Hold on to your hashtags because the world of influencer marketing is constantly growing and Together Agency are about to break it down for you, by looking at key trends, stats and strategies to help keep you ahead of the curve.

They will spill the tea on how influencer marketing isn’t just evolving, it’s the latest social media revolution. From big names like Alix Earle (who has 6M TikTok followers) to micro-influencers building an audience of thousands, looking into the likely trends for this year and strategies for how your business can use influencers to level up your brand.

Take a look here and prepare to influence and be influenced.

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The MARS Agency has recently launched an insightful universal trends report that surveys over 14,000 shoppers worldwide, highlighting 7 key trends that will impact commerce marketing in 2023. The report examines 34 different shopper categories, investigating how these trends are impacting both shopper behaviour and marketing strategies.

Covering a series of trends including:

01 COVID Gone. Recession On?

02 Quick Commerce Stays the Course

03 Community in Mind, Spirit, Body

04 Recommerce is a Natural Fit

06 Digital Shopping Deepens

05 In-Store Is ‘In’ Again

07 It’s All the Same to Shoppers

The report aims to give a holistic view as to the challenges and opportunities considered within this year’s marketing strategies to engage shoppers.

The report serves as a valuable resource for marketers looking to adapt to changing consumer behaviour and preferences. By understanding these trends, brands can create effective marketing strategies that resonate with consumers in the coming year. To read the full report, click here

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We’ve all become used to the unpredictable over recent years. TLC’s marketing trends for 2023 aims to give you the best opportunity to kick start the new year- but prepared. At the start of 2020 nobody had heard of Covid, and a year ago you’d have got long odds on seeing a takeover of Twitter, a king on the British throne and an actual war on the European mainland. But as spring is on the horizon, it’s worth planning for the rest of the year ahead. This is how TLC help their clients and fellow marketers to prepare for the upcoming twelve months. Presenting their annual prediction of marketing trends for 2023 and developments that – unforeseen events aside – will be leading the conversation in marketing departments across the UK and the world. Fasten your seatbelts…

Click here to access

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Darren Keen, CEO International Markets at The Mars Agency, runs through the seven key trends which will shape the shopper marketing landscape over the next 12 months.

1. The in-store remote control

Over the past decade the world has witnessed a staggering evolution in mobile technology that has permeated all areas of life.

In most part, its ever-presence in commerce has been channelled towards finding ways to transact before or away from the store.

In 2020 there will be a surge of mobile-centric interaction to enhance the efficiency of bricks and mortar shopping missions. More shoppers will be detail-browsing; selecting, scanning, and paying for their purchases, easing the reliance on classic forms of hardware or human interaction at the point of sale.

2. A new value equation

The ever-precarious nature of commerce has become a new constant, driving retailers and manufacturers to tack between the extremes of strong benefit-led innovation plays and deep-cut discounting strategies in the search of fine-line profitability.

In turn, this is facilitating a shift from the traditional basket mix of everyday essentials and occasional premium choices to shoppers redefining their everyday purchases into two tiers: ‘priced to me’ and ‘valuable to me’.

The former being regular, often branded items, that are aggressively priced to meet shoppers’ expectations and retained loyalty, with the latter premium-priced lifestyle solutions taking an increasingly regular share of shoppers’ wallets.

3. Getting even more personal

The last 10 years saw the rise -and ability to provide personalisation for shoppers across a whole range of sectors. This trend is not on the wane with more technology, innovation and effort being focused on achieving increasingly unique product experiences.

In 2020 there will be a particular progression in the personalized shopping experience itself with intelligent tech driving individual shopper interplay ranging from facial and fingerprint recognition as well as advanced data algorithms delivering more anticipated selection predictability.

Additionally end-product personalization will continue to become more widespread in traditional store environments.

4. Delivery sophistication

From the cumbersome, costly and complex 1.0 delivery systems to the ever-evolving and slick distribution industry of today, 2020 will see shoppers further rely on the increasing network of efficient delivery services.

As well as better efficiency in both the process and time-to-customer, more providers will be focusing on environmentally pleasing methods of distribution –with of course Amazon’s much anticipated drones to become a more-than-trial reality this year.

The big evolution will be from single-vendor-single delivery to one-time deliveries providing products from a number of merchants that have collaborated across key shopping moments and user-occasions.

5. Wellbeing is a priority

Awareness and promotion of mental and physical wellness has never been more apparent among communities than it is today, and it will continue to be a fundamental foundation to shoppers’ lifestyles and their choices throughout 2020.

Brands and retailers will be sought out, verified and ultimately trusted by shoppers if they can prove to deliver a beneficial solution for better wellbeing in the areas of life important to shoppers and their families.

