According to Forbes, in comparison to recent history, 2013 is going to be a year filled with atypical marketing strategies. Lately, we as consumers have been bombarded with flashy, over-stimulating and often confusing commercials and constantly haunted by over used social media messaging. However, in their recent article “5 Surprising Marketing Trends for 2013” Forbes is predicting a break from these tactics. Along with simplifying marketing strategies and streamlining social media use, the article also suggests trends of moving away from campaign based marketing, improving mobile marketing strategies, and also working towards evaluating marketing efficiency based on revenue generation. The trend of cutting back on social media presence I believe will be a welcome one from both sides in the buyer and seller relationship. Social media provides a huge platform for marketing, however, for companies it is exhausting trying to keep up with the most popular sites in the ever-changing online world. Also, it is frustrating as a viewer of these internet marketing tactics to see the amount of overlap that is currently going on due to products trying to be everywhere at once online. The idea of progressing more into the mobile marketing sector I found fairly surprising. The popularity and sales of smartphones have grown exponentially over the past few years and according to Forbes marketing teams are just now trying to catch up and fully implement this area of consumer interest into their overall long term strategies. The trend I find not only the most interesting but also the most necessary is the idea of trying to simplify marketing tactics. As the article discusses it is not only important to move towards a more straightforward marketing strategy but also to focus on showing us, as customers, how the products can simplify our individual experiences. A few years ago Google came out with a commercial that I feel utilizes the idea of “less is more” when portraying their message through advertising and provides evidence on how their service can help us navigate through everyday situations. Hopefully, as predicted by Forbes and as seen in the Google Ad I’ve attached, more companies will decide to focus on simplicity in 2013, and promote their products in a way that will not add to the continuous sensory overload that we have been experiencing over the past few years.

(video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS4Lb-ie4Lc

(article)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/01/23/5-surprising-marketing-trends-for-2013/

In the technology drivenworld we live in today, we all question whether or not privacy is still a relevant concern for companies when it comes to the well-being of their consumers. The recent scandal involving Apple’s iPhone tracking system not only brings about questions of if privacy is a priority for businesses anymore, but also how issues like this should be approached and responded to, both by the consumers and the companies involved. Something I feel both aided in causing this privacy breach issue and also allowed it to escalate and perpetuate further was Apple’s secrecy surrounding the data collection and their inability to respond quickly to concerned product owners. It is important for consumers to not only be able to trust the physical product but also the company behind it and Apple has lost some of this trust due to not handling the scandal in a timely fashion. Because privacy is such a sensitive topic when it comes to products such as phones and computers where people expect their personal information to be safe, Apple’s lengthy response time comes off asbeing uncaring. As a consumer, I believe we cannot let companies get away with hiding these types of facts from us. When you think about everything you keep on these devices such as addresses, emails, and even banking related codes and information, it becomes obvious why there has been such a strong reaction to this tracking and data collection issue. Besides those, however, the shear disregard for personal privacy understandably angers the consumers who have committed to supporting Apple through purchasing their products. Going forward Apple must show empathy for the issues that came about due to this location tracking scandal and be more committed in the future about offering clear and prompt explanations to its consumers.

http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/27/apple-location-response/