What are set to be the big marketing trends for 2010? The agency Brand Keys has put together its annual list of predictions, which I have summarised below. It’s a bit US-centric but very interesting. For more information, visit the Brand Keys website here.
Do you agree with these trends?
Trends for 2010
1) Value is the new black
Consumer spending, even on sale items, will continue to be replaced by a “reason-to-buy at all”. This spells trouble for brands with no authentic meaning, whether high-end or low.
2) Brands increasingly a surrogate for “value”
The value of goods and services will increasingly be defined what’s wrapped up in the brand and what the brand stands for. For example, why J Crew instead of The Gap? J Crew stands for a new era in careful chic – being smart and stylish. The first family’s [the Obamas'] support of the brand doesn’t hurt either.
3) Brand differentiation is brand value
The unique meaning of a brand will increase in importance as generic features continue to plague the brand landscape. Awareness as a meaningful market force has long been obsolete, and differentiation will
be critical for success –meaning sales and profitability.
4) “Because I Said So” is so over
Brand values can be established as a brand identity, but they must believably exist in the mind of the consumer. A brand can’t just say it stands for something and make it so. The consumer will decide, making it more important than ever for a brand to have measures of authenticity that will aid in brand differentiation and consumer engagement.
5 ) Consumer expectations are growing
Brands are barely keeping up with consumer expectations now. Every day consumers adopt and devour the latest technologies and innovations and hunger for more. Smarter marketers will identify and capitalise on unmet expectations. Those brands that understand where the strongest expectations exist will be the brands that survive – and prosper.
6) Old tricks don’t work/won’t work anymore
In case your brand didn’t get the memo, here it is – consumers are on to brands trying to play their emotions for profit. In the wake of the financial debacle of this past year, people are more aware then ever of the hollowness of bank ads that claim “we’re all in this together” when those same banks have rescinded their credit and turned their retirement plan into case studies. The same is true for what are conceived to be insincere celebrity pairings: think Seinfeld & Microsoft or Tiger Woods & Buick. Celebrity values and brand values need to be in concert, like Tiger Woods & Accenture. That’s authenticity.
7) They won’t need to know you to love you
As the buying space becomes even more online-driven and international (and uncontrolled by brands and corporations), front-end awareness will become less important. A brand with the right street cred can go viral in days, with awareness following, not leading, the conversation. After all, everybody knows GM, but nobody’s buying their cars.
8 ) It’s not just buzz
Conversation and community is all; ebay thrives based on consumer feedback. If consumers trust the community, they will extend trust to the brand. Not just word of mouth, but the right word of mouth within the community. This means the coming of a new era of customer care.
9) They’re talking to each other before talking to the brand
Social networking and exchange of information outside of the brand space will increase. Look for more websites using Facebook Connect to share information with the friends from those sites. More companies will become members of Linkedin. Twitter users will spend more money on the internet than those who don’t tweet.
10) Engagement is not a fad; It’s the way today’s consumers do business
Marketers will come to accept that there are four engagement methods including Platform (TV; online), Context (Programme; webpage), Message (Ad or Communication), and Experience (Store/Event). But there is only one objective for the future: Brand Engagement. Marketers will continue to realise that attaining real brand engagement is impossible using out-dated attitudinal models.
October 2, 2009 at 9:17 am |
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October 2, 2009 at 10:30 am |
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October 2, 2009 at 1:34 pm |
No disrespect to Brand Keys – I appreciate the time they took to put this together – but I feel as if people were predicting many of these same trends this time last year.
Taking risks in predictions – that’s where the real fun lies. For example:
1) Consumers will begin to revolt against cause marketing – As more and more brands adopt it as a marketing tactic, the American consumer will become cynical and increasingly look at brand efforts here as being inauthentic
2) Social spaces being increasingly numerous and cluttered, smart brands will engage consumers in integrated ways across social media – The days of start-doing-something-in-social-just-to-experiment tactic are numbered. The progressive brands will think through how and where they want to play and differentiate via tight integration of those efforts (relevant twitter feeds and blog content feeding into both a branded site and FB fan page).
Would love to hear other, further-out-there predictions…
October 2, 2009 at 1:48 pm |
[...] just commented on a post in Ruth Mortimer’s Brand & Business Blog discussing trends for 2010. Now I’m sure [...]
October 2, 2009 at 3:13 pm |
[...] The biggest marketing trends for 2010? « Ruth Mortimer – Brand & Business Blog – Marketing … brandstrategy.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/the-biggest-marketing-trends-for-2010 – view page – cached What are set to be the big marketing trends for 2010? The agency Brand Keys has put together its annual list of predictions, which I have summarised below. It’s a bit US-centric but very… (Read more)What are set to be the big marketing trends for 2010? The agency Brand Keys has put together its annual list of predictions, which I have summarised below. It’s a bit US-centric but very interesting. For more information, visit the Brand Keys website here. (Read less) — From the page [...]
November 2, 2009 at 1:29 pm |
Your post rings “reality” to me. I suppose a return to reality is in line with marketers and business development experts since its on the mind of consumers. Community is big value when it comes to reality marketing. A word of mouth sytem online is a smart idea for increasing brand awarness and answering customer concerns via customers.
December 4, 2009 at 1:48 pm |
[...] The biggest marketing trends for 2010? – Brand and Business Blog – Oct ‘09 [...]