5 key global marketing trends for 2022
Marketers are good at change
The dynamism of the discipline is often what attracts and keeps us for the long haul and great marketers thrive in fast changing worlds. So what does the year ahead offer to all of us? Based on recent conversations with clients and our network, here’s five key trends that will continue to make a big impact in 2022.
1. Purpose for all
Purpose, CSR, ESG or just plain ‘doing good’ has been at the front of companies’ minds for many years. Our audiences have switched on to this and are now demanding we move purpose from front to center: to integrate and embed our purpose across all that we think, say and do. An ever-growing number are looking to align with companies that have a purpose-based mission and want to give back in a big way. Being socially responsible is so much more than ‘one thing’ – it’s about social injustice, privilege, sustainability, accountability, the list goes on. Our customers and employees expect bigger answers and we need to lead.
2. Authentically inclusive campaigns
In this volatile environment your culture is your brand and authenticity is vital. Marketers need to support this drive through the team, marketplace, as well as in campaigns. Reflecting society’s speed of change is so much more than adding wider cultural and lifestyle references to a campaign or broadening your spokesperson roster.
3. Volatility drives agility
The speed the market changes (a result of factors ranging from the pandemic to climate change, to Brexit) also demands that marketing and PR teams go even further, faster. We are all looking to understand how we can combine in fresh ways to be more united, streamlined and agile in response. Supporting more responsibility within teams and more closely marrying creative with data scientists are just two of the more common responses.
4. Talk human to me
Contrary to rumors from a couple of years ago, AI is not killing but providing the very foundations on which future marketing and PR flourishes. It enables highly skilled teams to quickly enhance their efforts. Data is still only as great as the human interpretation of it. We will always need and be drawn to creative storytelling and content. It’s building on these great data insights that will always win the hearts and minds that machines cannot. Content remains king.
5. Hybrid and integrated
Hybrid marketing is here to stay and we are all getting more sophisticated in its delivery. We need to continue integrating channels, making campaigns more personal and upping innovation levels. If content remains king, then video has a starring part. Integration also has a key role in the hallowed optimised customer experience – keep them coming back for more by giving them experiences they cannot forget by delivering the full force across the channels.
2022 is not a year for those looking for respite, but for those who succeed in innovating and evolving, it will be a year to thrive.
About the author
Jill Coomber is Managing Director of our Integrated Marketing practice in Europe. To find out more about how we can help you make the most of these trends, click here.