5 trends to expect in the Year of the Goat

The Year of the Horse brought trends to the forefront such as a bigger push towards native advertising, crowdsourcing and a greater appreciation for data. What will the Year of the Goat bring?Clients take a more active role in creative Marketing directors today are more clued-in and have more opinions on the work than their predecessors, a result of being in their jobs and in Asia longer. They will take a more active hand in the creative process, and the agencies they want to work with, to create the work they want.Bespoke, not integratedMore clients will opt to use multiple agencies over a single one. There has been a greater shift towards project work, as marketers choose to work with specialist shops, instead of retainers, to create the most impactful campaigns designed for different audiences. The concept of integrated agencies will be shadowed by the need for collaboration over a wider range of platforms to engage audiences where it most matters to them.The role of the ECDs will change drasticallyIn response to clients’ changing needs, ECDs will have to don new hats and become less of directors and more of producers. Apart from conceptualising the work, they will now have to act as a central point for a network of specialists, and channel their efforts over various platforms into a collective whole.Responsive, omni-channel retail In the age of snackable content and information on demand, consumers are becoming more savvy, and multi-channel shopping has become an expectation that must be met. Increasingly there will be a blurring of lines between physical and online stores, as businesses’ psychological loyalty to different retail channels breaks down to better capture the customer. Businesses will evolve to create a top-notch customer experience driven from back-end technology to sale, incorporating a brand story and consistent offerings that are channel agnostic.Mobile advertising will matureThe mobile device is the centre of the consumer’s universe, and marketers who don’t pay attention to mobile strategies this year do so at their own disadvantage. Despite some growing pains, this is the year mobile strategies will scale up, and we can expect to see marketers redefine the use of mobile in a variety of ways. At the same time, more mobile advertising measurement tools will be rolled out, allowing advertisers to better track and optimise mobile campaigns.The writer is David Mayo, chief executive officer at Bates CHI & Partners Asia.