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JWT 100things To Watch in 2010
JWT 100things To Watch in 2010
IN 2010
JANUARY 2010
WHAT WE’LL COVER
Background
Our Track Record
100 Things to Watch in 2010 (in alphabetical order)
BACKGROUND
• As part of our annual forecast, JWT presents 100 Things to Watch in 2010.
• Many of the items on our list reflect broader shifts we’ve been following:
– Growing awareness and action around health and wellness and the environment
– Warp-speed developments in technology
– Accelerating demographic, political and economic political power shifts
– Industries redefining or reinventing themselves to survive or to fully leverage these power
shifts
• This year, many of our Things to Watch reflect repercussions of the Great
Recession, from ―energy dieting‖ to ―luxury goes East‖ to ―trip
bundling.‖
• While some of our Things to Watch may not yet reflect a broader trend,
we believe they eventually will ladder up to one.
• The people on our list—from pop culture, sports, politics and other
sectors—have the potential to drive or shape trends in the near future.
OUR TRACK RECORD
• In the past few years, we’ve been spot-on about what to watch.
– Freebies (We saw marketers of all stripes deploy the ―f‖ word this year, from Harley-
Davidson’s free-for-a-year offer to Stop & Shop’s free generic drugs promotion to restaurant
chains like IHOP offering a free kid’s meal with purchase of a regular entree.)
– Lady Gaga (This headline-grabbing performer, whose debut album was released in August
2008, was one of Barbara Walters’ ―10 Most Fascinating People of 2009.‖ Her album, The
Fame, will be in Billboard’s Top 10 for 2009, and she is Last.fm’s biggest artist for online
listening this year.)
OUR TRACK RECORD (CONT’D.)
• To name just a few Things to Watch from last year (cont’d.):
– Lala.com (We forecast that this music site, which lets users store and share music libraries,
would ―rise up the radar as a serious rival to iTunes.‖ In the end, Apple bought Lala.com
for an undisclosed sum.)
– Michelle Obama (Barbara Walters named the First Lady the Most Fascinating Person of
2009. Michelle O. has lived up to expectations that she would become a style icon—
Women’s Wear Daily dubbed her the First Fashion Plate—while bringing a breeze of fresh
air (and fresh vegetables) into the White House.)
– Netbooks (―Netbook computers, virtually a novelty alternative to notebook PCs only a year
ago, are the rising stars of the computer industry,‖ reported The New York Times in June.
According to Information Week, netbooks will account for 22 percent of all laptop,
notebook and netbook shipments this year, compared with just 5.6 percent in 2008.)
– No “Paper” in Newspapers (We said more newspapers would follow The Christian Science
Monitor and abandon daily print editions, and in March the Seattle Post-Intelligencer shut
down its print operations, becoming the largest daily paper in the U.S. to go online-only.
Now publishers are racing to find ways to better monetize their online content—watch for
novel ideas to proliferate in 2010.)
OUR TRACK RECORD (CONT’D.)
• To name just a few Things to Watch from last year (cont’d.):
– Microfinancing’s Second Wave (We forecast that microfinancing would gain a greater
foothold in developed nations, and in mid-2009, U.S.-based Kiva.org—a middleman
between people willing to loan small amounts and entrepreneurs in emerging markets—
responded to Americans’ difficulty with securing credit by expanding to include small,
struggling businesses on its home turf.)
– Other Things to Watch that came to the fore this year included Home as Castle (―Home
owners will be investing in their living spaces as they anticipate spending more weekends
within those walls‖), Affordable Nutrition (―While cheaper, junkier and more calorically
dense food will creep back onto grocery lists, consumers will also be seeking nutritious
options that fit their budgets‖), More Under One Roof (―Households will get larger as
people look to pool resources‖) and Incognito Luxury (―Consumers will be more discreet
about flaunting wealth ... logos will become more subtle and less gaudy‖).
OUR TRACK RECORD (CONT’D.)
• In 2008, we listed French President Nicolas Sarkozy (a runner-up for Time’s
2008 Person of the year); ―radical transparency‖; and the ―staycation.‖
• Check out the following slides to see what you’ll be hearing more about in
2010. Or to see the interactive version of our 100 Things to Watch in 2010,
go to the ―2010 and beyond‖ section of JWTIntelligence.com.
100 THINGS TO WATCH
IN 2010
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
1. 3D AT HOME
3D is the new HD. Having successfully
invaded the big screen, it’s on its way to
the small screen: James Cameron,
director of the new 3D film Avatar, will
promote Panasonic’s 3D sets, out next
year, which will compete with versions
from Sony and Samsung. British Sky
Broadcasting is planning to debut a 3D
satellite channel in the U.K. in 2010.
Photo credit: A y A n
6. AUGMENTED REALITY
Augmented reality (AR), the superimposing of
digital information over physical reality, will
make its way into the hands of mass
audiences. AR smartphone apps can show
where subway entrances are located, reveal
prices of nearby homes or label landmarks for
tourists. Marketers are getting in on the act,
including GE and HP, whose AR game Roku’s
Reward has players chase virtual images
layered over reality on a phone’s screen.
Photo credit: Y
68. PAYING FOR
ONLINE CONTENT
Content providers will attempt to engineer
a paradigm shift from free to fee. Five
major magazine and newspaper publishers
in the U.S. recently launched a venture
that would create an iTunes-like digital
store for their content. In the U.K., about
70 percent of respondents to an annual
survey by the Association of Online
Publishers said they plan to start charging
for content or already do so.
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