Five Advertising Industry Predictions for 2017

Looking back over 2016, it was the year that disruption emerged as a geopolitical reality and no longer existed solely as a commercial phenomenon. Just think back to Trump, Brexit and Toblerone's changing shape . This idea of change can also been applied to the world of advertising. So, I've listed five of my predictions for the year ahead below:

1. More data, more personalisation

Media agencies will become more powerful as they get a better grip on data and how to use its growing mass more intelligently. This will open up new ways to target consumers on their purchasing journey which will give rise to more personalised, more innovative and more creative opportunities.

2. Needs-based vs emotional content

Content ‘per se’ will stop being a useful moniker. All the blank spaces on every screen, billboard and magazine need filling with stuff - and it’s all content. Social channels have to be considered in the marketing mix and it’s true to say, they need a bespoke approach. But is social really just a better or faster way of doing PR? It will, and has, become another channel that needs consideration on the media plan, but it’s definitely not the answer for everything. Work will split between ‘needs'-based information (e.g. explanations, efficacy, and ‘how-to’ videos) and emotionally-driven brand work (TV, cinema and more traditional mass-market channels as well as niche social ones) to create desire and appeal to the heart and ego.

3. A flexible production approach

Clients, particularly .com’s and e-businesses, will continue to develop creative, strategic and even production skills in-house as they grow up with Google Analytics, SEO and optimisation. They haven’t got the time to teach agencies what they need. But they, and other clients, will also seek production arrangements for delivering their bigger campaigns, as they need manpower they either don’t have or don’t want on their books all year round.

4. Start small, test, then go big

Clients will become simultaneously more cautious and braver. They’ll be happy to consider riskier concepts but test them with smaller budgets in more discreet media channels. We’ll see more clients using programmatic and dynamic executions to compare and contrast different media treatments at the pitch stage, then build data and results to show they work and then go large.

5. Adapt or die

Older agency models will have to adapt to survive or they face possibly fading away. In this new reality, life will be faster and harder. Speed to market, without sacrificing brand and production values and quality of execution, all matter. And those companies that deliver it well, and transparently, will win.

So let’s wait and see what the new world order brings. We must prepare to be flexible and expect the unexpected. Here’s to a challenging yet rewarding year...