What has this pandemic changed in the world of marketing?

More evidence of the realities of a “Post-Pandemic World” seems to be streaming in through yet another new channel these days. Global auditing, management, and tax consultancy Deloitte’s 2022 Global Marketing Trends report reveals that a new world is also going to need new marketing strategies.
 
As it has done in so many aspects of our lives, the global pandemic has given birth to new consumption habits and to new ways of addressing them. Published by Deloitte, 2022 Global Marketing Trends lays out the landscape of the world emerging from this pandemic and it provides guidance on how to navigate it. Interviews with 1,000 senior executives from five countries and 11,500 consumers from all over the world reveal that the rules in the business of marketing are getting increasingly more complex. There’s a host of new trends ranging from digital and physical channel integration to increasingly more demand for diversity. All of which is to say that quite a few of the old methods are no longer going to work. The new marketing strategy focus is on solutions that blend the physical market with the digital. Asking the question how brands can grow successfully in such an increasingly more complex world, the report reveals that the fastest-growing companies are the ones that go beyond so-called “point solutions” and focus on an “integrated customer experience” instead.
 
Purposes other than profitability
The expectation that the purpose of businesses should go beyond maximizing profits is becoming more common. According to 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer  findings, 68%  of consumers believe they have the power to force corporations to change and 86%  of people expect CEOs to speak out on societal issues.
 
Much more attention is being given nowadays to issues such as creating a more equitable world, reaching net-zero emissions, and protecting consumer privacy. In line with this, many organizations are redefining why they exist and how they make an impact beyond profit. This in turn is forcing them to rethink everything from their product delivery and brand messaging to employee and community engagement strategies.
 
According to Deloitte, high-growth brands (those with at least 10% growth over the past year) are 66% more likely to see purpose as a means to guiding employee decision-making and 41% are more likely to have purpose drive the corporate social responsibility investment strategy. Drawing attention to the importance of purpose, the report says “When brands know whom they are serving and what those individuals specifically care about, they can position their purpose as a competitive differentiator and, as importantly, move in the direction those consumers are expecting.”  
 
Diversity and inclusion more important now
Today’s consumers are more sensitive to issues such as ethnicity and sexual orientation. In its survey of 11,500 global consumers, Deloitte found the youngest respondents (from 18 to 25 years old) took greater notice of inclusive advertising when making purchase decisions. “But it’s not enough to just market inclusiveness or diversity, as our results also show 57% of consumers are more loyal to brands that commit to addressing social inequities in their actions” says the report, while also adding that appealing to the loyalties of future customers may require brands to demonstrate that they are authentically promoting equitable outcomes in all their spheres of influence.
 
Analytical expertise or creative?
Ongoing developments in artificial intelligence (AI) are certainly changing the rules of the game for marketers and advertisers. Vast amounts of consumer data are processed and used to inform the products and services being supplied to markets nowadays. This creates the possibility that analytical approaches may take precedence over creative ones among marketing and advertising teams. The reality of this is tellingly revealed in corporate recruitment trends and hiring practices. According to Deloitte “In this more data-intensive environment, we already see marketers gravitating toward hiring more analytical skills. When we surveyed 556 global chief marketing officers (CMOs) and asked them to identify the top skills of their highest performers, analytical expertise edged out creative skills in almost every industry, with the exception of the consumer industry–something that would be almost unheard of 10 years ago.” Nonetheless, however much precedence analytical skill sets may take, creativity is still important. The new goal is to bring data scientists, strategists, programmers, and creatives together to make a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
 
In recent years, social media platforms have become some of the most important tools used in the world of marketing. Companies that no longer regard the work delivered by agencies as sufficiently bespoke or brand-specific solutions are turning to influencers instead. It seems that companies will benefit greatly from creating hybrid structures that combine digital and physical environments and skills.
 
The growing importance of data privacy
The use of social media has brought about many other changes in the world of marketing in recent years. Consumers for example are now very concerned about data privacy and while they may appreciate “relevant” ads, they may also be uneasy about how their personal information, purchase references, and browsing habits are being used. “The phasing out of third-party cookies can hinder marketers’ ability to effectively engage with customers in myriad ways, including finding quality prospects, re-engaging customers who have considered a brand’s products but possibly moved away, and measuring the effectiveness of digital ad campaigns” says the Deloitte report, which then points out that “high-growth brands” are finding ways to get out of this impasse. Such brands’ chief marketing officers (CMOs) prefer instead to deploy first-party data in more sophisticated ways, specifically in two key areas: delivering personalized content via dynamic creative optimization and using data to serve ads to users via programmatic media. In this new approach, optimizing emails is only the beginning: a more holistic view of one’s data infrastructure is also required.
 
Transparency and humanity
First-party data strategies on their own however are not enough. Designing a human-first data experience also requires striking a balance between those who think using their personal data is helpful and those who don’t. According to the report for example, 53% of respondents said that interactions in which their devices seemed to be listening to them were “creepy”.
 
As for trusted data experiences, transparency and humanity are indeed the most important issues: “When brands demonstrate transparency and humanity, customers are 2.5 times more likely to provide personal information that helps improve the product and 1.7 times more likely to feel they have received more value than expected” says the report, which also notes that while finding one’s way through the consumer privacy landscape is becoming increasingly more difficult, using consumer data transparently and always with consumers’ needs in mind can lead to brand relationships.
 
Another newly-emerging trend is to focus on “hybrid” approaches that deliver integrated physical and digital experiences. According to the report, 75% of the global executives surveyed said they would be investing more in hybrid experiences over the next twelve months while 43% are looking for hybrid solutions to increase personalization, 43% to increase innovation, 40% to increase customer connection, and 38% to increase inclusion.
 
Using artificial intelligence intelligently 
The report points out that integrating human-performed tasks and AI capabilities gives rise to many new opportunities. From the surveys that Deloitte conducted, two key issues emerge: timely offers and knowledgeable customer service. What is important is to optimize AI within the customer experience so as to achieve harmony between human tasks and machine capabilities. A dynamic experience for customers means delivering the assistance and information they need, whenever, wherever, and however they want it. The way to achieve this says Deloitte is for brands to use AI both to deliver more personalized and creative marketing material and to help them predict customer behavior.