Which trends were all hype and which ones got it right? More importantly, what looks to be hot in 2008? Read what imc² has to say about strategically incorporating the appropriate trends into your marketing plan.

A few key words have been popping up regularly in our email newsletters and RSS feeds lately. Whether you merely take note of the mention or read every article, it’s enough to create panic in many a marketer’s world. Should we jump on the bandwagon? Is this just a passing fad?  Our advice is to select appropriate tactics, regardless of hype, and pursue them with thoughtful urgency, not fearful hysteria.  Here is our take on a few of the hyped up trends of 2007.

What’s on the horizon for 2008?

We expect there to be plenty of new objects of marketers’ affection to come in 2008, but for now, our focus is on evolving existing trends into something with true marketing value.

• Social Media & Behavioral Targeting: These will become best of friends. Social networks offer an extremely deep level of information about consumers, and this information can become a valuable tool in targeting ads to them (with their permission). By following consumers’ interactions on social networks, brands will be able to add value to the consumers’ relationships, thereby becoming a part of the dance, not just another wallflower.
• Video, Video, Video: In banners, on sites, in email, on phones, syndicated.  Shorts, longs, and everything in-between. Broadband is everywhere and video has followed. We have seen the Web evolve from an information channel to a hip social channel. In 2008, video and rich multimedia will be the keys to transforming it to a digital “experience” channel. 
• Gaming Incorporation: Seamlessly integrating your marketing message into an unbranded game environment, as opposed to dedicated branded games, will become main stage. It could be as simple as inserting your logo on a billboard in a racing game or on a pair of Wii boxing shorts, or more complicated, such as placing a product within a game environment (i.e., an energy drink powers up the player).
• User-Generated Content: Consumer-generated ads will pass as a fad. User-generated content is here to stay. The fan-created Super Bowl ad is history, but look for opportunities to engage consumers in brand and product development. Empower them to use their camcorders to provide honest testimonials, product feedback and innovative uses of your product.
• Location-Based Services: With triangulation and GPS becoming mainstream phone capacities, we will finally see some unique marketing applications based on physical location. Opportunities for marketing will increase rapidly as mobile communications continue to grow in importance. As the depth of information increases, not only in the details available about consumers, but also into the physical world in which they live, there will be greater opportunity to present real-time targeted messages to commuters, shoppers and people just out for a walk.

To successfully leverage these trends, an integrated campaign offering grounded strategy and channel integration is key. Brands will be clamoring for agencies and talent capable of delivering sensible, yet innovative, strategies that leverage digital as a key business driver. The ability to develop collaborative and efficient relationships that deliver breakthrough levels of integration across all agency partners will be a mandatory skill set for leaders in digital marketing. 

We are certain to see more bright, shiny objects in 2008, but beware the trend bandwagon.

Marc Blumberg, imc²’s senior vice president, leads our clients in developing innovative and effective digital marketing strategies. Since joining imc² in early 1997, he has taken a leadership role in developing imc²'s service offerings and culture. Mr. Blumberg helped build the company from 6 to a staff of over 550 people.  Leveraging Mr. Blumberg’s marketing savvy, imc² has landed new clients and expanded those relationships including some of the nation’s blue-chip companies such as Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee and Johnson & Johnson.  He has led the strategy for accounts including Centex Home Equity, USA Hockey, GlaxoSmithKline and Procter & Gamble, to name a few.