Vibrant, yet mellow PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment. An animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge.

In reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, we are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy. Sociable and spirited, the engaging nature of PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral welcomes and encourages lighthearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits, PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral embodies our desire for playful expression.

Representing the fusion of modern life, PANTONE Living Coral is a nurturing color that appears in our natural surroundings and at the same time, displays a lively presence within social media.

PANTONE 16-1546 Living Coral emits the desired, familiar, and energizing aspects of color found in nature. In its glorious, yet unfortunately more elusive, display beneath the sea, this vivifying and effervescent color mesmerizes the eye and mind. Lying at the center of our naturally vivid and chromatic ecosystem, PANTONE Living Coral is evocative of how coral reefs provide shelter to a diverse kaleidoscope of color.

Consumers will expect even more from advertising.

The content will need to be increasingly honest, relate-able and contextually relevant in order to help shift perceptions. With the continual evolution of in-stream ad products, the need for strong content will only increase. Brands producing content that feels taxing will fail, while others who understand the platforms for which they’re creating content will thrive, gain consumer trust and achieve social currency. The key here will be the shift away from the mindset of content as a window-to-window strategy and more as a perpetual way of speaking to the consumer through different lenses.

Art and design will continue to be a strong part of every aspect of advertising, but there will be an increased emphasis on data to help drive creative decisions.

The combination of science, art and design will be used to test and learn to see what resonates. This methodology will increasingly become the primary way ‘big bet’ creative decisions are made, specifically in the form of video advertising. … Creative direction will be less focused on driving traffic back to a single destination, but rather on a holistic but distributed approach where many pieces of content are adapted to reach people where they are, specific to the devices that they’re using.

The big shift will be thinking about the future and the new technology that allows marketers to tell their story in unique ways. Through this, there may be older forms of ad models that are reinvented, but the focus will be on the new mediums and how they can best be utilized.

There will be an increased awareness that there needs to be an adaption of the insight for the platform, which means that marketers will increasingly rely on creatives to be experts in all aspects of the evolving social space.

Below are 8 interesting digital marketing stats posted recently posted in AdWeek.

1. Facebook users are becoming lurkers.
34% of Facebook users posted a status update during the third quarter (according to GlobalWebIndex) – meaning 66% didn’t post one at all during a three-month period. Down from 50% of users updating their Facebook statuses during the same period the year before.

2. Social network usage is on the rise.
Facebook users were using an average of 2.5 social networks in 2012, that number has since increased to 4.3 social networks. (according to a recent GlobalWebIndex report)

3. YouTube vs. Facebook.
200,000 consumers were interviewed across 34 markets for its Q3 study. While Facebook has the biggest worldwide membership of any social platform, it is not the most-visited social platform – YouTube is. YouTube is No. 1 for visitation, with 81%  of respondents having gone to the video platform at least once last quarter compared to Facebook’s 80%. (again, according to a recent GlobalWebIndex report)

4. Wearables usage to double.
By the end of this year, 39.5 million U.S. adults will have utilized wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, a 58%  jump over last year, according to data from eMarketer, which expects wearables usage to more than double by 2018 to 81.7 million users.

5. A good review is important.
41% of those surveyed by Social Media Link say it takes between one and four digital product reviews to get them to buy.

6. Are we addicted to our smartphones?
58% of Gen Y consumers consider themselves to be addicted to their smartphones. The company’s mobile-minded report also said that 66% of millennials are likely to contact a business by placing a call versus 22% who are likely to use social media. (Invoca report)

7. A note from Wall Street.
Mobile might be the future of marketing, but Wall Street could be more impressed. “Mobile Internet” stocks were down 15% during the third quarter. (recent Digi-Capital report)

8. Cookies are more than a snack.
When asked what their single most important source of data for insights creation will be two years from now, 30% of clients and 27% of suppliers chose “consumer-specific data collected passively.” The most common example for “passive data” is the use of cookies on a consumer’s computer to capture Internet browsing history. (GfK and the Institute for International Research (IIR) surveyed more than 700 market researchers  and suppliers)

If you are interested in hearing more digital marketing stats & how they might apply to your business’ bottom-line be sure to contact us.

Pantone’s 2015 Color of the Year will be Marsala:
A naturally robust and earthy wine red.

Designers always eagerly await Pantone’s December announcement of its Color of the Year, predicting which hue will be ubiquitous in the year ahead.

The executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, Leatrice Eiseman, further elaborates:
“While PANTONE 18-3224 Radiant Orchid, the captivating 2014 color of the year, encouraged creativity and innovation, Marsala enriches our mind, body and soul, exuding confidence and stability. Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal, while its grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness. This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.”