The 2023 horizon is complex for several reasons. These trends show that we won’t have two equal sectors by 2023.
This is, without a doubt, the most collective article that has ever been written in our history of more than 20 years. At WYgroup, we are proud of our teams and our people, and each one of us – and there are already more than 450 of us – knows greatly the importance of the collective. None of our work can be done individually, and this one was no exception. All of the group’s companies, at their most senior level, participated in this reflection of which I became a mere spokesperson.
Our thinking, pragmatic and direct, tries to respond to pressing challenges and not to megatrends. It tries to envision paths and what we will have to face and manage. It is part of the thinking and experience of the more than 250 clients and 400 brands we work with, daily. Much of what is written, is also the result of the concerns we have, and the path we believe is right in front of us.
The 2023 horizon is complex for several reasons. If we look at previous crises, they were all based on the fundamental assumption that economic recovery had to be achieved through an increase in demand, and therefore, company revenues. Unfortunately, next year will bring us a completely different model, firstly due to the arrival of high inflation.
The classic way to contain inflation is by contracting activity. The price drop (a way of countering inflation) only happens when supply is greater than demand, which means that only a contraction in demand will make it possible. However, we know that the behavior of many sectors is quite divergent. If in Real Estate a contraction is already expected due to the rise in interest rates, the Automotive sector has a waiting list of many months in most brands (due to the effects of scarcity of components) in contrast to the consumer markets which, as a result of increases in energy and raw material prices will see a significant reduction in their operating margins.
In 2023, there won’t be two sectors that will behave the same, so these trends reflect exactly that. Not all of them will be applied to all sectors. There are no generic and transversal trends, but rather trends that we will see in some areas, and less in others. The future will be much more personalized and much less transversal and unique.
Even though some trends are more generic than others, this list is not a recipe, but rather a menu, where everyone must choose the one or ones that best apply to their sector.
1 – People and Social Networks in 2023
Social Networks are an integral part of our lives, that is a fact. Like everything new (and they are not that new anymore), they generate conflicting, and often opposing, feelings. But let’s not have any doubts, they are here to stay until we discover their replacement, which will cause a new disruption.
However, the role of people on networks has been changing gradually, and almost imperceptibly. First, we shared our news with our friends, then we became content producers, and today we see all networks favoring this new content, more authentic and genuine, made by acquaintances and many anonymous people who are born on the networks and gain worldwide notoriety.
This alignment of the creation model takes people to the center of the platforms. The new generations of content producers are now central to platform strategies that dedicate millions of funds to them. Content must be paid for to ensure it stays there and continues to attract followers, not just for you, but also for the platform.
Have you ever thought about why Cristiano Ronaldo has 500 million followers on Instagram and he isn’t present on TikTok? How much are 500 million followers worth? We will know soon when Cristiano and TikTok reach an agreement on the amount of entry!
The importance of this people-centricity forces brands to adopt new, relevant content strategies. It forces them to personify their content and bring to the networks someone who can represent them, to their audiences and consumers.
Watch the video with Paulo Rossas, Chief Innovation Officer at Lisbon Digital School
2 – The Need for Performance in 2023
An unstable environment full of unknowns will continue into the year ahead. Inflation and uncertainty do not allow companies to have the much-desired year of consolidation, and I would venture to say that the Roaring 20s are the years of this century and not the years of the last century, because… what are parties compared to a pandemic? followed by a war.
We know that the magic recipe for many companies, in times of crisis, is to cut marketing investments. Unfortunately, the result that comes out of this is never good and is often absolutely disastrous for the brands, for the business, and consequently, for the companies.
Given this scenario, Marketing Departments will be called upon next year to support the commercial operations of their companies. And one of the ways they will do it is through Performance marketing. Performance communication, mostly digital, resides in a set of techniques that allow each company to produce more contacts and more sales through its digital assets.
The use of different techniques and tools, such as Artificial Intelligence applied to Communication techniques, allows for a significant improvement in results and sales. For this, information is needed, and this information is always based on data that has and must be worked on to produce knowledge and informed decisions.
Watch the video with Ana Fernandes, Executive Director at WYperformance
3 – New technologies for brand activation in 2023
Talking about Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning are no longer new to anyone, but the truth is that their dissemination and implementation process is slower than initially anticipated. The fact that the cost is still high may have raised this important barrier, but the future is promising and we are beginning to see the first solutions presenting themselves with possible values for most brands.
