The increase in “neuromarketers” peering into the minds of consumers to understand their responses to marketing stimuli, the end of unlimited internet as global markets know it, the rise of the multi-tablet owner and the domination of the TV schedule: these are just a few of Deloitte’s global forecasts for 2012 shared by Duncan Stewart, director of Deloitte Canada, at its 11th annual Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions conference held this week in Toronto.

First on the agenda, Stewart spoke to the 1,400 attendees on the rise of “big data,” the term coined for online datasets that grow to such a proportion that they become near-impossible to work with using traditional database management tools. Expect to see more than 90% of Fortune 500 companies implementing initiatives to help handle big data and detect business trends by the end of 2012, he says.

There will also be an increase in NFC (near field communication) chips being used to purchase products via mobile devices, he adds, noting that the chips will not only be used for in-store purchasing but also online purchasing, particularly in social gaming, and the sharing of video and music data between smartphones.

Almost 5% of tablets sold in 2012 will be to households that already own a tablet – which will create what Stewart calls a “scatter cushion computing” effect. Much like “light bulbs in the ceiling” of every room, tablets will increase in households worldwide, he says.

Stewart also mentioned, during the Q&A session of the talk, that while mobile advertising offers great potential for growth, it is still a small piece of the pie. Online brand spending, however, will increase by 50% in 2012 with real-time bidding (RTB) leading the way to help marketers to better place their ads, he says.

Tablets will increasingly be used by commuters, he says, where travelling consumers use the device to catch up on pre-recorded shows. Deloitte also predicts that smartphone, tablet, computer and TV purchases will continue to increase, even under gloomy economic conditions.

Broadcasters need not fret as Deloitte predicts that the traditional TV schedule will dominate, says Stewart, adding that consumers will continue to watch 98% of programs within 24 hours of broadcast.

Global markets will be moving toward Canada’s data capping model, with more than 100 million global internet users having to adhere to caps on their wired broadband connection, says Stewart.

A new trend in marketing will be the use of “neuromarketing,” he adds, where the use of fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machines will allow marketers to better understand how a consumer’s brainwaves show how they react emotionally to certain branding.

From Media in Canada