What industry trends, developments or issues were most significant in 2022?
Creative community over traditional agency model. We’re seeing a big shift where agencies transform into creative communities to attract and retain talent and clients alike. Positioning themselves as more of a strategic partner instead of just a creative one, and growing existing partnerships as an antidote to the pitch overload the industry is facing.
Rise of the Metaverse and the blurring reality between IRL and virtual. This is one of the central changes affecting the landscape of how people experience brands. Lines between the real world and virtual are fading at a rapid phase as brands experiment and stretch the limits of engagement, how they build their communities and evolve their “commerceverse.”
Diversity, diversity and diversity. This was the year of diversity in many ways. We see diversity being prioritized from the way the industry hires, promotes and talks, all the way to how brands are evolving their messaging by challenging ‘majority’ perceptions and what used to be the cultural norm. Seeing this happen on a regular basis gives us hope that a true change is taking place.
What is the most relevant business and/or creative lesson you learned in 2022 and how will you apply it to 2023?
Be it on the marketer or agency side, company culture eats everything else for breakfast.
As we are still 2D on screen most of the time, it becomes even more important how we keep our culture alive, recognize and shine a light on the good work and support when support is needed. When the element of in person interaction becomes that of a rare occasion we need to really put extra effort into the virtual one.
How have any societal issues–such as the pandemic, the Supreme court decision on abortion, calls for equity, inclusion, diversity, racial and social justice–impacted the way you do business, company policies and/or selection of projects/creative content?
As the landscape has experienced and is still experiencing the big transformations, people look for authenticity in brands. They want to know what’s behind the curtain and what are the true values, and can they identify with them. Creating real and humane connections has never been more important. It goes to consumer and brand relations as much as it goes to agency and client relations. Let’s just say we have our antennas up and they are sensitive.
Gazing into your crystal ball, what do you envision for the advertising and/or entertainment industry–creatively speaking or from a business standpoint–in 2023?
After the hyper-evolution of the metaverse, spending frenzies, marketing blowouts of brands and the crypto crashes of 2022, predicting that 2023 will be a year where we go back to building meaningful connections and humane approaches. Community and unity will matter over everything, be it at the workplace or inside the brand communities, virtual or irl. Understanding our audiences and their movement will become more important so cultural and audience data, and how to utilize it will play a big role in 2023.
How did your company, agency, studio or department adjust/adapt to the marketplace in 2022 (new strategies, technology, health/safety expertise) and what of all that bodes well for 2023?
We formulated even tighter integrated working models with our client partners where our teams work seamlessly together on the daily. Also we realized the traditional ways of hiring in the agency landscape are not bringing anything new to the game, so we started to look for talent within the client audiences and communities and hiring a bit differently. That has led to some groundbreaking hires and shaped the way we think about our own creative community.
In 2023 as cultural and audience understanding takes the spotlight, we will continue to lean into our core strategy of audience first brand building. Where we are wired into our audiences and their movement, and using those signals as a guide for the direction for growth.
