Trust and authenticity are critical to a customer’s brand allegiance, especially as global events are causing an insecure footing. This was de facto in 2020 and even more so in 2021.

The new Global Marketing Trends 2021 report from Deloitte Insights points to these and several other trends and opportunities. The dual phased report is based on a consumer facing survey of 2,447 adult consumers and a C-suite executives survey of 405, including CMOs, from U.S. global companies.

C Suite:
Confidence waning with a marked loss of confidence among CXOs in their ability to influence their peers and audiences. For CMOs, the percentage of confident executives fell from an already very low 5% last year to 3% this year (for comparison, CEOs saw a fall from 55% to 35%). In addition, C-suite prioritized efficiency and productivity over consumer engagement, employee retention and social impact

Consumers:
Fundamentally positive on how brands are responding to the current environment: “Almost four in five people could cite a time a brand responded positively to the pandemic and one in five strongly agreed it led to increased brand loyalty on their part.”

The 7 top trends. “These top trends can help build connections to drive engagement and growth for brands in an unprecedented 2021” said Deloitte. Consumers will reward companies for breaking out of their often-defensive mindsets to more holistically — and authentically — meet human needs.”

1. Purpose: Hero brands will be those that know why they exist and who they serve. “Companies which know “why” they serve their stakeholders are uniquely positioned to navigate unprecedented change.”

2. Agility: Successful marketers will be those who leverage relevant digital tools and design an organizational road map to make agile marketing a reality and invest in solutions using data and analytics to deliver targeted and relevant messaging to consumers. In addition, marketers should continuously be sourcing promising opportunities or solutions to problems in real time. Consumers will not reward an abatement of activity.

3. Human connections: Thinking should pivot from speed-to-market and efficiency plays to fostering the human connection.

4. Trust: To build trust in these turbulent times, brands should look at what people value—rather than what they look like—and ensure their promises are in sync with their competence to deliver on them.

5. Participation: By crafting an engagement strategy that leans into customer participation at its deepest levels, marketers can benefit—and stay ahead of the competition.

6. Fusion: cross-industry partnerships will assist organizations in better helping the people they serve by creating innovative experiences through non-endemic partnerships.

7. Talent transformation: As the marketing landscape undergoes rapid changes, talent models should evolve in-step to position marketing as a competitive differentiator.

For more insights: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/topics/marketing-and-sales-operations/global-marketing-trends.html