Since I'm tech-obsessed, wanted to share a trends deck I had compiled for 2011. But most importantly, since the year is over, a review back on what really happened based upon that prediction. Hindsight is always great, but being a prophet is even better. So, how'd we do?

1. relevant trends
to consider in 2011 a look back
prepared by
SUNG H. CHANG
MAGNUS BLAIR
CAMPBELL CANNON
Originally Prepared: February 16, 2011
Updated: January 10, 2012

2. top trends for 2011
1. Social Commerce 9. TV is Still Alive
2. Social Design 10.Entertainment Hubs
3. Social Gaming 11.Apple Overreach
4. Social Networking Hubs 12.Consumerism of IT
5. Launching a Product via Social Media 13.Scan Everything
6. Personal Cloud 14.Apps Beyond Mobile
7. Personalized OOH 15.Mobile Payments
8. Location Based Marketing 16.Near Field Communications
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3. social commerce
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4. social commerce
pricing pandemonium
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
While consumers have always looked out for special offers and discounts, new 2011 provided an onslaught of daily deals sites with more than 300 daily-deal
technologies, such as location-based applications, means that 2011 will see heavy sites. In addition to Groupon, we saw Gilt get into daily deals along with big
emphasis by marketers on pricing. More consumers are constantly connected, and brands such as Amazon, eBay, American Express, Microsoft and Google. And
when they hear about new deals online, can quickly and easily spread them then the clones hit for niche audiences such as food (Savored), pets
through their social networks. Increasingly, consumers will be part of exclusive (PetSimply), gluten-intolerant (Gluten-Free Deals), gay (Daily Pride) and small-
networks or groups to either receive special deals or demand them.
business (GroupPrice).
There is also a shift in the status of being frugal. Old fashioned coupon clipping
required planning and dedication, hence it wasn't that popular with consumers But because there are so many options doesn’t mean people believe in them
more interested in the here and now. Cue sites like Groupon, Living Social and nor that they work well. Facebook bowed out of their deals offering and Yelp
Facebook. Now deals are a near-effortless online activity. Whipping out one’s cut its sales staff in half. Groupon had many misadventures with retailers but
smartphone at the counter, getting the latest deal via GPS, or barcode scanning is none worse then with their investors. They went public at $20/share, quickly
seen as smart and therefore a source of status rather than shame. rose to $31 and then sank to $15 (currently at $17.81). And they’ve managed to
label themselves as a remnant of the Dot-Com days.
But what about our consumers? The deals are only good depending on the
retail partner and a Rice University study showed that 32% of businesses lost
money on Groupon promotions.
One of the more successful tie-ins has been with American Express and
Foursquare. Rather than dealing with the typical printed offer, all it takes is a
Foursquare check-in, connecting your account with your Amex account and
the savings are automatically deducted. Not so much social upfront, but more
people share/tweet/like this post-event versus being social about the upfront
purchasing which is a better model for social commerce.
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5. social design
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6. social design
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
The web has already disintermediated and unleashed collective creativity online; 2011 was the year that crowdfunding came of age. We made our prediction
but largely within media that naturally exist on the web, such as video, flash and based upon more people having the opportunity to create versus the
audio.The next stage is to enable the creation of real world objects, products. Even revolution that precedes this, which is to support the people who create.
businesses.
Kickstarter, as well as IndieGoGo led the charge. By Q2 2011, Kickstarter users
Kickstarter has individual projects that have received over $1mm in funding. Quirky
had pledged more than $53mm for 20,371 projects. And that number is on
is making strong progress in the realm of social product design, having closed
schedule to triple by Q2 2012. That will mean more products designed for the
partnership deals with Bed, Bath, and Beyond and HSN.
community, funded by the community and used and shared by all.
As the technology gets more affordable, 3D printers are coming into mainstream
use, allowing users to create everything from jewelry to lamps to homes (a Los Even though our write-up was solely on physical product designs, we’re now
Angeles company is developing a printer capable of making a house). Simply send experiencing more socially designed films, music and other non-tangible
a file to a 3D printer, choose from a range of materials (resin, glass, silver, etc.) and creations.
receive the product shortly thereafter. Pioneering Dutch startup Shapeways has
moved its headquarters to NewYork; HP is selling a 3D printer; Google’s SketchUp For 2012, keep an eye on Lucky Ant, a Kickstarter for small businesses.
software helps users turn designs into printable objects (as well as crowd-sourcing Customers would help support building improvements and business needs in
building modeling for GoogleEarth). return for rewards. Not only will the business get what it needs, but will also
gain a ton of loyalty from their supporters.
