Marketing trends in 2024 from Kantar

Kantar, a leading marketing analytics and data company, has presented its vision of marketing trends for 2024. In the report, experts analyzed macro trends covering global economic changes, social transformations, and technological innovations, as well as micro trends related to consumer behavior and new communication methods. Marketers are advised to take these trends into account when developing strategies for their brands. Understanding macro trends will help you adapt long-term strategies, while micro trends will allow you to respond quickly to changing consumer preferences. This can significantly contribute to the achievement of marketing goals, such as increasing customer loyalty, increasing market share, and optimizing advertising campaigns.

1. Artificial intelligence will know what to do and how to do it

According to forecasts, in 2024, thanks to the development of artificial intelligence and its ability to scale, efficiency, and creativity, the amount of content competing for viewers’ attention is expected to grow significantly. This makes understanding the effectiveness of creative content even more important. Those who can utilize AI-enabled measurement approaches that match the pace and scale of this growth will have a significant advantage.

The Kantar Media Reactions 2023 study showed that 67% of marketers are positive about the possibilities of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). This indicates a rapid and exciting adoption of this technology. The industry is actively exploring how GenAI can improve the efficiency of developing and personalizing creative solutions and large-scale innovations. Already, marketers and agencies are experimenting with GenAI, creating visual concepts for discussion, generating new ideas, and helping to create storylines. In the future, it is even possible to use GenAI for synthetic media planning.

2. Protecting the brand from the culture of cancellation

Brands that take an activist stance are becoming more and more common, but they have to face new challenges. The growth of social media gives consumers the opportunity to express their opinions and criticize brands, which can lead to a significant backlash.

At the same time, new content formats are emerging where marketers have less control, such as influencer content. This type of advertising is becoming increasingly popular because influencers have a significant impact on their audience.

How can brands cooperate with influencers?

Clearly define your goals and expectations. What do you want to achieve by working with an influencer?
Choose an influencer who aligns with your brand and values. Its audience should be similar to your target audience.
Give the influencer freedom of creativity, but set clear limits.
Be prepared for a backlash. Not everyone will approve of your collaboration with an influencer.

Brands that take a stand and remain authentic can gain consumer trust, even if it leads to short-term controversy.

3. The first place is occupied by culture

To succeed in 2024, marketers must understand and use the language of symbols, fashion, music, slang, norms, and consumer aspirations. This is what is called “cultural marketing.” When brands resonate with culture, they gain trust and loyalty, and when they ignore it, they risk losing customers.

Consumers not only vote with their wallets, but also “act” when brands fail to meet their expectations. They can boycott products, write negative reviews, or simply ignore the brand.

However, there is a gap between the declared values and the actual actions of people. This phenomenon is known as the “customer value-action gap”.

A Kantar MONITOR study in the United States shows that 66% of people want brands to share their values. And 80% of consumers worldwide consciously choose companies that support causes that are important to them. Consumers expect brands to act in accordance with their stated values, otherwise, it can negatively affect perception and brand loyalty.

4. Attention and emotions: a key factor for creative and media effectiveness

Facial coding and eye tracking methods are gaining popularity as they allow for a deeper understanding of consumer interaction with content. Some technology providers already offer a gaze measurement component. Attention forecasting based on artificial intelligence in the creative and media sector is still less commonly used than observation methods, but its role is expected to increase significantly in 2024. This will allow you to measure attention in digital advertising on a large scale, providing valuable data for campaign optimization.

However, behavioral viewing metrics, such as view duration, are still the dominant indicators of ad performance (62% of marketers prefer them, according to Kantar Media Reactions 2023). These metrics may be acceptable indicators after the launch of an ad, but marketers recognize that they lack the depth to understand the quality of consumer attention.

Marketers are increasingly realizing the importance of attention for creative and media effectiveness. Optimizing your advertising and media plans to maximize attention for every dollar spent significantly increases your ROI. Attention has many levels, and the need for measurement goes beyond mere visibility.

5. Measuring success by integrated indicators

Sustainability is becoming a driving force for marketing in 2024. There is a growing emphasis on sustainable value creation, inclusiveness, and positive impact on society and the environment. This is confirmed by the fact that more and more companies are including sustainability indicators in their marketing strategies.

Key points:

Integrating sustainability into marketing is becoming more and more common. In 2023, 42% of companies included sustainability indicators in their marketing dashboards, compared to 26% in 2021.
In 2024, there will be a shift to sustainable innovation, inclusive communication, and strategic PR to build trust. This means balancing long-term brand development with product marketing and short-term performance.
Consumers value brands that contribute to solving environmental and social problems. Brands with the highest sustainability ratings showed an increase of 31% in 2021.
Sustainable development can be not only an ethical obligation but also an effective business strategy. A balance between profit, planet and people can lead to better results for companies.

