Reports: messaging

Brands have an ongoing engagement problem. No matter how much data they use or how targeted they go, competition is fierce, consumer attention is saturated, and all usage comes at the expense of time spent elsewhere. With the ubiquity of advertising, brand choices are as much a personal statement by the consumer to their peers as a testament to tru...

Facebook Messenger has caught up with WhatsApp, boasting more than 1 billion Monthly Active Users (MAUs). Along with WhatsApp and Instagram, Messenger is part of Facebook’s bet on the future of audiences as they migrate away from social networks. Facebook’s messaging apps are the company’s gateway to owning as much as possible of consumers’...

As we correctly predicted, 2016 was the year video ate the world. 2017 is going to be shaped by the battle for consumer attention through formatting and distribution wars. VR is likely to cede further ground to AR, bots will become established, while messaging apps add to their dominant position (even though user growth will slow).

Snapchat represents the Millennial zeitgeist more than any other single app. It continues to engage digitally native young audiences just as much as it appeals to traditional media brands, such as Viacom and CBS, desperate to reach young audiences on their own turf.

Instagram was far from the first image-centric service to gain prominence, but something about its simple interface, filtering capabilities and ease of sharing saw the platform become something of a visual lingua franca for the selfie-generation. Now part of Facebook and boasting impressive growth figures, it surprised many with its longevity and c...