Key findings from Peter Kim’s seminar at Cannes 2015

Chief digital officer at Cheil Worldwide, Peter Kim, delivered a talk on the future of social media at Cannes Lions 2015.

Referencing the evolution of Facebook from a university students’ platform and of YouTube that launched with a video of the San Diego Zoo, Kim implored brands to look back at the history of these social media platforms before considering trends that will shape the development of social media right up to 2025 and beyond.

According to him, predicting what’s next requires an understanding of the East and the West. Below are the six ways in which Kim believes social media and its utilization will move forward.

The new social media

The way agencies utilized and monetized social media will disappear. “I guarantee it. Social media as we know will no longer exist,” he said.

Shoppable social

Like most other platforms, commerce will be the Holy Grail for social media too. Initiatives are already seen by current players on how social media platforms will become more about transactions.

Social media will be Chinese

The global social media scene will be vastly impacted as China develops into the largest digital economy and Chinese brands grow into Western markets, with the significance of BAT – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent – being felt the world over.

Subcutaneous social media

As conversations around the Internet of Things (IoT) moves to “addressability”, and social media is utilized as a connecting platform, a new set of opportunities will open up.

Automated social media

Programmatic will make a noticeable impact on social media in the next decade. “Programmatic has the ability to allow publishers to de-clutter sites and serve relevant advertising in a way that consumers will accept,” said Kim.

Snackable social media

In order for brand content to stand out, publishers will have to craft bite-sized content that will not only attract consumers, but also engage them to share the content.

As Kim said, “Just as brands have figured out how to use socialmedia, the game has changed. Trends are moving off in new directions and people don’t want to just ‘join the conversation’ with brands. They want to engage brands in action. Brands need to evolve their approach to succeed in a new social world of overload, filter-failure and narcissism.”