Isobar 2016 Trend Report: Australian Edition

K E Y T R E N D S
F O R 2 0 1 6

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Our overarching theme
is the continued rise of what
we call brand commerce

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The gap between brand
experiences and retail experiences
was once immense
Inspiration Transaction

4
The connected world has
closed that gap

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Bringing points
of inspiration
and points of
transaction ever
closer together
Social
commerce
Connected
stores
Shoppable
content
Same day
delivery
One click
as standard
Mobile
payment

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We call this
brand commerce
Using technology to bring moments of inspiration and
points of transaction ever closer together, delivering
seamless, delightful and secure shopping experiences
throughout customer journeys.

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The world of brand commerce
manifests in a number of areas we’ll
explore now
T H E R I S E
O F T H E M A C H I N E S
AI disrupts everything
T H E O N D E M A N D
E C O N O M Y
Now is the new normal
I N V I S I B L E I N T E R F A C E S
When is an interface
not an interface?
T H E N E W
S T O R Y T E L L I N G
Emotion in the digital age

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Each of which is underpinned
by a number of sub trends
T H E R I S E
E C O N O M Y
not an interface?
T H E N E W
Virtual workforces
The last mile reimagined
Data driven narratives
New narrative touchpoints
Prediction as expectation
Virtual companions
Big data, small things
Messaging as interface
The rise of biometrics
Invisible commerce

9
The rise of
the machines
AI DISRUPTS EVERYTHING
AI is becoming a constant part of our lives, from predicting what we’re going
to say, to predicting where we need to be next.
This will create a new set of minimum expectations from customers, where
brands will be expected to not simply meet but to anticipate needs. Virtual
assistants will move beyond the realm of clunky interfaces to become
genuinely valuable.
S U B T R E N D :
P R E D I C T I O N A S
E X P E C T A T I O N
S U B T R E N D :
V I R T U A L
C O M P A N I O N S
S U B T R E N D :
B I G D A T A ,
S M A L L T H I N G S

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Prediction as
expectation
From recommendation to prediction: while
recommendation is at the core of today’s digital
commerce experiences, we will see brands
begin to use data to predict when and why
customers are likely to transact with them next.

11
N O W
PREDICTIVE MESSAGING
Our reliance on AI is already deeply embedded in
our daily lives. Both Android and iPhone now offer
the ability to predict the next part of a message
based on your and many thousands of others’ prior
conversations.
PREDICTIVE SHOPPING
Pinterest is experimenting with visual search – a
system which combines image recognition and
machine learning to enable users to select an image
then explore thousands of visually similarresults.
The ability to “learn” users’ aesthetic preferences,
not simplyrecommend product based on data
tagging is a potential game changer.
PREDICTIVE SHIPPING
Amazon have patented “anticipatory shipping” – a
system of shipping product before a consumerhas
even placed an order. The algorithm predicts future
shopping decisions based on previous behaviours
on site, enabling the retailer to ship packages to a
generalised location in advance of, and anticipating,
a future purchase.
“The (Amazon) patent exemplifies a growing trend among technology and consumer firms to
anticipate consumers’ needs, even before consumers do. Today, there are refrigerators that
can tell when it’s time to buy more milk, smart televisions that predict which shows to record
and Google’s Now software, which aims to predict users’ daily scheduling needs.”
- W a l l S t r e e t J o u r n a l
F U R T H E R O U TF U R T H E R O U T

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Prediction as
expectation:
in practice
From rec om mendationto predic tion:while
rec om m endationis atthec oreof today’s digital
c om m erce experiences ,wewills eebrands begin
to us e datatopredict whenandwhy cons umers
are lik ely totransactwiththem nex t.
A N A I P O W E R E D F A S H I O N
S U B S C R I P T I O N
StitchFix is a subscription fashion service powered by
Artificial Intelligence.
Each month users receive a curated selection of
product personally chosen for them by a combination
of machine learning and human stylists.

