled by company marketing departments, we anticipate social media to become increasingly decentralised in 2012. Staff will become socially enabled, have access to company’s social networks and become brand ambassadors. However, there will be risks as companies relinquish control. It will be vital to empower employees to enable them to be the different faces of their companies, each with a similar, but not identical, understanding of company values.
- Less is More: With limited signs of economic recovery, we believe companies will continue to find innovative ways to offer ‘less’. For example, smaller size products and stripped down services may become the norm – targeting cost-sensitive consumers.
- People to People: 2012 may see a shift from the traditional B2B and B2C narrative, to a B2P (business-to-people) mindset. A customer will increasingly buy a product or service because of the people behind it. And the web will be even less anonymous – built more on real people and their connections, opinions, and ideas. In this scenario, it will be vital that companies maintain and nurture their networks of influencers and customers, since it is likely that we will trust reliable contacts more than logos, brands, and corporations.
- A Little of What you Like Does you Good: Having become tired of the feelings associated with austerity, we expect to see people wanting to let their hair down a little more to enjoy a little more of what they fancy – be that afternoon tea or an extra special treat!
- Make it Personal: Personalised content will make the Internet more effective as it becomes even more targeted towards the individual. People will be choosing their own content on their own terms. For example, people may be more interested in what friends say is newsworthy, rather than what a news editor says. Similarly, Facebook will become the sales platform for many companies - not only will this mean that users will recommend products and services to ‘friends’, but it will also lead to more tailored products.
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