Digital Shift, a quarterly service from Econsultancy, is intended as a guide to support strategic thinking. This quarter’s update explores Shein’s dominance of the fashion industry, interesting brand experimentation with NFTs, speculation around Web 3.0 and a centrifugal satellite launcher.
Focused tightly on digital technologies, marketing and ecommerce, Digital Shift delivers actionable insight on trends that will be significant in the short- to mid-term, and can be used to generate new ideas, improve business performance and stay ahead of the competition.
The latest instalment in this series, also available as a presentation and an on-demand webinar recording (see link to the right), covers:
- Shein’s reinvention of fashion retail: The Chinese ‘instant fashion’ brand has risen quickly over the last two years, becoming one of the fastest growing and most successful retailers in the world. How does the scale of its operation compare to other fashion brands, and are the comparisons with Amazon justified?
- The growing popularity of NFTs: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique representations of anything digital and recent months have seen their use expanded in interesting ways by brands including Adidas, Nike, Balenciaga, Live Nation and AMC Cinemas. What twists do digital garments designed for virtual wear add to the discussion around fashion and sustainability? And how can NFTs add value to live experiences?
- Web 3.0: Speculation around ‘Web 3.0’ focuses on a decentralised web with greater inbuilt transparency, inclusivity and accountability. Is the hype real, or is the concept merely a white whale representing the ongoing cyclical evolution of the web?
- The food sector and gaming: Food and drink brands such as Heinz and Chiptole are recognising the potential profit in engaging with the online gaming community, which has seen growth during the pandemic. Shift explores some of the ways these campaigns have harnessed creativity and passion to deliver value to gamers.
- The ‘long nose’ of innovation: The pace of technological change can sometimes feel overwhelming and hard to keep up with. How does technologist and innovator Bill Buxton’s concept of the ‘long nose’ of innovation change the perspective on this, and what clues does it provide about the future of change?
As ever with Digital Shift, plenty of challenge but also plenty of opportunity.