A critical part of Shapeways, as well as equivalents like Ponoko and Spoonflower
(for fabric design only) is to allow members not only to make things for themselves,
but also to sell their designs to others.
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7. social gaming
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8. social gaming
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
“Culture arises in the form of play... it is played from the very beginning... Social Android and iOS users downloaded 1.2 billion apps during the last week of
life is endued with supra-biological forms, in the shape of play, which enhances December 2011. That’s just one week alone. Angry Birds saw 6.5mm
its value” downloads on Christmas Day alone.
- Huizenga, Homo Ludens (1938)
And the most popular Facebook app (1/2/12) is Words with Friends, which has
It’s not news, but gaming is pretty popular in social and mobile
7.3mm Daily Active Users and 15.7mm Monthly Active Users. Not to mention,
got Alec Baldwin kicked off a plane. And Zynga is starting 2012 with a new
The biggest mobile success of 2010 is unquestionably “Angry Birds”. With
repeated new levels, spin offs (“Angry Birds Seasons”) and alternative monetized game, Scramble with Friends enabling more social into their already sociable
gameplays (The Mighty Eagle) it’s increasingly resembling an entertainment games.
franchise as much as a game.
And outside of Zynga, King.com’s games on Facebook now account for 2/3 of
Which is why it’s interesting to see it being used for marketing: Rio’s Superbowl the 1billion game plays it records each month. Their 2012 focus is to bring
tie-in to the game was blink-and-you’ll-miss it superficlal, but the upcoming more of their games into Facebook and Google+
special Rio edition of the game may not be.
Also, expect more social gaming in 2012 as there will be an even tighter
Worth mention as well is Bing’s tie in with Farmville that allowed it to overtake integration with mobile. Not only through third party apps, but because of
arch-nemesis Google in Facebook fans changes to Facebook’s app backend, which makes playing games/apps in
Facebooks Mobile App actually, good.
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9. social networking hubs
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10. social networking hubs
death of the website
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
The rise of Facebook and YouTube as campaign destinations, brands now offer We’ve all seen Facebook and Twitter icons in product ads and they’ve made
richer engagements with million of their fans while their site traffic declines. their way onto some product packaging. And because they’re icons, they’re
Furthermore, their email database and communications plans are all migrating to more prevalent than a url to a brand’s own website. Whether it’s working or
social media. not isn’t so clear. 2011 saw most brands dabbling in both.
Currently, only a few brands sell directly through Facebook (Victoria’s Secret,
However, what made this attractive was the migration of email databases and
1800Flowers.com, Delta Airlines and, most recently, JCPenney), but look for “f-
communications to these social hubs; albeit at a price, since the brand no
commerce” to take off in the next year. By allowing Facebook visitors to shop
without leaving the site, brands add a social influence to the transaction. Not to longer ‘owned’ that data and didn’t have the opportunity to directly contact
mention post-sales buzz. the customer. All that’s going to change in 2012.
Facebook is already testing consumer-to-brand messaging and looks like
building up their CRM tools for businesses. They’ve also incorporated e-
commerce so that anyone can now run a storefront through Facebook. But the
opportunity for a brand to engage in a one-to-one exchange with customers is
a big step forward.
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11. launching a product
via social media
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12. launching a product via
social media
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Social media is changing the traditional product launch model with mass media We started looking at this idea in very big terms. The Ford Explorer launch was
being used to amplify a groundswell that started in social media. a massive product launch. But there haven’t been too many of these. Sure
there have been product enhancements such as new flavors, new tv spots
Through a continuous program of daily engagement before, during and after the (who isn’t launching their tv spots on YouTube nowadays), but in regards to
reveal, Ford achieved the following results for its new Explorer launched on launching new products, it seems it’s about smaller items. (And we’re not
Facebook:
talking about product leaks).
• 10,000 Explorer orders in the system over a month before full production
• 3x greater share of shopping lift than the average auto advertisers achieved
through Super Bowl advertising However, Books, Albums and Films take the top prize. If you think about the
digital revolution, these are the industries that have been reinvented, not by
Other brands like VitaminWater took it one step further and had their fans pick the choice but usually for the better. So it makes sense that the same culprits who
flavor and name of new water. Over 1mm participants. changed them should utilize social media to instigate the next level of change.
