JWT explores how the world of mobile connectivity is evolving in its third annual report on trends in the mobile sphere.
“10 Mobile Trends for 2014 and Beyond” spotlights key themes that came out of this year’s Mobile World Congress, Consumer Electronics Show and South by Southwest Interactive, and builds on trends spotlighted in earlier reports. “As we hurtle toward a world steeped in mobile technology, mobile is driving fundamental changes in the business landscape and in consumer behaviors and expectations,” said JWTIntelligence editorial director Marian Berelowitz.
“Mobile technology is both rewiring consumers’ mindset and enabling goods, services and processes never before possible,” said JWT trends strategist Will Palley. “These shifts, including the ever-expanding Internet of Things, will radically disrupt everyday life and provide compelling new opportunities for brands.”
JWT’s “10 Mobile Trends for 2014” spotlights significant drivers and manifestations of these developments, and implications for brands. The report also incorporates insights from interviews with several mobile experts and influencers.
Executive Summary:
1. Holistic connectivity is on the horizon
Integrated, holistic systems will start to link up devices, goods and services in the home, on the road and beyond so that each component works in lock step with the rest.
2. Wearables break out
Mobile is becoming a whole-body experience as wearable tech expands from Kickstarter projects to mass-market products from major brands. It’s early days, however, and we’ll likely see the devices, form factors and software evolve considerably before winning broad adoption.
3. Mobile is the prime screen
With people spending ever more time reading and watching video not only on tablets but on smartphones too, mobile has become the prime screen for content consumption.
4. Mobile changes how we socialize
Unique social tools for mobile are going well beyond what exists for the desktop, and people are spending ever more time with them. Sharing and communicating can be ephemeral, visual, anonymous or passive; it may be public or, increasingly, private. And it’s much more continuous, since mobile phones are always with us.
5. Shifting to visual
Mobile devices are helping to drive the shift to a more visual vocabulary and aesthetic, which minimizes or even supplants the need for text.
6. Outsourcing to the machine
Mobile devices are helping us outsource ability, knowledge and effort—and as technology evolves, they will learn to anticipate needs as well, staying one step ahead of the user. Life is becoming more idiot-proofed.
7. Privacy and security fears change the game
Rising consumer awareness of just how vulnerable digital data is to cybercriminals, government spying, corporate tracking and other prying eyes will push all players in the mobile sphere to make privacy and security a top priority. Everyone is now a data steward.
8. Raging against the machine
The infusion of screens into our lives is spurring fear and resentment, and some fretting about what’s been lost in the embrace of digital devices. Our love affair with mobile devices is turning into a love-hate relationship.
9. Bringing mobile to many
As mobile brands look for new customers by making phones cheaper, lowering data costs and expanding Internet availability, the global population is steadily becoming connected—opening up a new channel for brands and a gateway to opportunity for underserved people.
10. Mobile disrupts everything
Mobile technology is both rewiring consumer behavior and enabling goods, services and processes never before possible. Legacy companies will have to take a critical look at their business model through a new lens and determine how to evolve if they are to keep up with innovators and with customers’ changing habits.
About JWT
JWT is the world’s best-known marketing communications brand that has been inventing pioneering ideas for the past 150 years. Headquartered in New York, JWT is a true global network with more than 200 offices in over 90 countries, employing nearly 10,000 marketing professionals. JWT consistently ranks among the top agency networks in the world and continues a dominant presence in the industry by staying on the leading edge—from producing the first-ever TV commercial in 1939 to developing award-winning branded content today.
About JWTINTELLIGENCE
JWTIntelligence is a center for provocative thinking that focuses on identifying shifts in the global zeitgeist. Its aim is to bring the outside in—to help inspire ideas beyond brand, category and consumer conventions—and to identify emerging opportunities so they can be leveraged for business gain. As a part of JWT, the world’s best-known marketing communications brand, JWTIntelligence has conducted trends research and analysis across categories and geographies for nearly a decade.
