JWT, the world’s best-known marketing communications brand, has released its eighth annual forecast of key trends that will drive or significantly impact consumer mind-set and behavior in the year ahead.nnAccording to the forecast, we’ll see everyday objects become smarter as technology gets embedded into everything from eyeglasses to socks to bikes, helping us to measure, navigate and augment the world. At the same time, our smartphones will become de facto fingerprints as they evolve into wallets, keys, health consultants and moreโour identity all in one place. The forecast also puts a spotlight on health, with two separate trends examining the rising awareness around the impact of stress and happiness on well-being and how businesses are addressing it.nn
nnOther trends cited in the report include:nn• Everything Is Retail: Shopping is shifting from an activity that takes place in physical stores or online to a value exchange that can play out in multiple new and novel ways. Since almost anything can be a retail channel, thanks largely to mobile technology, brands must get increasingly creative in where and how they sell their goods. nn• Peer Power: As the peer-to-peer marketplace expands in size and scopeโmoving beyond goods to a wide range of servicesโit will increasingly upend major industries from hospitality and education to tourism and transportation. nn• Going Public in Private: In an era when living publicly is becoming the default, people are coming up with creative ways to carve out private spaces in their lives. Rather than rejecting today’s ubiquitous social media and sharing tools outright, we’re reaping all the benefits of maintaining a vibrant digital identity while gradually defining and managing a new notion of privacy for the 21st century.nn”In our forecast of trends for the near future, new technology continues to take center stage, as we see major shifts tied to warp-speed developments in mobile, social and data technologies,” says Ann Mack, director of trendspotting for JWT. “Many of our trends reflect how businesses are driving, leveraging or counteracting technology’s omnipresence in our lives, and how consumers are responding to its pull.”nnJWT’s “10 Trends for 2013″ is the result of quantitative, qualitative and desk research conducted throughout the year and for this report. It includes input from nearly 70 JWT planners across more than two dozen markets and interviews with experts and influencers across sectors including technology, health and wellness, retail, media and academia.nn”JWT recognizes the need to anticipate and actively participate in the changes that will fundamentally define the future of our business and our clients’ businesses. Our annual trends forecast helps us to do just that,” says Bob Jeffrey, Chairman and CEO, JWT Worldwide. “With our Worldmade outlook, we identify emerging global opportunities that we can leverage on behalf of our multinational roster of brands.”nnAmong the trends JWT has forecast in past years: “Food as the New Eco-Issue” in 2012 (the environmental impact of our food choices is becoming a prominent concern); “De-Teching” in 2011 (more people logging off, at least temporarily, to get a break from technology); “Location-Based Everything” in 2010 (the explosion of location-based or -aware services that leverage data from mobile phones); “The Small Movement” in 2009 (the shift away from “bigger is better” in everything from homes to cars to stores); and “Radical Transparency” in 2008 (the “nothing to hide” ethos seen in some online behaviors).nnThe 10 Trends featured in this report include: Play As a Competitive Advantage, The Super Stress Era, Intelligent Objects, Predictive Personalization, The Mobile Fingerprint, Sensory Explosion, Everything Is Retail, Peer Power, Going Private in Public, and Health & Happiness: Hand in Hand. nnThe “10 Trends for 2013” report is available at JWTIntelligence.com.nnVideo CreditsnIllustrator: Josh BurggrafnAnimator: Joseph BennettnProducer: Shira BrooksnAudio engineer: Alan FriedmannVoiceover: Alexandra StiebernnAbout JWTnJWT is the world’s best-known marketing communications brand. Headquartered in New York, JWT is a true global network with more than 200 offices in over 90 countries employing nearly 10,000 marketing professionals. JWT consistently ranks among the top agency networks in the world and continues a dominant presence in the industry by staying on the leading edgeโfrom producing the first-ever TV commercial in 1939 to today, developing award-winning branded content. JWT embraces a “worldmade” philosophy, making things inspired by the world through blending technological innovation with international imagination. JWT has forged deep relationships with clients including Bayer, Bloomberg, Brand USA, Cadbury, Diageo, DTC, Ford, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg’s, Kimberly-Clark, Kraft, Macy’s, Nestlรฉ, Nokia, Rolex, Royal Caribbean, Schick, Shell, Smirnoff, Unilever, Vodafone and many others. JWT’s parent company is WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, please visit www.jwt.com and follow us @JWT_Worldwide.nnAbout JWTIntelligencenJWTIntelligence is a center for provocative thinking that is a part of JWT. We make sense of the chaos in a world of hyper-abundant information and constant innovationโfinding quality amid the quantity. We focus on identifying changes in the global zeitgeist so as to convert shifts into compelling opportunities for brands. We have done this on behalf of multinational clients across several categories including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food, home and personal care. For more information, please visit www.jwtintelligence.com and follow us @JWTIntelligence.Alyson Valpone JWT +1 212-210-8518 Contact Alyson via email
Who Needs Los Angeles? We Do.
One doesn't have to be a statistician to know that there are fewer commercials being shot in the U.S. today for the American market than ever before, and a dramatic decrease in L.A. in particular. In the last five years, as reported by FilmLA (the office tasked with issuing permits), L.A. commercial production has dipped 31 percent. But hereโs the thing: This doesnโt mean that L.A. has lost its importance as the production center of the world. Production in L.A. is vital. It is the go-to. Itโs where you can count on access to exemplary crews, a support infrastructure second to none, varied location and backlot options, a large population of on-screen talent and (fairly) predictable weather. The fact is, with overall decline and now the devastation of the fires, weโre on the brink of losing this mainstay resource. Without employment opportunities and now many without homes, talented and trained crew are bound to leave either the industry or the LA area for other opportunities, unless there are enough job opportunities to sustainย a solid living. Now is the time when we ALL must support and bolster this community. Production is needed in L.A., now! Of course, advertising is a business, and marketersโ money should be spent as efficiently as possible, BUT we have to think beyond each production and know that if we lose the incredible resource of L.A. production as we know it, then marketers, agencies and the industry loses in the long run. Over the past several days, some agencies have issued directives to production companies that are unilaterally pushing upcoming production options out of L.A. The fact is L.A. is a large area, and many sections of the city and county are not directly impacted... Read More