The global marketing landscape is set to witness contrasting realities as 2024 beckons.  

On the one hand, Moment Marketing promises to notch up the pace to generate higher brand engagement and conversations, and on the other,  well-anchored authentic brand communications that hinge on relatable messaging, bodes well to strengthen the customer base.  

The world at large is poised for a transformational shift in 2024.  Generation Z is set to surpass boomers in the workforce next year.  Millennials are taking over the reins of leadership from Generation X and shall be at the helm of the economy until at least the 2040s.  

While there may be a growing set of marketeers who support the view that an economic ascent of these two demographics implies that anything digital will yield a higher number of leads and eventually convert them into sales. I  hold a slightly contrarian view, that any marketing outreach shall succeed only if it is laser-focused, targeted and omnipresent. 

A survey conducted among Generation Z consumers in the US in 2022,  states that ‘appearance of trustworthiness and transparency’ is a  substantially more relevant criterion to buy a product or avail a service, than  ‘the vision and mission’ of the brand itself.  

Ironic as it may sound, this highlights a key condition for decision-making in the customer journey of the Millennials and Generation Z— that product attributes convey a far more superior meaning as compared to brand attributes.  

Add a layer of relatability to the messaging mix, followed by an adoption of the messaging across various consumer touchpoints. These in unison,  create an ecosystem of compelling messaging that engages and captivates the Generation Z and Millennial audiences, repetitively as they navigate the physical and the digital worlds. 

Fundamentally, 2024 may also witness the slow-down of Search Engine  Optimization (SEO). As Generative AI gathers further momentum, the ubiquitous ‘Zero Moment of Truth’ model as canonized by Google Search shall increasingly be driven by AI algorithms. This shall largely be due to the emergence of voice-assisted or otherwise AI systems that rely on their unique algorithms and Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities,  as differentiators. 

Interestingly as the target audience becomes completely/almost digital native, the affinity of marketing campaigns to rely on social media,  especially the likes of Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok, to engage shall become even more ingrained. However, this shall also mean the overcrowding of clickbait marketing content on attention platforms and the higher cost of digital real estate, both of which can potentially reduce the  Return on Investment (ROI).  

To supplement my view, some market outlook studies indicate that a  perceived decay in the quality of social media platforms may limit use in the coming years.  

Pragmatically, the ‘Moment of Sale’ of a product or service precedes the actual transaction. It most potentially occurs when the audience experiences a ‘wow’ moment of epiphany that the marketing campaign delivers through either the messaging or sometimes, the medium itself. 

The rise of Augmented Reality (AR) and CGI-powered technologies are enabling brands to position product placements within bustling urban spaces, evoking ‘wow’ through juxtaposition and surrealism.  

In some ways it is reminiscent of the developments in marketing in the mid and late 20th century, an era defined by Marshall McLuhan’s medium is the message theory. His works are the cornerstone of media and communications theory, globally. Their relevance may well permeate into the world of marketing from a conceptual standpoint. 

Giant-sized dolls against the backdrop of a towering Burj Khalifa to create buzz around a movie based on an iconic toy model, tram-mounted chic handbags rambling through the streets of Paris — technology ‘wow’  moments shall add more edge to the next generation of Out of Home  (OOH) marketing, in 2024. 

The ‘performance’ metrics in Performance Marketing too shall evolve, as practitioners and academicians place higher focus on the functioning of the human mind. It is beyond doubt that while humans are meticulously rational when considering buying a product, the moment of sale or decision is completely emotional. 

2024 shall, in my view be an amalgamation of all of these, and more.