5 Marketing Trends for 2018 that are Top of Mind for Tukaiz

We launch into 2018 excited to start a new year and ready to help support in the navigation of our ever-evolving environment of marketing. As strategic partners and brand stewards, we are constantly researching and exploring technology, innovations and market trends, so in typical January fashion we collected trends from across industries and marketing specialties in order to developed our top 5 trends that will influence and guide us this year.

Struggles Strengthen in Shopper Marketing

“There’s no denying that technology is disrupting retail. Even though brick-and-mortar sales continue to account for the larger portion of retail, online shopping will continue to grow exponentially…. ‘E-commerce is here to stay,’ Adobe’s Asher said. ‘What you’re seeing is a shaking up of retail.’ As a result, merchants will have to reconsider their unique offerings and improve their value propositions to survive, he said.”
– Mercedes M. Cardona, CMO.com [see full article “10 Trends that Will Shape Marketing in 2018”]

As tech giants continue to disrupt traditional retail, we as a partner to many CPG brands have actively sought to out solutions that support in reacting to the more competitive and challenges landscape. For example, we built a proprietary technology to efficiently create hyper-local marketing that wins key store footprints. This year we look to continue our support by developing localized consumer experiences to differentiate our partner brands in key retail locations.
Newly Found Focus of Augmented/Virtual Reality to Enhance Customer Experience

“Where once this technology was almost exclusively used to tell a story for the purpose of entertainment, businesses and organizations are now presented with an opportunity to leverage VR for commercial purposes — like shopping, for example, or a deeper look inside what helps a business run and create its products or services.”
– Amanda Zantal-Wiener, Hubspot [see full article “Here Are the 7 Top Tech Trends to Watch in 2018, According to CES”]

Similar to Amanda’s evaluation of the shift in AR/VR, we have experienced this first hand as we developed executions that combined merchandising and packaging with AR to provide an entertainment value for consumers. Through the years, we have continued to evolved and improve the use of technology in traditional communication environments to more successfully engage with consumers. However, this year with the increased mobile access and wider consumer adoption of AR and VR technology, we have already experienced the shift noted above as we have successfully crafted and pitched unique brand experiences that help develop a more meaningful relationship with consumers through story telling.
Don’t Call it a Comeback… but Print is On the Rise

“While data visualization + storytelling provides a great experience, digital-first and digitally-native content consumers seem to be enjoying more than ever the tactile experience of shutting down and turning pages. In 2018, we’ll likely see more brands thinking seriously about creating high-quality print magazines as a marketing collateral.”
– Cameron Conaway, HuffPost [see full article “19 Marketing Trends in 2018]

With a rich history in the industry, we have always been advocates for the tactile. We are fortunate enough to see the impact on the faces of each and every client partner that has visited our facility, so despite the craze of print being eliminated we have always been confident in it’s impact if used properly. Not surprising, the shift from being overwhelmed by print communication providing more audience to digital has now come full circle. As we experience an overwhelming amount of email and content, the ability for unique print (beyond high-end magazines noted in the article) has proven effective. In our experience this has been validated in many aspects of print, including personalized direct mail, local merchandising and unique brand communication collateral.
Continued Rise of Engagement on Instagram

“Instagram is growing at an incredible clip. In 2017, Instagram announced that approximately 800 million people use the platform each month. Their latest tool, Instagram Stories, became more popular than Snapchat just one year after going live. Since brands tend to see better engagement on Instagram than any other social media platform, and because of great advertising controls, Instagram is poised to become the go-to channel for brands interested in social media marketing.”
– Deep Patel, Entrepreneur [see full article “18 Marketing Trends to Watch in 2018]

As a single-source partner that delivers 360 marketing solutions, we often find the focused strategy and execution of social is managed either internally or through a social/digital agency which can lead to siloed marketing execution or broken consumer experiences throughout their journey. A challenge that led our teams to place a concerted effort on supporting our clients in 2018 by collaborating in early phases to better integrate social activations, such as Instagram Stories, with 360 programming and promotional activations.
1 Star, 2 Star… 5 Stars

While your reviews are essential for search engine rankings, they can also make or break a sale for you. According to research, half of adults under the age of 50 regularly check online reviews before purchasing a new item.

As consumers continue to become more educated buyers and research orientated decision makers, access to authentic reviews can become a differentiating marketing tactic. For us at Tukaiz, we are constantly seeking out ways to leverage ratings and reviews to support brand positioning in the appropriate environments. This includes unique usage within retail.

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