Emoji is the fastest growing language and continues to grow exponentially thanks to today’s smartphone technology. "As a visual language emoji has already far eclipsed hieroglyphics, its ancient Egyptian precursor which took centuries to develop," says Professor Vyv Evans of Bangor University (May 2015). Research shows younger generations are more comfortable using new ways of communication to talk to their parents or to discuss serious topics, such as abuse.
Emoji are understood globally, are an informal way to talk to consumers and can lighten the mood . It’s thus no surprise one of the trends in 2015 for brands is to use Emoji in communication, with famous examples such as McDonalds, Taco Bell or the #EndangeredEmoji campaign by WWF . Emoji even have a global celebration day: ‘World Emoji Day’ on June, 17.
In Belgium, 3 out of 4 smartphone owners use Emoji. 1 in 3 does this on a daily basis. The most frequent users are (not surprisingly) the younger generations: 62% of youngsters, aged 18 – 24 use Emoji daily, this number drops to 44% for 25y – 34y. Elder generations are using Emoji as well (57% of 55y – 65y smartphone owners), but less regularly: only 1 in 10 smartphone owners (aged 55y – 65y) use Emoji on a daily basis. Of course, smartphone penetration is lower for elder generations as well.
This is my current smartphone. The OnePlus One, or OPO if you like. I have it for about 9 months, and it embodies the 4 major global smartphone trends of Q1 2015.
1. Bigger screens
With a 5.5" 1080p full HD screen, the OPO is without discussion a smartphone with a big screen. Some call it a phablet, some don't. The official minimum phablet size varies between 5" and 5.7". Globally, smartphones with big screens are driving the market growth.
2. The rise of 4G
Having a 4G (LTE) connection is no longer the exlusive right of € 500 + smartphones. Also mid- and low-budget smartphones allow you nowadays to be fully connected on the go. 50% of smartphones sold in Q1 2015 has 4G connectivity.
3. Cheaper handsets
The market of low-end smartphones grew in Q1 2015, the mid-range share remained stable. High-end smartphones lost market share because of this evolution. Low-end smartphones represent over 50% of the global market today.
This evolution is different in Belgium, where the mid-segment is under pressure. Find out more about the 3 Belgian smartphone trends [Dutch].
4. Fast growth of emerging markets
Emerging markets are not only driving the global market growth, but also disrupt the manufacturers' scene. Brands as Xiami, Huawei or Oneplus are no longer exlusive for the APAC region but offer their products worldwide. The markets in Middle East & Africa and emerging APAC are forecasted to grow by 29 to 33% in 2015.
Some days ago, the internet picked up on one of the very reasons I love market research. A quote, somewhat sarcastic, but build on the eagerness to learn, that shows what market research - among other things - is or can be about.
The belief to research consumers, to research the market, to research trends and evolution, to allow people to not only quote your study or research, but make decisions based on your insights, your recommendations - that is what market research is about.
We help brands to make better decisions, faster.
If you want to quote a study for your presentation, it doesn't matter if it's a sales pitch, a PhD defense (or other papers, articles or books) or speaking to an audience on an event, you can improve it by referring to research in a story-telling way of doing so.
To make an even better impression, here are 3 ways to take it to the next level:
1. Use a percentage
According to a study, 87% of statistics are made up
2. Add 'recent' to the mix
According to a recent study, 83,4% of statistics are made up
3. Show a simple (easy to read and understand) graph
According to a recent study, 81% of statistics are made up
Nog 6 dagen, 22 uur en 12 minuten. De applicatie van Rock Werchter 2015 telt af naar de start van mijn persoonlijke hoogmis van de komende weken. Vier dagen vertoeven op de weide, vier dagen genieten van verschillende artiesten in de Barn, Klub C en het hoofdpodium. Niet van de Foo Fighters, maar dat terzijde.
Mijn digitale zelf kreeg een extra boost toen aangekondigd werd dat de samenwerking met playpass uitgebreid werd. Buiten sneller binnen raken en een Facebook status posten, zal je nu ook met je werchterbandje kunnen betalen op de weide: een cash vrij festival.
Ik registreerde mij, om vervolgens geen bevestigings e-mail te ontvangen. Dat kan gebeuren natuurlijk en ik contacteerde Playpass support via de opgegeven weg. Ik ben voorstander van korte en to the point support, maar "uw registratie was succesvol" in SMS stijl van een "no-reply" adres vind ik toch wel heel beperkt.
Voorlopig heb ik geen verdere info ontvangen op de toch wel relevante vraag: 'hoe en wanneer link ik mijn Paypal zodat ik geen cash moet meebrengen?'. Hopelijk moeten we niet met z'n allen op de weide gaan aanschuiven om de link met Facebook en Paypal te kunnen maken.
Als Playpass en Paypal niet werken, zal Herman me dan wat geld voorschieten, of zal je mobiel kunnen betalen met de bancontact app of SEQR?
