The ways in which digital consumers use their media, their communications, social and shopping activities online keep on changing, reveals the report on the digital consumer released by McKinsey. In the US, 48 percent of all the watched video is either “time-shifted” (using DVRs or Video-on-Demand), or “device-shifted” onto laptops, tablets or mobile phones. Music is even more digital, with over two-thirds of usage from streaming services, MP3 files, and satellite radio. Even among consumers aged 55-64, mobile phone usage has overtaken landline voice usage. Constantly evolving, digital user behaviours will radically transform the technology, media and telecom industries. With billions of dollars at stake, brands and businesses have to be quick to respond to these inevitable shifts.

Device shift

With smart phones becoming omnipresent, majority of users swap their PCs for mobile/touch devices. Mobile phones and tablets currently account for about 44 percent of all personal computing time.

Communications shift

Email and telephonic voice have dropped from over 80 percent to about 60 percent of the “communications portfolio”, while time spent on social networks has doubled to take over a quarter of all our communications time. Moreover, only around 20 percent of the time spent on the phone is for talking, with the majority used for more data-centric activities such as streaming music, browsing websites and playing games. Users tend to shift from voice to data and video. Consequently, mobile carriers will need to re-orient their business models to focus on data rather than voice minutes.

Content shift

With search tools getting increasingly more powerful, traditional "bundles" (e.g. newspapers or network TV stations) are giving way to easily accessible, fragmented content. Content owners and marketers will need to learn how to reach and engage audiences that access such diverse, fragmented media.

Social shift

Social networking represents almost a quarter of all Internet time, reaching over 75% of all Internet users. It was only a matter of time before Facebook tried to monetize and justify its massive valuation. Focus on effective and revenue-generating advertising will draw on its social ecosystem, pushing the creative formats and placements far away from today's ads. Morphing from a relatively private social space to a business entity driven by the bottom line, Facebook (and also LinkedIn) now faces the quarterly earning pressures of the public markets. At the same time, businesses are now actively trying to use social media as part of their marketing efforts. As brands start to invest higher CPMs in more impactful ad units, it is getting more important to optimize visuals and messaging. Some of this will be measured in real-time, and copy-testing of Facebook ads will also start to be more widely employed.

Video shift

Live, linear television currently represents just 65 percent of all video viewing for US consumers on their television screen, and 52 percent across all screens, with time-shifted DVR content, watching video on PCs and over-the-top internet video services making up much of the balance. The increase in all varieties of time-, place- and device-shifting video options will continue to pressure traditional advertising-supported business models for distributors, advertisers, and content owners in the value chain.

Retail shift

E-commerce accounts for only about 5 percent of all retail sales. At the same time, approximately 50 percent of all smart phone owners use their devices for retail research. In the future, more consumers will use smartphones and tablets to complete their transaction as well. The mix of mobile retail and a real multi-channel integration will radically change the face of the retail.

Sources: http://plascontrends.co.za/millward-brown-social-media-trends-2013/; http://www.millwardbrown.com; http://digitalinnovationtoday.com