Excerpts from a new book on Twitter. Exclusive movie trailers online (The Dark
Knight trailer on iTunes broke records with 12.5mm downloads in 24 hrs). And
let’s not forget Louis C.K.’s record-setting windfall for a DRM free video.
So there’s still viral videos and online stunts that gain attention. But what
we’re looking for is making social media the primary hub for a product launch.
The opportunity social media has given to consumers is a direct connection to
the product manufacturers. But it’s important that the manufacturers actually
engage in this conversation with very worthwhile information rather than PR
dribble. Only then can you harness your community to make a big splach with
a new product.
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13. personal cloud
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14. personal cloud
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
“Cloud” is a huge buzzword in professional IT right now The notion of the Cloud was everywhere in 2011. And not because of the much
hyped iCloud service, albeit, that helped mainstream consumers understand
At a consumer level, we see more and more uptake of cloudish services, but also what a cloud is. But services such as Dropbox went mainstream and even
confusion about just what the cloud actually is. Microsoft’s “To the Cloud” Enterprise, offering business solutions for teams.
advertising, where cloud pretty much means internet, is a case in point
Then there are services people don’t realize are from the cloud but are
Whether or not consumers get the language right, though, there is a huge migration
ubiquitous. Netflix had one of the biggest flubs of they year, but there
of personal content online to be accessible from all access points. Witness the
rumored launch of Google Music, Apple’s MobileMe strategy, Dropbox, ZumoCast or business did make a dramatic shift to the cloud with about half of their
players such as Pogoplug allowing you to cloudify your home data storage subscribers streaming movies now. Microsoft launched Office 365 where all of
your documents are stored online, but the same was a Google Docs. And
All of which means that mobile devices increasingly will be used to access cloud- Adobe announced that their next Creative Suite of apps will all be
stored data, and that consumer expectation will increasingly be towards a unified subscription based with strong ties into online storage.
and seamless experience with equal access across all touchpoints. My data isn’t on
one machine; it’s on every machine. Plus, Spotify and Rdio made big advances where it isn’t about the music that
you have but the music that you want at any given moment that you stream.
This brings some new rules for content-handling. Engadget proposed the All of this helps make cloud based computing the norm. We’re back to almost
“Continuous Client” last year - effectively a constant session window that follows 35 years ago when computers were dummy terminals to what was stored on
the user from device to device. Ironically one of the best illustrations of this is in an servers.
ad about something completely different: the NFL.
2012 will continue to make the cloud seamless. Acer has already announced
This is where Google is going with Chrome to Phone. And it’s what users
AcerCloud which will launch in Q2, backing up users data. And Lenovo just
increasingly are going to expect across their networked devices
announced Personal Cloud Vision. Except more proprietary cloud services to
follow.
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15. personalized ooh
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16. personalized ooh
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Most of the traditional OOH has already migrated to networked digital Not much happened with this technology in 2011. There were a couple of PR
technology. But more and more are being outfitted with cameras acting as announcements such as the Jello for adults (utilizing a camera that
recognition engines that help alter your messaging. determined age) plus some amazing AR billboards, but nothing in the
mainstream that would change consumers nor media plans.
Physical attributes such as age, sex even the color of clothing or hair can directly
influence the message. But it doesn’t just stop there. Since these devices are We know the technology is there, whether it’s about specific executions or
networked, we can tie-into social networks and even sales to help make
unique placements, this idea will continue to slowly evolve.
transactions easier but also to help broadcast the OOH message online.
There’s also a movement around location based personalized OOH where
displays can create micro-communities, pitting one device’s viewer against
another. Yahoo! launched a community game in SF where micro-communities
,
competed against one another all to win a block party with OK GO.
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17. location based marketing
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18. location based marketing
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Location-based marketing is fast becoming mainstream. Check-in operators such 2011 was a big year for location based marketing. Not only were there
as Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook Places aren’t new, but they have certainly acquisitions (Groupon bought Whrrl, eBay bought WHERE and Facebook
kicked-off a momentum shift towards location based apps and promotions. These bought Gowalla) and there were some notable partnerships (Foursquare and
tools will fast become more appealing to everyday consumers as manual check- Amex, as mentioned in the Social Commerce section).
ins become a thing of the past with new geo-location apps taking care of this
automatically. An example of this is Shopkick’s “signal” hardware which triggers
Almost every device and app that consumers use now have the ability to
check-ins when users enter participating retail spaces; the app then awards points
document location and by default, most of them are on, so people are
(“kickbucks”) and offers tailored deals/rewards. A more user-directed application
of this technology is launching with Geoloqi, a hyper-customizable app that broadcasting whether they read the agreement they clicked on. One of the
allows users to set automatic reminders and notifications — sent to themselves easiest areas to see this is in photography. Instagram is the top publisher on
or friends — for specific locations (e.g. a grocery list pops up as the user enters a Facebook and most people geotag their locations. The opportunities for
supermarket). marketers is massive.
