The 2018 KPC&B report is now out, and gathering views on Slideshare like a runaway train.  The amount and speed of the attention given to this now annual report is evidence that it has become the benchmark for analysis of the digital communication trends that we live with every day, but do not necessarily see.

The report has become one of the most influential pieces of content published, and it is a monster!

While I have no intention of trying to summarise, a few  things just jump out.

• While growth of the net may be slowing, at a reach now above 50% of the worlds population, what would you expect. Within that total reach, US platforms remain the global giants, but being hunted by the Chinese who are spreading out of home base where they utterly dominate to the rest of the world.
• Buying via the net, so called ‘e-commerce’ is now so deeply entrenched, that it is now just another part of ‘commerce’. Amazon outside China dominates, and is also dominating in R&D spend, translating into an avalanch of innovation. Inside China, it is a very different picture. The Chinese platforms are all there is, and are in the early stages of going after an international presence. It seems that the Chinese have jumped the hard asset stage in the development of communication and payment systems, going straight to mobile.  No legacy questions of any type to be negotiated, which can only accelerate the potential rate of growth.
• Ad spending on mobile is now more than half digital ad spending. The implication of this is the degree to which the ads will evolve rapidly towards highly personalised messages, when combined with AI and geo location.
• Of particular interest to Australian FMCG retail, is slide 108 which shows the price and market share changes in the top 20 US grocery retailers. We have the top two gorillas here still retaining above 70% market share, not the 20% that Walmart holds in the US as the gorilla brand. If the US experience is mirrored here, and I see no reason why it will not, the message would be a ‘sell’ on Coles and Woolies shares. Not a happy thought for either as they must be contemplating large investments just to remain in the game, let alone retain their current position.
• The nature of work continues to evolve way faster than our capacity to absorb the changes. I suspect the social dislocation that will result in this country are only just beginning to be felt.
• There is plenty of data coming at us that tells us video is the new big guy in town. This report confirms it, again.

This report is required reading and deep consideration, for anyone thinking about digital, and the shape of the world we will be living in, and isn’t that all of us?