It’s been said that there are three kinds of marketers and how they deal with them: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened! So, for smart marketers who want to fall into that second group, paying attention to what looms ahead is the wisest move they can make.

In the real world, however, when it comes to trends and the future, a Brand Keys’ review over 150,000 predictive loyalty and engagement assessments is a more reliable way to identify trends coming down the road in 2015. Take a look:

Source: www.business2community.com

Another list. The focus here is driven by the demand for ever-more personalized experiences. I particularly like these points:

1. Brands Will Get Emotional: Successful brands will need to identify emotional values in their categories and use them as a foundation for meaningful positioning, differentiation, and authentic storytelling.
2. Non-Fiction Storytelling: Storytelling is fine, but the stories brands tell must reflect real brand values and category realities that differentiate and meet consumers’ believability criteria, otherwise marketers will end up entertaining rather than engaging.
3. The Closing of the Showroom: The consumer will use 5+ online sources to facilitate actual purchase decisions, reducing reliance on traditional brick-and-mortars retail. But having identified that trend. . .