Come January, it’s time to spot the marketing trends for the year to come. From a marketer’s point of view it’s equally important to examine what the market in the previous year failed to crack in spite of its potential and the opportunities it was gifted with. This might help find new opportunities in 2016 making a brand or its marketer different, successful and relevant in the market.

Here are some questions to ponder and opportunities that the market failed to identify as the next big trends and game-changers.

Mall shopping A decade ago, the novelty of mall shopping caught consumers’ fancy and continued to drive more than 200 malls as a shopping format across metros and Tier Two cities. By 2010 the first loud alarm bell sounded, asking for a game-changer to make the format sustainable. In 2015 as reported, yet another 15 new malls were added, providing no significant new experience. The malls seem to continue with the old multiplex and food court and exclusive brand showroom format.

The question to marketers is, who is to reinvent mall shopping: the real estate industry or the marketing industry?

Packaging Products old or new, when they come in a new packaging format, they are bound to catch the attention and the fancy of the consumer and even change behaviour and consumption dramatically. Blister packing, sachets, cartons, bubble-wrap, PET bottles, pouches, all of them changed the way products got sold or consumed. They brought in disproportionate returns to the brand and the marketer.

With advanced technology, trained design professionals and progressive retail formats, 2015 doesn’t seem to have cracked packaging with an impact equal to that of a carton or a sachet.

The question is, have we not found a new need in the market or have we not landed on the next big packaging idea?

Advertising The way consumers are consuming communication either in the virtual world or the real world has changed sharply. It’s even different from as late as 2014. Consumers’ attention span has been reported to drop below eight seconds and yet the majority of the advertising content is structured around the traditional format of a headline, sub-headline, body copy, logo, tag line or as a historic 30/20/10-second TV commercial. The consumption has become more visual, sharper and holistic than in parts. The ownership to demand a call-to-action is with the advertiser. It’s a case of ‘if you don’t ask, I don’t care’. The communication trends are becoming more and more real-time and dynamic, with shorter shelf life.

The questions are, are we still working with advertising agencies with wisdom and formulas from the past? Do we know what it takes to communicate in 2016?

Digital marketing Most of the visible and noticeable content in social media seems to have been an adaptation of what was created for the real world. Television commercials were edited to shorter duration for quick digital consumption or were uploaded with longer versions considering it to be a low-cost medium. Viewing it as an integrated marketing effort, many creatives made for print and outdoor were in use in the digital/social media in their original form, instead of content created purely for the digital media. The majority of the digital marketing campaigns in 2015 still seem to thrive on the ‘like’ currency, number of views count, number of re-tweets and such.

The questions are, are we digitally marketing or are we marketing in a digital world? Are we marketing for virality or for an engaging response and interaction with our consumers? Have we evolved enough for the digital world?

Sports & TV entertainment They said, ‘cricket rules in India’, ‘India lives on cricket’ and it continues to do so. The oft-quoted reason till recently was that television had only Doordarshan and Star Sports and both had little room to accommodate other sports. In 2015, India got 10 new sports channels of which five were HD. Yet, no other sport has managed to get more or equal air time and viewership as cricket. . Though a few others have made their mark, nothing has arrived to match cricket.

Ditto when it comes to news and entertainment channels. With over 750 channels and over 50 HD channels consumers watched 2015 go by with all the formats experienced before. The reality shows began to look unreal, the exclusive news coverage and breaking news stories were becoming predictable. Any news with a pinch of the sensational meant even more frenzied screaming and even bolder text across the screen as ‘breaking news’. No newsmakers here.

Repeated and looped slow motion edit techniques continue to drive drama on daily soaps. A serial bore, for sure!

The question is, will we lead the viewers or follow the viewers in 2016?

Retail shopping experience The old saying, what you see is what you buy, has been taken so seriously that all efforts continue to be visually driven. Display and merchandising have become richer with sophisticated lighting and superior interior design, and are supported by trained attendants. The market failed to come up with a new answer that would capture the imagination of the other senses in terms of sound, smell and touch, beyond that already experienced.

The question is, are we waiting for technology to answer the next big experience or are we waiting for want of an idea?

The year promises to be challenging, exciting and adventurous. May the next big trend and the game-changer be decoded and born!

(Pavan Padaki is author, Brand Vinci, and Head – Strategy & Creative, brand-comm)

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