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COMMERCIAL EFFICIENCY
Knowing what your customers want can be a game
changer when it comes to the commercialside of
the business; it allows businesses to more
effectively plan and deploy their resources.
CONSUMER LOYALTY
Predictive analytics have the potential to transform
our approach to loyalty. Anticipating user needs
before they have the opportunity to look elsewhere
can create smarter auto-replenishment models and
build brand habits.
CROSS MARKETING OPPORTUNTIES
With a clean data set that allows you to predict
consumer habits, there is an opportunity for smarter
cross selling across a brand portfolio.
This adds a layer of intelligence to consumer
segmentationsthat might not have previously
have existed.
AVAILABILITY OF DATA (AND DATA
SCIENTISTS)
Prediction relies heavily on having a robust and
dynamic data set. Not every brand will have access
to a volume of user data which will make retailer
partnerships increasingly important. Even those
brands with a body of data will require investment in
talent to make that data meaningful - Stitch Fix for
example employ some 50 data scientists.
THE CREEPINESS CONUNDRUM
There’s an extremely fine line between a company
knowing enough to delight you and a company
knowing enough to creep you out. Brands will have
to walk this line carefully and understand how ready
their customerbase is for this. In almost all
instances however, perceived value will override
privacy concerns.
O P P O R T U N I T I E S C H A L L E N G E S

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Virtual
companions
The last few years have seen the rise of virtual
assistants, yet interfaces have been clunky and
responsiveness low. The next few years will see
the growth of super-powered companions able to
fulfill complex tasks with little or no input from the
user.

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N O W
CORTANA / SIRI
We’ve all used Siri, either to get it to say something
funny (try asking Siri to beatbox) or to complete a
basic task – such as ‘what’s the weather like
outside?’ These services primarily pull data from the
web and still lack the intelligence or personalisation
to be truly useful.
FACEBOOK M
Human operators are assisting a beta group of
Facebook messengerusers in everything from
buying flowers to plane tickets. Each of these
interactions is training an AI which when fully
trained will shift over to being the operator.
Everything in future may be a facebook message
away: need that cab? Simple, send a cab emoji to
FB M and it will be with you in 5 minutes.
F U R T H E R O U T

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Virtual
companions:
in practice
C O R T A N A P O W E R S B U S I N E S S
I N T E L L I G E N C E
The power of ‘the companion’ goes beyond consumer
applications. Microsoft recently integrated Cortana
with it’s BI intelligence software allowing users to
quickly mine large, complex data sets using voice
commands.
Once connected, Cortana can answer spoken and
written questions such as ‘revenue for last year’ or
‘how many leads has Jeff Jones got in the last
month?’. In future ‘companions’ can effectively
become middle management, drawing data and
making simple recommendations that improve
businesses.

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PERSONAL SERVICE MEETS
PERSONALISED DATA
A well trained AI can offer personal service at scale,
particularly when you add voice recognition.
This would enable digital platforms to replicate at
scale the kinds of service currently offered by
personal shoppers, concierge services or high end
showrooms.
BALANCING MACHINE LEARNING
AND HUMAN INTERVENTION
Even the largest technical platforms occasionally
suffer outages. What are the implications then if a
majority of your customerservice function is
outsourced to AI, or delivered via a third party?
Even when everything goes according to plan, AI
still needs to “learn” its responses from human
interactions. An intriguing challenge for the future
will be to train virtual assistants in a set of brand
values and tone of voice.

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Big data,
small things
As data processing capabilities become more
sophisticated, we will see the power of small
actions, at scale, to make big differences. Think of
them as AI driven ‘nudges’ in the right direction.

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N O W
SMART METERS THAT LEARN
Nest has progressed significantly over the last
couple of years to become a learning thermostat.
It can detect if you’re at home, how long it takes to
heat the home and even wakes up when someone
is near.
SMART CITIES WORKING FOR US
Barcelona is not only a cultural capital, it’s fast
becoming one of the most tech-enabled cities in the
world, with bins that alert the council when they
need emptying and sensors that measure air quality
every minute.
EMOTIONAL NUDGES
Facebook ran a controversial study in 2015 where
they altered the newsfeed mood of almost 700,000
users, and then observed the tone of their
subsequent posts. As you can imagine, both
positive and negative emotions proved infectious.
It is not hard to imagine a scenario in which these
behavioural “nudges” are the new norm.
“Today’s adtech has within it the glimmerings of a computing architecture that will underpin our entire
society. Every time you turn up your thermostat, this infrastructure will engage... Every retail store you
visit, every automobile you drive (or are driven by), every single interaction of value in this world can and
will become data that interacts with this programmatic infrastructure.”
- J o h n B a t t e l l e
N E A R F U T U R E F U R T H E R O U T

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Big data,
small things:
in practice
A M I C R O C H I P I N A H A Y S T A C K
Farmers in Australia are using yield monitors to act like
personal agronomists supplying information to optimise the
real world – a little less fertiliser here, more weed spray
there. With this data, equipment can be programmed for
optimal results, not only resulting in increased yield but also
decreased costs which can run to late six or early seven
figures depending upon the size of the farm.
Data is now gathered across farmlands from sensors built
into just about any piece of equipment, from tractors,
sprayers, harvesters and cattle tags to milking machines
and aerial drones.
At this stage, the data is used mostly by individuals,
however the opportunity and capacity for sharing and
associated macro analysis is enormous.

