THE NOW / NEXT / WHY SESSIONS / CONTAGIOUS EVENT

London - 7 December 2011 - 8.30am - 12.30pm 

And: 12.30pm-4.00pm

Shoreditch House, 13 Bethnal Green Road , London, E1 6JJ

New York - Early 2012

Contagious is excited to be launching the Now / Next / Why Sessions. These half-day briefings, in London and New York, will be packed with insight and inspiration from the Contagious Insider consultancy team, with additional context and real-life experience provided by guest speakers.

What is Now / Next / Why?

Contagious deconstructs the torrent of news and information that marketers are exposed to in order to pinpoint the trends and technologies that actually matter. In each of these sessions we will examine key current trends and explain how they apply to your business in the following context:

NOW / What's the current consumer or technological trend? How are marketers exploiting it? What does best practice look like?

NEXT / Where's it going? What possible evolutions should you know about? How will your brand keep up?

WHY / What does it mean, and what are the implications for strategy, commerce and community?

We will shortly be releasing a full agenda, but in the meantime time here is an overview of the featured trends to help whet the appetite:

Frictionless Retail /

Contagious will explore the importance of prioritising the consumer in the one place where it matters most - the retail environment.

From gesture-controlled TV shopping interfaces to RFID-enabled musical fitting rooms, we will be considering how technology can be used to reduce, not add friction to the user journey and create retail experiences which are wholly more relevant, seamless and meaningful.

Hack Culture /

Hack Culture is about encouraging people to tinker, remix and hack products. Once the preserve of geeks, hacking has gone mainstream, but with a more positive purpose, tackling political and societal aims.

As a brand or agency, embracing hack culture can take courage. We will present some cases to show that by taking a leap, brands can drive development, engagement, and increase positive sentiment, and potentially create something wonderful.

Augmented Content /

Two-screen viewing, the proliferation of augmented reality, audio recognition apps, content check-ins and QR codes allow brands to act as interfaces between viewers and content; technology is changing the way we consume. Adding value with a layer of interactivity, social networking, gaming, bonus content and coupons, the challenge for marketers is to know what to embrace and what to discard in order to engage an audience.

Traditional content channels are experiencing a radical renaissance as new technologies enhance the viewing experience, moving it from a passive to an interactive medium. We will explain how to introduce these channels effectively, and in turn create more immersive, lean-forward experiences to better engage viewers.   

Living Data: Your life, quantified /

Apps, sensors and pervasive networks do not simply give us the chance to track our movements and habits in order to visualise our activities. Consumers can now use the data generated to adapt their lifestyles in order to become healthier, happier and more knowledgeable.

This Living Data session will show how the personal life tracking trend is affecting areas such as health, lifestyle and identity. We will consider how people's lives can be enhanced and look at which brand offerings are making the most effective improvements.

Who should attend the Now / Next / Why Sessions?

The event has been developed with both advertisers and agencies in mind. In one morning we will summarise the key trends and technologies that marketing professionals need to be aware of, providing contextual case studies and also offering strategic insights on how to understand and engage with these trends in a way that benefits your business.

Whether you are a brand or marketing director, work in R&D or innovation, or are a creative, strategic or digital director, there will be something for you.

Tickets are now available to buy online, or email events@contagiousmagazine.com to book yours. Contagious Magazine and FEED subscribers qualify for a reduced rate of £240+VAT (£288 total) and we have an early bird price of £250+VAT (£300 total) instead of £275+VAT for the month of October.

For further details please contact:

Sarah Cutler / global events director / Sarah@contagiousmagazine.com

+44 (0) 203 206 9264