Innovation and strategy in the heart of marketing excellence

We recently bid farewell to one of the most action-packed years for marketing. 2023 was truly a whirlwind for India. As the ISRO team watched with bated breath the fate of their Chandrayaan-3 mission, all of India stopped in its tracks to root for them. We cried with Captain Rohit Sharma after India suffered a heartbreaking loss at the World Cup Finals. We danced to the tune of ‘Jhoome Jo Pathaan’ as Badshah Khan returned to the silver screen after a dry spell of nearly 5 years. We also engaged in a fierce battle over India vs Bharat, with each side debating why and why not the country needed a rebranding. In the end of the year, we also witnessed high political drama around the state election campaign.

All in all, we cheered together, broke our hearts together and argued together over the moments that defined 2023. Through these moments, Marketers continued to do what they do best – marry creativity with storytelling.

But that was just one chapter in the life of marketers. In 2024, we look forward to increasingly innovative and strategic marketing strategies. Brands will continue to leverage technology to automate and improve their reach to the internal audience, especially in a distributor-focused organization. Sports will also be a predominant marketing flavour in this year as we eagerly await the Olympics 2024 that is held every four years. Let’s take a look at these trends that are likely to dominate this year:

Leverage technology

Open any of your social media, music, streaming apps, and they will show the review of the year through the places you visited, photos you took with your friends and family, most heard songs and more. All these are examples of how data can delight a customer with personalized or customized interaction. Advanced machine learning and algorithms have proved immensely beneficial in sifting through extensive data and providing ways to meaningfully interact with customers. The emphasis on personalized and real-time interactions will be a powerful driver for more and more brands to dabble in AI and implement automation wherever relevant. 

Increased focus on purpose marketing

Purpose marketing will continue to be a powerful tool to build goodwill and trust in the brand. We will see sustained social efforts by brands as they seek to connect with their customers. It will also act as a strong driver for organizations to build strong employee connect as the young workforce increasingly looks at purpose of the organization beyond financial success.  

Distributor-focused marketing

For sectors like insurance which are heavily reliant on distributors, sales-focused marketing will take centre stage. Significant investments will be funnelled towards fulfilling their emerging requirements to reach and interact with the customer. Brands are also likely to spend on mining the right insights that will allow them to interact better with distributors and therefore offer more relevant and targeted strategies for customer acquisition. 

Vocal for local

Vocal for Local will remain the flavour of the year as brands look to build recall and consideration across Tier 2 and 3 cities. For service industries like insurance which are already focussed on improving penetration and reach across the country, the focus will remain on improving geographic presence (both physical and digital) in these regions. We will see nuanced approaches as brands attempt to implement insight-based strategies to create resonance across geographies.  

National pride will capture the narrative

The key trend that we are already witnessing emerge is a growing narrative around National Pride and ‘Bharat.’ As we inch closer to General elections, this narrative will take hold of the mainstream conversation. The start of this year we will witness the consecration ceremony of Ram Mandir, which will propel the ‘Bharat’ sentiment. We may see some brands dabbling into communication that resonates with this increased Bharat sentiment. 

Video marketing and short-form content

The rise of video marketing and short-form content caters to the preferences of the modern, fast-paced audience. Snackable content, easily consumable and shareable, is becoming the go-to strategy for effective communication. Collaborating with mini-influencers who produce relevant content provides an authentic and relatable avenue for brands to connect with their target audience. Organizations, especially insurers, will gear up to utilize various digital channels to implement a comprehensive omnichannel strategy, especially as they explore avenues to connect with younger audiences. However, long-form videos are unlikely to go out of style as certain complex and in-depth ideas can be challenging to showcase in short-form content.

This year is positively promising to be, yet another eventful year, and Marketers will continue to tap into interesting moments to stand out in a cluttered market space.

This article is penned by Abhishek Gupta, Chief Marketing Officer, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance

Disclaimer: The article features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the stance of the publication.