First let me present word of Dr. Neil Hair » Marketing Trends 2010 and beyond.
Ive been presenting my ideas on Marketing Trends for 2010 for some time now to the great and good of Rochester. It’s proved a popular session that I’ve run at a number of local conferences and in the UK. One of the key issues I explore in this is the business case for online social networks, the role of virtual worlds in innovating the provision of service / customer experience, and how to build and maintain a personal brand in this new era. Towards the end of summer I will be presenting ‘Marketing Trends 2010′ to the Greater Rochester Area Partnership with the Elderly – looking specifically at how marketing trends affect the business of elderly care. As with my classes – one of the key outputs I use to judge the effectiveness of the presentation is the extent to which there are concrete take homes for participants to then act on. The benefits of experiential learning shouldn’t be the preserve of our students alone afterall. I also find it helps keep me honest – practitioners are always very quick to pick up on practical application, relevance and the measurement of the bottom line with my suggestions.
Well measuring trend from 2009 that seems to be correct. According to Nielson Online, Twitter alone grew 1,382% year-over-year in February, registering a total of just more than 7 million unique visitors in the US for the month. Meanwhile, Facebook continued to outpace MySpace. So what could social media look like in 2010? In 2010, social media will get even more popular, more mobile, and more exclusive — at least, that’s my guess. But I wouldn’t go so far. 2010 yes, will keep those trends, but similiar to web and web 2.0 social media will be changing and we will be wintessing another internet evolution.
What are the near-term trends we could see as soon as next year 2010?
1) Value is the new black
Consumer spending, even on sale items, will continue to be replaced by a “reason-to-buy at all”. This spells trouble for brands with no authentic meaning, whether high-end or low.
2) Brands increasingly a surrogate for “value”
The value of goods and services will increasingly be defined what’s wrapped up in the brand and what the brand stands for. For example, why J Crew instead of The Gap? J Crew stands for a new era in careful chic – being smart and stylish. The first family’s [the Obamas'] support of the brand doesn’t hurt either.
3) Brand differentiation is brand value
The unique meaning of a brand will increase in importance as generic features continue to plague the brand landscape. Awareness as a meaningful market force has long been obsolete, and differentiation will
be critical for success –meaning sales and profitability.
4) “Because I Said So” is so over
Brand values can be established as a brand identity, but they must believably exist in the mind of the consumer. A brand can’t just say it stands for something and make it so. The consumer will decide, making it more important than ever for a brand to have measures of authenticity that will aid in brand differentiation and consumer engagement.
5 ) Consumer expectations are growing
Brands are barely keeping up with consumer expectations now. Every day consumers adopt and devour the latest technologies and innovations and hunger for more. Smarter marketers will identify and capitalise on unmet expectations. Those brands that understand where the strongest expectations exist will be the brands that survive – and prosper.
6) Old tricks don’t work/won’t work anymore
In case your brand didn’t get the memo, here it is – consumers are on to brands trying to play their emotions for profit. In the wake of the financial debacle of this past year, people are more aware then ever of the hollowness of bank ads that claim “we’re all in this together” when those same banks have rescinded their credit and turned their retirement plan into case studies. The same is true for what are conceived to be insincere celebrity pairings: think Seinfeld & Microsoft or Tiger Woods & Buick. Celebrity values and brand values need to be in concert, like Tiger Woods & Accenture. That’s authenticity.
7) They won’t need to know you to love you
As the buying space becomes even more online-driven and international (and uncontrolled by brands and corporations), front-end awareness will become less important. A brand with the right street cred can go viral in days, with awareness following, not leading, the conversation. After all, everybody knows GM, but nobody’s buying their cars.
8 ) It’s not just buzz
Conversation and community is all; ebay thrives based on consumer feedback. If consumers trust the community, they will extend trust to the brand. Not just word of mouth, but the right word of mouth within the community. This means the coming of a new era of customer care.
9) They’re talking to each other before talking to the brand
Social networking and exchange of information outside of the brand space will increase. Look for more websites using Facebook Connect to share information with the friends from those sites. More companies will become members of Linkedin. Twitter users will spend more money on the internet than those who don’t tweet.
10) Engagement is not a fad; It’s the way today’s consumers do business
Marketers will come to accept that there are four engagement methods including Platform (TV; online), Context (Programme; webpage), Message (Ad or Communication), and Experience (Store/Event). But there is only one objective for the future: Brand Engagement. Marketers will continue to realise that attaining real brand engagement is impossible using out-dated attitudinal models.
The three most popular social networks for business in 2009:
1.LinkedIn
2.Facebook
3.Twitter
After all, Facebook’s new messaging system is an attempt to make 
communication more seamless and synchronized across multiple platforms. It may very well be that video chat will be added to the mix or that Facebook is at least considering a Skype integration.
