The next trends in the changing digital world

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"The digital world is the fastest changing. What is true today was different a year ago. It is critical to be constantly up to date," reveals Filipa Caldeira, from Fullsix Portugal.

To help facilitate this mission, another edition of Doing Digital is back, the course that deepens digital marketing and that returns to Nova SBE Executive Education, in Carcavelos, for four days, from March 31st to April 3rd, with an 11th edition. The team - the winner - is the same as always, as this executive training, during working hours, is a partnership between Fullsix, leader in the field of digital marketing, and Nova SBE Executive Education, leader in Portugal in the field of executive training and top 30 in Europe.

One of the components of this Doing Digital is the preview and explanation of the trends that will take over the online world. "One of the new trends is everything to do with voice, the so-called voice assistants. In terms of massification, it is the fastest technology in terms of adoption, and it has reached 50 million users in the shortest time. It is important to alert marketers to this data", said Filipa Caldeira, on the sidelines of the Digital Talks which took place on 12 February in front of a full auditorium at Nova SBE Executive Education. This is an initiative organized by those responsible for the Doing Digital program, in which they present the course contents and the upcoming trends in the online universe.

In this initiative, those responsible for the programme also revealed some data regarding the current national market, especially regarding voice platforms, a strong trend. At the Digital Talks, it became known that 10% of the Portuguese already have at least one home smart speaker - a virtual personal assistant - at home. Moreover, about 47% of Generation Z - natives born between the second half of the 90s and 2012 - have already used voice search platforms on their mobile phones, compared to 21% of BabyBoomers, those born between 1946 and 1964.

Nuno Moreira, from Fullsix, agrees that it is crucial to anticipate what is around the corner: "We are always looking for what is coming. It's hard work, we are learning every day. But that's what makes digital such an interesting area. This is one of the main issues that differentiates our course".

In addition to the aforementioned voice assistants, artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and cashless platforms are some of the other digital trends that will be explored in the course, as well as social networks, which will remain strong in their presence, as exemplified recently by the Tik Tok phenomenon. These were some of the conclusions retained in these Digital Talks, which also indicated some of the biggest online trends from the consumer's point of view, with a more human character, such as convenience, hyper-personalisation and authenticity. In fact, another interesting data presented in the talk has to do with this last parameter: an impressive 98% of digital consumers, worldwide, agree that authenticity is important when deciding which brands they will support and like.

A practical course, with a winning methodology

"Digital is changing everything. Our lives, consumers' lives, brands, companies. There is a difference between knowing and being able to act. We all know that everything has changed and that we must change too. But how? What should companies and brands do to follow the new trends and reflect them in their marketing and organisation plans?", asks Erik Lassche, from Fullsix Portugal. Fortunately, these are not rhetorical questions. 

It is no accident, incidentally, that the course is called Doing Digital.

"When we looked for other training courses in this area, we realised that many had digital in the name, but there was a very large theoretical and academic side. We wanted to create a course that did justice to this idea of doing digital, and so there is a very practical component here. This is, intrinsically, a course in which people have to do, get their handsdirty", explains Pedro Batalha, also from Fullsix Portugal.

Develop, attract, retain, track. These are the four words that give rise to the D.A.R.T. methodology, the same one Fullsix has been using for many years - and which has helped it become a leader - and also the "guiding thread of the course", explains Erik Lassche. It is with it that students will work on tools such as consumer journey, prototyping and the digital ecosystem, in practical exercises. "We wanted to bring realism to the course and we have campaign exercises on Facebook and Instagram, in real time, where students go through all the dynamics of promoting this course on these platforms", reveals Pedro Batalha.

But that's not all. Over four days, there will be several real case studies analysed. "We have been working with large companies and briefings given by their representatives. They are challenges launched to the students, solved with our methodology", adds the same responsible. At the end, the same companies will be in class to "listen, question, challenge and contrast what the students present".

Three years and 10 successful editions

For Luís Almeida Costa, full professor at Nova SBE Executive Education and one of the teachers of the course, this Doing Digital is important for several reasons: "The first is that Nova is increasingly an ecosystem of creation and transmission of knowledge, in which current and former students, companies, public entities, business associations and research institutes participate. The course is part of this philosophy". A solid partnership that is becoming increasingly essential. "Today, we observe a set of major disruptions in multiple industries, determined by digital. We can equip executives with analysis tools to understand these changes and be active players in it", Almeida Costa adds.

In about three and a half years, the ten editions of Doing Digital have added up to about 200 enrolled. It is no coincidence that this course is in the Top 3 of Nova SBE Executive Education from the point of view of evaluation. The balance could not be more positive.

"We feel that people leave very enthusiastic, that we make a difference. Weoften meet these people, who tell us how worthwhile it was to invest in this training," recalls Pedro Batalha.

After all, we live in a digital world where we all have an active role.

"The consumer has become a media channel," Batalha explained to the audience. It is no coincidence that 35% of millennials - born between 1981 and 1994 - believe that UGC content - the acronym for user-created content - is more memorable than other content delivered by more conventional media platforms.

Filipa Caldeira highlights that there are participants "with completely different profiles, from new students to marketing directors of multinationals", while Nuno Moreira highlights "the great reviews and feedback" they receive at the end of each edition.

"It's been very rewarding from a personal point of view. At Fullsix, we love teaching, it's always been part of our DNA, we've always been pioneers," says Erik Lassche. A mission that remains the same today as it did 20 years ago, "when there was no Facebook, no smartphones and no WhatsApp", he adds, and then he goes on to say: "Let's make it ten more editions!”.

Article originally published in Observador