Additionally geo-targeted deals are ever-increasing as apps like Groupon, Gilt And it’s not just outdoor locations, we’ve seen indoor location platforms such
City etc gain mass awareness and help businesses of all sizes gain customer as Shopkick, PointInside and BeeMedia do some amazing things. Not only
footfall. geotagging locations but even the products in your cart. And who wouldn’t
want that data?
It’s not just about checking-in anymore. Services to watch are Foodspotting
and Sonar. There’s a huge movement on documenting what people eat not to
mention missed connections. Both of these platforms take advantage of this.
And then there’s the aggregates. Path is definitely the next big thing to it and
could be how most of these social and location based experiences go.
1/10/12

19. tv is still alive
1/10/12

20. tv is still alive SOURCE: TRU Research
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Wasn’t TV advertising going to be killed by DVR and the internet? The big buzz for 2012 is Apple’s ‘we’re going to revolutionize the tv industry’
rumor. And it looks like the TV is back in a big way. But a very different model
Yet even teens and 20 year olds, who were expected to have abandoned TV by than traditionally.
now, still get most of their viewing live. Not on DVR. And very little via handset,
just yet. Since there’s a glut of inventory, TV manufacturer’s no longer view the product
the same way and any new product will have similar types of technology. The
So - in the right environment - they’re still reachable
only new innovation will be OLEDs in TVs. So, everyone will be trying to solve
But the way they watch TV is different: TV is the input to an ecosystem of content the content area.
and a source of social currency. It is consumed alongside other media and
recirculated therein Whether it’s voice control as Xbox has launched, integrated iTV functions such
as Roku, Boxee or GoogleTV, there will continue to be a mix of digital content
The most successful advertising campaigns will leverage this to their advantage, versus broadcast content.
with TV being part of the conversation (or the conversation starter)
We’ll be getting a peak of that soon with Netflix’s original series Lilyhammer
which will launch soon. Not only will they be creating content, but are making
the entire series available at once versus as a weekly series. This in itself will
change our already changed viewing habits.
There’s already been articles that Super Bowl will see the return of storytelling
in more :60 buys. So it’s safe to say, TV will continue to survive.
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21. entertainment hubs
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22. entertainment hubs
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
There’s a battle royale brewing in the living room, with the stakes the $70bil spent We covered a lot of this in the TV is Still Alive update. Not only will the content
on TV advertising (and $70bil on subscription fees) in the US each year. battle keep brewing, the competitors will be changing. HBO has already pulled
giving discounted DVDs to Netflix as they’re now rivals: Netflix has gotten into
Multiple entrants coming from different directions: original content and HBO Go is a serious competitor for enjoying content.
The cable companies - own the legacy distribution, and own the internet pipe the
Amazon Prime, RedBox and Netflix are now the three big kings of video. But
others are trying to subvert
YouTube, Xbox and Facebook are on their tails with their own video rental
The networks / channels - own the content the consumers actually want to watch, offerings, albeit limited. Xbox is even streaming live sports content. And 2012
and want more of the revenue for it has already begun with Warner Bros. pushing movie delays from 28 to 56
days for Netflix, Redbox and Blockbuster.
Online content distributors (Hulu, Netflix) - want to usurp cable as IP driven
providers of content. They’re getting there - Netflix is estimated to consumer 20% So does this mean cable companies might start losing their pull? We’ll see, but
of Prime Time Net bandwidth we imagine 2013 will look a lot different.
Equipment manufacturers - CES was full of gadgetised TV’s, TV manufacturers
sensing an opportunity to revive post-HD, post-3D TV value propositions
Apple - already there with AppleTV, albeit a ‘hobby’. Has content distribution
through iTunes already. Rumor mill suggests a serious screen to follow this year.
Google - Google TV is a platform; the business model remains a work in progress.
We’re already seeing skirmishes; the full war is soon to begin
1/10/12

23. apple overreach
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24. apple overreach
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Just because people have been erroneously predicting it for 6 years doesn’t For a couple of years there’s been talk of Apple’s demise due to the ‘kill of the
mean it won’t happen eventually. In certain segments Apple is now effectively hill’ mentality. However, 2011 wasn’t the year for it due to the untimely death
ubiquitous. These tend to be the segments - in times past - that valued of Steve Jobs. What happened were record sales and more importantly for
individuality. Which is probably why ColorWare has a business them, their PC business getting noticeable traction.
