It is worth preparing for the coming circumstances. The only question is how to do it. Thanks to this report, prepared by IPG Media Lab, you can familiarize yourself with the trends that - in all likelihood - will lead in 2020. It is time to start preparing for them and experimenting with them. One thing is certain: each of them means an innovative approach to brand value and "integrating them into consumers' lives."
Virtual reality / augmented reality
Buying virtual reality equipment is slowly becoming popular among avid gamers (especially thanks to the arrival of Samsung's Gear VR and, soon, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR). Meanwhile, the creation of content leading to real market adoption of these solutions is only just beginning to sprout. As the report's authors say: "A chicken-and-egg problem arises: why buy a virtual reality device if there is very little content, and why invest in content if so few users can watch it? This problem will soon be solved by falling prices and increasingly appearing content libraries. However, over the next few years, opportunities for brands will mainly be limited to PR around attractive executions and the additional reach offered by 360 video playback on YouTube and Facebook. In 2020, we expect VR device penetration to approach 10% in the US and growth in the resulting opportunities." This trend is still set to intensify. Let's get ready!
Computerization 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...
Each of the previous five decades meant a jump in the number of computers in use. In the 1960s, there were about a million devices in the world, up to billions of various electronic devices today. Benedict Evans, an analyst, notes: "Our grandparents could tell us how many electric motors they owned... In the same way, we have a rough idea of how many internet-connected devices we have, while our children will have no idea about it... These devices will be forgotten just as electric motors were before. From watches and refrigerators, through bus stops and fire hydrants, the road to 100 billion connected devices seems as absurd as it is inevitable. This trend reveals new opportunities to understand the context in which today's consumers operate and the possibility of delivering new added value." This perspective offers enormous possibilities. How will we use them?
Automatic cars, without a steering wheel
In just a few years, fully automatic, autonomous cars will be driving on our roads. The development of technology inevitably determines this - however, to meet such a situation, appropriate regulations adapted to new, "smart" vehicles need to be introduced. As the IPG Media Lab report states: "By 2020, a significant number of cars on the roads will be capable of taking over driving functions during long stretches of travel. This trend, together with the growing importance of taxi services such as Uber, will cause our media habits while traveling by car to shift from audio channels toward video, social media, and games. Considering that in the US the average time spent commuting to work is 50 minutes per day (30 minutes in Poland), automating car travel means one of the largest jumps in the amount of time spent consuming media, at least before a method of consuming media through sleep is invented."
Urban space and the network
Currently, more than half of the population lives in cities. By 2020, this rate will likely rise to 70%. This urban density, combined with ubiquitous smartphones, is driving the on-demand economy sector in the current decade. "The next decade will bring us cities pulsing with a network of smart devices, because the Internet of Things is just moving out of homes and onto the streets. How we interact with our surroundings will be increasingly determined by a mix of personal and public data. Projects such as LinkNYC are helping to unlock this potential today, with highly interactive and digital out-of-home advertising. For this infrastructure to reach every corner of the city, years of cooperation on an unprecedented scale between private companies and government agencies will be necessary," the report's authors indicate.
Will we prepare for these changes? Will we meet the next wave of technological expansion? The answers to these questions will come in the following years. Let us remember, however - our "to be or not to be" in the world that is coming soon depends on our attitude and the strategies we adopt (and implement). The world that is arriving now.
