Trends and Technology

Many brands strive to rise above the clutter. However, it may be a tougher hill to climb for marketers working at brands with well-established histories. Here's how brands such as A&W Restaurants, EY, Pepsi, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey use their legacies to drive innovation and change.

While there are an ample number of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) success stories, business leaders' short-term concerns about the economy and their companies' financial health could stall their commitment to DEI — even as industry observers warn against putting such initiatives on hold.

With a growing onus on marketers to break from the mold, brand managers should consider innovative ways to connect with consumers virtually, as AI-dentity and virtual personas continue to rise. Patricia McDonald, chief strategy officer at Dentsu Creative, says consumers are increasingly creating avatars to portray what is in some cases a more authentic, adventurous version of themselves.

Programmatic displays are a sign of how out-of-home (OOH) advertising is evolving into a digital format comparable to other online media. As consumers venture back into public spaces and life seems to be returning to normal despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic, marketers are ramping up their spending to advertise via OOH venues ranging from movie theaters to grocery stores.

As the ultimate destination to drive sales and fuel engagement, branded websites need to be regularly updated and/or redesigned to satisfy consumer expectations. But many websites leave a lot to be desired, with 60 percent of people saying they abandon purchases due to poor user experience (UX) on websites, according to a recent study.

As people gear up for the summer and look for outdoor activities, marketers need to find ways to turn in-person encounters into enduring relationships, both online and off. Brand managers need not access their playbook from summer 2019, as consumer expectations and behaviors have changed dramatically in the past three years.

The market for nonalcoholic drinks is going like gangbusters, with 70-plus products introduced between 2021 and 2022 alone. The growth comes as more people focus on health and wellness in the wake of the pandemic. But as they ramp up production, marketers face myriad challenges promoting a product category with which many consumers have little familiarity.

As the marketing industry continues its digitalization, universities and colleges offer pools of talent steeped in digital communication that show little interest in marketing. What can brands do to avoid being the odd man out on campus?

Nearly 20 years after social media channels emerged amid gleeful predictions that they would help to tackle societal problems and bring people together, parts of the market have turned into toxic stews of conspiracy mongering, name calling, and mean-spiritedness — not the best adjacencies for brand advertisers.

ChatGPT, the large language model chatbot that debuted to great fanfare in 2022, can drive marketing efficiencies and foster creativity, but brand managers need to ensure that humans are the ultimate arbiters for what kind of messaging will resonate with their audiences. Even brand managers who are not in testing mode when it comes to ChatGPT need to understand its widespread implications for marketing and advertising.

As the LGBTQ+ community wields growing purchasing power, brands and organizations need to create marketing and advertising campaigns that are inclusive and acknowledge ongoing and dramatic changes in gender identity. While there's been progress in LGBTQ+ representation in advertising, significant gaps remain.

Both retailers and CPG brands continue to ramp up the use of smart screens, artificial intelligence, and other digital tools to woo people back to brick-and-mortar outlets and enhance the in-store shopping experience as the pandemic starts to fade.

After first gaining popularity in China, livestream shopping is growing fast in the U.S., with the market expected to reach $32 billion this year, nearly double compared to 2022. Conversion rates are also on the upswing. As they ramp up their investments in livestreaming, it's key for brand managers to develop programming that will both entertain viewers and mesh with other marketing channels.

The rise in brand purpose has led to a surge in so-called purpose washing, in which a company claims solidarity with a certain cause — the environment, empowering women, or LGBTQ+ rights, for examples — only to do little to nothing to support. With an ever-discerning public waiting to pounce, marketers have to ensure that before they start touting their purpose they are taking actions that have a real impact on people's lives.

The last year was a whirlwind for marketers and 2023 is expected to be no different. In addition to a potential recession — and consumers being more selective with their spending — brands will have to grapple with the ongoing chaos at Twitter following Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of the beleaguered social network and the political divide in the U.S. that shows few signs of letting up.

Spending on influencer marketing is expected to grow to $6.1 billion in 2023 and $7.1 billion in 2024, per Insider Intelligence. But as the market expands, brand managers are starting to ask tougher questions about the advantages — and drawbacks — of using influencers to help boost engagement efforts and land new customers.

While there were many points of agreement between clients and agency prospects, sharply different views emerged in multiple areas including IP ownership, budget size, and establishing a timeline for success, according to a recent ANA/4A's survey. Industry observers say the solution to many of the issues that pit agencies against their clients often comes down to overcoming the lack of clarity in communication between the two parties.

The key to cultivating brand love in a sluggish economy is not only being reliable but also demonstrating to consumers how their affection for certain products and/or services can make a tangible contribution to improving society.

Despite increasing purchasing power in the past several years, Latin American communities tend to get the most attention from marketers only during Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15), with too many companies focused on the short-term. To cultivate relationships and build brand loyalty long-term, markers must uncover deeper consumer insights about American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

As companies began to double down on their online marketing efforts due to the pandemic, newly hired CMOs were able to command higher salaries. But the calculus for CMO pay may be changing, as companies face a possible recession.