Modern consumers expect more than ever from the brands they buy from convenience, personalized experience and quality products and services.
To attract and retain customers and effectively differentiate themselves from the competition, brands must meet these expectations. Stimulating brand engagement and driving business requires a focus on the individual customer and an understanding of what matters to them.
It means ensuring that they are offered real value, protecting their data and adopting new business models that always enhance their experience.
So here are the behavioural and technological changes that can be expected in 2020 and what brands can do to adapt and. Take advantage of them.
The continued rise of the ethical consumer
Last year, various studies showed that almost half of consumers under the age of 24 said they avoided a product or service because of its negative impact on the environment.
Also, consumers now expect more from businesses. Indeed, almost 8/10 say that it is also up to them to take action to protect the environment.
This growing awareness is likely to lead to even greater awareness in 2020 of the impact of their purchasing decisions on the planet.
Not surprisingly, there will be an increase in the number of consumers who are willing to spend more money on ethically sound, recyclable or zero waste products and to try new brands that meet these requirements.
To continue to appeal to increasingly aware consumers, brands need to promote their sustainability and environmental protection policies, as mere advertising will no longer suffice to make a product attractive to the general public.
From brand-driven personalization to a customer-centric approach
Brands are going to have to individualize their marketing more.
In the past, personalization efforts were focused on products alone. Products were presented to customers when and where they seemed most likely to buy them.
However, consumer needs, preferences and requirements now underpin brand-customer communication that is transparent and tailored to what consumers want.
As this type of personalization involves high technology, brand investment in relevant artificial intelligence tools and algorithms will become more widespread.
At the same time, it is likely that the development of storytelling around brand values will be the responsibility of marketers who are now called upon to be more human.
In my opinion, 2020 will be the year when brands will start to find the right balance between two distinct ways to gain competitive advantage: automating personalization and humanizing this commitment based on human creativity.
Exchanging value for the use of data
The “conscious consumer” is also likely to be concerned about data privacy, cybersecurity and the circumstances under which it is appropriate or inappropriate to share personal information.
Since brands need large amounts of data about their customers to focus their marketing strategies on their needs and preferences, the ability to retrieve, use and store this data responsibly and securely will be paramount.
The year 2020 promises to be a pivotal year, as there will be a multiplier effect in terms of privacy protection, as DPM is truly mainstream.
2020: the year of “super-applications” and new business models
The ever-increasing number of Internet users in promoting the emergence of new business models such as subscription-based services like Netflix (media and entertainment) or Care by Volvo (automotive), which allow brands to establish constant and direct contact with customers.
Or the launch in 2019 of a Kellogg Company service in partnership with Deliveroo, whereby Kellogg offers its products directly to customers without the need for a retailer.
Just as high-speed Internet services have revolutionized e-commerce, the expansion of home delivery will create new revenue streams and possibly new business models for existing and emerging brands.
Applications such as Deliveroo can be expected to upgrade their platform to broaden their service offerings, thereby spreading the use of “super-applications.”
The phenomenon of super-applications is already known in China and Southeast Asia.
WeChat can be used to send messages, pay bills, shop online, book a taxi, make a doctor’s appointment and more, while Grab can be used to book a cab, make payments, have meals delivered and physically send mail.
This trend promises to reach France and all Western countries by 2020. In the long term, consumer attention is likely to gravitate towards a minimal number of super-appliances!
Exploiting these applications as super communication channels to deliver personalized content to consumers will become an essential strategy for brands to seduce their target audiences.
These “super-applications” will be a very crowded space for brands that want to stand out from the crowd. Personalization will then be essential to differentiate from the huge accessible offer.
In twelve months, French customers should be able to name at least three examples of “super-applies” and at least a dozen other services such as Kellogg’s and Deliveroo’s…