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SMARTER SYSTEMS
As AI “learns” about situations, it becomes
progressively smarter and more effective, whether
that be Nest learning how to optimise energy within
the home or smart cities learning how to balance
traffic volumes versus air pollution. These smart
systems have the potential to impact everything
from supply and distribution to pricing models.
NEW DATA SETS
As sensors become smaller and lighter, new data
sets are opening up all the time, enabling us to track
everything from mood to movement at scale. The
more data we capture, the more opportunity we
have to use that data in imaginative ways.
DATA ARCHITECTURE
Combining diverse data sets in intelligent ways
requires significant skill in data analysis and
architecture. Even where those skills exist, it will
take time, trial and error for AI to learn and respond
in appropriate ways to complex situations. As
anyone who has ever been mis-targeted online
knows, precision targeting is no easy feat, even
within the relatively simple world of online
advertising.

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The on demand
economy
‘NOW’ IS THE NEW NORMAL
If next day delivery once seemed impressive, our expectations
are rapidly shifting to encompass same day or even two hour
delivery windows. Flexible workforces enabled by mobile are
springing up to meet the demands of our Uber-fied and Tinder-
fied world.
“Consumers’ expectation that they can get what they want with
ease and speed will continue to rise. This changes fundamental
underpinnings of business”
- Mary Meeker, State of the Internet Report
S U B T R E N D :
V I R T U A L
W O R K F O R C E S
S U B T R E N D :
T H E L A S T M I L E
R E I M A G I N E D

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Virtual
workforces
A new economy is growing up based on fulfilling
the needs of the new on-demand consumer. This
is the Uber model applied across a host of other
industries, creating a flexible, on demand
workforce enabled by mobile and powered by
reputation.

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N O W
“AN UBER FOR…”
The Uber model is expanding across industries,
from drinks to domestic cleaning. Services like
Airtasker match users with trusted local cleaners,
errand runners and handymen, enabling them to
filter by reputation and book a one off or regular
service. On the other end of the spectrum, services
like Tipple and Cocktail Runner will deliver alcohol
to your door in less than an hour.
HEALTHCARE ON DEMAND
A cluster of companies such as 13SICK are
competing to offer healthcare on demand, offering
bulk-billed appointments for an in home consultation
around the clock.
ON DEMAND EMPLOYMENT
In the US, the Wonoloapp offers a glimpse of the
future of hiring and resourcing – sourcing workers in
a matter of hours or even minutes for tasks where
companies have difficulty predicting demand.
In Australia we’re seeing the emergence of some
startups in this space, such as TikForce.

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Virtual
workforces:
in practice
A N U B E R F O R L O S T D O G S
Pedigree has created ‘Pedigree Found’, an app to help
find lost dogs. Owners download the app and create a
profile for their dog.
If their dog gets lost, tapping the alert button inside the
app will immediately generate Google Ad Network banners
acting as instant ‘Lost Dog Posters’ for users in the
surrounding area.
The app was downloaded by 10% of all Auckland dog
owners, with twice as many more people visiting the
mobile web site to check for lost dogs in their area.
An amazing 91% of people who downloaded went on to
register their dog’s details.

