We, as humans, have always been fascinated by the future. From oracles to AI driven predictive algorithms, our imagination is often captured by predictions of the future. As a marketer, I am constantly looking for trends and patterns. As I went on this journey, I realized that future is unfolding right in front of me, and I could find many clues about the future just by observing my child more closely. Here is what I learnt from my 10 year-old son about the future of marketing:
The virtual world is for real
On his 10th birthday, my son wanted us to buy Robux, which
is a virtual currency you buy with actual money! Robux allow you to buy virtual items and
seasons in the popular online game Roblox. While we were grappling with the
idea that we are spending real money for “nothing”, there was nothing that our
son wanted more for his birthday. For him, it was well worth every real penny!
The market for in-game purchases is pegged to be 74 billion
U.S. dollars by 2025! To win in the future, the marketers will need to be in
the virtual world, to capture the attention of generation Alpha. There is a
growing trend of digital campfires. The new generation is increasingly
gravitating towards platforms like Discord and Fortnite for shared digital
experiences. Penetrating these digital campfires will be crucial for brands and
marketers, to get their message across to this audience group.
So, as marketers, we will need to be where our next
generation is and find ways to engage the audience and create experiences that
they care about. To find out how ready you are for virtual world, sit down with
your tween during his/her next multiplayer online gaming session!
The rise of smartness
When Deloitte gave us free Google Home Mini in celebration
of a major headcount milestone, I wasn’t sure if we had much use for it. So, it
remained in its packaging in a corner at our home, until my son discovered it.
It took him less than a week to figure out how to use it for everything ranging
from songs to games to jokes.
While we might still be a few years from IoT devices
becoming mainstream, it is safe to assume that smart devices and digital
assistants would be deeply ingrained in the life of the new generation. My son
would expect his smart refrigerator to automatically fill up with food items he
likes, his wardrobe to recommend and purchase clothes as per his style and preferences,
and his smart assistant to anticipate his needs and wants, and buy almost
anything at the right time, with little to no effort on his part!
This would mean that the marketers may be marketing more to AI
enabled assistants, instead of actual humans, in future. Marketing will
increasingly need to be hyper-personalized, one-to-one, real time and more
technology and data driven. The era of intrusive, meaningless and irrelevant
advertising will be over, and marketing may fully morph into customer advocacy,
which means our job as marketers will be to look out for our customer’s best
interests, and as brands, being there in the moments that matter.
Appealing to a capricious audience
My son wants to be a footballer and a scientist when he
grows up, both professionally, while making YouTube videos on origami and rap
music on the side! All this may be replaced by another set of interests in a
few years. Generation Alpha likes to explore and experience new things, and this
fluidity may pervade all aspects of their life.
We are already seeing a drop in ownership and increase in
rentals, ranging from homes to cars to furniture to clothes, indicating a clear
trend towards less commitment and more flexibility. The future generation may
change its mind quickly and often, and this would make it difficult for brands
to build relationships with this audience. In fact, most of the next gen
customers won’t care if 73% of the brands today, disappeared.
To stay relevant in future, brands will need to identify
their tribe of loyal followers. They will have to build a niche and close-knit
community based on a shared purpose. They will have to find ways to
continuously reinforce these bonds, while being expected to communicate with
their audience at the speed of light. Further, they must have shared values
with their customers, and truly “understand” each one of their customers. For us
marketers, there will be a growing need to up our game, when it comes to the 4
E’s of marketing – Experience, Emotion, Engagement and Exclusivity.
The age of influence
My son venerates MrBeast – An American Youtuber who started
making videos at the age of 12, and today boasts of 66.5 million subscribers
and 12 billion views! Not only does my son love MrBeast’s content, but I see
the influence extending far beyond that in my son’s life, in terms of how he thinks,
or what he wants to buy.
The age of Influencers has been going on for a while. With
the ability to speak the same language as their audience, and being directly relatable
to their audience, the power of these influencers can’t be overstated. 55% of
generation Alpha wants to buy what their favourite influencers wear. If
influencers become retailers themselves, that would mean even more competition
for brands, and would create its own set of challenges.
Given the rising influence of influencers, marketers will
need to bolster their ability to identify and partner with the right
influencers to get their message to their audience. Also, marketers will need
to be savvy to ensure that reach and influence translates into the right
customer action.
3D Print it now
“What do you mean it will come tomorrow? Why can’t I get it
now?” My son needs everything right now. The rise of instant gratification is
an unstoppable trend. Our generation progressed from buying things in store to
buying things online at the click of a button, with next day, same day and 4-hour
delivery. However, the generation Alpha may want to instantly print it right
now!
When 3D printing becomes mainstream, the consumers will have
the ability to uniquely build something for themselves in their own style and
size, in a fraction of time and cost. While this will have great implications
for manufacturing, it will also mean overarching changes for marketing. Instead
of marketing products, we may be marketing concepts and selling printing
instructions. Instead of designing our products, we may be engaging our
customers to design the products. There may also be a rise of highly time
sensitive, small batch products, which may be marketed “in the moment” to
capture that short-lived demand.
To summarize, the future often seems more far-fetched than it actually is. To remain relevant in future, we must pay attention to these trends and indications and prepare ourselves for the needs of tomorrow. That may start by understanding the thought patterns and preferences of children today, who will not only be the customers tomorrow, but are already shaping our own buying behaviour. Research suggests that 4 out of 5 kids greatly influence a family’s purchases. In fact, we already know this from experience - If you have grown up enjoying Maggie noodles and have now had to switch to Yippee noodles, you know what I am talking about! So, ditch your next meeting, and set up time to talk to a tween, to embark on your journey to be future-ready!
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