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WARC Trends Toolkit 2016

Identifying top global marketing trends

Interested in global marketing trends? We are once again delighted to be collaborating with WARC to share the key marketing trends for 2016. Alongside WARC, we have developed predictions on the challenges marketers will face in the year ahead and used Deloitte’s own research and wealth of experience with clients to provide our perspective on how to approach these effectively.

Deloitte partners discuss marketing trends for WARC 2016

Six brand ideas for 2016

Warc.com is an online service that helps brands grow by introducing them to the proven approaches behind the best practices and insights of the world's most effective advertisers.

Last year, we focussed on the need for agility in marketing in order to meet the diverse needs of consumers and seamlessly communicate across channels. This theme will continue to be relevant in the year ahead but with a renewed focus on creative and content. Technology, data and analytics have dominated the marketing conversation in recent years and while this remains a core thread in this year’s report, there is an increased focus on content in a multitude of targeted formats to penetrate the ever-decreasing attention spans of connected consumers.

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Chapter 1. The rise of video marketing: in a snippet

The rise of informative digital content has resulted in an ever empowered audience who decide within seconds whether they will engage or move on – creating engaging content has never been more important.

Marketers have responded accordingly via the use of short, immersive video experiences together with the optimisation of user experience. Whilst the trend for short-form and immersive video experiences is growing, brands should not switch all their focus away from traditional channels when optimising the media mix. Making content personal and shareable is still top priority.

Chapter 2. Moment marketing: the time is now

Marketers need to able to target individual customer moments - millions of them, every week, day, minute and increasingly, second. For example, honing in on an important event; an event could be large and of public interest, such as a sporting occasion, or small and personal, where an individual has just run out of toothpaste.

A complement to campaign-based marketing, moment marketing relies not only on insight, technology and strategic planning but also the empowering of marketing as a function, ensuring that teams are poised to connect with customers in those key ‘consumption moments’.

Chapter 3. Generation Z: avoiding the pitfalls

We all know that marketing and communicating to Generation Z, and U18s at large, comes with its own unique set of challenges and complexities. But it’s not just about grabbing the attention of Generation Z; we must also consider the ethical and regulatory constraints in place which ensure that U18s feel protected and in control online. Marketers need to be prepared to regularly review and update their marketing policy to reflect the rapidly changing media and regulatory landscape, while learning how to capitalise on the unique characteristics of Generation Z and maintaining brand authenticity.

Chapter 4. The digital backlash: who’s in control?

Imagine a new dystopia, a digital one, where the industry is being controlled by ad blocking technologies. Large publishers have the resources to circumnavigate negative impacts of ad blocking, but what about smaller publishers?

To counter this, publishers have to become more creative in how they advertise to consumers. Consumers are asking for a better way to experience ads with improved targeting and relevancy. This creates a great opportunity for the industry to embrace; where brands and publishers must work together to drive more value for the consumer.

Chapter 5. Digital marketing attribution: don’t stand still

With more customer data than ever before and a plethora of digital channels, a huge opportunity to understand the key drivers of brand and sales engagement exists in digital marketing. From the need for cross functional ownership of the attribution strategy to ensuring that the strategy is fluid and relevant, marketers should view attribution as an opportunity to demonstrate the true value of marketing. That being said, the success of attribution relies on brands being clear on what they want to achieve before committing to a full scale attribution platform.

Chapter 6. Data meets creativity: challenges within the marketing function

Deloitte’s 2015 CMO Survey found that 82 per cent of CMOs believe their function will face an increasing challenge to acquire new skills. The evolving marketing technology landscape plays heavily into this - a significant share of the marketing budget is now invested in technology, but how does the marketing function deal with this change? Marketers are relying on agencies to fill this short-term gap but CMOs should re-visit their in-house marketing operating models, ultimately creating a function that brings together creativity of more traditional marketing, deep technical knowledge and the ability to interpret analytical insight.

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