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INSTANT GRATIFICATION
The power of mobile means it has never been
easier to match supply and demand. This opens up
a host of new possibilitiesfor brands eager to
surprise and delight their users.
COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST
The peer to peer economy has the power to bring
together communities of interest, not only those
interested in a more transactional relationship.
Services like “Borrow my Doggy” bring together dog
owners with dog lovers in a scenario where
everyone wins.
EVERY BUSINESS IS A SERVICE BUSINESS
In the age of the virtual workforce, any business can
be a service business; employees are no longer a
fixed cost and service design is king. There is a
huge opportunity for brands across categories to
add a service layer to their proposition, such as
Audi’s Unite co-leasing programme.
EMPLOYEES RIGHTS AND STATUS
As Uber have demonstrated, the virtual workforce
raises significant questions about what constitutes
an employee, and what rights and responsibilities
the new virtual economy confers on both workforce
and corporation.
BUILDING A MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL
MARKETPLACE
Virtual marketplaceswork when they work to
everyone’s benefit. It is important to consider the
dynamic from the perspective of both buyers and
sellers, borrowers and lenders, employers and
employees in order to build a vibrant and enduring
community.

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The last mile
reimagined
In order to fulfill the expectation of ever faster and
more responsive deliveries, companies are being
forced to reinvent the last mile, creating new
infrastructure and new business models.

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N O W
ON DEMAND DELIVERY
A host of start ups are competing to reinvent the
click and collect model and enable same day
delivery beyond urban locations. Pass my Parcel
leverages a network of convenience shops to
provide same day delivery to over 3,000 locations in
partnership with Amazon. Doddle provide a network
of stores, linked to commuter hubs, where users
can pick up or return eCommerce deliveries.
RESPONSIVE DELIVERY
In yet another example of the uberification of
everything, Amazon are experimenting with an
“On Demand” workforce, equipped only with their
car and their smartphone, enabling them to meet
ever more demanding timeframes. UberRush are
experimenting with a similarproposition.
RISE OF THE ROBOTS
Whiledelivery drones are beset with safety and
legislative concerns, few are betting against them
for the long term. In the interim, Starship
Technologies are hard at work on their land based
robots – small autonomous vehicles designed to
travel on pavements alongside pedestrians.

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The last mile
reimagined:
in practice
PREMIUM FOOD DELIVERY
Suppertime and Deliveroo have recently launched
in Australia, enabling some of the most
fashionable food outlets in our cities the ability to
deliver to your door in under 30 minutes with just
a few swipes.
When combined with services such as that
offered by Pink Flamingo Pizza in Paris (pizza
delivered in a park to your location marked by a
balloon), the opportunity for impromptu takeout
picnics is obvious.

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NEW PATHS TO PURCHASE
New delivery models open up entirely new paths
to purchase for brands. As new delivery models
proliferate and barriers to entry come down we will
see brands experiment with shorter and shorter
delivery windows, particularly around key peaks
in demand.
FIRST MOVER ADVANTAGE
Data shows that online grocery baskets are often
habitual purchases – shopping lists and favourites
are useful shortcuts. The first brands to experiment
with new models such as Amazon Pantry will gain
a disproportionate advantage from their place in
the list.
CRACKING THE BUSINESS MODEL
Whileone hour delivery windows for everything
from shoes to soap sounds utopian, not every
category will justify a delivery charge when in many
cases a convenience store is within reach. Yet,
looking to the WeChat model, which has proved
successful in China, we see willingnessto invest in
delivery models for relatively low cost purchases –
Durex for example have successfully adopted
WeChat commerce for the Chinese market.
DISPERSED POPULATION
Whilst our international friends enjoy the
opportunities of high density populations, in
Australia they simply set largely unachievable
expectations for consumers.

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Invisible
interfaces
WHEN IS AN INTERFACE NOT AN INTERFACE?
Currently when we think ‘interface’, images of typing on our mobile
phones, laptops and tablets spring to mind. However, this is the tip of
the iceberg when it comes to what an interface can be.
What we understand by an interface will dramatically shift over the
next few years. Force touch, Amazon Dash buttons, voice and facial
recognition mean we are ready for the rise of the invisible interface.
More and more sophisticated interactions, from authentication to
transaction, will take place with minimal conventional interaction.
“You’ve probably heard the argument that for an app to be truly
successful it needs to earn a place on your home screen…. we could
see another whole class of apps that not only don’t need to fight for a
home screen slot, they don’t need to be opened at all to add value.
And that’s interesting.” Matthew Panzarino, TechCrunch.
S U B T R E N D :
M E S S A G I N G A S
A N I N T E R F A C E
S U B T R E N D :
I N V I S I B L E
C O M M E R C E
S U B T R E N D :
T H E R I S E O F
B I O M E T R I C S

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Messaging
as interface
SMS and messaging apps don’t have the complex
UI of other apps. They’re something all of us know
how to use. Increasingly complex interactions are
now being carried out via messaging apps due to
their ubiquity and ease of use.

