State of public discourse: An Executive Summary

Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com

TRENDS 2014/2015 What the culture creators want you to know: An executive summary

This document provides an executive summary of the key findings

from our most recent trends report titled “State of Public Discourse,”

detailing emerging trends in culture, and more specifically, trends in

four industry verticals - Automotive, Healthcare, Entertainment and

Telecommunications. To arrive at the conclusions below, our research team examined

over 20,000 conversations on reddit.com, covering a range of topics such as politics,

brands, pop culture, cars, technology, pharmaceuticals, food, entertainment,

telecommunications, etc.

Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators � 1

Source: WanderingtheWorld (www.ChrisFord.com)

Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com

3 TRENDS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT

!1 - Individualism is desired, and celebrated.

Individual autonomy and expression are highly valued. Brands, organizations, and things

that allow people to express themselves, and establish niche and often bookish

connections with others in the community, will be loved and celebrated.

For example, audiences expound an incredible amount of effort uncovering hidden plot

lines and character ‘tells’ as a way to express their identities as fans of the show ‘Breaking

Bad’.

!2 - Fairness is expected.

An assessment of fairness is now a critical ingredient in the evaluation of brands and

organizations and audiences will proactively dig up information about a brand of interest

to assess for themselves the fairness with which a brand conducts its business.

Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators � 2

Source: Daquella manera

Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com

For example, the “big three” telecommunications firms in Canada are constantly criticized

for their unfair trade practices – from price fixing to bad customer service, consumers are

constantly left frustrated and disappointed.

3 - Innovation is required.

Everyone (from celebrities to brands)

is constantly expected to innovate as

it is now the minimum requirement

to keep audiences interested.

Importantly, those that leverage

science to innovate and in the

process improve upon existing

systems will be looked upon with

great favourability.

For example, Tesla Motors is

considered the standard for

innovation in the automotive sector because of its pursuit of uncompromising excellence

in producing electric cars (while the competition creates electric cars that require one to

compromise on speed and performance).

!!!!

Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators � 3

Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com

IMPLICATIONS FOR YOUR BRAND OR ORGANIZATION !

CONCLUSION !Audiences use belief and value systems as a way to connect with people, brands, and

things on the Internet. Understanding these value systems can go a long way in

understanding where a brand fits in the context of a larger conversation and, more

importantly, whether there might be opportunities to authentically engage audiences with

conversations that go well beyond a discussion of products, their features and benefits.

Interested in knowing more about your audience?

Feel free to contact us at [email protected].

1 Examine your brand’s relationship to the identified trends and pinpoint the areas of strength and weakness. Then, consider answering two questions: !• What specific initiatives will allow you to play to your strengths and allow a deeper and more

emotional connection with your audience? • Are there opportunities to introduce new communication programs, formats, or even

channels that can address some of the identified weaknesses?

2 Consider the most pressing issues within your vertical today. Now, think about what your organization/brand can do to address those issues, through the values lens, and maybe even lead discourse in the industry!

3 Don’t neglect the geeks! Find those people within your organization who really embody the brand, the product or service in question. Give them an opportunity to have authentic dialogue with brand fans who will be excited by the opportunity to “geek out” over what you do today, and what you can do in the future.

4 Think about the overall set of values that guide your own organization, its operations and even marketing. Are there points of alignment between organizational values and the emerging values identified in this report? If so, what can you do to further communicate this marriage in values to the marketplace, and build a closer relationship with your publics?

Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators � 4

Trends 2014/2015: Executive Summary SONIC BOOM & reddit.com

APPENDIX: OUR APPROACH !For years, we’ve looked at the real world for

clues on where our culture is headed –

fashion, art, music, television and more

provide direction on changing consumer

perceptions and needs.

Today, it’s a very different scenario. An

increasingly active online audience that

spends more time on the web, than it does

offline, means we now have an incredibly

rich pool of online data to understand the

evolving nature of people, their

perceptions of, and expectations from

brands.

Sonic Boom’s Trend Forecasting team looks

at thousands of these online conservations

across a range of themes such as

corporations, governments and people, and

forecasts emerging trends and value

systems across culture, and across specific

verticals (from Healthcare to Automotive

and even Quick Service Restaurants).

To achieve this, Sonic Boom leverages an exclusive partnership with

reddit.com - the most influential online community existing today, with over 7.5 Million

Canadian visitors - made up of artists, technologists, early adopters, geeks and culture

creators. reddit.com is so persuasive in our culture that in an attempt to influence public

opinion, it has attracted people such as Bill Gates, Barack Obama and Chris Hadfield, to

engage the community in meaningful discourse.

Trends defined by the internet’s culture creators � 5

Source: kagey_b