Competitive horizons

Citation

Cole, G. (2014), "Competitive horizons", Strategic Direction, Vol. 30 No. 11. https://doi.org/10.1108/SD-09-2014-0129

Competitive horizons

Article Type: Competitive horizon From: Strategic Direction, Volume 30, Issue 11

New trends expected in digital marketing

In 2015, digital marketing will largely revolve around four main trends and four main channels. Marketing agency http://ReadyPlanet.com predicts the Internet of Things, the mobile wallet, beacon technology and digital streaming will be key trends. Social media and smartphones will drive these trends, and the most important digital marketing channels are expected to be Google, Facebook, YouTube and Line. Firms are warned by the marketing organization that these trends will significantly impact on the way business is conducted. It also notes the transformational effect of mobile technologies on digital marketing. The Nation (http://www.nationmultimedia.com) reports that around 50 per cent of search engine activity is currently performed using mobile devices. Companies are, therefore, able to exploit this tendency by advertising across the major channels for digital marketing.

India targets 8 per cent growth

The government in India believes that a prudent approach can enable the country’s economy to expand by 8 per cent over the next two to three years. Growth of 4.9 per cent was recorded for fiscal year 2013-2014, and this figure rose to 5.7 per cent during the first quarter of the current period. As reported by the Indian Express (http://www.indianexpress.com), other plans to boost economic performance include more efficient project implementation and promotion of savings and investments. Key legislative and non-legislative reforms of the financial sector recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) are also on the agenda. Growth of 8 per cent is considered an optimum level that will help create ten million jobs while keeping inflation under control. Plans to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit will further help to ease inflationary pressures.

Strong demand predicted for datacenter services in UAE

International Data Corporation (IDC) has forecast strong growth for the datacenter market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is reported by http://www.ameinfo.com that the organization predicts a compound yearly growth rate of 6.3 per cent through to 2018. The anticipated major growth will be fueled by the rising demand for such as business continuity and disaster recovery. Datacenter service revenues are being further increased by the rise in computational and storage needs, the report notes. Another major factor in the demand for datacenter space and related services is the growing consumer interest in cloud services. In anticipation of this growth, the industry has developed technologies to help adoption trends by addressing issues which include implementation, management, capacity planning and cost.

Ready meal consumption to rise in European market

European demand for ready meals is set for a 12 per cent increase by 2016, according to Food For Thought. This follows growth of over 14 per cent over the past five years. Its sales value at the start of this period was €26.7 billion. In 2016, it is expected to have reached around €40.85 billion. The market research organization pointed out that France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain accounted for 72 per cent of the money spent on ready meals in 2013. Individually, other nations were responsible for no more than 4 per cent of total spending. Chilled and frozen ready meal segments account for almost three-quarters of the market. Opportunities for growth are considered highest in canned pasta and least for dried or canned forms of ready meal. The report, as published by http://www.foodnavigator.com, notes that health concerns, exotic recipes, private labels and a move toward premium products are the main drivers of innovation in the sector. Food scandals In Europe have also increased the importance consumers attach to quality and place of origin information on product labels. Food For Thought anticipates the next few years will see considerable merger and acquisition activities because of the fragmented nature of a market in which eight major companies are responsible for around a third of sales.