The Top 10 Marketing Trends for 2014-2015

As we approach the end of 2014 I am reflecting on marketing trends for the future. This reflexion has brought me back to a webinar that I did in Q1 of this year. This webinar which turned to a screencast (due to wifi issues when he was at SXSW) was done by Minter Dial for our series of webinars at Canada Post. I met Minter Dial when we both worked at L'Oreal Canada. At the time he was the Divisional Managing Director / SVP and the Professional Products Division and has since moved on to form his own consultancy firm in Paris, The Myndset Company. http://themyndset.com/. 

In this screencast, Minter discusses the Top 10 marketing trends for 2014-15. I thought that I would quickly summarize his fantastic presentation and post the screencast and his supporting PDF as well.

Before diving into the nitty-gritty Top 10 trends Minter gives us some interesting food for thought to reflect as we ponder his Top 10. 

1) Silence is the New Luxury

Minter explains that we live in a world where so much is happening that marketers seldom have the luxury or the time to sit and be quiet and to ponder and strategize. He has personally seen this in various organizations. Are you and your team taking the time to truly think and strategize? 


2) The Big Divide

Minter mentions 5 issues that risk to be divisive among marketers and depending on where you land on each issue will affect how you market your brand/product or service.

1. Privacy vs Security
2. Personal vs Professional
3. Confidential vs Open
4. Short Term vs Long Term
5. Big brother vs big data

3) TV and E-mail are Here to Stay

Minter mentions that reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated and that we still need to consider the integrated picture more than ever. I would even add direct mail, radio and OOH are also here to stay. Each medium should play a clear and distinct role in an overarching communications campaign. 

Minter concludes his prelude with talking about  4) The Continued Importance of the ART of Storytelling and talks about a different way of communicating in real time with consumers: 5) Newsjacking.

Now, let's identify Minter Dial's top 10 trends/challenges for marketers. In Minter's own words: "While most of the Top Ten Trends will hardly come as a surprise, per se, the big challenge is in how companies and brands are facing them. No one can escape the importance of mobile or social; but it's why and how you use them that will be the distinguishing factor."

Top 10 Trends:

1. Mobile
2. Video
3. Data
4. Marketing Automation
5. Security / Privacy
6. Wearables
7. 3D Printing
8. Coding
9. Talent
10. Learning

You can download the PDF here.

Oct 9 – Save the Date for Canada Post’s “Think INSIDE the Box” Direct Marketing Conference in Toronto.

October 9th, 2014

Toronto

Canada Post is thrilled to present Bonnie Brooks as the Keynote Speaker for our direct marketing conference. The face and voice of HBC, Bonnie Brooks orchestrated the dramatic turnaround of Hudson’s Bay, reinventing the fading retailer into its new leading role as fashion authority. 

This year’s conference will be held at the Mariott Toronto Downtown Eaton Centre. Stay tuned for further details and registration.

The Importance of Exquisite Timing in Marketing

Timing is everything. Yet in our marketing lives how much time do we spend thinking about time?

I was at a great Canada Post marketing conference yesterday called Think Inside the Box organized by my colleagues. The keynote speaker was Terry O’Reilly and he made me think about time.

When is the best time to reach your consumer? Where is he/she in the customer purchase journey? Is he in the phase where he is discovering a need? Is he preparing to use your product? If you will communicate to them then considering timing is so important. Your message will change in consequence.

As Mr. O'Reilly mentioned in his captivating presentation, the magician Lance Burton in Las Vegas certainly considered time. How simple and smart is this example of exquisite timing?

My iPhone 5 has Made me Lazy

I love photography. I'm not very good at it but I appreciate it as an art-form and I try to take decent pictures. A few years back I invested in an entry-level DLSR Canon camera and a few lens. I traveled and took it with me everywhere. I took great pictures that I was happy with.

Sunset over Vatican City.

Then I got an iPhone 5 and I got lazy. Now I regret it.  

As Jacques Attali has mentioned in his post today on LinkedIn the industry is changing due to mobile phones.

"Today there is another crisis brewing in photography: why buy a sophisticated camera, unless it is needed for professional reasons, when mobile phones deliver superb specifications, and can immediately send photos on sites like Instagram. This newcomer, which was created a little over two years ago, acquired by Facebook for nearly $1 billion, already has more than 100 million users (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn took respectively 4, 5 and 8 years to reach this size).

"https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130829065932-145305751-photographing-again-and-again?trk=tod-home-art-medium_1

But why do I regret it? Because I got lazy and used my iPhone to take all my pictures from my summer vacations in France. Although I had a few ok pictures I was mostly disappointed with my pictures. 

• For many smartphones the actual resolution is much less than what they tell you eg 8M pixels, due to the optical limitations of tiny lenses and not due to the sensors. 
• DSLRs are much more effective for use in low light conditions (plus you can use a flash)
• You have more precise control over how you want your image to look. DSLRs give you much greater control over depth of field, where you set your focus point, and how to expose your image, making it easier to achieve the type of image you may have in your head.
• The images, especially if you shoot RAW have a much greater amount of information in them and are much easier to make adjustments to and fix than a small .jpeg off your iPhone.

So next time that I travel I will not be so lazy and I shall pull out my DLSR!

Canadian ECommerce Retailers Better Wake Up!

My team and I at Canada Post, in conjunction with the JC Williams Research Group, recently conducted a research study among Canadian ecommerce buyers (n=1,396).

One big finding is that 60% of purchases came from outside of Canada. That is huge. When looking at price disparities for the same product one quickly understands why more Canadians are buying from the US than from Canada. Wake up Canadian ECommerce retailers! With the Canadian dollar being pretty much at par with the American dollar for the past few years there is absolutely no justification for  this price gap.

Case in point. I recently bought a Klipsch G-17 from Amazon.com. I went to Miami for a long weekend. Shipped the product to my hotel, declared it when I came back and presto. I saved big time. 

Amazon.ca has the product listed at $269.31 CDN.

The Canadian Apple store has it at $549.95. Shame on you.

And finally, I paid $164.90 USD on Amazon.com. 

Wake up Canadian retailers!