Today, the latest innovations in mobile, social networking, and video have really put the power to the people in ways we’re all trying to capture. There are so many options available that digital has become decentralized with endless access. In fact, the next evolution of the web, “Web 3.0” promises to fragment or decentralize digital communications even more. How to leverage that is key for brands to be successful with this medium moving forward. People are constantly on the go and can access a brand, its products and its message without having to sit in front of a computer. If they are inspired by an ad they see on a billboard, they can tap into a mobile app or visit a mobile website to learn more and even make a purchase. Most importantly, the consumers are the drivers of this space. They create, upload and share the content. They write the reviews and decide what’s meaningful. Brands now have to engage in a collaborative process online if they are to be successful.
As marketers we face an increasingly fractionalized frontier of audiences. However, with every new challenge there are tremendous opportunities to be realized. Here are some of the top digital trends we are experiencing that will only magnify in 2010.
1. Mainstream Mobile Adoption: With the launch of the Google phone (Nexus One) and the increasing penetration of the Android mobile operating system, smart phones are increasingly becoming the majority handset device. This will enable even more Internet integration with location-aware and social-aware mobile apps. This should provide a richer platform for advertisers to conduct mobile digital marketing campaigns, which has been somewhat sporadic to this point.
For AM/PM this trend will enable increasingly relevant connections between the digital world and the physical world – between the digital campaign and the actual store. Examples already in the works include a 7/11 test of a new mobile couponing and survey mobile campaign being conducted in Sweden. Also, a third party has launched a “Find a 7/11” locator app for the iPhone platform here in the US.
2. De-centralized Digital Campaigning: The US online spending universe decreased slightly during 2009 (-4.6% vs. YAG) but is expected to grow 5.5% in 2010. These numbers are based on marketers’ investments in more traditional online venues like search, display and classified (which saw the single largest decrease). What is not reflected in these numbers, and demonstrates how rapidly the online environment is evolving, are the significant investments marketers made in social media sites.
Increasingly marketers are moving away from single platform e-marketing (brand website and microsites) and including a number of e-marketing venues. Sites like YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter along with mobile phone apps now provide functionality like real-time reviews, discussions, content creation and sharing, events, promotions and the latest news. What is different is the attitude and tone required on the part of the marketer. These spaces demand transparency, energy and engagement. Consumer involvement has to be earned, not purchased. But if done right, they can result in tremendous consumer engagement.
Successful involvement in the social media space is still an unrealized opportunity for AM/PM. Other C-store retailers have begun their initial forays into social media (for example the WaWa Facebook fanpage and app) but so far none have achieved a defining success.
3. Overcoming Online Overload: Consumers are dealing with such an influx of digital marketing messages that two trends are continuing. First, consumers are becoming more discerning about which subscriptions, friends and connections they are willing to maintain with people or companies. The second trend is that marketers are under increased pressure to provide real innovation, value or novelty in order to break through the morass of digital messages. One way consumers are determining value is by relying on popularity of other digital viewers to decide if something is valuable. For example, if a story has received a high number of electronic bookmarks on sites like Digg or if an app on iTunes has a high number of positive reviews. There are simply too many pieces of content to consume.
4. Real-time Reviews: The ease at which reviews can be posted and read on sites like Yelp! and Twitter, which 
include pictures and maps, has meant that almost every dimension of the real world has an accompanying opinion. Recently Google has announced that it will launch a window sticker campaign that identifies popular retailers. Consumers can use their smart phone camera and a reader application to see what others have to say.
This is another demonstration of how the physical and digital worlds are starting to converge. And while campaigns like this are still relatively nascent, they will become increasingly common.
5 . Ubiquitous Wi-Fi: It seemed like the presence of local wi-fi was going to be held under the control of cellular carriers requiring pretty stiff connection fees. But the high consumer demand and appreciation for free wi-fi has led many retailers, service companies and destinations offer wi-fi as a competitive way to attract and retain customers. For example, Google recently agreed to sponsor all wi-fi on Virgin America flights during the November and December holidays. Increasingly, mobile consumers plan their trips around free hot-spots including bookstores, airports, trains, airlines and common roadside stops. An example of this implementation is The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf chain which provides digital info signage that features a code for free logins on their in-store broadband network.
6. The Great Recession Reconsideration: The digital realm, like everything else, has changed with the current economic climate. As consumers have had to decide what expenses they can keep and others they can do without, online access and the cellular phone have risen to the top of the “must have” list. Essentially these two items equate to access to the larger world. If one is to find a new place to live, another job, a mate, a cheaper car it is most likely to be found online. And as Americans have had to relocate to stay afloat, social networks have provided the tethers that keep friends and colleagues connected.
What we are seeing is an escalation of adoption in digital habits fueled by the recession’s change in priorities. As Americans eventually recover economically, these habits will be entrenched as an even greater reliance on digital access and services.
7. The Great Recession Re-investment: Marketers have also had to reconcile marketing needs with decreasing budgets and digital is still one of the few measurable marketing investments that reach a broad audience. As such it has become one of the chief survivors of the recession and continues to be a venue of choice when other options are deemed to expensive or inconclusive.
8. Video victorious: The advances in compression and bandwidth have made video increasingly the most popular and fastest growing piece of content on the web. YouTube continues to be the most popular source for consumer 
generated content but now the professionals have gotten involved with free viewing sites of popular TV shows on Hulu and Crackle. Also expanding is the use of video in digital advertising. Streaming, full motion interactive placements are increasing. These are more than simple TV spots compressed down but unique video creations designed for interactive engagement.
This offers AM/PM a chance to engage on a whole other level with its consumers. Especially to the degree that many AM/PM consumers are probably equipped with their own mobile video devices. Which leads us to the next trend.
9. Collaborative branding: Now that consumers have been empowered with their own platforms the broadcast and share their own self-created content, we increasingly find them involved in brand communications. This has taken on the form of consumer reviews, praise or criticism. It involves remixes or original ad creation. Wisely some brands have chosen the get ahead of the curve and become collaborators with consumers rather than ignore or disdain this type of content.
A great example is Coke, which got the entire worldwide social web involved in defining what is happiness, this years Coke brand initiative.
9. Whatever was before is not what will be
The most important element of any company’s digital marketing approach is flexibility. The degree of change in the digital world has meant that opportunities are available to the brand best positioned to realize them quickly. The best investments are in original content that can be shared and redistributed. The most effective strategy is understanding what is the secret truth that your most ardent supporters understand about your brand, product or service.
This is exactly the kind of bold thinking that led the Charmin team to develop the “Sit or Squat” mobile/social campaign that allows anyone anywhere to find a clean, public restroom (http://www.sitorsquat.com/sitorsquat/home/map).
