Bold Patterns, Anyone?

2019 Trends

The new year is in full swing, but articles about 2019 trends are still popping up. It’s a lot of information, so I made a brief summary of what I find worth watching.

I went through too many reports, blogs, and opinions to list them all here. But I’d like to mention my three main sources: IBM Watson 2019 Marketing trends, SalesForce research on Digital Advertising 2020, and The 2019 Topics & Trends Report from Facebook IQ.

OK, here we go:

General consumer trends

• Eco-consciousness, sustainability, green products: “reduce, reuse and recycle” is the name of the game.
  This includes products made from organic ingredients or recycled materials, durable goods, eco-friendly packaging, and environmentally friendly gifting.
• Selecting products based on one’s personal style and values.
• Bold patterns are the new black. Tropical themes, animal prints, plaid, you name it. The more the better. Mixing and (not) matching adds to the fun and expresses one’s identity and unique style.
• Korean beauty products. Scrubs, peels, sunscreens, acne treatment… often accompanied by online beauty tutorial videos. FYI, this is a $13.1 billion business. Yes, that’s Billion with a B! And yes, you guessed it: these beauty lines are offering eco-friendly formulas and packaging.
• Wellness: self-care routines, mental relaxation techniques, outdoor workouts, authentic emotional connections.
• Smarter technology, such as wireless speakers.
• Horror movies. Please don’t ask me where this trend comes from 😉

Marketing trends

• It’s all about personalized EXPERIENCES. And about “pulling” consumers into a brand rather than “pushing” the brand at them. Another term for this is Emotion Economy – triggering the right emotions to engage customers and keep them engaged.
• Salespeople and brands acting more like advisors than like salespeople (see above).
• Younger and younger influencers. Besides having their own YouTube channels (remember Ryan, the eight-year old boy who promotes toys?), we are talking about Generation Alpha influencing their Millennial parents.
• Facebook ads – triggering the right emotions!
  - Positivity is IN fears are OUT. Being helpful, using positive language and images works better than triggering people’s insecurities or promising unobtainable results. WOW! 🙂
  - Story telling. Motivational copy and making people laugh not only sell (see above), but also generate social proof. Why? Because people share what makes them feel good. And remember: Facebook is big on the entire consumer experience!
• Data. Big Data. Artificial Intelligence. I can’t say this enough. Thanks to Facebook, people like you and I don’t have to become billionaires or rocket scientists to use this stuff. It’s all in Ads Manager, ready to boost our marketing and advertising. Yet, I noticed that when the talk turns to numbers, data, and technology, lots of people want to run away as fast as they can…

Well, if you are in marketing because you didn’t like math, no worries. I am working on a new product that will turn targeting, testing, and data analysis from foes to friends.

So, stay tuned and have fun! 🙂