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N O W
ORDER WITH AN EMOJI
Domino’s famously created a service that allowed
people to order a pizza by simply tweeting a pizza
emoji. This removed the need to login, choose
toppings or even press pay. Using twitter as the
interface was novel but it shows the potential of
using social apps as an interface for transactions
not just communications.
TEXT ME ANYTHING
GET IT ASAP is an SMS based service that will
complete most tasks for a user, over SMS. Want to
order a pizza? Need something picking up? Want a
flight? GET IT ASAP has operators available that
will complete a task over SMS. The next frontier
(see the Virtual Companions trend) will be to begin
to apply machine learning to these kinds of
services.
TRANSACT WITH A MESSAGE
The WeChat messaging app in China is a glimpse
into the future of messaging as an interface. Users
can interact with multiple other brands via “Official
Accounts” without leaving the WeChat app. They
are able to access the core functionality of those
brands – e.g. book a taxi or order food – within
WeChat and with full access to their WeChat Wallet.
Facebook and Google’s experiments with peer to
peer payment via messagingsuggests real potential
within this space across multiple platforms.

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SCALE
Messenger apps have huge built in audiences using
them, be it Facebook messenger or Whatsapp. This
will allow brands to reach audiences at scale,
without the cost of building an audience for an
owned platform.
SIMPLICITY
Messaging apps are ingrained in their users’ daily
habits. They are effortless to use, and constantly at
the user’s fingertips making transaction as effortless
as possible.
CONTEXT
Messaging platforms have huge contextual
understanding of their users – where they are, who
they know, how they’re feeling. This creates an
opportunity for uber (pun intended) relevant
targeting, with the opportunity for each transaction
or interaction to capture further data and build ever
more sophisticated targeting, albeit within a “walled
garden” environment.
THE MESSENGER ARMS RACE
From SMS, to whatsapp, to Facebook messenger,
to wechat, there are a number of players in the
market with significant user numbers. One of the
key challenges for brands will be understanding the
role of multiple platforms and which platforms will
triumph against which audience segments and use
cases.
OWNING CUSTOMER DATA
As with any retail platform, data ultimatelybelongs
to the retailer – in this case, the messaging app.
The challenge will be to broker partnerships where
the app is willing to open up audience insight to
brands.

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Invisible
commerce
Commerce as we know it will be transformed.
Contactless payments have already created a step
change in our comfort levels with new interfaces.
A host of new technologies promise to make
secure payment as frictionless as taking a selfie, or
walking out the door.

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AUTO REPLENISHMENT
Amazon’s Dash Button and subscription-based
services are now old news, but signposted the
beginning of a trend oriented around convenience
and it’s a theme throughout this report. With the rise
of connected homes, it’s not hard to see how
subscriptions and items like Amazon’s Dash will
soon not be manually operated or time based, but
rather triggered on actual usage.
PROXIMITY PAYMENTS
From PayPal’s beacons to ApplePay’s NFC to
Uniqul’s facial recognition software, cashless,
location-based payments are on the up and a
logical continuation of the convenience theme.
Moreover, they present a range of opportunities for
retailers looking to offer speed of service and slick
customer experiences.
N O W F U R T H E R O U T

37
FEWER BARRIERS TO TRANSACTION
Abandoned shopping carts are a challenge for
every business, online and offline. When transaction
becomes as effortless as swiping a wristband or
pushing a button, opportunities for users to drop out
of the path to purchase are dramatically reduced.
INTEGRATING THE ON AND OFFLINE USER
EXPERIENCES
New technologies such as Facebook’s Atlas
Platform make it increasingly possible to recognise
users across devices. The ubiquity of mobile in
store, the advent of beacon technology and the rise
of new interfaces will make it increasingly possible
to recognise the user across on and offline
channels, building a continuous dialogue across
channels and devices.
CONSUMER ADOPTION
It remains to be seen how comfortable users will be
with new interfaces when it comes to transaction.
The phased acceleration of contactless payment
has helped mitigate concerns but it remains to be
seen whether users will find a degree of friction
reassuring when it comes to payment.

38
The rise of
biometrics
Just as we have been moving beyond the mouse
and keyboard since 2007, we are now starting to
move away from the touchscreen interfaces of our
mobile phones. New ways to interact are opening
up which take more of our senses into account:
voice, facial recognition, even smell and taste.

