Social Media 💬 More addicted than tobacco
Signal vs. Whatsapp (vs. Telegram)
[Tiktok vs. Instagram](https://mediakix.com/blog/tiktok-vs-instagram-infographic/#:~:text=Instagram still has a larger,than 1.8B times globally.&text=While 2019 accounted for 28,users in one year alone.)
Social Interaction, VR, AR or MR?
With many companies switching into a remote-first work policy and events going virtual, people need a way to spice-up their Zoom calls with… digital avatars. Welcome to the New Social Interaction Era.
Digital masters cultivate two capabilities: digital capability, which enables them to use innovative technologies to improve elements of the business, and leadership capability, which enables them to envision and drive organizational change in systematic and profitable ways.
This year, we grew our collective awareness as global searches for invisible disability doubled.
Towards building awareness and communication
Kyne Santos is a Filipino-Canadian drag queen and math influencer on TikTok and YouTube. In her videos, Kyne sparks interest for mathematics by telling riddles, giving lessons on the history of math and teaching her 790,000 TikTok followers how to spot misleading statistics in media. All while dressed in high-glamour drag.
Those who do not embrace the ‘new’ in everything can sashay away in 2021, as new norms — in gender, media, education and more — will dictate how brands communicate with their audiences, and what those audiences expect from brands.
Les contenus les plus valorisés seront ceux qui toucheront le plus de monde (horizontalement) ET qui seront joués de nombreuses fois par une même personne (verticalement) La raison : les musiques ou les jeux vidéos sont des actifs à très fort levier vertical.
Still nowhere near post-Covid, consumers’ continuing need for reassurance will make 2021 the optimum year to back omni-channel, contact-lite experiences that soothe by offering a sense of control without killing off style or experience. Acknowledging high service no longer means high touch, they’ll also expose just how ambient tech is already a force to be reckoned with.
Look to next-gen department store Showfield’s Magic Wand app where users scan products for info or add to a digital cart, collecting their booty duty-free style on exit. Also, Amazon’s new Fresh store format where Alexa stations offer voice assistance and smart trolleys ‘read’ visitors’ shopping lists (navigating accordingly), while simultaneously detecting what’s placed inside so there’s no need to risk standing in line. Sexier is Burberry’s content-connected swing tags in its Shenzhen flagship; scan a label to view related content and exactly how the item looks on a model.
This new gentler-touch landscape and next-gen interfaces will open the floodgates to richer sensory branding, via tech that can satisfy the cravings for physical stimulation suppressed during distancing without ditching the halo of safety. Leading the pack is Ultraleap whose USP – precision gesture tracking + ultra-haptics – is already allowing people to experience physical sensations (pushing a button, moving a knob, the touch of a rough surface) while they view or move content, heralding a new era of haptic branding.
Historically, banks have rejected low-income applicants and charged Black and Latinx consumers more for financial services. Greenwood is a digital bank designed to empower Black and Latinx customers. Cofounded by rapper and Black community leader Michael ‘Killer Mike’ Render, Greenwood aims to ensure that communities of color can accrue wealth and combat systemic oppression.
Step by baby-step, the world is moving from systemic oppression to systemic justice and equity. In 2021, cynical consumers demand authentic social justice initiatives of, for and by those who have been sidelined.
💡 What can your brand do to truly address the roots of systematic oppression?
Chile-based Sonidos Inmersivos is a platform that hosts live VR concerts and festivals for those seeking to be safely and conveniently entertained from home. Through the platform, the company also promotes Chilean and Latin American artists and helps them widen their fanbase by reaching international audiences.
The accelerated race to champion virtual events has only begun (hint: Zoom, Hopin), with plenty of space left to perfect immersiveness, accessibility and interaction, and to create add-on services and useful tools for both participants and organizers.
💡 How can you leverage virtual events to expand your reach and tap into new audiences?
Microsoft has announced new features for its Teams communication platform that aim to improve users’ work/life balance in the WFH world. Microsoft will be introducing a 'virtual commute' feature to create mental bookends for the remote workday. It will also partner with meditation app Headspace and add a new emotional check-in feature.
The era of ignoring mental and emotional health is coming to an end. In 2021, increasingly mindful people will look for products and services that seamlessly boost their mental wellbeing.
💡 How can you recalibrate the impact your products and services have on consumers’ wellbeing?
YouTube Automation - OUTSOURCING/DROP-SERVICING - ‘Instead of using videos specifically as a marketing tool, the automation business model focuses on creating viral videos that generate passive income for the channel’s owner. Essentially, it’s outsourcing (to various freelancers), where brands and personalities can hire someone else to handle developing video concepts, creating the videos, and optimising, uploading, and distributing them.’ Good interview @ Forbes with Caleb Boxx in the link above.
Gen Z are defining indie beauty with doodle-inspired aesthetics such as smiley face nails, pops of colour in the inner eye, and cute emoji art. Searches for ‘indie nails’ increased by 21x in 2020, with ‘smiley face nails’ proving popular – a look we highlighted in 10 Nail Trends to Watch. Inspiring childlike fun, brands can use kitsch and cutesy graphics to appeal to younger demographics and enhance their creativity. Bold colours that pop on all skin tones should be valued.
