Parts of this post were previously published on Marketing magazine online.
The landscape of PR and marketing is ever-changing. At ClutchPR, we looked into our crystal ball and came up with some marketing predictions and outlooks for 2016.
VR in PR – 2016 will be the year VR really takes off
This year, VR saw a boost in credibility as companies like Google, Facebook, Disney and Samsung invested heavily in virtual reality technology and TIME magazine put the virtues of VR on their cover. It’s no secret that VR is here to stay.
Two-thousand-sixteen will be the year it hits the next level of marketing and PR potential. An area where VR has already gained traction is travel and tourism marketing with organizations like Destination BC using virtual reality for their ‘The Wild Within VR Experience.’ –an interactive three dimensional video allowing travellers to experience British Columbia in an immersive way.
Media outlets have started to see the advantages of VR. At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival Elle Canada launched the first VR fashion cover with an interactive behind the scenes VR experience.
The possibilities are endless when you consider the power of transporting consumers to an experience without them having to leave the comfort of their own home.
Live Streaming or Bust
In 2016 we will see the continued rise of Periscope and Meerkat for creating an immediate and more authentic connection for brands. As Snapchat has already demonstrated, people are hungry for short, temporary bursts of social communication. PRs will start integrating Periscope into their strategies more than ever.
Big brands like Benefit and Adidas have been quick to use the platform to provide their brands with product tutorials, in the case of the former and behind-the-scenes, backstage access in the case of the latter. Adidas turned to Periscope to live stream soccer star James Rodriguez sign his endorsement extension contract. This kind of exclusive access naturally creates high points in your content creation strategy.
A Toronto pizza restaurant proved that mobile streaming isn’t just for big brands. Frank’s Pizza does a daily Meerkat stream from its restaurant. The streams simply show the inner workings of a pizza kitchen and now receive up to 2,000 views.
Content that cannot be consumed anywhere else will be the most successful in 2016. From the small business owners who use it to showcase behind the scenes how-to’s to large-scale events and corporate brands integrating it seamlessly into their marketing strategies, live streaming will be a mainstay of marketing strategies in the new year.
Personalized, individualized collaborations and content
Long gone are the days when a blogger or influencer would say, ‘My fee for this partnership is X dollars’ with little thought to how a partnership will work for either the brand or their readers.
Now brands will demand bloggers, influencers and tastemakers come to them with proposals created specifically for niche and highly targeted audiences.
In talking with marketers from all industries the sentiments are the same. Personal, authentic, real engagement is where brands succeed.
Erica Ehm of YMC Works has said that the personal connection is everything when it comes to moving the needle for brands.
In a recent award winning campaign, YMC created Dove sponsored content on a variety of topics that all involved stories of moms feeling beautiful and encouraging daughters to feel beautiful too. Many of the sponsored posts for the program included touching videos by the bloggers’ daughters about what each one thinks is beautiful about her mother. The highly personal content was shared on a variety of networks including YouTube.
What did we miss? What are some of the PR predictions for 2016? Tweet us @ClutchPR
