What will marketers need to do to make 2013 a lucky one?

Top marketers give their views on what it will take to succeed in 2013.

joan lewis

Joan M. Lewis
Global consumer and market knowledge officer
Procter & Gamble

Many brands are looking towards Asia for growth. And be it there or elsewhere, building a successful brand requires truly knowing the consumer. There is still a lot to learn about Asia’s consumers, who differ in cultures, stages of economic development and income, from billionaires to people living on less than a dollar a day.

Asia-Pacific is leading the rapid adoption of digital technology, with the highest smart phone penetration. Consumers can now tailor the messages they want from the brands they want or send their own messages. This is a new breed of interactive, connected consumers who want to tell marketers what they think.

peter briffett

Peter Briffett
Managing director UK & Ireland
Living Social

One of the key challenges in 2013 lies in developing consumer-centric mobile strategies to match the changing psychology of today’s social shopper. With people receiving information, making recommendations and making transactions on the go, around the clock, brands need to meet this expectation in order to succeed in this social space.

markus kramer

Markus Kramer
Global marketing director
Aston Martin

The biggest trend overall is integration, not just in communications but linking overall business strategy with customer value. In terms of product, promotion, place, price and people, we are becoming the chief ‘joiners of dots’ and there are ever more of these along the customer journey, ever easier to access, track and influence. This year will be the most fascinating for marketers we will see to date.

james wildman

James Wildman
Managing director and vice president of sales
Yahoo! UK & Ireland

We are likely to see consolidation in the digital landscape as competition gets increasingly fierce but the key trends are likely to be around mobile and video.

With the increasing proliferation of smartphones and the gradual roll-out of 4G, more traffic is likely to shift to mobile and tablet devices so it will be important to focus on cross-platform experiences and capabilities. Publishers will look to differentiate through the provision of more original content.

adam stewart

Adam Stewart
Marketing director
Play.com

Engagement will be the buzz word. Social channels have made it possible for consumers to enter into personal dialogue with retailers. The secret to success will continue to be engaging customers to keep them coming back to your brand and recommending it.

Whether it’s a mobile-optimised site or dedicated app, most retailers are coming to terms with the need for a multi-channel solution to allow consumers to engage with the brand whenever they wish to and wherever they are.

dave coplin

Dave Coplin
Chief envisioning officer
Microsoft Advertising

Brands will become increasingly savvy with the content they use and the platforms they consider. Every facet of consumer life is now enriched with consumer technologies and multi-platform campaigns are more crucial than ever as we see further integration of social and mainstream advertising. Mobile has changed consumers’ relationship with technology and brands must learn to optimise their assets more coherently with this platform.

Bespoke content is evolving and we will see brands reacting in new ways to their changing relationship with technology. For example, to date we have grouped tablets with mobile, but this year we, as an industry, need to unpack this bundle and split out tablet and mobile to recognise their influence as individual platforms and as scalable marketing commercial channels.

sean adams

Sean Adams
Head of insight
News International Commercial

The growth in mobile technology and the convergence of devices will mean multi-screen consumers continue to emerge, owning and using multiple devices for an expanding range of activities. Understanding this ongoing trend and its implications for future media business models will be a key issue for everyone involved in the industry.

patrick fuller

Patrick Fuller
Chief executive officer
Content Marketing Association

With content marketing now accounting for 25 per cent of all content consumed, brands need to continue to not just entertain their customers but add value to their lives. Marketers need to ensure that brands are offering a seamless customer experience across all the channels being used, with a realisation that everyone is becoming more used to consuming content across different platforms, from video content through to paper magazines.

simon rees

Simon Rees
Managing director
Digital Cinema Media

Audiences will be consuming media when they want and how they want. The introduction of WiFi in more public places such as cinemas and on the London Underground will see the public increasingly interacting with brands on the go. Environmental responsibility should also be on everyones agenda. It is time to take a lead at both corporate and personal level because we all have a duty to preserve the planet.

stewart pedler

Stewart Pedler
Director of operations
Thomson Reuters

Determining how to best spend the precious marketing budget across the plethora of channels will be a challenge this year. Marketers will then have to demonstrate the impact and return on the marketing investment, not only to show success but to ensure that there is more money next year.

As a result of the digital explosion, audience behaviour is starting to change. For example, I believe that TV commercials are having less overall effect. When adverts are aired, people’s eyes move to their smartphones or tablets to check for updates, tweet, post or chat with their friends. Zeebox and apps like Tellybugs’ X-Factor app are now designed to complement TV and enable more interactivity.

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