Our predictions for 2013

by Stratton Craig

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2012 is nearly over, and a brand new year is upon us. Unfortunately, we won’t be having any special dates in 2013 – 13/13/13 is both impossible and incredibly unlucky (some would say) – but there’s still plenty to look forward to. We’re looking into our crystal ball and making some bold predictions for the year ahead.

  • More new words: the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year for 2012 was ‘omnishambles’, coined on political comedy The Thick Of It. As a result of the Olympics, the verbs ‘to medal’ and ‘to podium’ are also new additions to our language. Our favourite phrase – ‘mouse potato’ – has been around since 1993, but we’re hoping that there’ll be plenty more new and amazing words in the dictionary by this time next year.
     
  • Yet another Google algorithm update with a cute name: We’ve already had Penguin and Panda in 2012, both of which have significantly changed search rankings and how companies use SEO. It’s unlikely that 2013 will pass without a new update – Platypus, maybe? Or Porcupine? Possibly both. The effect on website rankings will also be very interesting to see.
     
  • Dual-screen content for multi-taskers: To bridge the gap between television, computer and the mobile phone, dual-screen ads are set to be big. Brands such as Rimmel are already running timed mobile promos whilst their ads are on the TV to drive engagement. Having two screens to work with should help marketers and copywriters get more creative – in theory, double the media channels equals double the impact.
     
  • The mobile ad boom: As tablets and smartphones become the norm, the rise of mobile over PC has been predicted for years but not quite reached its peak. We reckon 2013 might well be the time. It’s estimated that around 10% of global internet traffic is now mobile, and that 40% of adults use their device to update social media, so it’s rapidly becoming the weapon of choice for savvy net users.

We’ve no doubt this will be only the beginning of the 2013 tale.  Hope you all have a fantastic festive break in the meantime!

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