Summary
This paper examines how automotive companies are facing growing expectations to deliver innovation and a customer-centric approach, and the implications this holds for them and their market research partners. The paper covers theories about strategy, innovation and creative renewal, and the impact of the changing nature of global manufacturing and marketing along with the evolution of digital technologies. For example, developing economies are moving up the manufacturing rankings and recent advances have brought about internet-enabled, electric and driverless vehicles. The paper poses questions about what a car is today and whether it is being redefined as another digital platform. It also examines how brands, particularly Hyundai, are responding to the changes.

Summary
This report describes how Walmart, the world's largest retailer, has responded to the rapidly growing influence of digital and mobile on purchasing behaviour, by focusing on the development of a holistic customer experience. The report is based on the keynote address of Sara Ortloff Khoury, of Walmart's global e-commerce division, at the 2013 ad:tech San Francisco conference. She described how the retailer formulated a "Hierarchy of Experience Design Contribution" model to drive its project, which has usability as its base (for example, the ability to complete forms or check out), a second tier of optimised usability (to increase ROI), and a third tier of new features driven by customer-focused innovation. When challenged to describe Walmart.com in 2016, she worked through a three-stage process to delineate, plan and frame the problem (namely, how to react to the blurring of on- and offline shopping); generate ideas and scenarios for the future (provided by 20 different groups from Walmart's store-innovations team); and then communicate the best visions and translate them into actual shopper experiences.

Summary
The co-founder of ?What If!, the innovation consultancy, shares his ten rules for successful innovation. The author highlights the importance of collaboration; connecting with customers; breaking out of routine; and making the workplace an environment where serendipitous ideas can collide.

Summary
This paper argues that India is an untapped market for the creation of innovative, belief-based brands and that researchers are well-placed to help Indian marketers see these opportunities. Areas of particular growth potential are discussed, including targeting older consumers with disposable income and middle-aged men who are the first of their generation in India to be experiencing mid-life crises. It also identifies respect as a value that brands can pander to in a nation where individualism is growing. Market research agencies can assist marketers in developing these opportunities by providing knowledge management and segmentation data, as well as insights into demographic shifts and product consumption.

Summary
This event report provides an update on Coca-Cola's evolving marketing strategy, from creation to execution. Coca-Cola has recognised the need to adapt in order to stay relevant, and has as its guiding aim the need to spread "brand love". Towards this end, it aims to "codify" successful campaigns in one market for replication in others. Content will become more of a focus going forward, with word-of-mouth and virality ("liquid content") the aim. The report also discusses Coca-Cola's marketing push during the 2012 Olympic Games and the brand owner's reaction to the Big Data trend.

Summary
The typical model for innovation is that a company will launch many products in the hope that some of them will stick and become a success. This article argues that brands should focus on identifying a smaller number of ideas that don't even have to be ground-breaking. The key is to identify and develop products that are at least better than the choices that consumers already have, so that they can command a price premium. McCain Ready Baked Jackets was the most successful launch of 2012 and is used as a great example of an innovation that brings a new benefit to address an unmet or under-met need. As well as identifying the unmet or under-met need, a brand also needs to identify the concepts that are most likely to bring incremental growth. Using data from Kantar Worldpanel, the article shows how to be more successful when driving innovation.

Summary
This article discusses many of the core trends which defined South by Southwest Interactive 2013. Wearable technology, exemplified by Google Glass and Nike's FuelBand, was one notable hot topic, working alongside the advent of voice-recognition tools like Apple's Siri and motion-sensor technology such as Leap Motion to close the gap between the digital and physical worlds. The crowdsourcing initiatives of PepsiCo and Lego, and personalisation efforts of platforms like Foursquare, also show consumers are becoming more empowered, and that these companies are starting to find innovative ways through the chaos unleashed by the forces of digital.

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In this article, David Caygill, creative technology director at iris worldwide, looks at some of his personal highlights from South by Southwest Interactive 2013. These included the need to reconsider the current notion of "progress", assessing the "digital destiny" of consumers, industries and technologies, and the intriguing prospect of commercial space travel.

Summary
Among various methodologies for demand forecasting of new products, the random-coefficient discrete-choice model using stated preference data is considered to be effective because it reflects heterogeneity in consumer preference and enables the design of experiments in the absence of revealed-preference data. Based on estimates drawn from consumer preference data by structural hierarchical Bayesian logit models, this study develops the overall, strategic, demand-side management for new products by combining market share simulation and a rigorous clustering methodology, the Gaussian mixture model. It then applies the process to the empirical case of electronic payment instruments.

Summary
In this article, leading executives from Carat, Somo, R/GA and LBi discuss the key trends for marketers that emerged from Mobile World Congress 2013. Among the core areas of concern for the industry are the rise of connected cars and the "smart home", the emergence of new operating systems to challenge Apple and Google, and the development of an increasingly diverse range of wireless payment tools.