When you’re in marketing, it feels like there’s a new buzzword or trend you need to be on top of every week. Looking back at decades past, we’ve seen some short-lived marketing concepts. Fax advertising, chain mail and Myspace all dominated the 90s. The 2000s saw the launch of the e-book download, the introduction of podcasts and the gradual takeover of social media – all of which still very much exist today.
So what is the next big thing? What should we stand up and take notice of? How do we separate the fleeting fax advertisements from the eternal marketing mix and only focus on what will help take a brand into the future?
We’ve done the hard work for you, and picked out four buzzwords from the last year that are set to take a more permanent place in our vocabulary in the coming months and beyond. These four words have made it to the list because they can substantially help the way your teams work not only now but long into the future, and help you become an altogether stronger brand.
Purpose
You can’t escape it and you shouldn’t want to. Though many have been critical of some brands only taking an active role in more community-led activities and wider values promotion during the hardships of this year, the move should be seen as a positive. We’ve seen brands big and small re-evaluate who they are, what they stand for and speak to their customers in a more human way, efforts that have been maximised under the strain of global events.
While the authenticity of some actions has been put into question, the fact is that audiences are benefitting from it, and brands are making a conscious effort to re-engage in an empathetic way. Purpose is more than a buzzword, it’s a movement. The marketing industry has undertaken a mindset shift, because the attitudes, motivations and habits of consumers have done the same. Now this emotional connection has been established, brands will need to work hard to maintain it.
Digital transformation
This has been on the lips of top speakers at events across the globe for quite some time. At its most basic level, digital transformation is about embracing tech in all areas of a business. Though many areas of marketing have been fundamentally driven by digital for many years, this year in particular has seen many other forms of tech brought to the forefront.
Whether it’s video conferencing for meetings, more comprehensive online project management software, or other solutions that are helping brands stay more reactive with their content creation, the era of digital transformation has been rapidly welcomed as the result of so much remote working taking place. While not all technology will need to remain, we are likely to see continued investment into tools that help make collaboration, agility and creation possible – particularly when teams have become accustomed to such streamlined ways of working.
Customer experience
Traditionally a customer’s experience with retailers had been designed based around their purchasing process and the transaction itself, whether that be in-store or online. Retail brands have had to work harder than ever to keep the customer experience alive, while many stores remained closed and online purchases took over. It became more than just about making the transaction itself go smoothly, but also adopting an over and above attitude including extending returns policies, nurturing through personalised marketing as well as heavy content production and social community management.
Brands have done exceptionally well to keep the conversation open, inform customers of changes and highlight all the great things they have done to help make the world a better place, and as their physical stores open their doors once again, this is something that will be remembered.
Brand Activation Management
Brand Activation Management is much more than the latest acronym, it’s about approaching your brand and marketing in a much easier, more effective and more powerful way.
BAM by Papirfly™ centralises asset creation, brand education, campaign management and file storage into one easy-to-use portal. It gives marketing and brand teams the ability to manage the application of the brand across multiple digital and print disciplines.
Teams harness pre-defined templates to create pixel-perfect videos, social media assets, emails, brochures, adverts and much more. These templates are customisable and have been professionally designed, meaning that you can produce studio-standard marketing in a matter of minutes, without any professional design expertise. Switch out imagery, text, translations, brands, colours, layouts, sizes – you name it. Anyone can pick up a design and edit it for themselves, without compromising the integrity of the brand. All assets are stored in a built-in DAM, allowing for a bird’s eye view of what has been created in real-time.
If you would like to find out more about how BAM by Papirfly™ can transform your approach to marketing, book a demo today.
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