By Michael Chase
Vice President of Marketing & Creative, St. Joseph Content

The weather outside is frightful… but inside, things are really heating up. From driving innovation, to wearables, to digital content and how to become a big deal on social media; there was lots to read this holiday season, as you warmed up by the fire.  If want a great perspective on the latest trends that will be exploding onto the landscape download the new St. Joseph 2014 Trend Report.

Look who’s driving innovation

Company CEOs were named as the #1 driver of innovation initiatives by more than three-quarters (77 percent) of those who participated in a recent survey by Boston-based Imaginatik. Sizable numbers also named the Chief Strategy Officer (53 percent), CMO (46 percent) and Chief Innovation Officer (42 percent). The majority of organizations (72 percent) also cited a cross-functional executive team as a key driver of innovation activities.

Wink, wink: New generation of wearable devices offers new prospects for marketing

The last issue of Wired makes the case that a new device revolution is at hand: Just as mobile phones and tablets displaced the once-dominant PC, so wearable devices are poised to push smartphones aside. It’s also a technology that offers new prospects for marketing, its impact being felt quicker than its mobile predecessor thanks to lower upfront costs that makes it easier for small companies to incorporate sophisticated hardware into wearable devices.

“It may seem laughable to suggest that people will soon neglect their iPhones in favor of amped-up watches, eyeglasses, rings and bracelets. But then again, 10 years ago it seemed laughable to think that people would use their smartphones to email, surf the web, play games, watch videos, keep calendars and take notes — all once core tasks of desktop PCs.”

Digital commerce recipe for success largely underused by CPG companies

News from south of the border reveals a major disconnect between consumers and CPG companies regarding digital commerce over the next 1-3 years. According to a new study by Deloitte, CPG execs expect 35 percent growth in online purchases in 2014 and 76 percent over the next three years. In contrast, consumers expect their online purchases to increase by 67 percent in the next year and 158 percent in three years. The study also found that while 92 percent of CPG execs agree e-commerce is a strategic sales channel, there’s a disconnect between the expressed opinions of these executives and the readiness of their companies to execute — only 43 percent say their company has a clear, well-understood digital commerce strategy.

Want to get more retweets? Try doing this (and this)

A new report shows what sort of tweets get recycled the most and when. Although peak hours coincide with the workday, retweets are actually higher during our off hours, notes the data from TrackMaven. On average, people retweet more on Sundays than any other day of the week, and Twitter sees more retweet activity from 10-11 p.m. than it does for the rest of the day.

One last word (actually three)… Location, location, location…

A new survey says many Canadians consider the time it takes to get to work as important as the job itself. The survey by Oxford Properties and Environics Research Group found that 76 percent of respondents wanted a reasonable commute to the office. All things being equal, 50 percent considered commute time to be the No. 1 factor in choosing one employer over another. The majority of those surveyed said a commute time of less than 30 minutes was the appropriate travel time to work.

This column was reprinted with permission from the Digital Screenmedia Association and originally appeared here.