It is not only the product benefit itself that will be judged but the proactive and supportive actions of manufacturers and retailers of this important element within society.

6. Thinking global. Acting local

Shoppers have never been more aware or connected to the global big picture, creating a sense of real appreciation for the issues that exist across the world.

Part driven by exposure to political and social realities in all regions but also by the escalating environmental challenges occurring elsewhere being felt locally, shoppers will increasingly consider home-grown products and services.

These will range from hyper-local options as a positive action to combat unnecessary process and distribution to more controversial nationalistic protectionism promoted by governments in response to world events.

7. The packaging revolution

2020 will see further escalation on environmentally damaging packaging.

The dawning of a new decade will kick-start communities, brands and retailers into step-changing their behaviours and commitment to further developing and using sustainable packaging, manufacturing techniques and waste processes -all of which will become a more prominent part of the brand and product story.

Shoppers have patiently appreciated the journey realities that commerce has embarked on to take on this large-scale issue to date but will now demand faster action and actively support companies that make this issue a key priority.

To learn more, contact Darren at dkeen@marslondon.co.uk or on 020 3119 3200.

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The Mars Agency explores the top trends in shopper marketing for 2019. The recently published report details what we can expect to see this year, including conscious shoppers, intimate innovation, v-comm, online-going offline, tech driving humanisation, a way-point for retailers and reliability tonic.

Click here to read the report.

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Members of Imagination’s global team of creative strategists preview what you’ll be seeing within the experiential marketing space in 2019 – and what you can do about it.

Click here to read the report.

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The UK retail environment is changing at the fastest pace in its history, says Apostolos Lambrianides, Group Marketing and PR Manager at The Delta Group.

If you were to believe the headlines, the death of the high street is imminent. Since the collapse of Woolworths in 2009 the UK retail scene has seen a wave of high profile administrations affecting the high street…those Friday evening trips to the local Blockbuster are a thing of the past!

However in reality retailers are learning to innovate – looking at new ways to engage with audiences and understanding the changing consumer dynamics that are determining the way they shop.

So here we have a look at some of the key consumer trends that have already impacted the way brands and retailers approach product positioning and marketing, as well as some of the new retail challenges and (and opportunities) you should be aware of now…before it’s too late!

The Millennial Market

The story of the millennial is only too familiar to readers of the Drum. Born between the early 1980’s and early 2000’s, these guys are digital natives who have grown up and matured with mobile technology and as such, expect to be able to use it in every aspect of their life. Constantly on a variety of social media platforms and documenting their every move, the convenience of the mobile device is paramount to this group. And unsurprising the UK’s 14 million strong millennial population are more likely to start and end their journey on their smartphones than any other age group, who have started turning their mobile device into a handheld wallet.

Improving the payment experience through self-checkout kiosks and advanced digital payment technologies is essential to keeping the millennial shopper. The relentless focus on perfecting technology has set a new standard across the industry that millennials now accept as the norm. Retailers must be able to provide streamlined, user-friendly systems and processes in order to retain the millennial.

However the challenge doesn’t end there for retailers, as a personalised retail experience is equally key. Whether this is online or in-store, millennials seek customer service professionals who understand their preferences and make recommendations tailored to their specific needs. Millennials want a customer-centric experience in which they feel wanted and valued. In order to do this, retailers need to closely examine what they’re currently doing with customer data, and ensure this information is being utilised to deliver a more personalised in-store experience.

The Conscious Consumer

Over the years, as manufacturers have looked towards cheaper and quicker ways of getting their products to customers, retail manufacturing practises have taken a serious toll on the environment. Second only to oil, the retail manufacturing industry is the most polluting industry on the planet. However, increasing awareness around these issues – thanks largely to the growing influence of the millennial audience (yes, those guys again) – has given rise to the conscious consumer.

Loosely speaking, being a conscious consumer means shopping and consuming with greater thought given to aspects of the product and business you’re buying from. Thoughts include: Are they Fairtrade and are their products responsibly sourced? And are they environmentally friendly? Ultimately this group aim to seek out ways to make positive decisions about what to buy and look for a solution to the negative impact consumerism is having on the world.

Another key concern for the conscious consumer is the way in which brands target audiences, both through advertising and the positioning of their products. As products and services expand to reflect the rich cultural makeup of the population, advertising efforts can be observed leading with non-centred perspectives that fall in line with a view to omni-culturalism, whereby effectively celebrating difference as the only norm. This progression demonstrates the need for brands to engage consumers around values less tied to traditional markers of identity such as race, geographic location and gender.

The Power of Omni-Channel

The omni-channel approach defines the new way in which consumers shop: by using all the options available to them. It could be using a desktop, laptop, tablet, smartphone, smart TV; they might go direct to a website to research a specific product or arrive through affiliate channels or email; engage through review platforms, apps and so on.

