LONDON – Warc, the global marketing intelligence service, has released Toolkit 2017, an annual examination of forthcoming challenges faced by marketers around the world. Produced in association with Deloitte Digital, the report identifies six topics which marketers will be looking to in the coming year.
“We’ve reviewed the best of Warc’s content over the past year – the latest ideas, research, and examples. The result is a comprehensive guide to current thinking and the implications for marketers going forward into 2017,” comments David Tiltman, Head of Content at Warc.
The six key marketing trends identified are:
- Tech: The marketing applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Brand Experience: The emerging roles of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
- Content: How video is transforming social
- Social: The rise of ‘Dark Social’ and messaging apps
- E-Commerce: The direct-to-consumer opportunity
- ROI: Effectiveness in the digital age
Major FMCG advertisers are beginning to focus more on mass reach using traditional media to drive sales growth versus close targeting via digital channels. In addition, fresh research this year has suggested that brands are overinvesting in short-term ‘activation’ media, undermining the impact of creativity and harming long-term effectiveness. Meanwhile, media platforms are racing to prove the effectiveness of their channel. With budgets under ongoing pressure, more studies of this sort can be expected in 2017.
Summing up, Jason Warnes, Digital Marketing Partner of Deloitte Digital, says, “As the pressure to improve marketing performance continues, the three key challenges I see for 2017 are: how clients will optimise their marketing experience; how can they use marketing technology to automate and personalise their customer experience; and how can they use disruption to define, develop and rapidly deploy new services and experiences to improve customer experience.”
The Toolkit 2017 executive summary by Warc in association with Deloitte Digital, is now available on warc.com. Further in-depth analysis and discussions on each of the six trends will be serialised on a weekly basis from 14 December via studies and a webinar.
In photos are David Tiltman, Head of Content at Warc and Jason Warnes, Digital Marketing Partner of Deloitte Digital.