See Festival Summer 2022: Beauty Inspiration and Keeping Up with Gen Z Beauty for more.
For all its staidness, Twitter demonstrated again how vital and powerful a social platform it is. By banning President Trump this week, in tandem with Facebook, the social network effectively neutered the spread of more inflammatory words and spurious statements from the commander-in-chief.
Consider it the start of the Year of the Blue Bird. After lagging behind its contemporaries for so long, Twitter finally seems ready to catch-up. I expect a steeper upswing to follow last year's +50% gains, buoyed by genuine product innovations. Fleets, Twitter's answer to Stories, is a good start, while the Breaker acquisition should juice the company's audio efforts. Getting rid of the two-timing Dorsey and bringing in a dedicated CEO would help, too. Kevin Mayer, stymied as the CEO of TikTok, thanks to political pressure, would make an exciting outside pick.
As it stands, both Pinterest ($44 billion) and Snap ($75 billion) are valued more highly than Twitter ($38 billion), despite logging less revenue; both are growing faster. By the end of 2021, I expect Twitter to have surpassed Pinterest and more than doubled its current market cap.
Problem
Free communities tend to be noisy without a barrier to entry.
Solution
Paid communities use strategic friction to build high-signal environments.
Members are invested and engaged.
Community builders are aligned with members and able to invest in great experiences.
Predictions
Opportunities
Key Lessons
Trends #0045 - Paid Communities
Citrine Crystal - SPIRITUALITY (spirituality tends to increase in times of distress - along with vices) - Citrine is a yellow quartz that has been associated for centuries as possessing the healing properties of the sun, but it can also be greenish-yellow, brownish-yellow, or orange. Its purported healing powers—dates back centuries, to the time of the ancient Greeks. We mentioned the increase of ‘rising sign’ from horoscopes & astrology as well.
Our team at Snipfeed created LinkFree because we think it should be free for creators to aggregate their favorite links in a beautiful landing page.
On assiste à l’émergence de plateformes tech alternatives plus responsables comme DuckDuckGo pour les moteurs de recherches et Parler pour les réseaux sociaux
Creative agency Thinkerbell launched Thrive@55: an eight-week paid internship exclusively available to applicants over 55. The program is a response to people’s productivity runway lengthening as societies age. The agency found that only 5% of staff in the creative industry is over 50, which means there’s a profusion of underutilized experience and knowledge to tap into.
As longevity increases, people can, want and need to be productive for longer. It’s now on everyone to abandon ageism and welcome a growing group of talent with a lifetime of experience.
💡 How can your organization benefit from being age-inclusive?
In Colombia, Mexican beer brand Corona launched Paradise Advisor: an Airbnb-style platform showcasing Colombian eco-hotels. By championing sustainable tourism, the initiative hopes to help rebuild the hard-hit industry in a way that’s more conscious and futureproof. In Europe, Amsterdam is using current momentum to incorporate ‘doughnut economics’ into its recovery plan, prioritizing people and planet.
As disruption enables new ideas to take hold — 86% of adults globally want the world to change significantly post-COVID — 2021 is about laying the groundwork for a more purposed recovery.
💡 How can you leverage the build-back-better momentum and explore responsible new business opportunities?
US startup Reef is on a mission to build ‘15-minute cities’ where everything people need can be found within a short walk or bicycle ride. To this end, Reef is transforming its real estate network of more than 4,500 parking lots and garages into neighborhood hubs. It's partnering with other players for micro-fulfillment, e-bikes, pop-up clinics and urban farming.
We’re steadily moving towards people-first, car-free urban environments that prioritize wellbeing. In 2021, it’s high time to contribute to laying a foundation for this revolution. Opportunities include micro-mobility, urban farming and strengthening local communities.
💡 Which building block of the future 15-minute city can your company provide?
FoondaMate is a WhatsApp chatbot that allows students in South Africa to access education material without a fixed or stable internet connection. Students can download notes, past papers and research without paying for data, since most mobile networks in SA don’t charge for WhatsApp usage. So, when schools were closed due to the pandemic, students were still able to keep up with their schoolwork.
2020 made the consequences of digital inequality extra salient. In 2021, the demand for creative ways to provide access to all will be higher than ever.
💡 How can you reach and engage with those who lack decent internet access?
Fifth Third Bank ran a social media campaign to discourage people from making impulse purchases after viewing ads in their newsfeeds. Where they would otherwise see ads for products, users now saw Fifth Third ads designed to make them think twice about splurging. Countering the highly-targeted temptations thrown at people’s eyeballs, the campaign encourages buying less and saving more.
In 2021, boycotting Black Friday is no longer enough. Increasingly mindful shoppers demand that brands acknowledge the detrimental impact of hyperconsumerism and offer them more than just ‘more’.
💡 How can you actively help consumers make more conscious purchasing decisions?
21 trends for 2021 | Consumer trends and business opportunities
The New Elements of Digital Transformation