Brand marketers have tried a number of new approaches in 2005 ranging from branded entertainment to blogs and 'alternate reality' games to consumer-created content. But 2006 will be the year of the marketing "face-off" as traditionalists stick with what they know while others try yet more new methods, according to Drew Neisser, CEO for Renegade Marketing Group.
This year (2005) has been characterised by brand marketing experimentation and courageously different campaigns, as big TV-time buyers hedged their bets against the ad-zapping DVRs (digital video recorders) and shifted TV ad budgets toward product placement and branded entertainment properties. Even modest-budget brands such as Lamborghini and Marquis Jets delved into product placement this year.
Others tapped into the blogging phenomenon, creating their own blogs and advertising through others. Alternate reality games such as 'I Love Bees' for Microsoft's Halo 2 game, and Audi's 'Art of the Heist', caused considerable interest among marketers and consumers alike. Similarly, consumer-created content was quickly popularised and some industry observers even suggested that marketers should relinquish control of their brands to their customers (but that's clearly not going to happen on a widespread basis in the near future).
Some of the trends that Drew things will be big in '06 include:
Click on the link below to see details about the list. Your thoughts?
I'm Pete Clark, editor of The Wise Marketer. I love it when Drew makes predictions... he's seldom wrong (except maybe on a few fine points, but the broad-brush is usually perfect). If you do a search on our site for "Renegade" you'll find all the previous predictions and developments too. Incidentally, all marketers are welcome to sign up for free, and you'll get our weekly marketing newsletter (we focus on customer/brand loyalty mainly).
Posted by: thewisemarketer | December 23, 2005 at 01:19 AM