Rolling up the Trends: Communal Commerce

What do all the 2012 trends add up to?

When looking at all the trends coming out they seem to point toward one destination: communal commerce.  I chose 'communal' over 'social' to reflect the notion that there is an objective or goal - to buy or not to buy, that is the question.   Plus, there are a vast array of platforms, technologies, etc. that come to play as people make choices that probably wouldn't necessarily be considered social, e.g. Amazon's Price Check, but still have a role in answering the question 'What do you think?'

The key elements of the new world order appear to be:

1. Influence from a wide spectrum of players in the decision making process. (social sharing)
2. Ubiquitous and immediate access to facts, opinions and transactions. (mobile consumption)
3. It is as much about the experience and the badge of success as it is about product acquisition. (satisfying needs)

For a good idea of what is going on in the space see Social Commerce Today which focuses on compiling examples of selling with social media.  

An opportunity exists for agencies to tie all this together and then solve the valuation question:  What is a 'like' or other communal event worth to me? Where should I allocate my resources?  Some interesting presentations (some require registration) on the topic. 

• Active Networks shared some of their learning on an Omniture/Adobe webinar
• An AMA presentation done by MicroStrategy on integrating with FB analytics. 
• Facebook Mobile Social Commerce slideshare from Horizon Studios which talks about the 'mall in your pocket'

Sources for trends:

• 3 Trends Driving Digital Marketing from OlgivyOne CEO (iMedia)
• 5 Digital and Advertising Trends.  (Mashable)
• 10 Things that Won't Happen in 2012 (iMedia blog)
• 12 Consumer Trends. (trendwatching.com)
• Social Marketing and New Media (brian solis)