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Blind Spots and New

Ways of Seeing.

Themes of blind spots and new ways of seeing

is the inadvertent focus of this edition of The

Internationalist with a variety of articles that

offer new perspectives for an industry often

measured by the strength of its vision and its
responsiveness to change.

A new survey by the ANA discusses

“marketing disruption” or those forces

that are changing the business landscape, and
in turn transforming marketing, particularly in terms of added complexity and

shifting consumer expectations. In addition to citing how marketers are responding to

disruption, the story notes ive important blind spots that block the path to marketing’s

full potential.

Ironically, we also move to Battling Banner Blindness, or how new 3D online display

banner ads are literally jumping off the page and demanding attention. This innovation

from Norway just might have the ability to overturn current conversations about the

ineffectiveness of banner advertising.

Another unfortunate blind spot is a lack of change in consumer behavior toward

sustainability, despite increased fears about the environment. The 2014 Greendex, an

annual study by National Geographic and GlobeScan, measures consumer behavior in

65 areas related to housing, transportation, food and consumer goods. In fact, a market

like the US, surprisingly, still ranks among the least sustainable of all countries since the

inception of the Greendex study in 2008. Interestingly, top-scoring consumers of the
2014 study are in the developing economies of India and China, followed by consumers in

South Korea, Brazil and Argentina.

The winners in our 6th Annual Awards for Innovative Digital Marketing Solutions

have demonstrated that experimentation, faster implementation and results do matter.
Marketers no longer have blind spots about the signiicance of Programmatic, Big Data

and mCommerce—terms that have moved beyond buzzwords to become the digital

components of contemporary marketing. They are now implemented throughout the

world to form innovative solutions that range from boosting sales to changing brand

perceptions. Combined with experimentation in technology, redeinitions of content, and
high-touch aspects of live events, brands in all categories are inding new ways to connect

with customers—and better reine their vision of contemporary marketing.

Deb Malone

Founder

4 the internationalist