Trends Identified
Can Esports Actually Make it into the Mainstream?
Esports is well on its way to becoming a household name. Almost 70% of internet users in the UK and U.S. alone have now heard of the term “esports”, with as many as half of those aged 55-64 also being aware of these competitive video game tournaments. Sell-out stadiums and prize pools of $100 million dollars have increased esports’ exposure and shored up any reservations over its longevity, providing a powerful reminder of how much the genre has grown since the first official tournaments took place in the 1990s. A significant chunk of this growth has been in the last year. Among those who say they watch esports content in the UK and U.S., more than 60% watch it at least once a week, with 3 in 10 saying they hadn’t even heard of esports more than a year ago. 2018 has witnessed major structural developments in esports, with franchised leagues bringing it closer to the model of traditional sports. This is making esports a more cohesive and accessible genre of entertainment among new audiences, and helping to win over potential investors and sponsors anxious for signs of strong revenue generating potential. With these structural tweaks all working in harmony, 2019 is the year esports is approaching its tipping point.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
Rethinking “Trust” in a New Era of Data Privacy
In 2018, we witnessed a groundbreaking shift in the way we think about data, privacy and brand trust. The culmination of high-profile corporate privacy scandals and new wide-sweeping data legislation has forced consumers to get to grips with their digital footprints. It’s compelled companies to confront and reevaluate what’s at stake concerning commercial data collection and processing. It’s also coincided with a sense of fatigue and disillusionment with contemporary online marketing techniques that has begun to boil over. While ad-blocking tools may have mitigated some of this disillusionment, they have increasingly and indiscriminately hacked away at vital revenue streams in companies that rely on online advertising. Together with pressure from declining print advertising revenues, the spread of ad-blocking tools has led many organizations to look towards pursuing new subscriptionbased business models to mitigate against the threat.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
The Rise of Green Consumerism: What Do Brands Need to Know?
Environmental degradation is hitting the headlines lately. News articles and documentaries around rising seas, declining air quality and shrinking animal populations are now more common than ever - and they’re beginning to cut through. A couple of moments stand out in particular. In Australia, it was the War on Waste TV program, while in the UK, David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series sparked a cultural shift around plastic consumption. Sales of reusable coffee cups and water bottles took off, plastic straws were banned in many bars and restaurants, and brands like Evian and Coca-Cola promised packaging made from recycled materials. The impulse to “be greener” is clearly gaining momentum. According to a recent bespoke study we carried out in the UK and U.S., half of digital consumers say environmental concerns impact their purchasing decisions. There’s a difference between intention and action, but brands could miss out on a big group of consumers if their green credentials aren’t up to scratch.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
Decrypting Crypto-Consumers
On October 31th, 2008, the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto published the paper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, which would lay the groundwork for the world’s most talked about and prominent novel currency project since the creation of the euro some twenty years ago. Growing from a little-known cryptography mailing list, a discreetly registered domain, and a dedicated forum set up by its founder, Bitcoin soon inspired a huge growth in traders, platform and brokers, trade media, fans churning out memes, as well as commercial endeavors from cash brokers to exchanges, pubs to candy stores. This rapid expansion also meant that the user and consumer base has been difficult to track and segment. The crypto landscape is awash with data, but consumer data has been more difficult to come by for a variety of reasons. At first the audience was very small, and few cryptocurrency holders would be caught in the dragnet of national surveys – some of which were still based on calling landlines when Bitcoin was launched – and others relied on data volunteered by community members based on straw polls and student surveys. Self-selection also favored outspoken crypto activists, rather than silent investors. It’s the latter group our research has been able to capture. By including cryptocurrency into our global internet user survey, we’ve been able to expand the dragnet to almost 90,000 respondents – and picked up cryptocurrency holders in the course of general fieldwork, without targeting them. This means we have a sample of cryptocurrency holders with more than 25,000 data points against them, which has also served as a benchmark for our subsequent targeted poll.
2019
Trends 19
GlobalWebIndex
Live and kicking
‘Live’ moments are very much alive and kicking, as technology brings us together to share our experiences in real time.
2019
Trends 2019
Mindshare
Look who’s talking
The rapid adoption of technology and the spoken word to enrich our lives.
2019
Trends 2019
Mindshare
Seconds saved
Tech helping our lives run more smoothly, saving us seconds on every-day tasks.
2019
Trends 2019
Mindshare
Real or replica?
In a world of growing mistrust, where tech is presenting us with curated social media, fake videos, voice assistants and virtual entities, people are re-evaluating who is real and who is not.
2019
Trends 2019
Mindshare
Automation
Although companies have been gradually automating for decades, recent advances in areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence are not only obligating people to work side by side with machines but are also creating replacements for human workers—even in fairly sophisticated jobs. Nearly half of all jobs in the US could be automated by 2050.
2017
Twelve Forces That Will Radically Change How Organizations Work
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)