In the UK shoppers say that social media has an influence over what they buy (under 25’s – 60% and 25-34 – 50%), while conducting prior online research on the retailer’s own site or sites of other retailers led to 13% greater in-store spending among omni-channel shoppers.

Although not a retail strategy, it’s still essential to understand the multiple methods people use in their path to purchase as, ultimately, the more channels customers use the more valuable they are! A recent Google study found that omni-channel shoppers are three times more valuable to a brand, with Macy’s stating it is in fact as high as six times.

The Delta Group understands the challenges faced by international retailers, brands and entertainment companies that operate in fast-paced, competitive environments. For over 20 years, they’ve provided end-to-end marketing services designed to integrate supply chains and help companies improve their marketing agility, reduce costs and achieve maximum returns on marketing investment. 

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Chris Wilson, Head of Brand Partnerships at Ingenuity London explores the standout brand partnership trends this year and what can be learnt from them.

What a year! We actually don’t think it’s all doom and gloom. The challenging marketplace has led to increased collaboration, more value-added offers for consumers and a sink or swim mentality on the high street.

An area that has grown and become increasingly relied upon is brand partnerships. When formed creatively with a customer-centric focus, this channel can be a cost-effective and profitable element to a brands marketing strategy.

What to consider before approaching a brand to form a strategic alliance?

–         The target brand has aligned values

–         They have like-minded targets or goals to achieve

–         The potential partner has skill sets and/or mutual benefits to offer

–         It must remain relevant to the target audience

Partnerships are following the Marketing herd, where brand purpose has been put at the top of the tree it seems that the poignancy of a meaningful partnership has not been lost. You only need look at the FA’s partnership with Stonewall to see that previously inward facing organisations are embracing the new wave of customers who care about brand purpose.

A partnership, when done effectively, will allow you to shift perceptions, create new engagement and deliver you more assets to leverage, ultimately enabling you to drive more revenue, less churn and greater loyalty.

Which partnerships have impressed?

1.       Amex’s partnership with Netflix that allows customers to ‘Pay with Points’ – A great partnership which allows a low value redemption month to month, generating a genuine feeling of being rewarded.

2.      Spider-Man partnership sees Vodafone and Sony Pictures aim to encourage digital skills – a great positioning piece for all the brands involved, filling in the gaps left by the education system in the UK.

3.      Bud Light unlocks coolers of free beer as Cleveland Browns win first game since 2016 – just a great activation that encapsulates an audience at a time that makes their experience enhanced and increases shareability via social.

4.     Sky and Netflix partner for ‘ultimate’ on-demand TV package – one of the most talked about strategic deals of the year, a solution which helps Sky offer a better range and retain their customers whilst offering Netflix better reach and customer acquisition. We’d love to know what the overlap here was.

Personalisation is key

Research finds a correlation between personalisation and customer satisfaction. By leveraging customer data captured in a multi-channel loyalty program, brands can offer more relevant promotions and up sell and cross-sell relevant products or services to consumers.

How to navigate the world of Brand Partnerships

Partnerships should focus on at least one of the following:

• Bringing value to the customer
• Solve (or alleviate) a problem
• Capture people’s interest
• Deliver digitally
• Challenge perception

Data is a key pillar

Data has become a much talked about subject, particularly with GDPR (which I have talked about previously – read here).

The element of data in any partnership is crucial, you should understand your audience, the way they think, what makes them tick, what makes them keep coming back most importantly how they behave.

But if you do not own the data, you can form a partnership that drives acquisition via a promotion. By creating an exciting campaign, you can acquire new audiences by marketing to them using an exclusive partnership promotion, thus drive your data sets and creating a new and engaged user group which you can target again and again across your wider marketing strategy.

In summary it’s the balance of data and creativity that delivers the best opportunities in partnerships and the greater the scope and breadth of the relationship the better it will be. Case in point is American Express’ integration into Amazon which goes as deep as allowing you top redeem points at checkout on the Amazon platform.

Being customer centric the spirit of Christmas giving in partnerships

Tis the season for giving, so make sure your 2019 strategy is to put your customers at the very heart of what you do, there are far too many broad and non-strategic partnerships out there in the industry that are too introspective, alleviating internal rather than external challenges.

Finding the right partner; Partnerships are the key: Ingenuity London

Having extensive experience in helping brands to develop an effective partnership offering to market we could introduce you to any number of partners. (To see more, please check out our new website here).

If you’re interested in engaging new audiences or developing a new way to market your brand via strategic partnerships, get in touch with Chris at Chris.Wilson@ingenuitylondon.com to discuss.

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