Marketing trends for 2009
Hi All,
Basically, this question goes out to everyone to get an idea or what they think the trends of marketing will be in 2009 (internet marketing and not) taking into account the financial crisis.
Answers (10)
Zubair,
I expect the following in no particular order:
1. Newspapers make greater strides towards irrelevancy.
2. Terrestrial radio begins showing significant cracks.
3. Television sees a major pullback, but stays a major mainstream medium.
4. Direct mail (print) begins to show signs of weakness.
5. Decline in digital display.
6. Search advertising flatlines.
7. Digital engagement marketing begins to rise.
My $.02.
Best,
Curtis
Feel free to review our recent blog post which is a recap of several surveys initiated at the ANA Conference. Article provided by the Verified Audit Newsletter. Should be an interesting ride!
Links:
i think that increasingly marketers will migrate to options that provide much better accountability in terms of ROO (if not ROI). if needle movement on objectives can't be clearly demonstrated, activities will not be funded when investment may be more limited. so while i don't necessarily disagree with curtis's list, i would say that if a company has been able to demonstrate return on traditional media, it's likely that they would stick to that knitting vs. experimenting with untested methods that might introduce an unacceptable level of risk into the mix. in a way that's sad, because it's only thru taking those kinds of risks that any of us ever learns how to do anything better. and it's arguable that in the long run this costs us more, given the time value of money and the losses that can result from missing out on opportunities for category definition, creating barriers to entry, or other first-mover advantages.
I am seeing more interest in Business Development initiatives, while Marketing budgets may be one of the first budget items slashed. I am not agreeing with this, but it is what I am seeing.
Zubair,
Marketing needs to and will be more measurable in the coming years. Advertisers / marketers will see value only in aiming at realizing every buck spent. Today, most trends provide nothing but sheer number pleasure. Hits generated, impressions delivered are all pointless when it does not impact on the bottom line.
My quick predictions: more focus on marketing to die-hard customers to keep and strengthen the relationship(ihcluding loyalty programs), more buzz WOM(word of mouth) campaigns, more "original"/out of the box marketing on the street and otherwise, the usual cross-media integration will expand deeper into online medias, retail marketing will include more focus on multiples incentive programs(ie buy 2 get this deal), we'll see more partnering programs between companies with similar target markets. ,
1. WAP sites would increasingly be utilised as a marketing tool
2. Outdoor creatives will be used like internet marketing - movements, 3D, etc
3. Advertising messages are tending towards basic messages rather than new-age. Eg. Real Beauty... v/s look pretty for your wedding, etc
4. The website is the ultimate marketeer for the company because of difficulty of ROI driven marketing plans using traditional media
5. Online widgets which can sit on the desktop even when the user isnt connected
6. Women targeted online properties should pick up soon.. serious lag there
7. Aggregators Aggregators Aggregators - They should grow at a quicker pace
Raghuram C
Creative Strategist at i-Vista Digital Solutions
Best Answers in: Mentoring (1), Advertising (1)
Zubair,
I am not restricting myself to internet marketing. Hope that is OK.
The trends for 2009 will primarily be a result of how 2008 has been and will be in the next 2 months. Consumers across the world are spending less, affecting companies' bottom lines. Expect a cut in ad/marketing spends. Which in effect means that marketers/advertisers need to get a bigger bang for their buck leading to to-many initiatives taking a beating. And one could very see the emergence of one-to-one initiatives. Especially in markets where till now, one-to-many has been ruling the roost.
Look around, and you will see that a few industries that have relied on one-to-many will surely take a beating. Here are my predictions:
Losers: Airlines, Real Estate, Auto.
Performers: Insurance, Health care, Banking (Personal Banking), Food Sector, FMCG.
Boom Areas: None (perhaps Entertainment)
As you can see, the industries that will do well in 2009 really can get better results by engaging consumers on an one-to-one level. Making 2009 a good year therefore for one-to-one communication organizations.
Hi Zubair....
Wow...let's of great thoughts coming through in response t your question. Without going into a long list of likely trends for 2009, thought I'd just focus on a couple of things that are already begnning to happen.
1. Marketing convergence
Whilst we always harp on about the need to be single-minded with our communications, as budgets tighten and consumer's buying behaviours evolve - there is a growing requirement for marcomms to have multiple objectives. A great example of this is shopper marketing whereby reatailers are now using instore comms for brand building as well as closing the sell instore - this is because the traditional customer purchase journey is being challenged with less exposure to brands/products outside of the retail environment.
2. Back to basics
There are so many brands out there looking at how they can ever increase the number of products they can offer in one go - mobile phones with mp3, windows software & a camera etc. There will always be a market for this but there is also a growing trend towards getting back to basics ie a phoen is a phone, a camera is a camera. Mobile is a prime example of this where brands like Nokia and Sony have recently released 'phone only' models in regognition that many people prefer to avoid jack of all trades - afterall if I lost my iPhone, I'd also lose my best mp3s and some pretty dodgy pictures - not really the ideal!!
3. A don't tell me what to do attitude
We all know that working for the better good of the environment is the right thing to do but you can see that the public is getting fed up with being told what they can and can't do, what they should and shouldn't eat, what products they should buy etc. Look at the negative feedback that arose around the Live 8 gig. This is particularly enhanced during the hard times that we are being told we are in now. It's no secret that things that are good for us and the environment are positioned as premium products ie organic foods - so they will be the first things that suffer when the going gets tough - simple economics really.
Could talk on this subject for ages (obviously they are only opinions), there's so many more areas to discuss such as the new model for the music industry, a growth in co-operative marketing etc etc.
I think larger companies will feel the push to reinvent themselves. Maybe try to connect to their audience on a more emotional level, far beyond a "consumer." This could lead to new trends in:
1) Customer experience
2) New design orientated company from center-out
3) Better incentives and loyalty rewards
With this economy, I think the number one thing would be just trying to create a very remarkable experience for people. Money is tight, people buy less and only purchase most necessities. Create a new retail experience for people and their desires could shift into a necessary purchase.
