17/12/2020

WHITEPAPER REPORT

2021: What’s ahead for marketing?

2021 may not present us with the crises of 2020, but we won’t be returning to Kansas or anything resembling the life of 2019 anytime soon.

The last nine months has created lasting change to consumers; their needs; their media consumption; and their response and buying behaviours. New habits become engrained after 66 days, and we have all had longer than that for our changed behaviours to become long term habits going forward.

At The Kite Factory, we know that effective media investment in 2021 will not look the same as what was successful in 2020, nor will it resemble that of 2019, even if your strategies were finely honed by years of learning and optimisation.

So, what will be effective in 2021? Well, the answer (as with everything this year) is, it depends. Every marketer will have their own unique objectives; assets; and challenges, but three questions that you may find useful to ask when planning or evaluating 2021 media investment proposals are:

  1. Why would I believe that my potential 2021 customers are the same as 2019?
  2. What will be important to my potential customers in 2021?
  3. Why should I invest my budget in the same proportion in the same media channels as in 2019?

To help inform your musing on these questions in those quieter moments over Christmas, our report explores the following questions:

  • Who will be spending in 2021?
  • What has become more and less important to them in their lives in the last year?
  • What are consumers happy to spend on, and where do they see less value versus the past?
  • What media channels are thriving; which are surviving; and where do the new opportunities for stand out messaging, dwell time or relationships lie?
  • How will demand vary by channel, and together with audience migration where is can value be found?
  • Where might new effectiveness opportunities occur?