2020 Marketing Trends You Need to Know

A Thought Leader Guest Post from Sven Johnston, Founding Partner at Gigasavvy:

20:20 Vision for 2020 Marketing Trends You Need to Know

The past ten years have transformed the way we interact with the brands around us.

From companies like Instagram, founded in 2010, to the new digital data points that allow us to tell targeted brand narratives, the world of marketing and consumer behavior has changed.

Thinking back on the changes over the last 10 years has us asking: What new opportunities await us in 2020?

Today, we are living in a new era of consumer behavior, technology and brand & marketing strategy. As your company looks to the next big game-changer in digital, brand, traditional marketing and beyond, here are some continuing trends to keep in mind as we enter the 2020’s.

A Comeback for Market Research

With the rise of digital data, it seemed as though formal market research was becoming a dying art. Marketers were hesitant to spend the time and money on primary research because all the information they could ever want was available via software and online databases. Right?

As of January 1, 2020, companies doing business in California will be required to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), regarded as the most stringent consumer privacy law in the country. Often compared to Europe’s GDPR, and expected to impact business well beyond California’s borders, marketers are going to be held to a higher standard when it comes to managing customer data and providing transparency about third party data practices.

Top of mind heading into this year is how marketers are going to comply with regulations such as CCPA while still maintaining access to highly targeted data on their customers. This is where market research comes in. Conducting primary research will not only provide brands will highly customizable data sets, but also ensure that marketers are gathering and using data responsibly.

A Fresh Look at Brand Culture

When a brand is thoughtfully created and strategically supported, it can be felt throughout an entire organization. In 2019, we all had eyes on immersive, or experiential brands – moving into 2020, internal branding and brand culture will retake center stage.

Brand culture is an organization’s internally-facing experience, values, and a strategic branded foundation that creates a consistent company environment; this enables employees to feel part of a larger team and to deliver on the externally-facing brand promise with conviction.

With recent unemployment rates dropping to record lows, we have seen companies boosting their retention efforts and adding amenities to the workplace to ensure employees stay put in the midst of ample job opportunities.

However, brand culture is not the same thing as a foosball table in the breakroom. It’s a careful consideration...