10 Brand and Marketing Trends for 2010
Issue 3: December, 2009
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Though US economists are cautiously
predicting an uptick in consumer spending next year, the post-recession
landscape will present brand marketers with new challenges, new
engagement realities and new rules, and will increase pressure to prove
how and why branded products deliver value, according to Dr. Robert
Passikoff, president of Brand Keys.
Using what Passikoff calls
"predictive loyalty metrics" gleaned from consumer data his firm
collects, Brand Keys analyzed the likely consumer values, needs and
expectations for the next 12-18 months and offered the following 10
trends:
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 may spell trouble for brands with no
authentic meaning, whether high-end or low.
2. Brands are increasingly a surrogate for value: What makes goods and services valuable will increasingly be what's wrapped up in the brand and what it stands for.
3. Brand differentiation is brand value: The unique meaning of a brand will increase in importance as generic features
continue to propagate in the brand landscape. Awareness as a meaningful
market force has long been obsolete, and differentiation will be
critical for sales and profitability.
4. "Because I said so" is 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 capitalize 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 - and won't - work anymore: 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together" when those same banks have rescinded their credit and turned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 insincere
celebrity pairings - such as Seinfeld & Microsoft or Tiger Woods
& Buick. Celebrity values and brand values instead need to be in
concert.
7. Consumers won't need to know a brand to love it:
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 credibility can go
viral in days, with awareness following - not leading - the
conversation.
8. It's not just buzz:
Conversation and community is increasingly important, and if consumers
trust the community, they will extend trust to the brand. This means
not just word of mouth, but the right word of mouth within the
community. This has significant implications for future of customer
service.
9. Consumers talk with each other before talking with brands: Social
networking and exchange of information outside of the brand space will
increase. This - at least in theory - will mean more opportunities for
brands to get involved in these spaces and meet customers where they
are.
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:
The platform (TV; online), the context (program; webpage), the message
(ad or communication), and the experience (store/event). At the same
time, they also will realize that brand engagement will become
impossible using out-dated attitudinal models.
Accommodating
these trends will require a paradigm change on the part of some
companies. But whether a brand does something about it or not, the
future is where it will spend the rest of its life. How long that life lasts is up to the brand, determined by how it responds to today's reality.
Source: Dr. Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys |
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