Jkaylen's List: Socio-Cultural

• THE world’s first 'bionic Olympics' will be held in Switzerland in October 2016.
• The competition is designed for people with disabilities and companies who specialise in "assistive" technology. Organisers hope that the competition will generate interest in performance-enhancing machinery
• All competitions will see two medals awarded, one for the winning pilot or athlete and one for the company that developed their technology.
• Pilots can use devices that are commercially available or equipment that has been specially developed in a research lab.
• Sponsored by the Swiss National Competence Centre of Research in Robotics, the Cybathlon is primarily designed to promote new medical devices and technology, but many see it as an opportunity to explore the interface between people and machines

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• ‘The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.’”

• Consumers want something that is personal and tailored to them and fits with their busy lifestyles
• Any retailer can stick an iPad on the shop floor and bring online in-store. Yes, it allows engagement on several levels at once and facilitates purchase, but it doesn’t offer a truly personalised experience
• it isn’t really doing more than you can already do online.
• Where bricks and mortar excels is when shoppers have time to enjoy the shopping experience and the opportunity for true human interaction
• Personalisation and customised browsing are key considerations for retail if brands are to continue to build customer engagement and loyalty

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• Last summer saw a flurry of activity down the supermarket drink aisles – adults and children alike scrambled through stacks of Coca-Cola, all eager to grab a bottle bearing their name
• • Marketing opportunity
• experiential marketing in the form of Coca-Cola 'tours' where participants could have their own custom bottle made.
• The data shows that 18-24 year-olds who were exposed to the campaign view the brand much more positively than those who were not exposed to the adverts.
• The campaign showed that when personalisation works it can be highly engaging and effective
• Another element for marketers to consider is that in the world of social media, personalisation only works if it is something that can be shared with the wider community
• it is customised and left up to individuals to be creative in how and when they use it.
• "People loved that this campaign spoke to them directly by using their names, or those of their friends and family. They were also engaged in the participative element of the campaign, particularly by sharing images of the personalised Coke bottles on Twitter and Facebook. Share a Coke spoke to them as individuals, while making them feel more connected to the brand and to one another – and that is the secret to its success.”

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• Driven by social sharing and consumers’ increasingly mobile lifestyles, the next wave of e-commerce is contextual and personalised
• • Shoppable fashion film could be good extra as part of marketing strategy for your project
• Marketers have long been experimenting with shoppable content, but with online video more popular than ever this could be a development that’s about to really take off
• By clicking on the video when they’re interested in a particular story or look, users can access additional content including videos, photo galleries and links to shop the looks.
• Consumers increasingly inherently expect brand experiences to be contextual and tailored to them
• “Technology has driven a rapid change in the past 20 years, with brands now fully grasping that the data they hold on their consumers is essential to delivering increasingly personalised experiences.”
• “The way consumers interact online is seamless, so retail experiences need to reflect this behaviour, and this can only be achieved by weaving together data from onsite, offsite and offline channels,”
• “Modern, agile consumers are searching, shopping and sharing wherever they are and whenever they want to; they demand a seamless experience that allows them to flit between channels and touch points at will, and with no loss of quality or momentum,”
• • Online community - getting consumers involved in the brand and becoming creative. Synergy between blogging and retailing.
• Retail and fashion brands are using social channels and their engaged online communities to reap the rewards of user-generated content – not simply for awareness but as a conversion tool too. Recent examples include Asos’ As Seen on Me channel, which links customers’ own content with e-commerce
• “User generated content is a great indication of engagement or commitment, and brands can derive enormous benefit from consumers sharing interesting, fun or positive experiences with one another,” says Peter Martin, head of shopper marketing and retail experience at Cheil UK
• Nowadays, there is an emerging trend that is seeing retailers move towards providing a tailored digital experience, relevant to the stage of the commerce relationship the customer is at
• As customers return over time, their engagement with the brand should be at the point where they have built up trust and are evangelising the brand by sharing content via social networks, all of which increase conversion and average basket value.

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• "precious moment of utter luxury

• Consumers are becoming weary of social media artifice and are yearning for something authentic.

• Beauty consumers are increasingly looking for an antidote to the stresses of modern life. Offer a remedy to the digital landscape and create products that can adapt to individual environments.
• The resulting five-strong range of serums – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water – are formulated to respond differently to an individual’s dominant element. The packaging for each product, designed by Pearlfisher, features a simple emblematic logo that reflects each element, and the overarching brand logo is an interwoven version of all five symbols designed to evoke a sense of equilibrium.

• Meet the modern woman. Educated. Affluent. Confident. Optimistic. She will rise to the top of her company, or start her own. She embraces community – online and offline. With her busy lifestyle, she’s looking for services that boost her fitness and wellbeing. She wants property and luxury goods. She won’t be patronised. She is The Athena.
• Offer her foods with a narrative, drinks with a pedigree (and aspirational associations); present products that appeal to her savviness, intelligence and her need to multi-task – in a way that’s about her life, not just the life of her family.
• Re-Enlightenment products, which draw on space-age technology and aesthetics, are in.
• So think sweat, think positive; re-think your hero and heroine images for the modern woman at rest or play, who is conquering her personal and public space.
• hink enterprising, entrepreneurial, collaborative and challenging.
• She’s a child of the internet, a queen of research and a mistress of social media

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• The blurring that is typical of The Convergence Economy takes many forms – from physical products to conceptual collaborative spaces
• hanges in technology and our relationship with it.
• n the Convergence Economy, brands do not limit themselves to specific products or verticals. Rather, they craft sharply defined personalities, values and relationships that translate across sectors.

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• • 56% of Britons research products before heading to the shops
  • 54% consult online reviews before buying an item
  • 59% of UK consumers believe the best prices are to be found online
• Some 18% of Britons look on social media to choose what to buy, a proportion that jumps to 33% in Europe. Meanwhile, 43% of Britons say they engage in Showrooming – examining products in-store before going home to buy them online

• The Polarity Paradox is a coping mechanism for recession-beaten consumers who are over-sensitised, confused and disillusioned.
• We are struggling with rising complexity and wishing for comprehensible or simple reasons in order to still understand the world around us.
• marriage-eligible millennials are about to cause a spike in the number of marriages in the US

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• The popularity of independent young video bloggers, the "vloggers" who film their thoughts and observations for thousands of followers to enjoy online, is already setting the future shape of marketing and advertising
• Having creative control
• Social Talent is definitely the new celebrity

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• • Childhood memories to sell to consumers from the polarity paradox who are looking for something relatable in a confusing tough world

• A playful, populist approach to branding will continue to connect with younger luxury consumers in 2015.