39
N O W
FACIAL RECOGNITION
L’Oreal have experimented with smart vending
machines which map users’ features and enable
them to virtually try on new cosmetics. If they like
the look, they can purchase then and there.
Meanwhile, Listerine Mouthwash have created a
smile detector app designed to notify visually
impaired users when someone is smiling at them.
PAY WITH A SELFIE
Mastercard are rolling out a “pay by selfie” feature
that allows retailers to verify an online shopper’s
identity using a picture of their face. The
functionality will be available in the US by mid 2016,
and in the rest of the world by 2017. In parallel,
Halifax are experimenting with a bank account you
unlock with your heartbeat.
BODY AS AN INPUT
One of the big challenges with buying clothing
online is knowing if it will fit your body type. A range
of technology providers are springing up to tackle
this problem by allowing users to scan in their body
types and create a ‘size passport’ that travels
across the internet with them.

40
The rise of
biometrics:
in practice
A T O V O I C E I D E N T I F I C A T I O N
The Australian Tax Office has begun using voice
biometrics to identify people calling the
department with plans to roll the technology out to
the service’s App in the near future.
The projected impact of the technology is a
reduction of around 75,000 hours per year in call
times.
From a customer service perspective though, it’s
not just a matter of time. Callers no longer need to
remember passwords or other forms of
identification for a service they don’t frequently
use.

41
MORE INNOVATIVE AND
INTUITIVE INTERFACES
Being able to interact with brands in more than one
way opens up new commercial and creative
opportunities across all media. Imagine being able
to order from a billboard with a smile, or pay with a
song.
NEW DIMENSIONS IN BRANDING
Typically we have thought of branding in two
dimensions: audio and visual cues. The new world
of biometric interfaces opens up a new world of
branding opportunities, prompting us to think about
the rhythm, texture and ergonomics of a brand in a
world where consumers can touch, and be touched
by, brands in ways never before possible.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
As interfaces become increasingly intimate, privacy
concerns will inevitably arise. As alarming is it may
be to feel passwords or email data is vulnerable, our
biometric data feels more private and precious still.
DEMONSTRATING UTILITY
Whilebiometric interfaces feel innovative and
attention grabbing, demonstrating genuine utility will
be important in securing long term adoption (versus
one off gimmicks). A real opportunity does seem to
exist in categories where face to face interaction
would once have been vital-beauty or skincare
consulting, trying on clothes, etc.

42
The new
storytelling
EMOTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Storytelling remains at the heart of everything we do as
marketers. New technologies are opening up new ways to tell
those stories, and new narrative opportunities.
In the world of programmatic, the opportunity is to see data as a
new canvas for storytelling, experimenting with new, non linear
and personalised stories at a scale never before possible. As
Google’s Ben Jones puts it:
“Data is waiting for its Scorsese”
More broadly, we must begin to think of a brand narrative as
something that lives across every touchpoint – where commerce,
packaging and delivery are not interruptions to the story but
opportunities for the story to reach its climax.
S U B T R E N D :
D A T A D R I V E N
N A R R A T I V E S
S U B T R E N D :
N E W N A R R A T I V E
T O U C H P O I N T S

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Data driven
narratives
Programmatic at its simplest is about marrying
context and content to deliver more personal,
relevant messages. We see 2016 being the year in
which data and creativity come together, to create
new models and opportunities for storytelling.

44
N O W
RESPONSIVE CREATIVE
The last 18 months have seen the rise of
responsive creative, reacting in real time to real
world events. On a global scale, this was most
obvious during 2014 World Cup activities, where
smart brands such as Adidas and Nike responded
in real time to events on the pitch and served up
relevant copy to joyous or despondent fans. In
Australia, Isobar have worked with Holden to create
responsive social content during NRL matches.
DYNAMIC STORYTELLING
Few brands have as yet grasped the potential of
programmatic as a new canvas for telling brand
stories. Yet the opportunity is ripe for personalised
narratives, narratives played out in different ways to
different audiences, narratives pieced together by
fans. The “Lost my Name” book is a superb
example of the power of technology to deliver
personalised narratives offline - how long before we
see its equivalent online?
DATA DRIVES ALL MEDIA
More and more channels are now available to buy
programmatically, from TV to Outdoor. This opens
up the opportunity to bring data driven context to
every creative interaction. Imagine a billboard that
alters its messaging based on weather, time of day,
your gender or the data stored on your phone?
Whiledynamic messaging based on facial
recognition has been trialed to great impact in a few
cases, expect responsive creative to become much
more widespread.

