By: Shahin Ghoreishi, Strategic Account Executive, Havas
A few decades ago, when classic science fiction movies were being produced, people didn’t know that most of those concepts would be literally today’s science truths. When I watch content on Netflix like Extent or West World, I imagine that’s the fiction of today, but it might be the truth of tomorrow. So how can we put out a future cap on our expectations? How can we imagine what the future will hold?
One of my favorite fiction movies was Minority Report by Steven Spielberg. To make the plot, he consulted 23 futurists to come up with the characteristics of our future world. What would technology be like? How will transportation look like? How do people communicate? What would be the food of tomorrow etc.
When you look at brand communication, you have to put in a kind of techno-social context where you can kinda plot where technology and society are going as well. The future of data availability will make things more visible, predictable and achievable. In the movie, Tom Cruise moves around and can predict what people are up to or what’s their intention.
This is exactly what data reformulated by complicated statistical algorithms will bring to our future life. Consumer behavior will be precisely predicted by machine learning techniques. Human behavior will be way easier to study, resulting in more accurate strategies to reach targets.
There is not a certain model for future of advertising since the technology keeps changing and it’s a challenge for marketers. However, there are trends that are more predictable based on our industry’s historical data. We are moving towards automated data channels that will send/receive accordingly. Deep machine learning will spot new trends, implement strategies and perform them according to consumer behavior.
Consumers will become more spoilt because everything will be personalized and marketers will have precise data about customers’ gestures, habits, needs and desires. Communicating with consumers will experience an immersive media era when creativity will be limitless and brands can communicate their culture, products and messages across according to the precise data provided by super-powerful machines.
But it’s not as easy as it all sounds. What happens to these small and big marketing companies? Well, to survive the next wave of fast-moving marketing era, companies have to invest on data analytics projects coupled with innovative customer relations. The next era will be tech-first solutions’ while bigger companies will acquire small innovative companies cause outsourcing services will become more expensive. So, agencies have to choose whether to be small or big and the midsize centers who lack benefits of small or big companies will fade away due to high-cost issues.
The wisest strategy for agency owners is to all-in to creative and data analytics as the future market will demand these features more than ever. The consultancy niche will grow within the industry and embrace a huge market share. Constructive, accurate and efficient data, followed by limitless creative ideas, are the building blocks of future marketing industry. It’s time to master either of them to stay competitive in the near future.
