5 TRENDS FOR DIGITAL AGENCIES (AND BRANDS) TO BE READY FOR 2020

5 TRENDS FOR DIGITAL AGENCIES TO BE READY FOR 2020Feb, 2017

Eric Shutt, Dir. of Strategy - iStrategyLabs

BEYOND 2017: What trends will shape the (digital) marketing agency of the future?

It’s a constant question that agencies and clients are always asking, and always looking for answers. And there’s one theme: many feel unprepared. The goal of this presentation is to look beyond the trends.

How can agencies (and clients) prepare for success years from now? Based on everything we’ve seen — research, conferences, work, email lists, happy hours … We set out to pull together key elements that agencies and clients need to be acting on now for success in the future.

THE TRENDS:1) Convergence & Consolidation 2) Content Marketing 3) Cultural Strategy 4) Interactive & Experiential 5) “New” is Now Standard

#1) CONVERGENCE & CONSOLIDATION

GET READYFOR THINGS TO COME TOGETHER.

Agency Consolidation.

Companies and Brands will continue to see the value in more integrated content production as the lines between TV, digital, and traditional marketing continue to blur.

Agencies that are ready to offer unified Brand ideas, concepts, and campaigns, and execute on them across channels will be best positioned to win.

CREATIVE CONSOLIDATON

Omni-channel.

Advertising seamlessly across channels.

The theme of marketing and advertising converging into a single experience across channels has been consistent in recent years. Content and media planning across all channels will continue to be more relevant and essential.

Ex. — Nielson, right.

MARKETING UNIFICATION

Integrated Data.

A data-driven approach needs to be a core capability of any leading agency.

Data integration is both a key capability and a key challenge for enterprise companies. Those who are able to solve will keep a huge advantage.

CROSS-CHANNEL ANALYTICS

Organizational Change & Structure. Brands are thinking deeply (and in some cases struggling or behind) on internal structures to meet current marketing needs. Further, Brands are evaluating how to structure or consolidate agency partnerships to be most effective, and bring capabilities in-house. Ongoing transformation is a norm if you’re going to win.

• “Chaos is a ladder [of opportunity]” — 360i* • Cannes Lions 2016 winning entries: 42% involved 3 agencies or more.

Effective collaboration is key. • A core challenge is to merge systems & storytelling. — R/GA* • Facebook restructured around mobile early — Facebook* • Nintendo re-invented its company around many products — playing cards, toys,

before video games — Facebook*.

• McDonalds consolidated agencies and brought content studio in house. — McDonalds.

* Presenters @ IAB Mixx Expo 2016.

MARKETING TEAMS

#2) CONTENT MARKETING

PREPARETO PRODUCE AMAZING CONTENT.

Content Consumption is Growing. Reports and data show that Americans spend 8-12 hours per day across all types of content, with some data showing projections of 15+ hours.

Electronic content accounts for 10+ hours per day of consumption.

CONTENT CONSUMPTION

Hou

rs

0

3

6

9

12

2015 2016 2017*Sources: (Left, linked)

13%

87%

Second Screens: 87% of consumers use more than one device at a time.Source: AdWeek via Accenture

Content Consumption is 10+ hours per day. Projections show Americans are spending more time with content.

Quality Beats Quantity Creating, publishing, and targeting the right content and messages to the right people is more important and more possible than ever.

Deeper insights and data availability on customer interactions and media performance allows for new and ongoing optimizations around engagement that go beyond volume, impressions and saturation.

Maintain a good mix of content and experiment with creative concepts under the umbrella of your content strategy to maximize performance.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

Original Content.

Demand is growing exponentially for original, high-quality custom content and brand stories.

Brand storytelling will continue to evolve and become more and more relevant.

Exs. — 360i quickly re-positioned and reinvented brands through “epic” storytelling (ex. — Old Spice). Martin Agency continues to grow GEICO’s brand story through innovative uses of tactics and mediums (unskippable ads).

PREMIUM CONTENT

Video Content Wins: With effective promotion, video is among the most engaging and visible content.

Video content has been shown to drive awareness, engagement, and conversion in the areas of Brand consideration, favorability, and purchase intent.

Stat: 89% of consumers watch long-form video on connected devices.

Tip: Count on people watching with the sound off.

Source: Think w. Google

VIDEO

Organic Reach = 0%* Particularly in Digital media, a paid promotional strategy integrated across digital channels is critical. The dream of an egalitarian information web utopia has quickly been replaced with pay-to-play advertising models for Brands.

“Virality” is largely a myth. A strong content strategy supported effectively with paid promotion is the foundation of a truly cohesive and impactful marketing and content approach for established Brands.

Social ads optimization for specific and deliberate KPIs is critical to getting the results you want to see.

