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Tuesday, 4 January 2005 | Levent OZLER
Trends That Will Impact Marketing in 2005
The biggest cultural influence in 2005 (and beyond) on marketing is TIME and TECHNOLOGY
The perception that we do not have ever have enough Time
The fact that we have increased the pace of our lives to the extent that we’ve lost touch with our biological rhythms, because we are living at the speed of technology.
We call this influence “Survival of the Fastest” which began as a lifestyle trend in 1998 and has grown into a macro cultural shift that effects all aspects of society. It is a direct result of our reliance on technology in everyday life and the fact that technology has enabled us to do things faster and faster.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1986 the ratio of food to technology expenditures was 300:1; in 2006 that ratio is projected to be at parity, which underscores our complete reliance on technology. Technology has become sustenance in a very short period of time and it has dramatically changed how we live our lives and how marketers need to address us.
As a result of “SOF”, consumers are sleep deprived (to fit in everything or because of anxieties that result of living at the speed of technology) 2/3rds of US culture, and growing, exhibit illnesses such as ADD and stress related issues (90% of doctor visits in the US are a result of stress).
We have created more information from 2000 than throughout the whole of human history and as a survival tactic edit out at least 85% of the information that comes our way.
To address this consumer base, marketers MUST communicate with clarity and simplicity and do it consistently across a range of media and across it’s product offerings.
Humans are a sight driven species (unlike our pets who have more equally developed senses...smell, hearing, sight), 80% of what we learn about the world comes through our eyes. Consequently, the most powerful marketing messages are distilled to a compelling visual/symbolic representation.
The current DOVE advertising that communicates the idea of “real beauty” turning the traditional “young, skinny model” beauty “ideal” on it head by using “real beauties” who are heavy, older, wrinkled or freckled. Symbolic and resonates strongly with today’s women.
The biggest mistakes marketers make
Companies tend to communicate their marketing messages with lots of words that “tell the consumer” rather than communicating symbolically in a manner that compels consumers and ignites their interest.
In the hierarchy of visual memory (we’re all primarily visual) words are remembered last. Color is first, symbols second (logos, shapes, or actual symbols), numbers are third and words...last.
Marketers need to understand the essence of their brands...the one thing that they stand for...then communicate symbolically to reach consumers (all of us) who are struggling to process the information load that comes their way on a daily basis.
Keep it simple, sensory (sensorial experiences reunite us with our biological rhythms), empathetic (understand our time pressed needs) and optimistic (give us small moments of joy as we go about our day).
Cheryl Swanson
Managing Director
Toniq, New York
www.toniq.com
About
Cheryl Swanson, founder and managing partner of Toniq, a brand strategy in NYC, is dedicated to Brand Effervescence™ with clients such as Gillette, Pepsi, Kraft Foods, Colgate-Palmolive, Nestle, and Purina.
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