Monthly Brandtech Blend – November – December 2021

“Three Steps for the Future”: everything to know about tech in 2022 by Benedict Evans

What are the next transformative visions for 2025 and 2030? It’s that time of the year again: Benedict Evans, former partner of VC fund Andreessen Horowitz, has released his annual presentation which offers a macro – and extremely comprehensive – view of the tech industry. On the menu this year are three big segments. First, the future: a tech vision for 2030 with the state of crypto, web3, VR, and the metaverse. Then, the present: how startups are developing ideas from the last decade and implementing them in every industry – once the markets are finally ready. Finally, the past: how the economy has faced one wave of disruption after another, and in every sector with new control points, new gatekeepers… and new winners. 

Read the full presentation here.

From Facebook to Meta: what’s new in the metaverse? 

Mark Zuckerberg announced his move to change Facebook’s name to Meta, thereby placing a huge bet on the metaverse, a techno-connected world where we could all live happily and virtually together. Aside from clearly displaying its vision for the future, the group arguably placed itself as the most controversial tech company. It is a massive investment ($10bn predicted for 2022) which, if successful, will not only mean billions of dollars in advertising revenue but also a great opportunity for online shopping where NFTs and cryptocurrencies will – obviously – play a big role. So much so that big players such as the Kering group already want in. 

Read more in this Financial Times article, and for a full Metaverse explainer, click here. 

Singles’ Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday… Are seasonal sale days losing momentum?

The month of November is punctuated by seasonal sale days. Asia celebrates Single’s Day – the world’s largest shopping event – followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday, widely spread in Europe and in the US. But the momentum seems to be decreasing. In Asia, although sales totaled $84.54 billion, an 8.5% growth over the total generated in 2020, this is actually the first ever slowdown in growth for the event. To blame? Likely the weakening of the Chinese economy, especially as Beijing has strongly tightened its grip on the tech industry. Across the pound, the trend is no different for Black Friday and Cyber Monday: the health crisis and overconsumption seem to be weighing on consumers’ purchasing decisions. 

Read more in CNBC and CNN Business.

An update on FLoC 2.0 and cohort-level marketing

FLoC, Federated Learning of Cohorts, is one of the main components of the Privacy Sandbox solution which appeared due to the end of third-party cookies. This targeting technique, based on grouping users by shared interests, eradicates personal identification. The company has been working on a more audience-driven solution to redevelop FLoC. On its end, the IAB Tech Lab is aiming for a common taxonomy called “Seller Defined Audiences” which would standardize the various segments associated with groups of IDs that are emerging to replace third-party cookies. Google has no obligation to work hand in hand with the IAB, but it would help buyers tremendously to work with a single taxonomy, as would enable Google to improve its positioning on the matter. To be continued.

Read more in Adexchanger and learn more about the stakes of cohort-level marketing in this Toolbox marketing article.

China regains control over cryptocurrencies on its territory

Chinese authorities have erased any doubts about their intentions and are getting serious about the ban on crypto-currency mining activities on its territory. The reason? The volatile financial flows are not controllable by the government and bring significant risks. The news did not go unnoticed and caused a 7% drop in the value of Bitcoinjust hours after the official declaration.

But this announcement does not signal the end of cryptocurrency. On the contrary, it leaves more room for the electronic Yuan (eCNY), already being experimented within some provinces of the country since the beginning of the year. eCNY is issued by the Central Bank of China, which allows the Chinese government to keep control over the price of transactions and making it a safer digital currency while creating a crypto economic independence. 

Read more on Bloomberg and CNN Business.