Luca Della Dora, Marketing & Innovation Director at We Are Social, Italy recently returned from the 2016 TNW Europe conference. Here are his top 5 takeouts.

1. Curiosity Stop:
The Social Innovation Roundup
TNW Europe Conference 2016 Special
June 2016

2. CURIOSITY STOP
‘Social Thinking’ is understanding how and why people communicate. We use this insight
to provide value for our clients. This understanding is an ongoing passion project for
We Are Social.
Our global team of 550 keep a keen eye out for intriguing changes in the social
landscape. We take the best of these innovations and compile them in the monthly
Curiosity Stop.
You’ll see some examples which prove our social trendspotting, and others which
indicate what might happen next. But if you look really closely, you might catch a
glimpse into the future of how and why we use social.
This Curiosity Stop Special focuses on the most interesting topics discussed during TNW
Europe 2016. We sat through hours of fascinating talks and distilled them into this
handy presentation, just for you. We hope you enjoy it.

3. Curiosity Stop >
TNW Europe
The 2016 edition of TNW Europe has just come to a close. Gary
Vaynerchuk described it as “unbelievable, f*cking awesome,” and I pretty
much agree with him. And it’s not just because of the beautiful location, or
because of the unexpected sun that shone on Amsterdam, nor was it for
the hectolitres of beers (but, honestly... those factors all helped).
We departed from Milan in a massive delegation of people from different
departments: myself from the Marketing & Innovation team, Bruno Tecci
(Strategy Director), Alessandro Sciarpelletti (Editorial Director), Giorgio
Marziani De Paolis (Technology Director), Sandro Amabili (Senior Account
Director), Sara De Mattia (Account Director) and our Managing Directors
(Gabriele Cucinella, Stefano Maggi and Ottavio Nava).
We’ve come back from Amsterdam with a lot of interesting stuff to share
with our colleagues (and, of course, you), and I hope you enjoy our picks.
Luca Della Dora
Marketing & Innovation Director, Milan, We Are Social

4. #1 Mobile is the new television >
Our attention spans are a battlezone. We are now exposed
to a huge volume of content. It doesn’t matter if it’s
content produced by brands, by publishers or by our
friends and family: all these pieces of content compete
with each other on different platforms, at the same time.

5. #1 Mobile is the new television >
Gary Vaynerchuk (Vaynermedia) | An entrepreneur’s look on
leadership
What’s it all about?
People are confused about the value that platforms like Snapchat are able
to generate for business. Social media and mobile have changed people’s
behavior and brands’ approach: Mobile devices have re-shaped the way
people access and consume content and information. Just as TV took over
from radio, now mobile is taking its place. Snapchat, Instagram and
Facebook are the new BBC, CBS and CNN. We know these platforms and
we create shows for these channels, not for TV or radio.
The bigger picture
It’s more important than ever to understand the context and what you
need to focus on to get people’s attention in an effective way. It’s not
about building giant communities anymore, it’s about gaining people’s
attention and loyalty long-term.

6. #2 Build products that matter >
“A product that matters is a product that people truly want
to use.”
Facebook builds and releases lots of products - including
platform features. It created a framework starting from
a simple principle: a product succeeds because it
solves a problem for people.
The first step is understanding what problem
to solve, and for whom.
Basic? Probably. Crucial? Definitely.

7. #2 Build products that matter >
Julie Zhuo (Facebook) | Building with creative confidence:
what to always ask in a product review
What’s it all about?
Julie shared with the audience the framework used at Facebook
to build products that matter.
This framework is essentially three hard questions:
- What problem are we trying to solve?
- How do we know this is a real problem?
- How will we know if we’ve solved this problem?
She chose a couple of Facebook products - Facebook Live and
Groups Suggestions - and shared how they perfectly fit in this
framework.
The bigger picture
While years ago measuring and analysing results was a separate
activity in the building process, today it must be part of the
framework. Also, being very honest while using a framework is
essential to making it work.

8. #3 Machine Learning >
We are now living in the age we have watched for
decades in movies, and read about in science fiction
books. This is the age in which machines are able to
learn and to adapt their reactions to new information.
The good news is that it’s something that will improve
people’s experiences and will be able to create
efficiency in what we do in our everyday lives.
And this is just the embryonic stage.

