Floor 9

Welcome back to Floor 9! This week, hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Christina from our strategy team and special guest Dan Clark, CEO of Brain.fm, to talk about technology-induced anxiety. Taking from the last trend, The Age of Anxiety, from our Outlook 2020 trend report, the lab team and Dan discussed in depth on how technology and its many implications are causing us an increased level of anxiety, and what brands can do in response to this prevailing phenomenon. 

In this episode:

• Slacking off: a new recurring segment where Lab members pick their favorite news items from our hyper-active Slack channels
• Christina — BTS previewing new single on TikTok
• Adam & Scott — HQ Trivia shutting down
• Dan — “unescapable political news”
• How we have entered the Age of Anxiety and its main causes, including overwhelming content choice and rising privacy concerns
• How Brain.fm has been using AI to apply neuroscience to help people focus and relax
• What brands can do in response to the rising level of consumer anxiety and help them assuage it and build connections 
• Floor 9 Mailbag: a new audience Q&A section — submit your questions on Twitter @ipglab
• We laugh about the disparate methods we all use to fall asleep 

Slacking Off Links 

BTS’s TikTok preview [Billboard]

HQ Trivia’s last episode [YouTube]

Read more about the Age of Anxiety in our Outlook 2020 trend report

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Welcome back to the renovated Floor 9! This week, hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Christina from our strategy team to unveil the trends featured in our upcoming annual Outlook report! We are also testing a few fun additions to the show that we think you’ll enjoy. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!

Outlook 2020 trend report. Made by the IPG Media Lab.  

In this episode:

• Slacking off: a new recurring segment where Lab members picks their favorite news items from our hyper-active Slack channels
• Outlook 2020 preview: the Race to the Next Platform
• High-level preview of Outlook trends: Democratized Creativity, Ambient Computing, Algorithmic Culture, and The Age of Anxiety
• Floor 9 Mailbag: a new audience Q&A section — submit your questions on Twitter @ipglab
• Lab Testing — a roundup of things that we are testing out lately. Christina: Save Your Wardrobe app; Adam: Control (a console video game); Scott: Sofar Sounds
• We laugh about Christina’s open disdain for “soft white food”

Slacking Off Links 

G-Eazy’s prom photo 

Fake Google Maps Traffic Jam

The Shoe Surgeon

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Welcome to the concluding episode of our trio of CES recap episodes. In this episode, Scott cedes the floor to three new Lab members and first-timers at CES — Ella Barnett (Senior Associate, Strategy and Innovation), Sean Ahearn (Senior Manager, Client Services), and Katy Geisreiter (Manager of Franchise Leadership on the Skin Health account at J3), to hear their fresh takes on what CES 2020 means for them personally and for brands.

What We Covered:

• Overall impression of this CES and how the show will and should evolve
• Personal favorites from the show — Snowboarding simulation, temporary tattoos, portable EV charging solution
• Biggest surprise from this CES — Lab’s CES operations; air filtration/purification systems
• Brand takeaways from CES — taking risks in innovations, learn from cross-category exposure, innovations that truly make life easier and better
• We laugh about Ben being the “post-it guy”

In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 and Part 2 of our CES recap podcast here.

You can also read our in-depth CES trend recap on Medium here.

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Welcome back to Floor 9! We are kicking off 2020 with a trio of CES recap episodes, recorded live in Vegas on the last day of CES. In part 2, your host Scott interviews two dynamic duos of lab experts to get their hot takes on this year’s CES. First up, Scott chatted with Chad Stoller (Global Innovation Officer of UM and Managing Partner of the Lab) and Ben Hone (Director of Client Services), two CES veterans, to hear their lovely banter and unique insights on CES trends. Next, Scott was joined by Josh Mallalieu (SVP, Group Partner) and Ryan Miller (Manager of Partnership) from the Lab to share their thoughts and takeaways on CES as 

What We Covered:

• Overall impression of this CES and how the show will and should evolve
• Personal favorites from the show — WaterGen water filtration system, Nissan pro-pilot golf ball, Royale’s wrap-around display, retail display and signage innovations, elder care technology, GJS Robots 
• Curiously missing from the show floors — the absence of telecom companies and Chinese tech companies, as well as gaming & esports tech
• The reasons behind why 5G is missing from the show floors this year
• Emerging trends spotted at CES — consumerization of digital health, the expansion of play tech, ambient computing at home, 
• Brand takeaways from CES 2020
• We laugh about Ben’s CLMs (career-limiting moves) and Ryan’s self-deprecating humor at his fantastic Future of Play panel

In case you missed it, you can find Part 1 of our CES recap podcast here.

Check out our high-level CES trend recap published in AdWeek here.

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Welcome back to Floor 9! We are kicking off 2020 with a trio of CES recap episodes, recorded live in Vegas on the last day of CES. In part 1, you’ll hear from two CES veterans from the Lab strategy team, Adam and Christina, joined by your host Scott, share their takeaways from this event and dig into the key trends that they saw at this CES. Have a listen to find out what our strategists think brands and marketers can learn from the biggest tech show. 

