How are the marketing trends predicted for 2018 shaping up?

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Hot marketing trends to take seriously in 2018: technology, legislation and attitudes

Last year (2017), leading lights predicted these marketing topics as ones to watch.

Facial recognition
GDPR
Age diversity
Generation Z

How are these topics shaping up in 2018?

Facial recognition and marketing

Facial recognition is best known to travellers. It is commonly used in airports. Facial recognition is also closely associated with security applications such as suspect detection. However, facial recognition technology has been predicted to enter the mainstream.

For marketers, facial recognition presents a new, or extended, opportunity.

Proximity marketing has been around for a while; we were involved at Allround Creative with a programme at payment terminals to issue vouchers to shoppers who regularly used a shopping mall car park, who are identified by their number plates.

For retail and consumer goods brands, facial recognition has the potential to transform the payment process. One of our customer is making it possible for large department stores to identify specific Reward card holders when they visit shops.

Elsewhere, the iPhone X incorporates facial recognition as a feature for Apple Pay, and many in the UK operate as cashless purchasers.

There is a huge untapped potential for brands to embrace facial recognition to highy create personalised customer experiences.

Marketing after GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect in May 2018.

We worked with Elizabeth Denham, ICO, at the Women in Data UK conference in late 2017.

GDPR presents businesses with the biggest adjustment in data protection laws since the Data Protection Act 1998. GDPR has an impact on every marketer.

Consumers leave a data trail everywhere they go, and GDPR is a minefield to be navigated with caution by anybody who relies on customer data and insight to build relationships, run campaigns and stimulate sales.

The two most noticeable outcomes of GDPR to date are the 90+% reduction in email advertising. And the improved marketing effectiveness of businesses that have a loyal customer base that also took time to re-permission, communicate options AND clean their datebases.

Age diversity and diversity in marketing

In 2018 the advertising industry has embraced an underappreciated demographic, the over-50s.

Gender and ethnic diversity have had their advocates for several years. Age diversity is topical because youth-focus in many industry sectors means that a valuable source of experience is under-used. Plus the spending power of over-50s means that marketing professionals should take a more creative look at engaging with this demographic, beyond the hackneyed reminders about retirement and investment.

If you have a core message, make sure it is tailored, made relevant and explained for diverse buyer types, which could extend to categories such as ‘novice’ and ‘expert’ as well as traditional demographic categories.

If you only use one tone of voice, you will not reach more than one section of your potential audience.

Generation Z marketing communications

Generation Z is already disrupting conventional marketing wisdom. The generation born between 1995 and 2010 is different to millennials and presents a new set of communication challenges for brands.

Although the terms Gen Z and millennials are overused, it’s important that brands factor in different behaviours planning communication strategies.

Gen Z is used to being bombarded with endless messages on a multitude of different channels, which makes it harder for brands to get their attention. They also inclined to self-sufficiency and self-service.

The challenge for marketers is to identify personalised and intelligent ways to give this up-and-coming group the buying and customer experiences they expect.