Welcome to our monthly roundup of all things marketing strategy, brought to you by Genene Webster, Senior Marketing Strategist at Acorn Strategy. She dives into three game-changing stories that have the regional marketing scene buzzing and rounds up the top insights from each.
- Sustainability Efforts can Erode Trust & Credibility
A priority for every business currently, in the Middle East this has become even more of a central talking point especially in the lead up to COP28 and as being the Year of Sustainability. Reflecting on marketing strategy, it has become a focal part of what and how companies should be addressing this topic. Just like the UAE, putting their plans into action such as The National Sustainability Campaign , and Dubai Sustainable Tourism Stamp; companies should be careful on the topic of sustainability as ‘Sustainability Efforts can Erode Trust & Credibility’.
Key take-aways from the article:
- A recent survey by Inmarsat reveals that respondents feel their competitors place more emphasis on establishing a favourable “green” image rather than achieving tangible and meaningful outcomes.
- A significant 76% of respondents express scepticism regarding their peers’ reporting on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.
- Trust is vital for fostering confidence and demonstrating our commitment to sustainability.
- The importance of data: How to ensure authenticity in our sustainability efforts? It needs to be data driven
- Marketers need to understand how consumers attribute significance to sustainability – and most people perceive it as a key part of a holistic package.
- Another approach to ensuring the authenticity of sustainable efforts is through transparency.
- Purpose-driven marketing is the key, three best practices in purpose-driven marketing for sustainability are:
- Educate and Empower
- Engage
- Advocate
Read the full article here: Without ‘Authenticity,’ Sustainability Efforts can Erode Trust & Credibility:
- The impact and influence of AI on your Marketing Strategy
Another hard hitting topic in recent news is Artificial Intelligence and perceived impact on Marketing Strategies. Here we found some top insights from recent articles published on this topic from New Digital Age, LinkedIn articles and other news sites:
- The number of businesses using AI has surged by over 270% in the previous four years, and by 2027, it is anticipated that the global AI market will be worth $267 billion.
- With the help of AI-powered solutions, marketing personnel will be able to automate some cognitive tasks. Additionally, they will be able to recognise current trends and anticipate emerging ones, which will help them plan successful marketing efforts.
- 5 ways AI will change the future of marketing:
- Content Creation – marketers can enhance their content generation efforts and have tremendous success by setting up a continuous feedback loop
- Predictive Analysis – AI will better enable marketers to anticipate consumer behaviour, enabling them to develop marketing strategies and products that are more successful.
- Better advertisements – artificial intelligence understands what customers want. Thus it can readily find trends and customer data to improve advertising efforts
- Better customer service – A chatbot can answer online users’ needs whenever customer service employees are unavailable.
- Augmented reality and virtual reality
- The vast majority of marketers (92%) are well or fairly-well informed about the opportunities for customisation with programmatic, but only half (51%) believe they are making full use of the available demand side platform (DSP) customisation features.
-
Read the full article here: AI is having a big impact on marketing strategies this year
- The growing need for upskilling
Finally, following on from AI and the rise of new technologies impacting the marketing world, there is the need to learn these new skills. Still on the way to recovery following the COVID pandemic, there is a notable gap in skills in certain areas. Relating to marketing strategy, it’s important to not only have the right strategies in place for your company, but also have the tools and skills on hand to implement the strategies and help your companies grow and prosper.
Here are some main insights from the Middle East in regard to the growing need for upskilling:
- personalisation is offering a platform for a particular person at the right time and in the right way to align with skills.
- younger workers are in the best position to take advantage of the skills-first future.
- The Middle East survey results reveal three key themes:
- 1. Individuals must enhance and refine their skills to thrive in their jobs in the next five years
- 2. Excitement surrounding artificial intelligence and
- 3. A strong yearning for increased autonomy and job satisfaction.
- 52% of the individuals surveyed in the region, compared to the global 36%, believe their jobs will change significantly in the next 5 years, requiring them to acquire new skills and capabilities. 61% of respondents stated they possess a distinct understanding of how their skills are anticipated to evolve.
Read the full article here: The growing need for upskilling
That’s it for this month! Stay tuned for more hot marketing takes next month. Need help with your marketing and communications strategy? Reach out to our team of experts today at hello@acornstrategy.com