ADOTAS

2012 Prediction: From Social to Spatial

It’s no longer just “what are you doing?,” but “where are you going?” and “when will you be there?” that the social universe cares about. While Facebook’s Timeline allows us to answer, for all our friends and followers, those age-old “where were you when …” questions, Foursquare’s Radar functionality tells you when you’re near people or places that you like, just in case you’re up for a bit of a diversion in the future (even if that future is only five minutes from now). As more people transition from using social media to record what we’ve done to using it to help us plan what we will do, advertising and marketing efforts can become increasingly local — even hyperlocal — to reach an engaged nearby audience eager for interaction with companies and brands. Fjord sees a bright future for organizations that are able to harness the power of location and time — categories that, unlike social and search, are still up for grabs.

2012 Prediction: An S.O.S. from the Disconnected Living Room

2012 will see even more “clutter” in the living room. Yahoo’s IntoNow app can determine what we’re watching on TV and share that with our friends via Twitter. Hulu feeds our watching habits to our Facbook Timelines. The Xbox, more than just a gaming console, allows us to access film and video without having to leave the house, or even the sofa. Disney encouraged viewers of its Christmas Day parade to use the Shazam app to get behind-the-scenes content. Americans spend an average of four hours per day watching television, and delivering a more full-integrated experience (or at  least companion experiences) — whether through interactivity, social networking, or simple convenience — can ensure that those are four hours are enhanced. But be careful, 2012 is also the year in which the struggle for sofa supremacy could finally start to see some winners and losers.

2012 Prediction: Your Identity Is Your Currency

There’s something truly remarkable about modern society’s willingness to share so much of themselves with their friends and acquaintances. Modern stoicism is giving way to post-modern openness — but with that openness are risks. The more we share, the greater the odds that what we post can someday be used against us: in job interviews ,relationships, even financial transactions. So in 2012, we anticipate an increased sensitivity to how we value the information that we post — and how we value our ability to keep it at least somewhat private. For every service like OpenID that allows us to safely log into multiple sites and control our information, there will also be an uptick in trends like “Pay with a Tweet,” in which no money changes hands, but the whole Twitterverse can see what you’ve just “purchased.” 2012 may be the year of social media privacy trade-offs; it remains to be seen whether more secrecy or more openness will ultimately win. 2012 will see a host of services that will push the boundaries of privacy — some of these will prevail as “cool;” others are doomed to be creepy. This is the tipping point we call the social dilemma, because nobody knows exactly where it lies. 2012 could be the first year of the Social Dilemma.

2012 Prediction: Say Hello to 24/7 Wearables

One of the most tedious parts of sticking to a workout regimen? Pausing between each set to write down how many reps you’ve done. Wouldn’t it be nice if something could just do it for you? For the cost of a few sessions with a personal trainer, you can get a wearable device that will track your activity over the course of the day — not just at the gym, but on your bike, or even walking around the city. Not into fitness? What about a sensor that tracks your sleeping habits and feeds it to a smart alarm clock to calculate the ideal time to wake up in the morning? Or a pair of earrings that allows you to listen to your iPod wirelessly, without anyone even noticing? We might still be a long way off from having microchips implanted in our brains, but devices that can help us do the things we already do more quickly and easily will be increasingly in demand this year — so brands willing to give that to their consumers will have quite an edge over their competitors. The challenge for wearable electronics is to understand what users will want to do with them, and to take advantage of the growing concept of  ”glanceability.” There will be a battle for people’s “glance.”

The latest Xbox 360 update includes integrations with Facebook, Twitter and last.fm. So in between levels of “Call of Duty,” a player can tweet about how quick he or she cleared the airport segment. Even more interesting, Facebook users will be able to tell which friends are currently on Xbox Live.

Currently the social media integration is only available for those over 18. Initial reports suggest features of the social websites have been smoothly transferred to the console.

In just two seasons, HBO’s “Entourage” has given its audience an unfiltered, hilarious insider’s view of young Hollywood. As a result, any fan of this increasingly popular series would likely drop their daily routines in a hot second to roll with blossoming movie star Vincent Chase and his hangers-on.

Thankfully, those of us suffering withdrawal as a result of “Entourage’s” yearlong hiatus (including yours truly) will be glad to know the boys are back on June 11th for an all-new season. And just like last year, HBO has tapped New York-based interactive agency Deep Focus to design and execute the entire online campaign to whet our appetites.

But while rollover video campaigns and the sort constituted season 2′s online push, Deep Focus is going multi-dimensional for season 3 with a marketing blitz, launched just this week, that also co-opts the social networking and gaming worlds. “HBO challenged us to put together a campaign that really took not only the series to the next level, but also the aspects of online marketing that we wanted involved to the next level,” Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer tells ADOTAS. “They gave us unprecedented access to talent. With all that ammunition at our disposal, we pretty much kicked ass on developing what amounts to a three-pronged campaign for them.”

The first “prong” is essentially comprised of a takeover/contest on MySpace (above), arguably the most fertile soil to sell “Entourage” to both current and potential viewers. “We essentially created a layer on top of MySpace called MyEntourage,” Schafer explains. “Basically, what we do is encourage people to form groups on MySpace of best friends, your entourage. Then, you borrow the skills of the guys in the cast: network, publicize, schmooze, harass, out-pretty every other group in order to get the most friends. So basically, we’re exposing MySpace for what some people feel it is, a popularity contest, and [creating incentives for] it.” Besides the ego boost, the incentives Schafer mentions aren’t too shabby either. “We’re giving away Chryslers to each member of the winning entourage, we’re giving away free trips to LA, cell phones, Xbox 360s, DVDs,” he says. It’s a pretty great prize package.”

So far, so good on the MySpace front. The MyEntourage profile has already nabbed 17,000 friends, and Schafer notes that while the sweepstakes is short-term, the MySpace site itself and Entourage will run continually through the show’s lifetime.