As we cruise into 2015, it’s a good opportunity to take a look at what forecasters have to say about trends for this year.
Africa Trend Bulletin looks at 10 African trends for 2015 under the title Innovation opportunities to run with – and profit from – in 2015!
The article predicts 5.8% growth in sub-Saharan Africa, "largely due to expanding middle classes, productive urban centres, better education, deeper mobile penetration and greater access to credit, among other factors".
From a consumer point of view, this translates into "rapidly changing demands and expectations from the hundreds of millions of individuals eager to participate in – and benefit from – new opportunities".
From new to news ... newsletters to be more precise. An online piece from wired.co.uk predicts an upswing in newsletter popularity in the wake of spam filters, inbox zero principles and smart categorisation tools.
The combined efforts of these tools are making inboxes manageable and accessible to people on the move, all of which bodes well for the oft-maligned newsletter. Says wired: "They're finite and manageable, guaranteed to be seen, and accessible on any device."
Devices rule our lives nowadays, thanks to the age of technology. More so today than ever before, we need to keep a finger on the digital pulse, for this is the sphere where innovation is king.
Global communications company Bell Pottinger makes some interesting top digital trend predictions for 2015 and beyond.
Among these, they foresee, "half of today’s smartphone users will use mobile wallets for their preferred payment method by 2017", "25-billion [Internet access] devices will be connected and in use by 2020", "more than 79-million wearables are expected to be sold next year", "half of corporate network devices will be mobile in 2015", and "visual blog posts drive 180 percent more engagement than text-based ones".
So blog posts need more imagery, but what about social media messaging?
Let’s say a brand gets 20-million "likes" on Facebook. So what? Or your Twitter campaign "crashes the Internet". Big deal!
Advertising, entertainment and technology company Co.Create poses the question: what do these "achievements" actually mean?
They believe "a paradigm shift is needed: from conversation to narrative".
Acknowledging technological advances, they illustrate how the approach to marketing has had to evolve. "Marketing has gone from the need to consider person-as-viewer, to person-as-participant, to person-as-content-creator, to person as channel."
Despite this rapid evolution, they are of the firm belief that a final transformation is needed for marketing success. See whether you agree.
As a communications company, Flow believes in the power of fresh, quality content. Achieving this outcome is dependent on people and skills. From the creativity of the writer to the accuracy of the sub-editors and the coding ability of the developers, everyone has a role to play.
When it comes to content, having experienced, efficient subs is key. This useful article by www.prdaily.com on eliminating editorial redundancy is a subs’ delight, and should be every writer’s holy grail.
Gems like "added bonus", "advance planning", "armed gunman", "circulate around", "completely full" and "each individual person" are often used, yet they’re incorrect because one word is superfluous in each instance.
Memorise these common examples of word (over)usage to improve your writing. It could be the best thing you do for the rest of your whole entire life ...
And if you intend living a long and healthy one, pay attention to how long you spend sitting in front of your computer – as you’re probably doing right now.
Millions of people around the world spend their working day seated at a computer – many for six to eight hours daily – as those whose work day involves physical labour outdoors, look on in envy.
But who are the real winners here? Ironically, it’s not the office workers in their air-conditioned spaces and comfy chairs. Researchers tell us that sitting for too long on a continuous basis brings with it a host of health risks: type 2 diabetes, increased LDL cholesterol levels, weight gain, decreased bone mass (in women) and slowed brain function.
However, being tied to your laptop need not spell doom and gloom if you’re aware of the risks and know how to avert them.
We hope you enjoy our regular round-up of reading matter that Flowstars are sharing. If you have anything you’d like to share with us, please do.