6. Radical innovations: the driving force behind the brand's rapid growth in 2024

Innovative brands show significantly higher growth rates than those that do not keep up with the times. According to Kantar’s BrandZ 2023 study, innovative brands grow three times faster than non-innovative brands. However, despite the obvious benefits, the level of innovation in marketing remains low, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kantar Worldpanel data shows that the number of new product launches in the UK has fallen to its lowest level in the last decade. Many of the so-called new products on the market are only minor modifications of existing products (Europanel BG20, 2023). However, there are positive developments. Marketers are increasingly realizing the importance of innovation, especially in the area of sustainable development. 57% of them recognize that innovation is necessary to gain competitive advantage (Sustainable Marketing 2030).

During the Kantar Outstanding Innovation Awards 2023, five common features of successful innovative brands were identified:

Customer focus: a deep understanding of customer needs and desires.
Strong brand foundation: innovation is based on clear brand positioning and values.
Shaping the future of the category: they don’t just follow trends, they set them, often ahead of the competition.
Courage: willingness to take risks and try new things.
Learning from experience: continuous testing, analysis, and improvement of innovations.

Innovations, especially radical ones, will be a key trend in 2024 for brands seeking sustainable growth.

7. How can firms survive in the era of inflation and the growing popularity of private label products?

Rising inflation and the cost of living crisis are forcing consumers to change their buying habits. The Kantar Brand Footprint study showed that people are more likely to choose brands of chain owners (+6.3%), low-price stores (+10.2%) and local brands.

Expectations for 2024

This year, brands plan to use more flexible pricing strategies to balance price and value for their customers. Key points:

Consumer price consciousness: consumers are looking for bargains and are ready to switch to more affordable alternatives.
Growth of private labels and local brands: these brands offer a favorable price-quality ratio, which attracts consumers’ attention.
Increased pricing power of leading brands: well-known brands can charge higher prices due to their reputation and recognition.
Manage pricing: Marketers will adjust prices to maintain a balance between cost and value, while maintaining customer loyalty and maximizing profits.
Shift to the premium segment: successful brands will become more premium to maintain margins and increase market share.

Key questions for marketers

Marketers should ask themselves three important questions:

Do customers’ expectations of your price match the market situation?
Do you have sufficient equity to justify your relative price?
Do you have additional capital?

Companies that can answer these questions positively will be more successful in 2024.

8. New players in the consumer goods market: a challenge for giants

Changes in the production of consumer goods are driving dynamic development: small new firms and challenger brands are growing faster than many traditional giants. Some key points:

Companies with a smaller market share are showing significant growth globally.
Most buyers prefer products from small companies to large global brands.
Microbrands are driving rapid market growth, causing changes in established concepts and consumer needs.
These brands seek not only to occupy the market, but also to influence the minds of consumers. To remain competitive, larger brands selling consumer goods must:
To develop flexibility and enter the market quickly.
Focus on consumer needs.
Invest in innovations and revolutionary technologies.
Make decisions based on data.
Develop expertise in direct communication with consumers.
Create stories that highlight the unique benefits of the brand. In 2024, challenger brands will continue their offensive, focusing on niche markets, the use of social media, and continuous development innovations.

9. The growing role of retail media:

Consumers are changing their behavior, making retail media an important tool for brands. More and more retail media networks are emerging. Investments in retail media are on the rise: 56% of North American marketers and 46% of global marketers plan to increase their budgets.

Retail media provides valuable purchase data that is not available on other platforms, allowing marketers to better understand audience behavior and preferences and create more personalized advertising campaigns. With the refusal of cookies, traditional targeting methods become less effective. Retail media offers alternative solutions based on purchase data, which helps to reduce losses and maximize ROI.

Marketers are often concerned about the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Independent retail media measurements provide transparency and confirm that campaigns are reaching their target audience, optimizing costs and maximizing return on investment. Retail media creates a new monetization channel for retailers, increasing revenues and improving the return on investment in physical stores. They also help strengthen customer relationships.

As of 2024, independent media analytics measurements will become more important for retail media, confirming channel effectiveness and creating a better advertising experience for consumers, supporting market growth. Retail media offers numerous benefits for marketers and retailers. With better access to data, enhanced targeting capabilities, transparency and additional revenue streams, retail media is becoming an important channel in today’s marketing environment.Start of form

10. The growing importance of Google search:

Every second, 6.3 million information search queries are made on Google. Online search has risen to fifth place among the most influential channels of brand influence (from 11th in 2018).

The era of AI and neural networks

Search is shifting from keywords, relevance and ranking algorithms to the use of large language models and artificial intelligence, which are playing an increasingly important role.

The importance of understanding the customer journey

As of 2024, search is becoming key to understanding the complex “middle” of the customer journey.
Analyzing keywords and using them across all digital channels is becoming critical.
It is important to take into account new trends in categories.

Recommendations for brands

Change the digital strategy and content of advertising materials.
Ensure the brand’s presence near consumers.
To make a name for yourself and try to stay one step ahead of the competition.

Google search is becoming more complex and dynamic. Brands that want to stay ahead of the curve need to adapt their digital strategy and content to match this new reality.