9. #3 Machine Learning >
Werner Vogels (Amazon) | Does AI make Apps Evil? –
Create smart applications with Machine Learning
What’s it all about?
The best way to predict the future is to use data from the past. Data based
predictions are not magic. Machine learning automatically finds patterns in
your data, and uses them to make predictions which can help you narrow
down the infinite choices available to you.
● Choice comes with its challenges. The more choices you have, the
less likely you are to choose. The more choices you have, the
more unhappy you will be with your choice. Data generated
personalisation helps to reduce your choices and make life easier.
● Your data + Machine learning = Smarter applications
● One particular area of machine learning that is relevant for
consumers is personalisation.
● You can use it to inform your business.
The bigger picture
The current opportunity is to use machine learning as a service, an open
platform you can customise for image classification, object detection,
segmentation, logistics and so on. There has never been a better time to
build smart applications.

10. #4 The “local news” effect >
Social media offers the opportunity to be informed in
real time about anything that happens in the world, but
people tend to give more importance to what hits closer
to home, geographically and culturally.
Social networks have the potential to change this
behavior, but often they tend to amplify it, because we
are influenced by what the people closest to us are
talking about.

11. #4 The “local news” effect >
Ethan Zuckerman (MIT Media) | 12 billion voices: What if the
entire world goes on social media
What’s it all about?
Think about what we’re used to talking about. Analysing digital and social
conversations about the Syrian refugee crisis, the majority were focused on
ourselves and local impacts, not about those directly affected. By 2100 there
will be between 9 and 12 billion people on the planet, who will take billions of
pictures and share what is happening in their lives. But, actually, we will keep
watching the world through the lens of what already matters for us, of what
we already know. This is a counter-evolutionary strategy.
We have the potential for unprecedented levels of connection, but media and
social are getting more and more local. Why? 1. it’ s cheaper; 2. people like it
most. The sociological reason for that is Homophily.
The bigger picture
Social media wants us to reinforce our existing ties, and we are locked by
language and culture. But for the biggest global problems to be addressed, we
need a global approach. If you are a connector, you have a higher chance
of having good ideas. Social media give us the opportunity to change our
behaviour or to reinforce the natural tendency to be local: it is up to us.
Ask the media you use to tell stories from around the world, to build
tools that help us to discover (take a look at the Global Voices project).

12. #5 Culture > Words >
Our attention span is now about 5 seconds: that’s why we
are trading accuracy for speed.
GIFs enable us to respond to this change: they allow us to
express ourselves in a faster way and to be emotionally
involved by immediate content.
The popularity of GIFs is not just related to
social media or to the internet, but more to the way
in which we communicate as human beings.

13. #5 Culture > Words >
Adam Leibsohn (Giphy) | GIFS. What will this lead to?
What’s it all about?
Giphy’s mission is to make everything move, and GIFs are the most
effective way to do that. But why? Think about the impact that visual
content has compared to words. From a human perspective, seeing
comes before words, not just when we are babies, but throughout
our lives. We think visually, not in paragraphs, and GIFs are able
to spread emotions instantly, and with less effort. Our culture is now
influenced by tons of different events, people and situations. Words
are now replaced by emotions associated to them. Shorter pieces of
content are the best solution to gain our attention and communicate
in a more emotional way.
The bigger picture
Content has become our culture, and what we’re finding out is
that culture is more effective than words, because now we have all
the technology and all the devices to share them instantly.

14. Mobile Is The New Television
An Entrepreneur’s Look On Leadership
Build Products That Matter
Building With Creative Confidence: What To Always Ask In A Product Review
Machine Learning
Does AI Make Apps Evil? Create Smart Applications With Machine Learning
The “Local News” Effect
12 Billion Voices: What If The Entire World Goes On Social Media
Culture > Words
GIFs. What Will This Lead To?

15. WE ARE SOCIAL
We Are Social is a global agency with offices in five continents
(Antarctica is a little too chilly for our liking).
We deliver world-class creative ideas with forward-thinking brands, and have fun doing it.
Our clients include adidas, Google and Netflix.
As an international team of 550+, our passion is people.
Our mission is to put social thinking at the centre of marketing.
Trendspotting might get us unnaturally excited, but what really counts is action.
If you'd like to speak to We Are Social about how to make innovation work for your brand,
email us at talktous@wearesocial.net