6 Things to Watch for in 2011

As we begin to wrap up 2010, I cannot help but be excited for the things to come in the year ahead. We live in interesting times when comes to how brands behave as more and more marketing budgets are being spent online. So here are 5 things that I will be interested to see how marketers bring value to their brands as the below take shape.

1. Google TV - When this service from Google gets rolled out it, and more importantly how quickly it is adopted by users, it will be interesting to see how this changes TV viewing and the media/advertising that supports it.  Will standard advertising buys change to be more about exclusive app-based pre-rolls, search and display ads?

2. Mobile - Most metrics indicate users are accessing branded content from their mobile devices therefore mobile-friendly websites will become much more of a priority and the creative ways to reach users.

3. Foursquare vs. Facebook Places - Locational Social Networks are a big trend right now and marketers are catching up and participating in these communities. Will Foursquare be able to hold on or will Facebook Places overpower it? What kind of promotional activities will brands continue to use in either of these social services?

4. The year of the Tablet? - Apple opened up this category with the iPad and rumours are that the iPad 2 will come in April.  Samsung's Galaxy Tab and the Blackberry Playbook will have entered the market in 2011, which promises to kickoff a very competitive period for Tablet market share.  It will be interesting to see how these host of tablets will make out in 2011 and also the associated applications that come out for these devices

5. Group Online Purchasing - Consumers are mobilizing like they never have before and are demanding discounts in return for guaranteeing significant sales volumes.  Pricing strategies will be important for marketers as they face this growing trend in 2011 in order to ensure appropriate sales margins.  With services such as Groupon, and more likely more to come, Marketers will have the opportunity to embrace this trend in order to build relationships, dialogue and participation with their brands.

6. The Cloud - If Chrome OS is what everyone says it is, it may bring this trend into the mainstream.  Microsoft has started to embrace it in their advertising and many of Google's Applications already use it. Bringing our software needs, especially our OS, online instead of being housed on our computers may mean that we will have leaner and meaner devices without all the memory needed for the software.  The challenge with all of this will be how might we ensure users are comfortable with the privacy they will receive with this shift.

As 2011 takes shape, I am sure the conversation will not be limited to just the above but it will be interesting to see how we adapt to them.