WFA asked industry experts from six of its strategic partners Contagious, Decideware, Dentsu SCHEMA, Ebiquity, Global Data Bank, and The Observatory International to identify the trends that will shape the marketing industry this year.
Cautious optimism, the drumbeat of return to growth
Nick Waters, Group CEO, Ebiquity on the prospects for growth in 2021:
After the rollercoaster ride of 2020, all predictions for the year ahead should come with a generous pinch of salt.
As brands strive to recover post-pandemic, I am confident that much of what we’ve learnt under pressure this year will endure. Closer collaboration between advertisers and agency partners, increased agility, and faster decision-making are all positive outcomes from highly volatile and unpredictable trading conditions. So, too, is the growing appetite for using near real-time analytics to optimise marketing investments. The more flexibility and agility businesses can embrace, the more opportunity there will be to gain competitive advantage.
With global media events returning – the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics and Euro 2020 – the first six months of 2021 will see cautious recovery, with momentum accelerating in the second half. The base case scenario is that the worst-hit economies will put back 60-70% of what was lost in 2020, although full recovery is unlikely before 2022.”
To read the article in full on The WFA website, click here.
First featured 26/01/2021.
To read more thoughts and opinions of some of the best and most able marketers and procurement heads in the business, along with perspectives from Ebiquity’s own media and marketing experts, download our latest report ‘2021: Emerging perspectives in a post pandemic world‘ here.
