Brands and advertisers need to be open to change, stay agile and adapt to the winds of change.
By Shobhit Gaur – Senior Vice President (Digital Head), PHD India
The world has stepped into a brand New Year and while the general sentiment on the surface seems like not much has changed, the advertising industry stands at the cusp of disruption and digital transformation. From blurring the boundaries between advertising, marketing and communications through the global crisis, to driving technology and innovation across products and platforms that now shape our world and keep us busy and connected, what is most apparent in terms of the focus for 2022, is perhaps the fact that a lot of new and recent trends are now coming into their own as non-negotiable tools for marketers and media planners.
While some brands have already had a head start by taking advantage of these trends, if you’re someone who is yet to consider these or looking to integrate them around the corner, fret not – you’re not far behind. As we head steadfast in 2022, below are five strategies and tactics that I expect to dominate the industry and endure for the coming years.
The Role of Personalization – Brands are becoming more conscious about establishing a personal connection with their customers. To stand out in the market and outperform the competition, brands need to focus on personalized communication, channels and product offerings. Customers want to be heard and are more inclined to do business with personalized experiences.
And this isn’t confined to just one kind of implementation. There’s an entire range of options. Personalization works well – right from the Starbucks coffee mug, to an Amazon eCommerce experience, and even your Smart TV showing you content recommendations tailored to your viewing preferences.
Social Commerce – Social commerce is evolving as an alternative sales channel for many small and mid-sized companies, allowing them to interact with and sell directly to their customers. Especially due to the pandemic, key SMEs are leveraging social commerce to expand in India and across the world and are increasingly focusing on creating new business opportunities. We’re even seeing platforms giants like Facebook and WhatsApp with a combined reach of >400Mn users, allowing companies to tap into its massive potential consumer base to further social as an effective platform for commerce.
Creator Collaborations – Influence continues to grow and so does the overarching realm of influencer marketing and its platforms. Indian short-form video platforms are attracting upward of 200 Mn unique users from the top 50+ cities, leaving behind major established players like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
Welcome to the world of social celebrities who have risen to the top with their relatable social media content. They may not be household names but surely possess a huge fan following due to their expertise and ease of relatability with which they strike a chord with their audiences. Content creators are also moving up the value chain and promoting brands for the money.
Programmatic Display and Upper-Funnel Media will Fuel Growth – With the demise of cookies, programmatic display is expected to see continued growth in 2022. And to tackle this, many brands are developing a robust solution to simplify processes. One such solution is The Trade Desk where they have already developed a Unified ID that allows users to target niche audiences programmatically.
In TOFU (Top of the funnel), video will be the one driving increased spending. Videos will grow quickly and are confirmed to take on a much bigger piece of the pie in marketing plans for 2022. This is already being driven by CTV, AVOD’s, video on social, and other platforms. While several brands have defined performance goals, media in the upper funnel including video will have a substantial role to play in driving awareness, search demands and thereby conversions.
Connected TV – Post-Covid India is undergoing a new age of transformation and consumers are moving away from Linear TV to Connected TV. This change presents an untapped opportunity for brands and offers marketers a lucrative moment to unlock CTV ad potential. Connected TV viewing is poised to grow by 31% over the next couple of years and with India being a young market for CTV, we can expect a lot of upward movement there. Likewise, OTT is also going to be bullish with a dramatic surge predicted in the coming years.
In conclusion, change and adaptation are a part of life. In an industry as dynamic and fluid as ours, even more so! Brands and advertisers need to be open to change, stay agile and adapt to the winds of change. Hopefully, these trends would drive brands and leaders to adopt more purposeful marketing keeping in mind the needs and requirements of business and consumers, as we gear up to navigate all that’s to come our way in 2022.
