GfK presented the new trends in the Augmented Era

According to GfK analysis, we are experiencing an “Augmented Era” in several meanings and forms. New advanced products, new purchasing methods, new physical and digital touchpoints, new media and new content are now available so that consumers are also “Augmented”. This was the theme of the annual event of GfK Italy, called “The Augmented Era: Augmented Shopper, Retailer, Media & Brand”, held yesterday in Milan.
In the ‘augmented’ era that we are experiencing, everything is evolving quickly and time is an increasingly scarce resource. People are more informed, active and competent, but also less loyal and more difficult to intercept. The challenge for brands and companies is to identify new ways to reach these “augmented” individuals, offering them new ways of entertainment and dialogue
Enzo Frasio, Chairman of the Board of GfK Italia opened the event with the speech “Knowledge that makes us grow” by introducing the theme of the “Augmented Era” and explaining the importance of knowledge as a tool to face the complexity of change.
«To take the best possible decisions every day – he said – our customers need to know what is happening now and what will happen in the future and why. In the last two years GfK has structured itself to better meet these new requirements, with analytical and prescriptive solutions based on the integration of proprietary and third-party data. During this event, in fact, we will present not only descriptive data but Prescriptive Insights, recommendations that will help our customers to learn more about the context in which they operate and to respond more quickly to market challenges.»
Fabrizio Marazzi, Solution Lead Market Insights and Marco Pellizzoni, Commercial Lead Consumer Panel of GfK Italia commented the latest trends in the Tech market in Italy: «In the first four months of 2019 – they explained – in Italy the Italian market of Technical Consumer Goods recorded a slight decrease in turnover (-0.2%) compared to the same period last year, with a total turnover of 4.2 billion euros. The performance of the Telephony sector is slowing down (+ 0.3%), the performance of the Small Household Appliance is positive (+ 8.9%), while IT and Major Domestic Appliances are stable. Negative trend (-7%) for consumer electronics and photo. Considering instead the 2018, we have instead recorded a decrease of -5.4% of the Entertainment market (physical support of Music, Video, Book and Video Game), which generated a turnover of 1,850 million euros. This sector has undergone the effects of digital evolution, which has changed the use of content, bringing it from possession to streaming.»