For the final time in 2019, Zone’s Ross Basham handpicks and shares the five best stories on digital trends, experiences and technologies…
1. Facebook dominates most downloaded apps
It may not come as a huge surprise, but Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for world domination has gone pretty well over the past decade. According to app tracker App Annie, Facebook owns the four most downloaded apps of the past 10 years: Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, with Snapchat in fifth and Twitter languishing in 10th.
Each of those Facebook platforms boasts more than a billion users, and this kind of data dominance has led to calls for greater control from the UK’s competition regulator this week. It raised concerns that the people using these apps may not be in control of their data (spoiler: we’re not).
2. Pandora opens box on ads that talk back
Streaming platform Pandora has developed an ad format that allows consumers to answer back. The format stems from Voice Mode, Pandora’s hands-free tech for drivers and means marketers can buy ads that encourage users to have a dialogue with a piece of audio creative.
This instinctively makes me wince, but Pandora believes that the rise in popularity of voice assistants means consumers would enjoy interacting with ads in the same way. But it will require a behavioural shift, as up until now listening to or streaming ads has been a passive activity. Given time, could it become an active one?
3. Instagram invites offenders to reconsider
Instagram is rolling out a new AI feature that warns users before they post a potentially offensive caption. If your caption has an offensive word in it, the AI flags it, and warns you that it “looks similar to others that have been reported”. You then have the option to edit, ‘learn more’ or share it regardless.
The feature is unlikely to stop someone who wants to post something really offensive — after all, they are writing it with the intention of upsetting someone. Nonetheless, it’s good to see Instagram making an effort to curb online bullying and if it does makesome posters reconsider their choice of words, it’s a worthwhile venture.
4. Away Resorts selects Zone to realise vision
Today’s customers have more choices than ever before, which means that the customer experience offered by companies has to be as good as, if not better, than the product itself. With that in mind, leading UK holiday park operator Away Resorts has appointed Zone as its lead web design and build agency.
Founded in 2009, Away Resorts currently has six resorts in the UK and has a long-term vision of becoming a £1bn operator. Digital marketing manager Jamie Griffin commented: “Zone showed great understanding of our brand, and we know they are the right agency to build such an integral part of how the consumer encounters us, as we go into a new and exciting phase of the business.”
5. Glitter stinkbomb flushes out porch pirates
At this time of year, there’s nothing more frustrating than getting home to find a delivery note, only to realise that the package itself has disappeared from your doorstep. So kudos to the former Nasa engineer who has built an exploding glitter bomb (complete with camera) to deter ‘porch pirates’ from nabbing your pressies.
Mark Rober’s original glitter bomb went viral on YouTube last year, but the 2019 version is apparently even smellier and features a police soundtrack. The new videoeven features Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin, who was the original inspiration for the project. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!
