Intelligence: Will advertising still be relevant in 2030? A study by Group M Essence

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MANILA, PHILIPPINES — With the world seemingly turned upside down by the shock that is the COVID-19 pandemic, even the most optimistic have been wondering what the future may hold.

In a study conducted between January and February 2020, a team from Group M Essence interviewed nearly 50 industry experts from academia, business, marketing, technology, publishing, and advertising trade organizations around the world to find out if they believed that advertising would still exist in ten years’ time.

Experts were asked to evaluate the likelihood of 15 different scenarios and their implications for the future of advertising.

Key findings from the report include:

• Companies must become more transparent, sustainable, and purpose-driven to meet the expectations of post-Millennial generations over the next decade.
• Experts predict this audience will make environmental considerations a primary factor in consumer decision making as the 10-year deadline established by the UN to avert the worst effects of climate change approaches.
• Experts may be optimistic that AI will eliminate inefficiencies without creating widespread joblessness or eliminating the need for people, but individuals and companies still need to create new kinds of jobs and embrace new fields in which to apply human creativity.
• Advertising will continue to enable access to content and services for many people, especially in developing countries, but experts also predict companies will begin to prioritize services over products in their marketing.
• Subtler forms of marketing like product placement and sponsorships that are integrated into frictionless services and experiences are expected to play an increasingly important role.
• Biometric data is likely to be established as a key component in consumer identity information by the end of the decade, thus there will be a greater focus on the development of corporate strategies and policies capable of securing its use.
• Experts predict that companies will collaborate to establish standards across transactions, identity, and security that will enable new payment and exchange models that will create scalable alternatives to subscription-based commerce rather than submit to global regulation.