Are you a Brand Designer? Then your life will just get more exciting by the day! As the consumer mind keeps evolving by the day, the demand for more unique branding activities rise. In the middle of it all, marketers have also started to outsource branding activities slowly. Let us look at some of the interesting trends in brand designers world:
Rise of the Specialists
One thing we can admit is that the brand design/marketing/consulting space is slowly getting commoditized as there are lot of them in the market today. Also at the same time, their services are being rendered (whether in-house or outsourced) more from a tactical angle rather than from a strategic standpoint. The future belongs to those who can scale up the value chain and become specialized experts. Be in a particular industry or particular consumer segment, being a specialist will just prove advantageous for you.
Shrinking attention spans
Oh! Its true! We live in a world now crowded and packed with information. At the same time, even as consumers, our attention spans are taking a hit. Today’s marketers cannot afford that. There needs to be a shift from a communication strategy to an engagement strategy and that’s what will prove a game changer in the future. Brand designers need to make that shift for that recall to be there in the minds. In the form of engagement, the branding fraternity will have to move to something that calls for the social –well being of the people.
Shift in Client Expectations
If as a business, you are outsourcing the branding activity then your expectations are slowly changing for the good. Even as designers, your relationship between your client will now be at a different platform as your client will expect you to deliver the goods more related to the business objectives and outcomes rather that maybe – a logo or a catchphrase or a tag line. Focus on ROI will compel designers to bring more industry insights and deliver results with their strategies.
Value for Authenticity
Face it, things have changed now and will continue to do so – the consumer demands more authenticity now. If a German watch is being marketed as a German watch then consumer now look for those German Engineering values from its branding ; and if watch isn’t made in Germany – then that would be a problem! If it was years ago, then maybe consumers would have cared less on those finer brand messages unless it has the brand logo on it. Today’s and tomorrow’s consumers look forward to that authenticity of a brand reflecting on the cultural and regional values!
It’s fair that consumers are expecting more and more even though it makes the lives of the marketers tougher by the day! Marketers need to watch out for these future trends else it could be a case of survival of the smartest!
