Ten Trends for A New Year

This year promises to be an interesting – if not exciting – one for marketers. A robust economy, low unemployment, and low interest rates are driving spendin g by both consumers and companies in many areas. This flow of capital is funding the development of many new and exciting products and services that will affect how we all live and do business. Here are the first five of ten trends that will affect your business and your career in 1999 and into the future. (Watch this space next month for the rest.)

1. New categories will continue to discover the power of promotion. Packaged goods brands will continue to be the most frequent users of promotion marketing because of the velocity of their product sales. But it’s the “new” industries such as deregulated utilities, long-distance telephone services, computer and electronics firms, and technology companies that will spend bigger bucks on building image, sales, and distribution for their products and services. These are the companies that will be more attractive for many agencies and marketers to work for because of the challenges and the rewards – both financial and psychological – of blazing new trails.

2. Consolidation will drive marketing control to retailers and sales forces. Continued consolidation in the grocery and discount store categories will tip the balance of power even more toward retailers. This will put more pressure on brand marketers to be conversant in retail marketing, making sales knowledge and expertise a valuable asset to marketers and their agency partners.

3. The Internet will become a promotion tool. The recent Wall Street hoopla over Internet stocks has focused everyone’s attention on the World Wide Web. While marketers will continue to grapple with how to measure the Net’s effectiveness in delivering an audience, they can no longer ignore the impact that the Internet will have on how they market their products. They’ll be looking for ways to utilize the Net to promote their brands and justify their expenditures based on realistic data and the right business models. The challenge for Internet companies is to show them how adding the Net to their marketing mix will boost sales of toothpaste and soda pop.

4. The agency acquisition machine will continue to roll. Flush with cash from the public market, companies like Snyder, Ha-Lo, Cyrk, and others will continue to snap up promotion companies in a push to offer true one-stop-shopping to clients. Unlike the ad agency buying binge we saw done – and then undone – in the early ’90s, this acquisition stampede is driven by promotion-oriented companies that understand the dynamics of the business.

5. Direct and promotion will come closer together. Those who know how to identify and segment consumer groups and those who know how to motivate them will take the lead as marketers put more pressure on their marketing partners to spend their money wisely.