* Approximation & Exaggeration for effect. Actual organic reach is <1%

Source: Sprinklr

PAID DIGITAL SUPPORT

Amplification & Influencers Influencer Marketing and other amplification tactics (including UGC) are one way to offset the decline in organic reach, for now, with earned media.

This tactic comes with its own benefits and challenges, with an opportunity to create new and broader visibility — and with logistical and budget considerations that may be comparable or even more complex than a paid media.

This also goes beyond “internet celebrity” influencers who command millions of followers and big partnership budgets. Brand advocates with a reach of even 5k, 10k, or 20k can create a powerful network of amplification that’s more authentic to the Brand.

“EVERYDAY INFLUENCERS”

Sponsored Content.

Sponsored content (“native advertising”) will continue to be a trend, and something agencies need to be well positioned and prepared for — promoted content distribution beyond social channels.

Banner and display ads will play a supporting but diminished role based on low performance rates.

Ex. — GumGum (right).

NATIVE ADVERTISING

Capturing Micro-moments With instant information access and real-time relevance, automatic mental associations and recall from branded content is more influential than ever.

Brands that establish themselves as effective and relevant thought-leaders in an information space have a strong advantage.

Ex.: REI — A search for outdoor gear and tips is likely to lead you to REI. They have a great content strategy around outdoor activities that goes beyond the products they sell.

MICRO-MOMENTS

#3) CULTURAL STRATEGY

CONNECT PRODUCT AND LIFESTYLE IN A CROWDED CREATIVE WORLD.

CREATIVE TRENDS

What is Cultural Strategy, Creative & Lifestyle Branding? How Brands can position themselves as relevant emotionally, beyond the functional benefits of the product. 

Speak from our “Why”, not from “What”.

Right, a simplified model is shown. To be effective, several factors need to come together in the right way — primarily positioning the Brand to solve an emotional tension in people’s lives.

Functional Benefits

Emotional Benefits

Cultural & Lifestyle Branding

Cultural Strategy

In a crowded creative world, Brands that connect emotionally will continue to command presence over companies and products that emphasize commoditized features and benefits.

Iconic advertising has capitalized on this for decades. However, it’s increasingly the standard — and a critical differentiator — for Brands to establish themselves by their story.

CULTURAL & LIFESTYLE BRANDING

CULTURAL BRANDING

SECRET: IT’S OFTEN “SNUCK IN” BY CREATIVES. Cultural marketing isn’t usually outlined in existing brand positioning or conventional marketing vision.

Cultural Strategy — Creative & Lifestyle Branding Trend: Information overload has lead Brands to pursue a more deliberate, explicit lifestyle branding and creative approach.

More than ever, Brands are specifically targeting a lifestyle-focused strategy, connecting the Brand back to emotional values over simply emphasizing features. 

CULTURAL MARKETING

Telling Powerful Brand Stories Brands are creating a narrative and “brand myth” that goes beyond features and category benefits — and connects back to their products and the lifestyle they represent.

Ex. — Toms Shoes.

CULTURAL MARKETING

“IF YOU LET ME PLAY” - 1995

Cultural Leadership & Values

To be authentic, Brands need to practice what they preach. Brands gain authenticity by acting on and actively shaping their story, and implementing cultural leadership to show their cultural value. 

Ex. — Coke, Red Bull.

CREATIVE TRENDS

REI — #OptOutside

REI made a bold statement in 2015 when it closed all of its retail stores on Black Friday and encouraged people to go outside instead.

The message was clear — and extremely relevant to REI’s core customers: the Brand’s mission is more important than consumer culture.

CREATIVE TRENDS

“IF YOU LET ME PLAY” - 1995

Dove — “Real Beauty” Dove has continually built upon its long-running “Real Beauty” campaign, well regarded as a best-in-class and effective example of cultural marketing.

The Real Beauty campaign is a great example of a CPG brand making a statement in support of its real core consumers, based on real data and insights from the Brand — that only 2% of women consider themselves beautiful.

Recent extensions include #ChooseBeautiful and #MyBeautyMySay, which bridge new and traditional ad formats to activate the concept across channels.

CULTURAL MARKETING

Cheerios — “Love”

Perhaps unexpectedly, Cheerios found itself in the spotlight after featuring a mixed-race family in some of its recent commercials.

Rather than shying away from the attention, Cheerios has embraced the message of inclusiveness by continuing to feature the same family in a newer Super Bowl spot — highlighting love, strong families, and positive cultural values as the centerpiece of its message.

CULTURAL MARKETING

#4) INTERACTIVE & EXPERIENTIAL

EXPERIENCEIS EVERYTHING WE’VE EVER DREAMED OF.

All marketing is experiential.

Traditional + Digital + Physical = Experiential.