What We Covered:

• Overall impression of this CES and why the Lab attends every year
• Standouts from the show floors — new micro-mobility concepts, digital health & elder care products 
• Curiously missing from the show floors – 5G-ready products, a stronger privacy debate
• Biggest surprises found at CES — Sony’s concept car, Amazon auto retail, Samsung’s rotating TV
• Personal favorites from the show — Delta’s travel innovations, self-heating tupperware, passenger drones 
• Emerging trends spotted at CES — EVs ready for market, cross-category inspirations
• Brand takeaways from CES 2020

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It’s the end of the decade! Floor 9 hosts Scott and Adam sat down with Christina and Richard from the strategy team to review some of the hottest trends that happened over 2019 while prognosticating a little on what may come in 2020. A big thank you to all our listeners! We’ll be back with a CES episode, live from Vegas, in January. Happy holidays!

What We Covered:

• The biggest surprise in media and tech that we did not see coming in 2019 (TikTok, Techlash, Facebook Libra, etc.)
• Reviewing the major trends we covered in our 2019 Outlook report from the beginning of the year (Unbundling social media, what’s next for D2C brands, etc.)
• Diving into some of the defining moments of 2019 and their implications for brands (Shortened hype cycle and meme culture, Disney completes acquisition of FOX, WeWork IPO debacle, Elon Musk, etc.)
• We laugh as we recall our favorite memes of 2019

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Welcome back to Floor 9. This week hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Ben and Ryan, two gaming experts on the Lab team, to talk all about the latest developments in the gaming space, as well as what they say about the future of gaming. From the new cloud-based gaming services like Google Stadia to the shifting landscape of game streaming and esports, the Lab team went deep into dissecting the various sectors of gaming and the brand opportunities within. As gaming culture becomes mainstream, smart brand marketers know this is an increasingly important channel for capturing audience attention. 

What We Covered:

• The official launch of Google Stadia and its misfires 
• Dissecting the ongoing effort to make cloud-based gaming a reality
• Analyzing the potential impact of cloud-based gaming on the gaming market
• The arrival of subscription-based gaming services and their market implications
• How the high-profile talent deals with gaming influencers impact the landscape of game streaming
• Diversifying the type of content on game streaming platforms like Twitch
• Brand takeaways for tapping into the growing gaming and esports market

You can also read about our take on this topic here.

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Welcome back to Floor 9. This week, hosts Scott and Adam are joined by Chad Stoller, the Global Chief Innovation Officer at UM, to talk all about the intensifying streaming wars. Recorded on the day of the U.S. launch of Disney+, we start with our first impressions on Disney+ and how it stacks up to existing competitors, before moving on to discuss how we think the U.S. streaming landscape will play out over the next 5 years. We also talk about Netflix’s huge lead in global markets and Apple’s impressive streaming video quality, and how brands should respond in an age where viewers have more ad-free content options than ever. 

What We Covered:

• Disney+ first impressions and Disney’s biggest advantages
• Different strategies of the varying new streaming services
• Why Disney+ is a valuable tool for customer acquisition and data collection
• How the streaming landscape will evolve over the next five years or so
• Netflix’s enormous lead in global markets and how the competitors stack up 
• The rise of in-content brand integrations as viewers flock to ad-free SVOD services
• The impressive streaming video quality of Apple TV+ and what it means for the future of 4k content
• A quick review of the current original content slate from Apple TV+
• Apple’s contribution to the streaming landscape
• BAMTech and the technical advantage it grants owner Disney
• We laugh about Scott not getting Chad’s sports analogy

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Welcome to our big Hawaii Five-O episode, where we take a deep dive into the future of social media and what they will mean for brands. Joined by Christina, co-hosts Scott and Adam discussed everything from the rise of TikTok to the new connected communities that are forming online as social media is slowly being unbundled into new platforms and niche communities, social media advertising will need to evolve with the advances in social platforms and how people communicate and connect with each other online.

What We Covered:

• The unique way TikTok surface content and engage users
• Why cultural context matters for understanding the TikTok memes and jokes 
• Prognosticating whether TikTok will have staying power in the West
• How Gen Z use different social media platforms (TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.)
• Facebook’s pivot towards private social channels (messaging and groups)
• How does the state of social media impact their ad products and consumer attention
• How social media is being disintegrated into various emerging platforms and connected communities based on niche interests, such as The Woolfer
• How these growing trends in social media are changing the way brands can reach consumers online and engage with online communities
• We laugh about Scott’s niche interest (strange obsession) in “birds with arms”

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Facebook’s recent Oculus announcements left us wondering, what is the social network company trying to get out VR. In this week's episode, Scott and Adam discuss the state of virtual reality technology and why VR adoption has stalled. Then, Christina joins the group to talk about a potential future “metaverse” where people will create, socialize, and even do business in, as well as dissecting the different approaches Facebook and Fortnite is taking to get us there. For anyone that is curious about the future of immersive media and gaming, this episode should be a thought-provoking one. Listen and download here. 

What We Covered:

• Highlights from Facebook’s Oculus event and what Facebook Horizon is
• The current state of VR and why mainstream adoption has been stagnant 
• How VR fundamentally differs from AR in terms of user experience and use cases
• The next frontier for VR and the concept of a “metaverse”
• How massively multiplayer online games like Fortnite are building prototype metaverses outside of VR
• Potential brand implications of future metaverses
• We laugh about Adam’s low opinion on Ready Player One as a novel

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