NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jan 19, 2015) - Ebiquity, a leading international provider of independent, data-driven media and marketing insights, today named the top five marketing trends that will emerge and shape global brands in 2015 including consumer cynicism and the need for authenticity. Ebiquity works with more than 90% of major global advertisers analyzing $20BN of media spent and is focused on helping brands optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of their paid, earned and owned marketing communications campaigns.

"2015 will be the year that industry focuses on utilizing data and analytics to create unique and personalized customer experiences -- and not just data from the usual channels but through innovations like wearable technology," said Alex Yoder, CEO, The Americas at Ebiquity. "To create this relevant and inspiring content, smart marketers also know they will need to understand and integrate the next big trends to stay ahead of the competition and this will include investment in owned channels and more focus on internal communications."

The top five trends that will work towards creating content rich and personalized campaigns in 2015:

1. Consumer cynicism and the need for authenticity: To be truly successful in 2015, brands will need to go back to their roots and emphasize what makes them truly unique to counteract the cascading effects of the worldwide financial crisis, global warming, and international health epidemics. This year Chrysler returned to its roots as the quintessential American brand with its "America's Import" brand campaign with the CEO stating, "today's Chrysler stands for quality, design, craftsmanship, performance, and efficiency, innovation and technology, all at a very attainable price." This is an approach that will need to be taken by brands across all sectors.
2. Investment in social and owned channels: Brands will need to be more intimately connected with their consumers than ever before and 2015 will see the creation of communities at a hyper-local level and brand bringing communities 'in-house'. McDonald's is already making sweeping reforms and launched individual Facebook and Twitter pages for each of its 14,500 US outlets in 2015 to monitor customer conversation and improve one-on-one engagement.
3. The continued synergy between TV and online: As brands' sense of online communities will change in 2015 so too will their strategies in digital advertising. While analysts, predict digital ad revenues will exceed all screen TV dollars by 2017, brands will only stay relevant by mastering the 'two-screen' phenomenon where TV drives consumers to online engagement.
4. Brands will focus internally: With an emphasis on authenticity and what makes them unique, brands will focus more on internal communications viewing employees as brand ambassadors who can live and breathe the brand and its unique story. Research has shown that employee ambassador programs have more than doubled from 15% in 2013 to 36% in 2014. Southwest Airlines is well known for its strong culture and engaged workforce, with employees living Southwest values: servant's heart, warrior spirit, and fun-loving attitude. Every year, Southwest comes together as a company collective to celebrate the successes of the past year and look forward to the opportunities ahead.
5. Utilizing data from wearable technology: With the Apple Watch due for release early in the New Year and the number of product announcements at CES including smart socks and dog collars, the take-up of wearable devices by consumers will undoubtedly explode in 2015. Brands will need to start looking at ways of integrating these devices into their marketing campaigns as well as utilizing the device's data capture to understand individual customer's want and needs. This year, Equinox launched its new mobile app that integrates data from other fitness apps and wearable technology like smartwatches to create personalized suggestions for gym classes, diet tips and other wellness aspects.

For more information on Ebiquity, visit www.ebiquity.com.

About Ebiquity
Ebiquity is a leader in above and below-line communications tracking and research, providing independent data-driven insights to the global media, CMO and CCO community to continuously improve client's business performance. Headquartered in London, with offices in 16 countries, more information on Ebiquity's expertise in the Americas is available at http://www.ebiquity.com/en/expertise/north-south-america