Ends of years are like stomach flu. Each come with an aggravating regularity.
And, like the smell of fresh vomit, the predictions associated with them sting the nose.
2013 will be…
….the year of social business (“shit, I’d better get on that.”)
….the year apps go mainstream (“damn, I may fall behind.”)
….the year of big data application (“I gotta…wait, what’s that mean?”)
….the year of marketing gamification (“Lord, take me now.”)
….the year of marketing stack integration (“I am so screwed…”)
And so on and so forth.
Most marketers are busy enough cleaning the spatter from the windshield of 2012, and now there’s this new guilt to navigate in 2013.
Fret not, however. While all these things grab headlines, marketing will be won through strategy and focus. In fact, I scribbled up a diagram showing how different capabilities will impact marketing performance (based on a fictional study). The bigger the circle, the greater the impact:
The takeaway: If you’re doing the big one right, many of the other things will work themselves out.
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Comments
Barry Feldman January 4th, 2013
Whoa, major league suckitude on graphics. But damn man, you’re funny. I adore the three-dot list. If you keep calling yourself an account director, I’m going to go with that title myself.
Ryan Skinner January 4th, 2013
Awwww, I was kind of proud of my little bubble chart (though it was the product of only an hour’s play with magic markers). It didn’t scan very well. Ah hell, that’s the beauty of having “Account Director” tattooed on my forehead and not “Copywriter” or “Designer”: It gives me license to produce wildly unprofessional stuff that gets the job done. It’s an ingenious rhetorical posture – stealth creative.
Anyway, hope you liked the brunt of the piece. It’s disappointing to see people get hung up on fast-moving things and neglect the big, important issues.
Steve Morris January 4th, 2013
Actually, I think it’s refreshing to see an interesting point underpinned by a very simple ‘undesigned’ style. After all, it’s all about messaging isn’t it?!
I have a prediction! We’ll see less stylised infographics using magic markers, Paper (iPad app etc) – erm, like this http://pinterest.com/pin/429601251924343620/ (Disclaimer etc!)