Beyond ubiquity, and for all its business strength, Apple has other areas of
What’s interesting for 2012 is this reverse perception of the upstart Windows
discord: the proprietary nature of the App Store (and the decision to delist apps
Phone vs. the 5-year old behemoth iPhone.
with alternative payment models), the reception issue saga on the AT&T iPhone,
the inbuilt bias of iPhone cloud functionality to MobileMe, its secretive and
oppositional relationship with the media, even its replacement of product There’s still a lot of fanboys vs. haterz discussions online and it seems that’s
fasteners with unopenable bolts etc. exacerbated by the concerns about Steve where a lot of the resistance talk will continue to build. However, it wasn’t due
Jobs’ health to brand perception that made stalwarts like Microsoft, Sony, Dell, RIM and
now even Nintendo begin their downward demise from a position of
In truth, most of these are nice problems to have in the context of 25% US overreach, it was mediocrity in their success or ignorance of the consumer
smartphone share from nowhere in 4 years market.
Nonetheless, nobody is invulnerable to strong competition. And amongst leading So if Apple continues to evolve, there will always be detractors but don’t
edge early adopters, there is now appetite for Apple alternatives expect a full collapse unless someone else begins filling that void.
1/10/12

25. consumerization of it
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26. consumerization of it
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Another big buzzword in corporate IT - reflects the fact that in many companies, This was huge in 2011. Just look at the failure of RIM/Blackberry as the primary
employees have access to better, more usable technology in their personal lives example. The prosumer has been victorious in demanding corporate IT to
than they are provided with by their employer relinquish all control and to make changes. Whether it’s about the devices
they carry or even how certain terms are in the vernacular, it’s happened.
Exacerbated by the entry of hyper-connected millennials into the workforce
Is there really a business PC vs. a consumer PC if the specs are so close and
Professional IT managers increasingly having to establish policies on new device
the prices are really cheap? The battleground continues to be around security
integration led by pressure from forces outside the IT department. Concern about
security risks, compatibility etc. and management and it seems that every OEM has done their job, or found
solutions that will satisfy most IT workers.
This trend will only increase within the enterprise - with tablets the next
battleground Also, the consumerization of IT means that there’s no longer a rivalry between
consumers and IT but they’re finally playing for the same team, having the
same interests in mind. Even the latest Best Buy ads ask IT managers to come
into a Best Buy and allow this consumer-centric merchant be their consultants.
1/10/12

27. scan everything
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28. scan everything
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Stemming on from the “Social Commerce” trend and the emergence of QR codes are virtually everywhere now. Whether it’s OOH or print ads, the
promotion/communal deals, scanning codes/symbols with smartphones will ability to scan for more info definitely hit it’s stride in 2011. But are people
become ubiquitous. actually scanning? Well as Forrester reports, compared to 2010, QR code usage
jumped 500%. But we’re still talking about a jump from 1% to 5%. And only
From simply scanning barcodes for price comparisons in real-time, to capturing 15% of all smartphone owners use a scanning app.
QR (quick response) codes which are two-dimensional codes that link to more
information. Scanning codes/objects is being adopted for everything from in-
So it could be their ubiquity helps grow usage, but assume 2012 will see even
store communications and loyalty offers to information points. Services like
Stickybits enable users to attach digital content (videos, links, audio, text) to more prevalence of the code. But depending on how marketers pay it off will
physical objects, and they’ll see virtual communities form around really determine their usage.
these real-world items.
As for Google Goggles, the limitations on control and customization of the
Apps like Google Goggles allow marketers to prompt consumers to additional target are what’s hindering their implementation. As of now, an advertiser
information or even purchase e.g. HTC print ads in Q4 2010 had a Google Goggles needs to rely on Google to customize the end-landing experience versus
activation where you would be directed to in-depth product feature information customizing it themselves. That’s a huge burden for many and will definitely
or opportunity to purchase by simply photographing the full ad. hurt it’s overall penetration.
AR (augmented reality, similar looking to QR codes) codes create an animated or
three dimensional interaction when viewed through a smart phone screen. This
will open up opportunities for brands to connect with their customers in a far
more meaningful way, however they will also have to be prepared for
consumers’ experiences around social objects to overshadow the objects
themselves.
