Where are we headed?

One question I get asked a lot lately is where is marketing headed?

Let′s go back, not that many years, only ten. Remember all you had to do when you wanted to watch a movie at home. It really took a lot of planning; not only planning your afternoon or night to do so, but going to Blockbuster and rent it, going to the supermarket for popcorn and prepare dinner.

Today, you only need 2 clicks. The first one on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime or any other “on demand” platform and the second one on Uber Eats or any "bring it home" platform so that they bring you everything you need and crave at that time.

But, has technology really been the main factor of change? I believe it has had a lot of influence, playing a major part on it, but it not the main factor or force of change. The real change comes in human behavior.

According to PEW Research Center, two thousand nineteen (2019) marks the year in which there will be more millennials than baby boomers in the US. This means a radical change in the way brands interact with consumers. The “big” marketing rules that we grew on were written based on a business model which tried to satisfy Baby Boomers, but what will happen when they are no longer the majority of the decision makers? Business schemes must change, communication channels and openness will change, but, above all, the strategy for interaction and brand building is going to evolve.

Millennials are no longer college kids, they are professional men and women who have decision making roles in companies and/or family businesses. Today, they are parents, multi-industry consumers and eventually, they will become the main decision makers worldwide.

It is also projected that this year, for the first time, investment in digital channels will be larger than the rest of publicity. In other words, this year, companies will spend more on platforms such as Facebook, Google, YouTube and Instagram, rather than on TV, radio, print or exterior media (out of home) and all the other channels put together. This will bring, in a really short time, an over-saturation of channels (which feels like it is already happening) and the creation of new engagement platforms.

Digital publicity goes hand in hand with technology, and like all technology, it goes through renewal cycles. In the next 3 years, we will live one of these cycles where it will be reinvented.

If we combine the two factors I mentioned above, where do I think Marketing is headed?

We perceive people are more conscious, they are more curious about the unknown, but at the same time, we notice a certain degree of “specialization” or certainty in the decisions we all make.

I will summarize in 10 points where do I believe Marketing is headed:

1. The concept of “Digital Marketing” has to take a step back and go back to being Marketing. Digital is only a channel to broadcast a message, but a strategy or a brand require many other factors than just audience optimization, on-line advertisement and performance indicators. When I grew up, I don′t remember there was “TV Marketing” of “Magazine Marketing”, there was only Marketing.
2. We should build real human messages, not trying to pretend or sell things that are not what the brand really is or who we really are; we should be real, with faults, stay authentic and not only show a perfect world. Messages made by brands are and will be targeted to humans.
3. Brands and companies need to create solid brand promises. Consumers are experts and they can “audit” them with a single click and promote them the same way, for good or for bad. Their click will reach very quickly among their sphere of influence. With so much proliferation, if a brand does not have a solid promise and keeps it, it′s easy for clients to go to a different brand simply because we do not identify ourselves in it.
4. Data is the new social currency. The number of followers you or the brands have doesn't matter anymore, the important thing is how much you know about your consumers. We must be able to listen and transform our interactions into insights. This will lead to create relevant content, and above all, engagement.
5. Digital renewal. It on not about reaching out to consumers, it is about having conversations with them and being part of their conversations instead of imposing them with what our brand / service does. People don′t buy products or services, or attributes, we all buy transformations.
6. We all must evolve from “funnels” to Journeys. Do not perform isolated actions but think about a value trail. Every long-term relationship needs time and dedication (and, most times, love).
7. Balance in human contact; the 1-2-1 (one to one) is going to be an important factor and whoever makes it part of their culture will win many battles. Moving the conversation and experience from the digital world to the physical one and vice versa will be a must. We are already finding physical stores from on-line retailers like Amazon and on-line stores from physical retailers such as Walmart.
8. Customer segmentation will be purely based on their sphere of interests and the feeling our customers will experience while they interact / use our brand. Socio-demographics will be used only for prioritization in resources like budget. Valuable, intelligent content that speaks to niches (groups with common interests, not necessarily small) will be necessary to bring the brand close to them.
9. Not everything has to be scalable, you have to build on the audiences and on due time. The question "How will we make that scalable?" will no longer be the idea killer in meetings but the question will be "How will we make it relevant?".
10. Establish and work in a relationship between humans and brands. Say goodbye to “one-night stands”. Be patient and gain their trust through time. Our relationship with brands will be the same as with humans.

This will be a year of many changes, there will be a very interesting transition on how brands and individuals do marketing. The rules will change, technology will keep impacting us and marketing the way we know it will come to an end.

Marketing is no longer just having a good idea, adding some creativity and making it real. Today, marketing is knowing and understanding the consumers, getting insights from them and transforming them into a comprehensive strategy.

Acquiring new customers is much more than getting a like, a follow or a single purchase. Making current clients happy and promoters will take longer, providing customer service will be on a human to human relationship, developing and launching new products need to be sustained by a solid deep insight, opening new channels for interaction will happen sooner than later, creating content and making memorable will be our DNA, relevant and constant campaigns is our culture.

 In 2019, Marketing enters a new stage of development.