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Rather than simply basing our snapshot of the year ahead on predictions, guesswork and professional intuition, Insight’s ‘10 Trends For 2010’ are based upon the actual briefs our clients have sent us. Thus they reflect some of the real issues marketers are facing in 2010, as well as illustrating the type of projects we will be spending much of the year working on.


If you would like any further information on the issues explored below or on Insight services in general don’t hesitate to contact us at  mail@xtremeinsight.net  

Understand > Inspire > Direct

 

 

1: Football Fever – How can we stand out and cut through in the most crowded space of all?
 
 

The sheer volume of football related marketing is going to mean few of us are going to be able to escape the fact that 2010 is a World Cup year. But it is this volume itself, the fact that football is perhaps the most crowded advertising platform on the planet, which creates the core challenge. How can brands ensure that their activity is not lost (and their money not wasted) in light of the plethora of official sponsors, guerrilla activity, fierce levels of competition and commercial clutter? Of course there are a slew of possible ways to meet such a challenge ranging from putting fans first, owning niche spaces within the

game, real time planning and activation, compelling in-stadia experiences, building communities and offering genuinely useful utilities. But perhaps 2010’s most successful football brands will be those who genuinely understand fan culture, who create lasting South African World Cup memories, who support the game at all levels and those who have a long term commitment to the beautiful game.

 

2: Election Engagement – Will this be the UK’s first real cyber election?
 
 

As advisors and advertisers seek to re-engage a cynical and turned-off electorate, many expect the campaign to be dominated by a narrow range of messages: perhaps a ‘spend vs save’ debate, probably a slice of ‘class warfare’, certainly a call to action for ‘change’. Our clients, principally those looking to leverage the election as a creative theme and capture the public’s zeitgeist, are also focusing on media platforms and are asking whether this

year’s UK election will follow the US’ lead and become the first genuine Britishcyber election.The Obama team certainly laid down a strategic template as to how new media and digital can be used to motivate the grass roots to create momentum and to raise campaign funds without being too indebted to big business. Can digital re-energise and re-engage the British public’s appetite for politics after all the recent spin and scandal? Or will the role of ‘swing seat - niche targeting’, dictated by the British electoral system, mean that the classic old school combination of poster-driven PR and in-person, on-the-ground experiences remain? For those interested in our upcoming tactical showcase of brand campaigns that leverage national elections please email matthew.carlton@xtremeinsight.net
 

3: Centrifugal Forces vs Decentralised Consumer Control – Who will win the fight for control war?
 
 

On the one side the need for consistency, coherence, control and sheer economics is driving clients to ask us to explore the trend we call ‘Centrifugal Forces’ - strategies that bring marcoms under central control. These range from unified global creative and single pan-regional campaigns, through umbrella (like Heinz’s new range initiative) and master-brand strategies, to halo approaches (like Unilever’s new parent logo approach) and even central marketing writing one single cheque for all global advertising activity and passing the risk on to one supplier. Pitted against this there are those prioritising authenticity, believability and two-way conversations who are asking us to provide best practice templates of decentralised initiatives where control

has been handed to the consumer and the marketplace. This isn’t just about local knowledge or idiosyncratic culture or fragmented niches, but about new supplier systems like crowd sourcing, multi-pronged transmedia routes, consumer generated content, collaboration, co-creation and giving customers control through C2C initiatives, brand ambassador initiatives and empowered affiliate programmes, beta testing and customer advisory boards. Can any brand marcoms strategy really combine both approaches successfully, or are the two communications fundamentally opposed at a philosophical level? 2010 developments, ranging from further fiscal tightening and economic pressure on the one hand and growing consumer power fuelled by technology advances on the other, may see a winner in this battle.
 

4: No New Normal – Is the recession recovery so fragmented that we can’t simply return to what we once considered ‘normal’?
 
 

Whichever way marketers (and economists and politicians too) cut the data, the credit crunch recovery progresses at different rates for different consumers. It’s not a simple matter of segmenting by industry, country, geographic area, media, or consumer type. This upturn seems fractured, mysterious even, and traditional approaches to post recession marketing may not work as they once did. Classic ways to target groups of individuals sharing similar characteristics may have to be shelved. Evidence suggests using established postcode targeting for direct marketing isn’t as straightforward as it once was. In previous recoveries marketers have used simple rules of thumb: such as the north-south divide, or the industrial-services split in the 1980s. But the ground has shifted – in 2010 in-demand, cash-rich plumbers live in the same postcodes as out-of-work, in-debt bankers. Marketers are swapping macro for micro-segmentation and multi-channel approaches. Alternative techniques such as psychographics and focusing on social media to find out what consumers think rather than purely what they do are being used. Discovering

why niche segments are doing certain things is increasingly important in a fragmented recovery and a possibly altered set of post recession socio-cultural drivers.
 

5: Social Media Metrics – After all the experimentation and risk, has the industry now established standard measurements and success benchmarks?
 
