This year’s edition isn’t just about the trends that we at MEC have been observing but also those that we’ve been driving, living and reacting to through real cross-brand marketing experiences. These trends represent the thinking and experiences of our teams in a multitude of markets around the world. In fact, we have been on the forefront of the many new consumer and marketing innovations that are coming from developing markets and regions. It’s our hope that you use RP#4as a guide to work with us as we chart the course together for what is now and what is to become for brand marketing.
1. The 2nd Age of Digital Advertising- From Ugly Ducking To Graceful Swan
There’s no skirting around it, with a few notable exceptions, the first waves of digital advertising left a lot to be desired in aesthetics. Ugly banners, buttons and skyscrapers did little for the imagination of creatives and consumers alike.But now, as a combination of the growth of touchscreen devices, ubiquitous fast connections in many countries, and the evolution of digital design come together,we’re at the beginning of the next age of digital advertising. Imagination, image and video led ‘Cards’, ‘Pins’ and ‘Devils’ are providing a new creative canvas and interactivity for brands to leverage to their advantage.
2. Mind The Gap
As the importance of accountability and ROI has risen, so has the desire to close the gap between digital marketing and physical ‘retail’ sales. Perceived as a blind spot for digital marketing (especially when the large majority of retail sales remain in physical outlets), various technology and media companies are working on fine-tuning techniques to be able to assign foot traffic and sales to digital marketing exposure, with mobile technology and data analysis at the heart of it.
3. TV Has Never Been Hotter
One of our on-going trends, this isn’t just about the power and resilience of the TV industry, but rather about how good we have it today when it comes to TV (in all its forms). Not only are we able to watch more great content on more platforms and with more control, but the quality,breadth and depth of TV content is better than ever. New shows and new show formats are attracting incredible talent both behind and in front of the camera, leading to a golden age of video viewing that networks, technology vendors and advertisers alike can enjoy too.
4. Brands Are Built By Links And Tweets
As the number of content portals and producers increases on a seemingly hourly basis, consumers are becoming increasingly overwhelmed by the amount of information they are receiving.As a result, they tend to only be able or interested in grabbing snippets of stories and information (vs. the longer-form content they previously engaged with), often disseminating information based on the bits or pieces of data they’ve processed (which can often be inaccurate or misleading). As a result, brands need recognise the importance of storytelling, in both long and short form.This brings consumers in on an emotional level, while simultaneously living in the diverse places and spaces where they are experiencing new content, provoking them to want more and to dig deeper.
5. The Era Of Open Source Marketing
One of the lasting impacts of digital technology is how it has allowed for disruption and disintermediation in so many industries (see Travel,Hospitality, Entertainment, Education and others). The same is becoming true in our own marketing and advertising industry, with the ability to not only access media inventory directly through tech platforms, but also to build on top of what others have built and use it to your advantage -’standingon the shoulders of giants’ if you will. This is transforming what we think of as marketing, while bringing technology and brands ever closer together.
6. Data and Marketing- Growing Up and Finding
Data has come a long way this year, as have the ways brands - and even governments - have gone about protecting consumer data. The result is improved ways of protecting data, as well as improvement around brand understanding on how to best leverage specific data streams to guide both the creative and strategic process. As companies that proactively entice consumers to share data increase in popularity, the conversation about data ownership will evolve to simultaneously better address privacy concerns and data accuracy. The result will be better understanding and implementations of data, improving brand output and overall consumer experience.
7. Programmatic Media Buying- An Approach For All Seasons
When programmatic buying (automated rules for buying and optimizing media) first came to the forefront, its application was heavily focused on digital display inventory and for the purposes of direct response advertising. As the technology has improved,and the industry’s use of it becomes more sophisticated, many believe the approach can and will be applied to more and more sources of media and for a wider range of objectives – all helping get the right message to the right person, at the right time and at the right cost.
8. From Connected Devices To Connected Living
As the notion of wearable technology becomes increasingly commonplace, people are turning towards the notion of connected living, moving beyond their smartphones towards a variety of lifestyle devices and technologies that leverage the power of digital connectivity to help them live the best life possible. As both digital and physical infrastructures are built upon the Internet, we’re seeing increased fragmentation of mobility and increased connected living.
Read our full report here:
As the notion of wearable technology becomes increasingly commonplace, people are turning towards the notion of connected living, moving beyond their smartphones towards a variety of lifestyle devices and technologies that leverage the power of digital connectivity to help them live the best life possible. As both digital and physical infrastructures are built upon the Internet, we’re seeing increased fragmentation of mobility and increased connected living.
Read our full report here:
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