Digital Shift, a quarterly service from Econsultancy exclusively for subscribers, is intended as a guide to support strategic thinking.

Focused tightly on digital technologies, marketing and ecommerce, it’s about delivering actionable insight on trends that will be significant in the short to mid-term, and which can be used to generate new ideas, improve business performance and stay ahead of the competition.

The latest report in this series, also available as a presentation and webinar recording (see below), explores the most notable developments impacting digital marketing this quarter. The critical shifts are summarised below:

  • Shifting mobile behaviour:- The latest consumer data shows that most mobile users download no apps in a given month so does this mean that the mobile web is about to take over from apps? As always, the picture is complex but fascinating – we look at what’s really going on with mobile user behaviour
  • Latest developments in AR:- We consider some fantastic (and fun) new applications of AR, and ask whether Apple have just created the opportunity for AR to reach its tipping point with the introduction of ARKit
  • Innovation from data and CX:- We will learn about some excellent examples this quarter of smart innovation starting with CX and data and working backwards. What can incumbents learn from this approach?
  • From mobile first to AI first:- Google’s CEO used the ‘AI-first’ phrase in his opening remarks at their recent product launch event, signalling the size of their own intent in this area. Is there a gap already opening up between the AI haves and the AI have-nots? And what are the applications of AI to advertising?
  • Amazon’s advertising play:- Speaking of advertising, we’ve been saying for a while on Shift that Amazon are getting very serious about advertising – we take a look at how they are selling themselves to agencies
  • New and old dynamics in retail:- There is plenty happening in retail this quarter with some interesting new partnerships, an ecommerce-flavoured social network from Amazon, retailers and advertising platforms and FMCG brands as retailers – we navigate you through the confusion
  • Future of interaction:- Yet more rapid development in the virtual assistant space with new hardware, an interesting collaboration that speaks to a future characterised by not one, but multiple competing ecosystems from the big tech players, and facial recognition payment becoming a reality
  • And finally…hype cycles:- Including the latest Gartner Hype cycle and also what we can learn from over 20 years of hype cycles

The hour-long webinar recording features input from Ashley Friedlein, President, Centaur Marketing & Founder, Econsultancy and Neil Perkin, Consultant and Founder of Only Dead Fish.