For this very reason, the first applications with solutions for events and brand activations are beginning to appear. The arrival of AI on the scene will allow the development of more personalized solutions that generate greater engagement with the consumer. In the same way, the arrival of NFTs and their respective Tokens will also allow for greater involvement and exclusivity in physical and digital participation in these same events.
Watch the video with Miguel Pires, Co-Founder & Creative Partner at NERVO
4 – Digital simplification in 2023
The emergence of digital in our lives was an accelerator for many practices and diverse activities. The proliferation of digital solutions for almost everything has allowed us a level of comfort that we never dreamt of before. However, trying to find technological solutions for almost everything in our lives comes at a price. And that price is often losing the simplicity of this solution.
The consumer asks us for simple models. The only complex thing has to be the problem and not the solution. This need for digital simplification is evident in the search by brands to find models that allow this. Within these models are Design Systems.
Design systems are a set of principles and rules that allow a given brand to reduce the redundancy of its digital communication, by creating a common language and set of proprietary signals.
Watch the video with António Cancela de Abreu, Head of Product Strategy & Design at Bliss Applications
5 – Brand activism in 2023
The last few years have been rich in moments that marked us in the political, social, economic, and environmental spheres. All these moments of great impact and reflection led an important part of our societies to question values and behaviors. The definition by many brands of their business purpose led to a need to align values that were often being called into question by a more serious event and, therefore, more visible in the media. The next question is “What should the brand do”? Take position or turn your face to the side and wait for it to pass?
Many brands are taking a stance of total alignment with their values (and their audiences) publicly taking part in a direction or decision and showing their commitment to making this position visible.
This will be a consequential trend, as brands are increasingly expected to stop being complacent with the status quo and become more of a way of giving voice to an emotion, a cause, or a personality.
In any case, the most attentive consumers expect brands that join their causes, that give them a voice, and that, above all, assume roles of leadership and not of complacency or mitigation.
Watch the video with Luísa Manso, New Business Development Director, and Carlos Pontes, Creative Director at WYcreative
6 – Purpose and Communication in 2023
The brands and companies’ purpose will continue to be on the agenda and will define many matters and strategies. If we have already seen in the previous trend the need that comes with defining the strategies and stances of brands, the same happens when we talk about organizations.
The balance of the labor market has changed with the situation we have experienced in the last 2 years. There are currently high-demand professions that define where they want to work and necessarily who they want to work for. In the war for talent, it was Talent that won the war.
The first major implication of this trend is the need for companies to be clear about what their purpose is, how they live it, and make it visible. It is not enough just to be, we must demonstrate that we are.
Topics such as employer branding today live with very clear definitions of the business purpose that should manage and guide it and above all, how it should be communicated and implemented in the organization’s culture and practices.
If the future involves a more competent organization capable of attracting the most qualified talent, it is necessary for these people to feel and live the purpose, and for it to be known with truth and transparency.
Watch the video with Rodolfo Oliveira, Managing Partner at BloomCast Consulting
7 – The new paths of Marketing in 2023
There is a transformation happening in marketing departments. This transformation (and trend) involves the inclusion of specialties and professionals that, in the past, would not even have been questioned about their presence in these teams. Data science profiles are now a necessity in many of these teams, just to give one example.
But when mapping their customer journeys, companies understood that needs are less and less departmental and increasingly integrated. To be effectively resolved, a consumer’s pain point requires the involvement of multiple departments, and not just one. The challenge is increasingly corporate and plural and less and less departmental and singular.
But the same happens within the department itself. The complexity of challenges and strengths today requires the participation of several functions so that delivery has the highest possible quality. This is done by forming agile teams that come together for a project with a goal and disband as soon as this is achieved.
This need to make relationships and challenges more flexible will mark the organizational models of our marketing teams not only in 2023 but also in the future.
Last but not least, Sustainability will remain on the agenda as an emerging trend. Not because it is something completely new – it is not – but rather because it is expanding to medium-sized and even small companies, and because it is increasingly guiding marketing and even management decisions.
Sustainability communication will, therefore, become an important priority for organizations as a tool for guidance and affirmation of their collective future. This need will be amplified by the dissemination of practices in various organizations, ceasing to be something different to something current and common, which will require, on everyone’s part, greater care, attention, and depth in its application, so that it can maintain its relevance and consumer attention.
Principles incorrectly applied to Sustainability communication, known as greenwashing, will be increasingly penalized by consumers who will not forgive anyone who makes wrong, exaggerated, or unfulfilled promises. And that’s good!
Watch the video with Helga Nunes, Account Director at White Way
You can view the original article in ECO here.
