Marketing Trends & Insights: September 2023

Let's discuss:

1. AI’s Impact on Employees and Agencies
2. Game On: Football Szn Marketing
3. 2024 Trend Predictions

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According to a new Gallup poll, workers’ “Fear of Becoming Obsolete” is on the rise because of new technology.

• College-educated workers are the main source of the increase—from 2017 to 2023, the percentage of this group experiencing FOBO went from 8% to 20%.
• This worry is expressed more by younger employees and those who make less than $100,000/year.
• Generally, U.S. workers are still optimistic about the job market and less than 1 in 4 think that the threat of becoming of obsolete is imminent.
  

AI is already changing entry-level jobs.

• The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report estimate that 85M jobs will be displaced due to new technology by 2025.
• A couple of examples:
• Wendy’s introduced AI-powered customer service in their drive-through, just like many businesses are implementing self-service kiosks.
• LivePerson added generative AI to their customer support bot and saw 30% more requests resolved at the first point of contact and a much higher NPS.

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Brands Scoring Major Points:

• DirecTV partnered with Travis Kelce and Chris Jones creating audio content to sooth the Sunday Scaries — ft. 11 football-inspired tracks on Spotify. There’s also a sweepstakes where you can win a body-size pillow of Kelce (who, by the way, is everywhere….and possibly in his TSwift era).
• Clothing brand Boss is collabing with the NFL and Roblox to have Boss-branded team merch featured in the game.
• Lowe’s—official home improvement partner of the NFL—is now an official community partner of the NFL and rolled this out during an integrated campaign which debuted during the season opener.
• Smirnoff launched a campaign called “We do game days” with actor Anthony Anderson, featuring an activation where each time a coin toss comes up tails, 21 fans with Smirnoff cocktails on gameday for the whole season.
• PepsiCo launched “Unretirement” campaign where NFL legends contemplate returning to the game.
• Nashville-based Hang partnered with the Titans for their “Woke Up Feeling Like It Was Time” collection.
• Bud Light is focusing on college football with new limited-edition team cans, a backyard tour in college towns, and an extension of their “Decide to Ride” campaign with MADD.
• Nissan is revamping its Heisman House program with Zillow. Online visitors can now explore a virtual version of the college football star-themed house. They’ve also teamed up with TikTok star Caleb Simpson.

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Big trends from this year:

These are a few trends that have been on the rise and are likely to stick around into next year.

• High focus on transparency + authenticity: with more creators and companies using AI, consumers are excited but skeptical about the possibilities. It’s increasingly important for brands to be clear about when they’re using AI or deepfakes in campaigns.
• Building community: 62% of young adults in the US “prefer to buy a product or service because it makes them feel a sense of belonging to a community” according to a recent Horizon Media survey.
• Many brands are leaning more into influencer marketing and leveraging UGC to build those connections.
• And new tech is helping businesses find the right influencers
• E.g. the Kale app makes it easy for brands to connect with content creators.
• And there are also apps for specific industries—like Inplace and Nibble, which connect restaurants with creators.

2024 Ad Spend Predictions:

Lingering economic concerns are not going to halt spending—especially with the US presidential election, Olympic Games, and UEFA men’s euros tournament coming up.

• Improved trading conditions will also free up some budget for ad spend.
• Social media (namely Meta and TikTok’s owner ByteDance) as well as retail media (Amazon) will see big gains in share of the ad market.
• CTV with ad-supported streaming tiers is also expected to grow.
• Despite some notions that it’s losing ground, search is still expected to be the second-largest ad channel with Google controlling 83% of the market.
• New uncertainties in investments like AI could affect the growth of ad spend—both in the way it impacts AND informs it.

“With the establishment of retail media as an effective advertising channel, the advent of connected TV as the next evolution of conventional video consumption, and the continued growth of social media and search, we are seeing once again the value advertisers place in leveraging first-party data to target the right message to the right person at the right time,” - James McDonald, Director of data, intelligence and forecasting, WARC

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Sources

• What is FOBO and why is it suddenly on the rise among college-educated workers?
• What happens when AI replaces the traditional ‘first’ jobs?
• DirecTV extends Travis Kelce tie-up to ‘Sack the Sunday Scaries’
• Boss teams up with popular Roblox game for NFL integration
• Smirnoff flips a coin for free cocktails as NFL season kicks off
• PepsiCo unretires football greats with portfolio-wide NFL kickoff campaign
• How Lowe’s is leveraging its NFL deal to inspire DIYers with new campaign
• Nissan soups up ‘Heisman House’ with Zillow, creator partnerships
• Bud Light kicks off college football season with robust campaign
• Looking for influencers to post about your restaurant? These apps want to help
• Global ad spending on track to top $1T for first time, WARC says
• UGC is growing—but can it overtake traditional influencer marketing?
• Trends that brands should keep tabs on for the rest of the year