Future of Brand Marketing

Where do I see brands heading over the coming three years?

I was invited to talk at the World Media Group Breakfast Briefing in Paris during November 2018, to talk about the future of marketing and communications to an audience of journalists and media sales professionals.

I wanted to explore how, rather than reacting and responding to future trends or the vast amounts of data which fuels decision-making, brands need to start behaving based upon something more core than “what people want”.

There’s a big gap between what people want and what people need — and it’s rarely the easier road to say things which need to be said, than pandering to what people want to hear.

Advertising has fallen into this trap, and it’s only getting more fast and furious, with every data point or trend creating something to react to — we’re seeing the tail wag the dog.

There are brands who are taking a step back from the relentless race to the bottom though — and rooting their behaviours in what they believe is the right thing to do. Iceland banning Palm Oil. Nike supporting Kapernick. Plenty more. They often result in negative responses from many of their audiences — but these decisions aren’t rooted in the data telling them what to do, but rather a sense of purpose and confidence.

Data is going to have a more challenging time over the coming ten years. It will become harder to access, less truthful, more complex and more costly. If data is the only decision making framework you have in place, you’re on a narrow path.

I rounded up with a hope that brands will stop aiming to be the storyteller — and become the story itself, through actions which deserve writing about.

http://world-media-group.com/event/predicting-the-future-breakfast-briefing-paris/