Everything comes down to how people experience Brands across every aspect of their lives. Brands that emerge visibly, consistently, and effectively have a strong advantage.

Brands are magnetic when they approach marketing as the total collection of all ways that people see and experience them — and are able to attract people naturally rather than simply trying to convince them of the Brand’s value.

We’re deep into a world of two-way experiential exchange, beyond one-way messaging.

EVERYTHING’S AN EXPERIENCE

Broadcast formats move to interactive engagement. Even traditional broadcast formats like television and outdoor advertising now include engaging formats and tactics, with interactive features, #Hashtag prompts on billboards, and digital outdoor displays that feature user-generated and ‘real-time’ content.

Examples: Hulu Pre-roll — Choose your own commercial, and interactive ad formats. Interactive billboards.

61% of consumers expect to buy a connected TV for their next purchase.

CROSS-CHANNEL INTERACTIVE

Shared Experience & Interactive Games.

People are looking for opportunities for shared experience in real time regardless of location — similar to old feeling of watching the same thing at the same time on TV.

Brands should be providing actual experiences beyond just telling stories. How to make people feel connected. What that’s not: precision marketing & me me me. Emerging trend will be not on individual but shared group activity.

Ex. — VW Rival Road (right), Mr Robot.

INTERACTIVE GAMES

#5) “NEW” IS NOW STANDARD

ALWAYS EVOLVE… “NEW MEDIA” ISN’T NEW ANYMORE.

Mobile has Matured We’re no longer in a mobile-optional world. Real-time search, and surfacing relevant content at the right moment is now the norm.

And, it isn’t just about “SEO” or “SEM” — it’s about having the genuinely right, informational and creative content that gives people what they want and is connected to the value of the Brand. It’s largely in our control via content strategy and paid support.

Key areas: Content Delivery & Web Search.

MOBILE FIRST, FOR REAL

Programatic, Personalized & Contextual Ads.

Automated image recognition, cross-device targeting, content creation and distribution tools, contextual targeting,

Ex. — Conversant: Personalized marketing.

Yahoo / AOL = Verizon; content network.

AUTOMATED AD OPTIMIZATION

”Real-time”, Automation & Messaging The cutting edge of media and content trends are in marketing automation and opportunities for real-time relevance.

Digital ad automation and one-to-one messaging platforms (including bots) offer opportunities for deeper optimization and personalization.

Ex. — Sprinklr Rules Engine Ad Optimization, Facebook Messaging & Bots, Amazon Echo.

Source: KPCB Internet Trends 2016

Source: Sprinklr

REAL-TIME & MESSAGING

The (Bleeding) Edge Content is becoming more immersive and integrated. While potentially relevant, ensure first that they’re strategic. New tactics will increasingly become standard campaign elements: • 360 Photo & Video. Engaging and relatively easier to produce.

Extends into VR.

• Augmented Reality: Interesting use in DIY content engagement and “digital scavenger hunts”. Ex. — Snapchat Filters, Pokemon Go

• Virtual Reality: Fully immersive, but currently low adoption and accessibility.

• Voice UIs & Connected Devices: Potential applications connected to in-home, health & fitness, location, and e-commerce. Ex. — Amazon Dash, Alexa, Echo.

INFINITY AND BEYOND

SUMMARY

FOCUS ON CORE TACTICS & PUSH CREATIVE BOUNDARIES

Focus on Core Content Strategy & Tactics Watch out for distractions, and tactics masquerading as creative strategy. Data infrastructure to support content strategy and promotional optimization is critical.

New content tactics are constantly emerging, and its important to rely on Brand strategy and stories to separate relevant tactics from flash-in-the-pan gimmicks that employ something new and shiny just for the sake of it.

Experimenting with new tactics is great — just be sure they connect to the Brand mission.

SUMMARY

Experiment with Cultural Creative Concepts Celebrate emerging creative trends and sample from real customer and Brand loyalist culture to plant a flag and make a statement.

People know and appreciate when they see a Brand taking risk and sending a message that may not speak to everyone — but speaks to the people who are closest and most important to the Brand.

SUMMARY

Stake a Claim & Rally Around It. Execution + Creative = Victory. Tactics and creative are both critical to a winning combination for effective (digital) marketing.

Executing solidly on core tactics and strategy is more important than chasing new trends. Incorporating and testing new options in a measured, deliberate way is the best approach.

Creative that speaks to cultural cues and connects to the Brand value, product, and lifestyle is the best compass for impactful creative concepts.

SUMMARY

THANK YOU!

REFERENCES

Cultural Strategy - Holt & Cameron Using Innovative Ideologies to Build Breakthrough Brands

How Brands Become Icons - Holt The Principles of Cultural Branding

Buying In - Walker The Secret Dialog Between What We Buy and Who We Are