 

When it comes to social media projects – it seems that 2010 is going to be all about capital letters and acronyms. An ever increasing number of our clients are asking us whether the industry has finally established social media success indicators in the form of KPIs and ROIs. As digital goes mainstream and new media platforms become just another arm within the integrated campaign, so marketers are being forced to stop experimenting. The edit from the CFO’s is ‘Stop playing, Start Paying’. Without pre-agreed KPIs or demonstrable ROI figures, marketers are finding it as hard to find the budget for digital and social media initiatives as they are for more traditional above the

line campaigns. Universally accepted industry standards may be few and far between still, but more and more of our clients are asking us for results-focused case studies that can be used as success measures and benchmarks.
 

6: Brand Mascot Revival – Does the rise of multiple-touch point platforms mean brand mascots are once again becoming important and effective pillars of brand communication?
 
   From the success of CompareTheMarket.com’s Russian meerkat Aleksandr, to the long awaited and much campaigned for return of Alka-Seltzer’s Speedy in the USA, it seems there is a brand mascot revival underway. Integrated, 360 approaches to media, and particularly the rise of digital and social media, is enabling marketers to bring brand mascots to life – almost literally – in ways that have never before been possible. It is easier than ever to build complex, compelling characters with more rounded personalities, back stories and make them part of a community. This makes them a more compelling and effective part of the marketer’s toolbox. Aleksandr alone has more than half a million friends on Facebook and thousands of followers on Twitter and when the UK price comparison website produced 5,000 Aleksandr dolls for Harrods in October 2009 the shop received 35000 orders.
 

7: China Comes Out – Are brands now using Chinese myths and models in global advertising?
 
   It might sound a little old hat to talk about the rise of China in 2010, after all international marketers have spent much of the first decade of this millennium going in to the world’s largest market and attempting to crack the most sophisticated tier one cities like Beijing and Shanghai. While this focus on penetrating China will continue for several years, after all the country has around 150 cities with one million plus residents, 2010 may be the year in which China starts having a more noticeable presence on advertising in the rest of the world. Some Chinese sports stars, actresses, movies and myths
are crossing over into the international mainstream. The knock on effect of this is that there are going to be more Chinese-influenced global ad campaigns and more examples of Chinese stars fronting international campaigns such as Crouching Tiger actress Ziyi Zhang fronting a late 2009 international Omega print and outdoor initiative.
 

8: Last Chance to Avoid Legislation – If marketers don’t take serious steps this year, will it be too late to avoid marcoms restricting legislation?
 
 

Committees and steering groups in Brussels and Washington are awash with research reports and white papers exploring tougher legislation on advertising in certain spaces. From the drinks and food industries to sex and violence, and targeting children, some politicians believe advertisers are in the last chance saloon when it comes to self policing and taking responsibility for their own communications regulation. From binge drinking to an obesity epidemic, certain socio-cultural trends are being partly blamed on marketers and some suggest the inevitable solution is restrictive legislation. Powerful bodies have stepped up their lobbying. For example, in the second half of 2009 the British Medical Association called publicly for all alcohol advertising to be banned. Will initiatives like industry body Drinkaware’s ‘Campaign for Smarter Drinking’ and Pernod Ricard’s ‘Accept Responsibility’ campaign be enough to circumvent the need for tough new laws on advertising? Product placement may be about to arrive, but which ads may be about to leave?

 

9: CyberPhysical – How can we connect our digital initiatives with the physical world?
 
 

Connecting the digital world with the physical one is increasingly a priority for multi-touch point marketers committed to a genuinely integrated approach. Digital may have become de rigour, but some initiatives can get isolated in cyberspace. The successful integration of on- and off-line worlds tends to create fully immersive relationships and more powerful communication. Indeed, many younger consumers see little difference between digital and physical so expect a connected approach. So leveraging tools to connect the two together – from location based services and QR codes, to innovative initiatives like

Nike’s Livestrong Chalkbot or Russell Davies’ Post-Digital Newspaper Club – will be crucial in the coming months.
 

10: Ambassador Dilution – Is a low risk multiple ambassador approach the preferred route in light of the Tiger Woods debacle?
 
 

So, while much of our work on celebrity endorsement focused on whether the very biggest names were becoming over-endorsed, the start of 2010 sees clients begin to explore more diluted approaches which combine grass roots, fan-based approaches with a set of multiple brand ambassadors. The Tiger Woods saga has seen marketers re-asses their tactics when it comes to brand ambassadors. The high profile global coverage of the affair has led some of his sponsors to reconsider their relationship and distance themselves from the star. Brands like AT&T and Accenture had staked a great deal on Woods, his image and his excellence and the collateral damage is hard to estimate. Nike and Gillette, of course, have other stars on their sponsorship roster which may dilute the damage. 2010 is going to be a big sporting year – from the Winter Olympics and The World Cup, to The Ashes and the Ryder Cup – and while there is no doubt the success that can come with having a Woods, a Dhoni, or a Beckham as a spokesperson, brands with the budgets to avoid putting all their eggs in one celebrity basket will probably make sure they don’t.
 

About Us
 

Xtreme Insight is a boutique marketing consultancy providing bespoke research across the advertising, branding, communication and marketing space. Our work includes campaign, brand, competitor and media analysis to provide insights into areas such as ad auditing, benchmarking, best practice, as well as briefing, creative and strategic development through reports, presentations, showcases and workshops.

 

If you would like any further information on Insight’s services visit our website at www.xtremeinsight.net or contact us at mail@xtremeinsight.net 


 
 

 
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