If Brexit and Trump taught us one thing this year, it’s that predictions should never be trusted. In the wake of this tumultuous year, it feels overly optimistic and even a little foolhardy to predict, well, anything.
However, these major political events have provided plenty of insight for 2017. From the importance of diversity to the growing power of purpose and burgeoning importance of video, these are Golin’s attempts to gaze into our glass ball for 2017, just don’t ask us for any sure bets…
Diversity more relevant than ever
In 2016 we saw clients, such as HP, announce it would only work with agencies that have a diversity plan aligned to the company’s values. This should be a wake-up call to all of us to improve diversity of talent. We need to bring new skills, new talents, people from varied backgrounds and new ways of thinking into our agencies – so our ideas are relevant for, and representative of, a large cross section of society. We are often guilty of believing that our world is the world – this issue couldn’t be more evident than in this year’s inaccurate political polls.
Strengthening of Social Purpose
It’s clear that all brands must identify social purpose and strong values in 2017. Campaigns with social purpose embedded are more effective in increasing emotional engagement, driving revenue, share price and ROI. Brands must also start to have an opinion. Society and politics are polarised in ways we haven’t seen in any of our lifetimes. In such politically charged times, in which campaigns such as Stop Funding Hate are driving change, brands must give some thought to how their messaging, responses and statements could play into very divisive narratives, whether intentional or not, or even how inaction or no-comment will be perceived.
Video will continue to dominate
The continuing rise of video as a dominate medium across mobile devices will make brands rethink their content marketing investment. The rise of live video will be a challenge for brands. It takes courage to broadcast content in a live environment, but those that do will see the power of live. It’s about making brand experiences more immersive experiences that can be shared with the entire world – particularly around music and sport or thought leadership and events.