We attended four seminars during the day and were really impressed with the diverse range of disciplines and topics covered. Tom Whitney - Pre-Sales and Marketing Manager Europe for Crimson Hexagon provided an unusual insight into social media data. For retail brands social media engagement is prevalent, but how many of you use this data in a qualitative capacity? Tom advised that in an age of the powerful customer, with opportunities for wide opinion broadcast, brands must listen to customer social media activity and take action based on the learning to readdress the power balance. 
Social media is the largest source of unsolicited customer opinion ever in existence and is growing rapidly every day. The potential to use this data for real time qualitative data is phenomenal. Our recommendations for retailers is certainly to go beyond monitoring brand social engagement and utilise this data for real-time brand sentiment measurement. By monitoring reviews, comments and mentions, brands can gain understanding of the brand sentiment regularly and in real-time. Using this data, marketing communication and activity can be adapted to best suit the campaign objective. This process is much faster than with more traditional primary research methodology and if used wisely can ensure you are always one-step ahead of the competition, with activity that matches the challenge posed by customer data. In the in the interest of providing you with the latest marketing trends first, we spent the day in the Future Trends Theatre, debating immersive experience and congratulating the 'Tech of the Future' winner which we cover in the next blog post. Julia Wolny - E-Marketing SIG Chair, Academy of Marketing chaired the Panel Debate, with Christian Nahas - CEO, Salesfusion, Gavin Talbot, Commercial Director, Oakley Mobile, Ben Staveley, Head of eCommerce, dotMailer and Charles Head, Account Director, Silverpop, which answered the question; 'How can brands use immersive technologies to create engaging, personalised and memorable experiences?' With the launch of Google Glasses rumoured to be as soon as April 2014, it is clear that immersive experiences will be a big Marketing trend in 2014.
The panel defined immersive experience as; 'Any experience that stops your consumer from doing something else and gains their full attention'. A great example of this concept is Perrier's Golden Bottle competition, where customers had to act as one of the six game characters to search for the Golden Bottle - A ticket to their party. Human attention span has decreased to eight seconds in 2014, from twelve seconds in 2000, one second less than a goldfish. It has never been so difficult for brands and retailers to capture the fragmented attention span of customers. POS and retail marketing needs to grow and diversify if it is to stand above the cloud of noise shoppers face. POS needs to be interactive, with elements such as sound, lights, video and even more proactive personalisation through Augmented Reality to increase brand engagement and purchase behaviour. The use of apps or microsites with POS can promote repeat visitation and ultimately a purchase. The panel did offer a warning however; you must consider the full experience including sensory impairment. Exclusion can do your brand vast damage. Data loss is also an issue to be considered with POS placement. Follow the user's journey from POS to app, micro-site or your chosen call to action. Is it simple and clearly sign posted? Does it offer added value? Why would the make the effort to complete your suggested process?
Augmented Reality is a subject we have spoken about extensively in the past. As one of the biggest Retail Marketing trends of 2013. Described as 'Adding to what you are already seeing', AR is a combination of branded digital content and the real world view. We have all seen AR 'selfie' cutouts and digital content built into print publications, but what are the new developments? Interpretive technology that understands context and personalisation is a key factor to the user experience. AR has the potential to edit our world, for example displaying your view of the environment as a medieval town, or remove real-world advertising posters and messages. This could be a real game changer for retail marketing. Harmony used AR to encourgage stand interaction, but building a fully AR integrated background, with games such as the Wheel of Death and the virtual Toy Car built in.
TFM&A was a real conversation starter that prompted visitors to consider the future of marketing and the evolving technology in this field. Extremely well organised and well considered, the event encouraged visitors to learn, interact and network.
Top tips from Improve your TFM&A 2014:
1. Implement a qualitative strategy for the vast social media data available to your brand.
2. Consider the implications Google Glasses could have on your POS and retail marketing.
3. Consider the immersive journey and purpose before implementation.
4. AR is evolving and the potential for POS integration in innovative ways is vast.
5. With fragmented attention spans decreasing, consider the positioning and frequency of your message for maximum reach.
Maria Parker-Harris
Group marketing Co-ordinator
The SPS Group
www.thespsgroup.co.uk
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