Why we’re going to do exactly the same in this year...
By Claire Scannell
Around this time of year you tend to see a lot of articles popping up about ‘the next big thing’. People get very enthusiastic about how big the ‘thing’ is going to be, how it’s going to take over from the last ‘thing’ and how all the other ‘things’ will be affected by its abrupt arrival onto the scene. Everyone on the internet gets very excited for a while, then generally things return to business as usual and the ‘thing’ is generally left to get on with whatever it’s supposed to be doing.
That’s how it works, and there’s a lot to be said for sparking debate and getting excited about new things. After all, innovation in the advertising world has led to things that we never would have thought possible, and the fast rate of change is largely driven by the excitement and early adoption of new technologies or disruptive products. But getting completely distracted by the latest fad or trend could actually result in losing track of the overarching objective and where your business is truly trying to get to.
That’s why, this year, we’re not going to announce some huge shift or change in direction. We’re going to do what we’ve always done, which is focus on ‘The Bigger Picture’. No gimmicks, no distractions, just making sure that whatever work we do for our clients is completely aligned with whatever ‘Bigger Picture’ they’re trying to achieve.
Why? Well as beneficial as following trends can be, there are three ways in which getting lost in the latest fad or trend can actually be damaging to your business…
Trends might disappear as fast as they arrive– Two words: 3DTelevision. Catapulted into the mainstream market and despite being tipped as on the cusp of rolling out into every home at one stage, at the beginning of 2017 none of the major manufacturers including Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic released a new model. Sometimes something new will disappear from favour just as soon as it arrives, never to be heard of again. We don’t want that to happen for our clients because then, let’s face it, nobody wins. All you will have done is lost valuable time, energy (and probably money) when you could have been putting all of that precious resource into reaching your customers in an effective, engaging way.
Timing is crucial– Remember when everyone said NFC was going to change the world? That was about five years ago, and the buzz of excitement caused some businesses to shift gear and invest in this emerging technology, or pre-emptively make assumptions on how it would change consumer behaviour. So far the uptake has been much slower than planned despite the fact that the technology has been around for over a decade. The main use so far has been within mobile payments with some believing that the time for mainstream use is fast approaching, particularly in the retail space, but jumping on a trend too early can be just as costly as not jumping on it at all.
They might not be right for you and what you’re trying to achieve – This is the part we’re particularly concerned with. We all have been guilty of acting like magpies on occasion, chasing after the latest shiny thing without really considering whether it’s going to be of real benefit for your business/customers. Voice search is pegged as being one of the most likely success stories in emerging technology with a predicted 50%of all searches being carried out by voice by 2020. This could completely change the landscape of certain businesses, open up new ways of engaging with customers and revolutionise the way we interact with each other (again). But the big question is, how relevant is voice search to your objectives, and to what you are trying to achieve now? If the answer is VERY then you are quite right to sit up and take note, if not, then it should be part of a wider consideration along your business roadmap.
So rather than get lost in a sea of chatter about the next ‘big thing’, we’re going to remain focused on ‘The Bigger Picture’ as a priority. Tactically engaging with trends may form a part of your journey to success, and we’ll always keep our eye on what is going on in the marketplace, but we will mainly be keeping our eyes steadfastly on what is best for your individual business needs and what will best get you to where you want to be.