The UK market is a dominant influence on marketing worldwide and one of my favourite resources to stay up to date on how its technology, communications and consumer culture are evolving is published each year in a “Trends Report” by Mindshare.
In early 2020, I reviewed their latest predictions which are always both useful and insightful, and even though this research was conducted before the pandemic impact emerged, it features big ideas and consumer insights that loyalty marketers need to consider as we plan and manage our programmes.
PAULA: Welcome to Let’s Talk Loyalty, an industry podcast for loyalty marketing professionals.
PAULA: I’m your host, Paula Thomas, and if you work in loyalty marketing, join me every week to learn the latest ideas from loyalty specialists around the world.
PAULA: This short show is a summary of an episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty that highlighted some fascinating insights from a UK report on key consumer trends in early 2020.
PAULA: I always think that the UK has an incredible influence on marketing all over the world.
PAULA: So even though this particular report is not specifically on loyalty marketing, I really like to stay updated on emerging ideas.
PAULA: This report was released in early 2020, shortly before the coronavirus lockdowns began.
PAULA: And at the time, our main concerns were the social, political and economic changes expected from Brexit.
PAULA: So Mindshare is a marketing agency that publishes this incredibly detailed report on UK consumer trends each year.
PAULA: And in total, it’s actually a 30,000 word report.
PAULA: So I’m summarizing the ideas that seem most relevant to us as loyalty professionals.
PAULA: The first trend was called finally 5G, but with a big question mark around it.
PAULA: It described how almost everyone has heard of 5G, but the level of appreciation for its potential impact is practically non-existent.
PAULA: Internet speeds are simply no longer an issue for most of us.
PAULA: So there is a sense of being underwhelmed by just another G.
PAULA: However, I discovered that 5G is over 100 times faster than 4G, which led Mindshare to describe it as literally the fire for a whole new world.
PAULA: So from a loyalty perspective, 5G seems to offer the potential for a much more immersive experience.
PAULA: So it will be fascinating to see how that develops particularly with the digital acceleration we’ve seen since the pandemic.
PAULA: Secondly, organizing our data was identified as critical for consumer insights.
PAULA: It’s no longer a nice to have, but really an essential underlying approach that consumers expect when they engage with you across channels.
PAULA: There’s no doubt that technology companies in particular will capture every piece of data that consumers are willing to share.
PAULA: So for loyalty professionals, we certainly can expect a further increase in global regulation of data management and capture.
PAULA: From a technology perspective, it seems that facial recognition is becoming acceptable, particularly in Asia.
PAULA: So I’m fascinated to see how this evolves for the loyalty industry.
PAULA: As we increasingly move away from plastic cards and also even mobile apps to identify our customers.
PAULA: The next key insight was an insatiable desire for quality content.
PAULA: And it struck me that this is an area that loyalty programs can focus on, perhaps creating entertaining and useful content for their members, which would be a key differentiator if they can do it well.
PAULA: The fourth key UK trend I discussed was how the giant e-commerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, and particularly the super apps like WeChat in China will influence more and more buying decisions in the way that search engines have led in the past.
PAULA: And in fact, it seems that these e-commerce platforms may even begin to start replacing the search engines.
PAULA: And finally, a huge trend identified was the increasing cynical views around paid advertising.
PAULA: Fake news and digital solutions that either interrupt the user’s experience or follow them around the internet simply add to privacy concerns.
PAULA: As advertising is evolving, it increasingly includes product placement in entertainment channels.
PAULA: Plus, the report emphasized an increasing focus on brands needing to work with a clear purpose beyond their purely commercial priorities.
PAULA: And certainly, since COVID arrived, consumers are evaluating how brands are behaving, not just how they say they will behave.
PAULA: Mindshare described a narrowing trust window, resulting in an increasing reliance on word of mouth marketing and the whole area of CX or customer experience, something I think most of us as loyalty professionals are very aware of and focusing on more and more.
PAULA: So that’s it for this short show.
PAULA: If you’d like to hear more of these great consumer insights, I recommend you listen to episode 30 of Let’s Talk Loyalty.
PAULA: And of course, you can check out the website for Mindshare in the UK for this year’s report on consumer trends, which does of course include the dramatic changes emerging through the pandemic.
PAULA: This show is sponsored by The Wise Marketeer, the world’s most popular source of loyalty marketing news, insights and research.
PAULA: The Wise Marketeer also offers loyalty marketing training through its Loyalty Academy, which has already certified over 170 executives in 20 countries as certified loyalty marketing professionals.
PAULA: For more information, check out thewisemarketeer.com and loyaltyacademy.org.
PAULA: Thanks so much for listening to this episode of Let’s Talk Loyalty.
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