Gisteren volgde dan het tweede digitale hoogtepunt: de lancering van de RW15 app. Wat. Een. Teleurstelling. Al dagen wachten we met onze groep vrienden op de app, zodat we onze favorieten kunnen aanduiden en we onze timelines kunnen vergelijken. Zo ging het vorige keer toch.
Rock Werchter ging nu echter in zee met Appmiral, een standaard applicatie voor festivals. Misschien efficiënter en goedkoper, maar voor de festivalganger toch een stevige stap achteruit. Mijn schedule ziet er als volgt uit op mijn toch redelijk groot scherm (5'5 inch):
Moest ik niet weten dat er drie podia zijn, de Barn zou aan mij geen frequente bezoeker hebben. Via diamant-icoontjes kan je wel je favoriete artiesten aanduiden. Dankzij @Ineswillems heb ik dat overzicht dan terug gevonden bij mijn profiel, in plaats van bij mijn schedule.
Appmiral reageerde alvast op Twitter dat er begin volgende week een update van de app uitgerold wordt. Mijn persoonlijke voorkeur zou zijn geen beta-versie de weide wereld in te sturen, maar nu het toch zo is, alvast wat gratis advies:
Integreer het plan van de weide
Maak het 'schedule' volledig zichtbaar, of horizontaal met een duidelijke tijdsaanduiding
Gebruik de Facebook login om te linken met vrienden en een gedeeld schema te kunnen zien
Integreer een alfabetische lijst van artiesten
Een desktop / web versie om je festival voor te bereiden
Integratie met Playpass voor leuke (je bent X tijd op de weide) en nuttige (je hebt al € X uitgegeven) weetjes
Nog 6 dagen, 21 uur en 5 minuten tot #RW15, ik ben benieuwd!
As you know, I have been looking forward wearing a smartwatch for quite some time. Last week, it was finally the time when I was able to order the Moto 360, Motorola's smartwatch. Combining stylish design and Android wear, it's my favorite smartwatch currently available. Allow me to share with you why I fell in love with a € 250 technology gadget after only a couple of days.
A photo posted by Bert Hendrickx (@bhendrickx88) on
1) It's a watch, it tells you what time it is
Prepare yourself if you consider buying a smartwatch, people will ask you 'what does it do?'. There is however a short answer to that question: 'It's a watch, it tells you what time it is'. After all, smart or not, that is what watches are supposed to do. Motorola and Google kept this in mind while designing the user experience: no screen touches, no buttons, no voice commands ... you just turn your wrist as with any traditional watch you've ever had, and it shows you the time.
2) It guides you during a busy day
As I have been using Google Now for quite some time already, my smartwatch didn't face to much challenges getting to know me. My smartphone and Google Now already told me the traffic in the morning, the weather, my upcoming meetings ... I don't get up with my watch on, so I still check my smartphone first. However during the day, I don't.
During the day, it's the Moto 360 that keeps me on track. It tells me I have another meeting in '30, or in '15, where that meeting is and what time I should leave from wherever I am at that moment. I don't have to worry about forgetting something, my wrist reminds me.
3) It offers distance from your smartphone
One of the initial ideas behind Android Wear is reducing the time we spend (loose) during the day by checking our phone far to often (i.e. for notifications). The Moto 360 provides a filter, reducing the need to pull out your phone. Notifications are pushed towards the watch immediately, allowing yourself to decide whether or not it is important enough to grab your phone. For me, it works like a filter during both office hourse (being more productive) and private time (no, or at least less FOMO*).
So far, the smartwatch basically offers a convenient way of using Google Now and your notifications on your wrist. There is room for improvement, for example Dutch voice commands, and actual useful apps are still rare. However, I'd like to share the MyShopi smartwatch app, one I actually use.
As stated before, I expect a smartwatch to guide me during the day, and to look like a watch. The Moto 360 and Android Wear manage to do just that. Sophisticated simplicity on your wrist, that is why I love it.
*FOMO or the 'Fear of missing out' is a form of social anxiety, whereby one is compulsively concerned that one might miss an opportunity for social interaction, a novel experience, profitable investment or an other satisfying event (source: Wikipedia)
As you could read in my previous post, the fashion industry is one of the industries heavily disrupted by digital transformation. New players like Zalando and Vente-Exclusive became very important very quickly, and it doesn’t look like offline fashion retailers have found a solution to this new competition just yet.
The online shopper is quite rational and price-sensitive, something both previous mentioned retailers understand and use to their advantage. Traditional retailers are struggling to compete online and are failing to meet Zalando’s combination of price, product range and delivery options, or Vente Exclusive’s temporary offers.
Traditional (offline), mortar stores compete strongly on the shop experience, and the price premium consumers are willing to pay. The same product can be sold for a higher price because of a different (not per se better) instore experience, customer service or store image. An online price premium for a product will be very hard to claim, if not directly linked to a better service such as faster delivery. The challenge lies in creating a unique, online shopper experience, bridging the gap between on- and offline. “The Cloakroom” does just that.
