Hoax chain letters on Facebook, copyright confusion, career limiting evidence posted for all to see … When it comes to the internet, we need to engage our brains or suffer the consequences, says Simon Fogarty.

As another busy summer of brand activation looms in New Zealand, EMANZ chair Mark Pickering reflects on the state of experiential marketing in New Zealand.

Whereas previously data analytics was confined to the laboratories of marketing research agencies, it is now becoming as commonplace in a marketing department’s arsenal of weapons as A/B testing and the now-ubiquitous brand blog. And a trio of New Zealand’s leading corporate marketers from BNZ, Farmers and Telecom shared their recent experiences of turning data interrogation into a competitive advantage at this year’s last DAN Dialogue event.

In social, just as on talkback radio, a one-off comment or blip in traffic may not mean much, says Jennifer Duval-Smith. But a good listening programme arms us with the ability to discern the blip from the trend, respond appropriately to an established pattern and back up our decision.

We live in a world of information overload, says Andrew Lewis. And as consumers start entering ‘The Age of the Cull’, brands that enhance life through digital connections are the only ones likely to survive.

There are a number of factors that have come together to help shape the key digital trends for the year ahead, says Theresa Clifford. The move to the Cloud over the past three years has revolutionised technology, mobile has become the new platform of choice and the introduction of social media channels has brought with it the need for multi-channel engagement strategies. And, to paraphrase Charles Darwin, it is not the smartest or cleverest that will survive in this digital age, it will be those organisations that are most open to change.

Recently many people have been whingeing that Facebook has changed its algorithms, forcing brands to pay more for the same reach they were getting previously. But, as Justin Flitter writes, perhaps Facebook’s changes simply highlight a weak Facebook strategy built on buying likes with big competitions instead of actual engagement and relationship building.

In the vacuum cleaner industry, the consumer perception is that a defining characteristic of a quality hoover is its low hum. This and other interesting tidbits related to audio branding were overheard during breakfast by Dennis Kibirev at the final presentation for the year organised by marketing research firm Ipsos.

Less talky talky about brand, more worky worky on reputation, says Oliver Haydon.

Recent changes to Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm have got a lot of people up in arms. Yet again, the social sky is falling. But PHDiQ’s Polly Williams is here to be the voice of reason.

As more technologies emerge and are adopted with ever increasing rapidity by ‘connected consumers’, Roy Morgan has connected all the dots with The Digital Universe. Pip Elliott shares nine key trends from the study to show how the exponentially expanding range of touchpoints is affecting New Zealanders’ media consumption, shopping habits, socialisation and expectations.

The digital realm offers plenty of opportunities to monetise content. But, as AJ Park’s Matt Adams says, there are a few issues artists need to consider before signing up for services like Kim Dotcom’s new online venture.

The digital realm offers marketers a deep understanding of its customers. But it’s what you do with the understanding that counts. Theresa Clifford with her four principles of customer engagement in the digital age.

Apple does a stellar job of cementing brand loyalty through hardship and scarcity. Maybe other brands should take heed.