1/10/12

29. apps beyond mobile
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30. apps beyond mobile
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
With more of our desktop activities migrating to the web, the mobile app construct This definitely occurred. Whether it was the Mac App Store celebrating 500m
is spreading to desktop computers and browsers. downloads or Microsoft’s announcement that Windows 8 will have an App
Store or even Google Chrome’s web store for browser apps that helped drive
Recent developments: the notion of apps, or app widgets (when compared to behemoths like Adobe
• Apple launched an App Store for Macs or Office) as a standard.
• There are strong rumors that Apple may discontinue retail boxes for software
altogether
It’s funny how the way we talk about apps have changed. No longer is it about
• Google launched the Chrome Web store and Web-based Android App Store
• Amazon is developing its own app store
shareware and freeware, but about apps. All of this is leading to a bigger trend
– the importance of mobile as a primary segment versus secondary. How
As consumers use more apps across multiple devices we can expect portability of language we use in the everyday for mobile devices now determine PC usage.
their favorite apps across all screens and consistency of experience (while making How more and more websites are being visited from smartphones than from
the most of each device’s key use cases) to become increasingly important. desktop browsers. And even how we interact with social networks. That’s it’s
mobile first and everything else second.
Watch in 2012 as this continues to grow. Remember when we used to talk
about websites that supported certain browsers? Now it’ll be about supporting
different devices and chances are, we won’t be talking about a stripped down
version, but one who’s features will be even more rich than their desktop
counterparts.
1/10/12

31. mobile payments
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32. mobile payments
(square, facebook credits)
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
There’s already a trend in the financial space utilizing mobile devices to As Gartner pointed out, 141 million people used a mobile device to pay for
perform some of the most mundane tasks such as depositing checks, texting something in 2011. That figure was a 38.2% increase from 2010. And Forrester
to transfer between accounts and even paying for coffee. 2011 will continue had predicted mobile commerce to hit $6bil in 2011.
to usher in mass digital transactions for physical goods.
This is more understandable if you walk into a small business in a
With products such as the Square Reader, more retailers and services will rely less
metropolitan area. More of these merchants are using tablets as their main
on cash and begin adopting more mobile payment systems, empowering
POS device. Square saw more than $1mm a day in transactions. And as
salespeople to control more of sales stream, even pulling up stored data for a
more personalized service. they’re getting more prevalent, this past holiday season saw the Salvation
Army rolling out Square Readers to their bell ringers in SF and NYC. And even
Furthermore, Facebook Credits and Apple’s rumored iCoin will create a new the Girl Scouts have utilized them, with one troop selling 400 boxes in less
currency for how consumers purchase beyond the browser, although they could than an hour thanks to the device.
face the same problems that Paypal has in breaking out of the browser.
Also, with the formation and eventual launch of Isis (Verizon, AT&T and T-
Mobile’s mobile payment system) as well as Google Wallet’s rollout, expect
2012 to be a momentous year for m-commerce.
1/10/12

33. near field communications
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34. near field communications
SUMMARY: UPDATE:
Near Field Communication (NFC) is the ideal tie-in for Mobile Payments. Android’s As mentioned on the prior trend, NFC is set to explode in 2012. 2011, however,
Gingerbread has built-in NFC capabilities and most competitors are offering it in was more of the beta testing period as OEMs and carriers tried to determine
their new devices along with speculation that Apple will be doing something who should lead and what each wanted to get out of it.
bigger with NFC.
Google attempted to make a big push with their Wallet system but it only
But mobile payments are just one aspect of what NFC will allow. Imagine your
launched on a handful of devices. And while market trials and even some
telephone acting as your security badge, ATM card, computer login credentials,
retailers signed on, it’s definitely not ready to mainstream audiences. Isis will
keys to your car. There’s a lot of potential here.
attempt to change that. But depending on which devices will support it will be
NFC enables the exchange of data within four inches from a contact point. The the big licensing challenge. As with anything, rival technologies and backers
chips allow phones to act as digital wallets and tickets, wirelessly send photos and might make it difficult for consumers to determine which the eventual winner
documents to printers, and pick up information from tags on ads. will be. And with Visa and MasterCard on opposite teams, this might drag out.
That’s not to say that 2012 will eventually see probably half of the devices
being NFC enabled. But unless a partner takes an advantage, most OEMs and
consumers might be playing the waiting game. A lot of European banks and
telcos have already pushed NFC back to 2013.
1/10/12