Carat released findings from its 2021 Trends Report.

Karat has released its annual 2021 Trends Report, which focuses on trends in society, technology and media. In the year To look ahead to 2021, the agency reviewed 2020, looked for patterns amid all the rapid changes and disruptions, and looked for technologies and behaviors that are becoming a part of life for more people.

“2020 has been a year of great change, with seismic behavioral changes that will continue to be felt across all sectors of business and society. It makes our 2021 Trends Report even more important to help our clients understand how to navigate these changes and pinpoint trends we believe are here to stay.Carat South Africa Managing Director Lerina Biermann said.

Graham Dennis, Group Strategy Director at Karat South Africa added: “This year’s Trends Report includes a societal lens where we present media-specific trends. This approach complements our ‘Design for People’ approach, which emphasizes the role that media plays in the broader social movements and cultural trends that define consumer behavior today.He said.

Social trends

Covid issues = life additions. Many new features like BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup in Store) are here to stay. Brands must have both a strong virtual and physical offering, focusing on providing both flexibility and convenience.

Flexi-living. Covid is now a proven case study for flexible working, disrupting the traditional ‘nine to five’ and opening up new opportunities for consumers and brands. Brands need to consider their mental presence to ensure that people continue to buy the brand even if the physical presence changes. Local marketing is also increasing in importance as part of the comms mix.

Safety for health. As the world experiences a heightened sense of anxiety from global pandemics and social justice movements, we’ve seen an accelerated focus on safety, manifested in many ways – mindfulness has become mainstream. We’ve given ourselves permission to treat ourselves guilt-free, and it’s become imperative to be the opposite of finding safety at work.

Supporting people in their safety goals is a priority for brands, but companies need to remember that their internal policies and practices meet the standards the brand is setting.

Active compassion. Where global movements are divided along party lines, younger generations are united in solidarity. Driving social, governmental and business change on the most urgent issues of their generation – such as climate change and racial injustice.

Brands can expect to be part of the change and the conversation, and are not immune to criticism. Therefore, a brand’s emotional intelligence, transparency and social actions have never been more important.

Technology + media trends

Interactive reality. Once a dormant fad, the time is right for augmented reality and QR codes. These functional technologies have helped us live remotely in the age of Covid, and with usability features now ingrained in our daily lives, we expect AR and QR to be here to stay.

With the rapid growth of e-commerce, brands have been experimenting with ways to bring in-store experiences into the virtual world, and brands are moving beyond innovation and value-adding when using AR/QR.

Sonic Community. Interesting things are happening with audio. Smart speakers are reaching saturation point, music-first companies are pivoting to audio-first and voice-driven appliances are migrating every day.

Brands should ensure that they are shoppable in voice-enabled shopping platforms and also have a unique product code for this medium. Wait for the resurrection of the jingle!

Brand safety for public safety. There is more focus on brand safety in all its forms. Advertisers and agencies are shifting from brand safety to social safety—not only to ensure that their ads don’t appear on inappropriate content, but also to ensure that they don’t fund inappropriate content or publishers.

Subscription status. We’ve seen an explosion and diversification of new paid content services in South Africa, with entertainment and media becoming more virtual, streaming, personal and – at least for the time being – home-centric than anyone could have imagined.

Along with the excitement, more questions are being raised around ad-supported models, consumer revenue now exceeds advertising revenue, and the sustainability of these subscriptions is starting to take financial strain and wear and tear.

One-stop shops. As the big tech companies consolidate their power, they’re building integrations between their various services to make life easier, faster and more seamless for consumers — and, in turn, shortening the typical consumer shopping spree. Consolidating their services means these companies are becoming ‘one-stop shops’ for all your needs, rather than a disparate group of apps and sites – which will continue to influence smaller, more specialized players.

Virtual In-Person (VIP) Access. As Covid has brought physical events and live entertainment to an abrupt halt, new spaces and venues have been created with virtual experiences. We’ve been welcomed into the intimate acoustic sets of live-streaming artists, the kitchens of chefs and the backyards of elite fitness trainers. This opens up new opportunities for brands to play a role in acquiring or promoting such content with the added benefit of a level of scale not afforded by physical events.

The report details all of the above trends and their implications for marketers. The full report can be found here.

For more information contact:

Lerina Beerman
chief executive officer
Karat South Africa
Email: moc.tarac@kralC.yoJ

About Karat.

Recently named a leader among global media agencies by Forrester, Karat is ranked the number one media agency in the world with over 10,000 professionals working in 190+ offices in 135+ countries. Karat offers an unparalleled ability to unlock true human insight to connect people and brands by designing powerful and engaging media experiences. Karat is a Dentsu company. And you have the opportunity to work with some of the most storied and innovative brands in the world. In South Africa we have operations in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

www.carat.com