Our annual Trends series is slowly winding down, with the last pieces being published this week. Gordon Geldenhuys has dubbed 2014 the year of the social consumer. He says that more than ever, marketing will be about leveraging the right solutions and technologies to monitor and improve customer relationships in near-real time. Not only will consumers continue being social this year, but unfortunately, according to Mike Taberner, they will also be tightening the belt a bit as he believes this year customers will be facing some financial issues. He advises that brand messaging and product mixes be shaped accordingly. Lastly, Tiffany Markman gives some easy-to-follow tips on how to stop being a sucker and avoid being scammed in malls by those Dead Sea Devils (DSD) who take seasonal jobs all over the world selling massively over-priced body lotions, face creams and nail products... Oh my, how we have all fallen for those... Cheers! Ilse van den Berg, Editor: Marketing & Media Africa (@Biz_Africa)
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