45
Data driven
narratives:
in practice
S E E K G E T S D Y N A M I C
Together with Isobar, SEEK have been exploring the
boundaries in creativity and programmatic.
Six industries within the SEEK target market were
identified, offering more than 70 different creative
permutations in all.
It’s early days for the campaign however results to
date are very strong, providing an early indication of
where we might be able to go in the near future with
personalised ads.
The promise of the internet allowing one to one
communications may yet become a reality.

46
PERSONALISATION AT SCALE
The tension between making the most of data and
targeting opportunities while delivering at scale has
been a challenge for many brands, particularly in
the FMCG category. The opportunity going forward
is to deliver personal relevance with no loss of
reach.
A NEW CREATIVE MEDIUM
Programmatic offers brands new ways to stretch
their creative muscle. Seek is just one example, but
it is relatively straightforward in its approach despite
the many variations. We predict 2016 will be the
year when brands begin to use this canvas to
deliver completely new kinds of narrative.
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
Although agencies will seek to find ways to deliver
more assets more cost efficiently, inevitably multiple
copy variations means increased cost. The question
will be: when does the cost outweigh the benefit? Is
the increased personal relevance (and likely impact
on conversion) delivered by dynamic copy worth the
increased cost? And how many variations prove
effective before diminishing returns set in?
BRINGING DATA AND CREATIVITY TOGETHER
Great storytellers are not often great number
crunchers and vice versa. The challenge (and
opportunity) will be to bring these diverse skillsets
together in ways that inspire rather than intimidate.

47
New narrative
opportunities
As the gap between moments of inspiration and
moments of transaction shortens, we must think
not just about how to enable effortless transaction
but how to ensure every touchpoint is an
opportunity to build brand equity.

48
N O W
PACKAGING AS NARRATIVE
Mast Brothers have built an extraordinary narrative
around their “bean to bar” chocolate, a narrative
made tangible through it’s quirky, covetable
packaging. That narrative has recently come under
scrutiny, with questions around provenance
demonstrating the importance of authenticity and
transparency.
RETAIL AS NARRATIVE
Starbucks understand better than anyone the
importance of building a compelling, integrated
narrative across their stores. Not only does their
mobile ordering app form an indelible link between
online and offline brand experiences, capturing rich
cross channel user data, their “Starbucks Reserve”
stores capture the authentic theatre of coffee
making.
DELIVERY AS NARRATIVE
Whilefew brands have a clearly differentiated
delivery proposition today, the Net a Porter group
have long lead the way. With same day delivery, the
ability to schedule free returns, iconic packaging
and slicklysuited delivery teams the experience
embodies the brand from start to finish. Similarly
Ocado, having built a clear delivery proposition (and
technology infrastructure) are expanding far beyond
their origins in grocery.

49
New narrative
opportunities:
in practice
L Y R I C C O K E
Isobar China partnered with Coca-Cola to turn every
bottle of Coke into a conversation starter.
Each bottle featured a QR code that could be
scanned to activate a short music clip – a “musicon”
as the agency put it. Those short clips featured fun,
playful lyrics that users could then share on
WeChat.
The animated musical clips were designed
specifically to be shareable in social media, and to
leverage WeChat’s QR code scanner, making every
bottle of Coke a social object that extended the
brand narrative of fun and shareability.

50
EVERYTHING BRANDS, EVERYTHING SELLS
Opportunities to connect everything from packaging
to stores in a seamless digitally enabled journey
enables brands to tell a connected brand story at
every touchpoint.
CONSISTENCY AT EVERY TOUCHPOINT
As the number of brand touchpoints proliferates,
and the number of third parties involved expands,
ensuring a consistent and distinctive narrative at
every touchpoint will become challenging.
Brands will need to identify key points in the journey
which become signature experiences - opportunities
for them to surprise and delight.

51
The world of brand commerce
is enabled by a number of
technologies we’ve explored
T H E R I S E
E C O N O M Y
not an interface?
T H E N E W

Isobar 2016 Trend Report: Australian Edition

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Isobar 2016 Trend Report: Australian Edition