Marketing 2023: What's hot, what's not

The marketing world moves at light speed. Brands have to constantly evolve and adapt to keep up with the ever-changing preferences of their customers and are forced to come up with new strategies every year. Adding to the complexities of the sector has been the Covid pandemic that has changed the marketing rulebook completely in the past two years. So, as 2022 comes to an end, we look back at all that made noise in the marketing sphere this year, as well as the trends that will define the coming year.

2022 Wrapped 

Year 2022 was the year of normalcy coming back after two years of Covid-induced constraints. Brands which had completely shifted their ad and marketing spends to digital gradually returned to the traditional mediums of reaching people while still making noise on online platforms.

For Shanshank Srivastava, Executive Director at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the explosion of digital marketing was one of the biggest trends of the year.

“Our efforts in the digital marketing front were at par. We were earlier using digital marketing for the lower funnel, but now we have started using it for the upper funnel as well. It is working well when it comes to brand awareness and that has encouraged us to invest more in it. It has created a great impact on the conversion rate with respect to the hyper-local programme that we’ve started,” said Srivastava.

He shared that they are majorly depending on first-party data which will help them to personalize their services and this will continue in the coming year as well. 

A senior marketer from a prominent edtech platform another important trend in 2022 was data tracking. He shared that analytical tools have helped them greatly to touch their target group in the last year. 

Talking about the role played by technology in the year, Sanjeev Jasani, COO, Cheil India, shared that 2022 saw AI impacting advertising in a big way. “We saw a number of MarTech & AdTech solutions using AI to help brands connect better with their audiences. We even saw the impact of AI on content, making it simpler for brands to develop and distribute digital video content,” he said.

“Speaking of content, this was another successful trend that took off. We saw a lot of brands shifting to video content and focusing on their video marketing strategies. And finally I feel e-commerce took off. With a lot of brands focusing on building a D2C strategy and also trying to leverage social commerce, this place has started to heat up,” he added.

Marketers further share that celebration of diversity and inclusivity is one of the big things in today’s time. Having a sense of community is what people look out for.

Said Umashan Naidoo, Head of Customer at Beauty At Trent Ltd (fashion brand of Westside), said “In 2022, we launched initiatives such as Nuon X, One size fits all, and Limitless – all of which celebrate women and their curves. We are really proud of building a community through this and we look forward to developing similar campaigns that motivate consumers to be outspoken and feel good about themselves in the future. Westside is not just a space to sell but to engage and build a community.”

The way forward

Talking of 2023, marketing experts say technology will be the clear leader, helping brands to channel creativity to its full potential. Industry watchers also say that in-person experience will be appreciated more in the coming year.

Social commerce

According to Ajay Maurya, Head of Marketing at Fastrack, one of the leading trends that will catch up in 2023 is social commerce.

“Through social commerce, it is easier for businesses to enable quick conversions. Technology has made direct marketing and direct selling easier.”

Customer-centric approach 

Omni-channel approach is one that has emerged in 2022 and will pick up in 2023, shared Sambit Dash, Partner, RPSG.

“The approach is customer-centric. It makes the brand available wherever the customer shops - online or offline. Whether it is a social media platform, a multi-brand outlet, Amazon or the brand’s own website or even WhatsApp, everything is going to serve as a retail outlet,” said Dash.

“The biggest drivers for ecommerce growth will be Tier 2 and 3 cities. These places are home to aspirational millennials aware of brands, trends and needs, but under-served by physical retail. They will feature prominently on the horizon of online brands.”

He further said, “The third trend, and a potentially impactful differentiator for the brands that can build it up, will be the growth of communities. We are already witnessing how enterprises, D2C startups, influencers and SMEs are building communities based on hobbies, preferences or other sentiments. These communities are thriving with two-way communication between brands and buyers. That’s going to become bigger in 2023.”

“Lastly, brands are already experimenting with ultra-short format videos, and I expect that there will be a much wider use of short 6, 10, and 15-second videos for telling brand story instead of just display an offer. These videos will tease customers and push them into connecting with the brands,” he added.