The Cloakroom, a Dutch company, claims to combine (some of the) advantages of online and offline shopping. As I was in need for a decent holiday outfit, I decided to give it a try a couple of weeks ago. The set-up is quite easy: you register with some basic information and take a ‘style quiz’ where you select different pictures of models dressed in a specific style. For different occasions, you select different outfits (pictures) you would wear: costume, business smart, casual smart, sportive, chique ...
Based on your profile, a personal shopper reaches out to you.
"Our mission is to help men build and maintain a stylish wardrobe in a manner that is simple and convenient." - The Cloakroom
I received an e-mail and telephone call from Ilona. She introduced herself and the Cloakroom, explaining that based on our facebook connection (pictures), our talk (needs) and my style quiz, she would select 3 outfits and send them to me in a box, free of charge. We discussed what I was looking for, price range and style, and my box was delivered only a couple of days later.
The box came with a personal letter from Ilona, instructions for products I wanted to return and a price list. Was I 100% satisfied with what Ilona sent me? No. Would it have been totally free if I would have returned everything? Yes. It is however hard to return everything, as it would feel like saying they did a terrible job, which they didn't. I decided to keep one outfit I really liked and returned the other products - transport costs are paid for by The Cloakroom in advance.
For the pieces I returned, the reason why was asked in order to improve the next box. For the pieces I kept, I paid the (offline) retailer price. If I looked for the exact same products online, I probably would have been able to save some money. Because of the concept, however, I was prepared to pay the online price premium. Combining this personal approach (who doesn't like a personal shopper you don't actually need to go shopping with?) with the advantages of online shopping (speed, convenience, no overcrowded stores) is a winning strategy for digital native (and probably a lot of other) men. It isn't a suprise that there are some competitors out there, Outfittery to name one.
The Cloakroom succeeded in turning an offline service into an online USP. Of course there is room for improvement, but I I'm hooked on the concept. I'm not a mirror-selfie fan, but I'll make an exception for Ilona. A late merry christmas, and let's enter 2015 in style!
With Future Buy, I researched the digital consumer anno 2014 for my employer, GfK. The results of this study are presented on different events such as the Ecommerce Xpo of last week in Kortrijk. Vincent Panneels (@20100panneels) attended this conference and wrote a review / summary of the presentation. You can find the slides and his summary below, enjoy!
Unpacking the digital consumer, GFK’s Future Buy report presented at E-COMMERCE Expo
During its first edition, the fair E-COMMERCE Expo didn’t simply present booths of companies active in the e-commerce or digital industry. Seminars were also organized to enhance the offer of the event and we had the opportunity to follow quite an interesting one, a presentation of the Future Buy report, by Bert Hendrickx of GFK. Of course it was very summarized and quickly presented to fit the seminar format (30 minutes only), but it highlighted quite a few interesting facts.
Be consistent
There were quite a few key facts that were presented. Such as
Belgium still seems to be behind its European neighbors when it comes to E-commerce (92% of people do think so).
Three out of four also admit they already filed a complaint against retailers or companies through different medias
58% through email
33% over the phone
and 25% used the corporate website
The arrival of smartphones allowing to combine different medias in one device, had actually one great impact for companies. Your consumer doesn’t care about the way he is in contact with your company. But he cares about the fact that all communications he has with you, must follow the same consistency.
Consistency needs to be applied on all channels of communication. And that is the essential impact of omnichannel.
Also, be sure that the omnichannel approach is coming to your category. Maybe today some categories are more impacted. For example, it is the case for fashion or technical goods. Those categories experience more the impact of pure players (e.g Zalando, Bol.com…). But in the future, all categories will be impacted even the ones who seem behind today (e.g. Healthcare, education, automotive…).
Who is the Xtreme shopper?
Actually, consumers using mobile to do their purchase or interact with companies and retailers, needed to be analyzed a bit more. For this study, GFK took a closer look at the group they qualify as Xtreme shopper. These are consumers you need to consider for the future, as they are young and here to stay. GFK uncovered three key findings
Staying away is the new loyalty: A happy shopper doesn’t necessarily come back to your online store if he is happy with his purchase. However, if one has a bad experience with your shop, one necessarily will never come back.
Offline drives on experience: real physical stores need to play on the experiences a shopper cannot have online. So far, being stimulated with smell, taste, or touch are not experiences one can enjoy online.
Make online more personal: Online stores have many different information, even unique personal information about their customers. So online retailers should take advantage of the information they have in order to make the shopper’s experience more personal and tailor-made.
Don’t forget your mainstream shopper
Very well said by the speaker. Online is here to stay, but don’t forget the mainstream shopper visiting your stores. From this short presentation, we learnt a few key points from the study about online shoppers and e-commerce. And these will certainly bring more fuel to the engine of the “clicks and bricks” debate. In my opinion, the future will be successful for the companies and retailers who still think of making unique experiences of both online and physical stores. Just remember, consistency is key.