Increasing tactics to create credibility 

On a different note, Ajeeta Bharadwaj, Chief Strategy Officer, Wondrlab, said, “The past few years have seen many categories explode with choices. New brands have launched and quickly scaled up, old brands have launched new lines. Now the battle is for the consumer’s mind, not just his wallet. That’s why I think that 2023 will see a returning focus on brand building.”

“Brand trust will also become an important currency. A lot of new studies are showing the direct role that brand trust plays in positive consumer behaviours ranging from purchase to advocacy to defending the brand. Building brand trust means that the brand’s core purpose and working, needs to be communicated through everything that it says and does. So while brands continue to use different consumer engagement platforms, the focus will no more be on saliency at any cost, it will be on generating brand trust and brand love.”

“The second trend that will gather force in 2023 is that the so-called ‘back-stage of the brand’ will come more and more into the limelight. It won’t be just the product, but the company behind the product, the founders, the product philosophy, the way the employees are treated; all these will influence consumer behaviour. The fact that we are already seeing more and more founders feature in their brand’s communication or come before their consumers in some other capacity is evidence to the fact that personal credibility will rub off on the brand’s credibility.”

At the recently held, e4m-INCA Influencer Marketing Conference, finance influencer Sharan Hegde also spoke about company’s stakeholder’s being the face of the company helping them to create more credibility amongst the consumers.

Leveraging Technology

Vivek Nair, Head - Brand Strategy & Marketing, Log9 Materials, feels voice-driven marketing coupled with data-driven personalization will prove to be a game changer in 2023 and beyond.

“With increased data getting accumulated, personalization will prove to be a make or break factor across various product categories. Thanks to Alexa, Siri and Google, from household widgets to luxury cars, everything awaits your voice command. The second trend is seamless integration between physical and digital touchpoints to continue to evolve in order to ensure the customer stays on from the point of discovery to the point of purchase.”

The third trend, feels Nair, will be further exploration of Metaverse.

“The new-found universe wasn’t just about a glam experience. From product concept testing to larger-than-life experiences, brands will continue to explore the Metaverse in 2023, as it stands at the crossroads of multiple online and offline customer experience touchpoints.”

Purpose-Driven Marketing

Nair also said that purpose driven-marketing is the way forward. He said,

“Purpose will continue to trump everything. With the GenZ proving to be the loudest influencers, brands will continue to look to their north-star and make their reason of existence the fulcrum of every story narrated. The brand purpose will manifest across each touch point encompassing communication, experience and transaction. Climate change will find its due space amidst pitch decks and brand briefs. Though an overused word, sustainability will increasingly prove to be a differentiator between the ‘brand I like’ and ‘brand I will buy from’. From business strategy to the way products are manufactured, consumers today do not just flip the package to look for price but to also see how the product was manufactured and brought to them.”

Meme marketing 

Meme marketing has becoming an integral part of brand communication as it relates majorly with the younger generation, and it will only evolve in 2023.

According to Piali Dasgupta, Senior Vice President – Marketing, Columbia Pacific Communities, “Meme marketing, led by food delivery apps such as Swiggy and Zomato along with Netflix, creator-led marketing initiatives, causevertising (ie, brands backing an important social cause, such as Dove’s #StopTheBeautyTest, the Cadbury Diwali ad or the recent Bournvita #forcedpacks campaign), testimonial-led performance ads by D2C brands”

She further said that Gen-Z is an extremely smart lot and is very environmentally cautious.

“So brands should be authentic and have the right intent. To win over Gen z customers, companies need to believe in doing good for the earth instead of just chasing profits. Also, don’t be preachy. That never sits well with the under-25 audience.”

Shobha Vasudevan, Head - Enterprise Communications and PR, Dell said, “Devising a strong strategy is the most efficient way to not only communicate the brand’s overall messaging, but also ensure that these messages reach the people in the most interesting, relatable, and easy-to-understand formats. Currently, communication technologies are enabling out-of-the-box ideas for brands to reach their target audiences. Be it AI, VR, or a metaverse event - with audiences responding well to impactful campaigns, technology-driven communication is set to become competitive. For brands who want to see success for their campaigns, leveraging new trends would be critical. While conventional tactics are helping, they do have their limitations in the current age of communications.”