As 2024 comes to an end, strategy reached out to marketers to take stock of which trends and innovations had created the most change in the marketing industry this past year, and where the industry is moving, looking forward to 2025. Eva Salem, SVP of marketing and brand at Canadian Tire, is the next in our end-of-year series. Check back for more every day this week.
If you, or the industry, could go back and re-do one thing in 2024, what would it be?
It isn’t so much about a re-do, but more of a shift of focus when it comes to social media. I think a lot of brands have traditionally spent most of their investment on the more trendy aspects of social vs fully utilizing the channel to understand customer sentiment, connect to new audiences and ultimately drive conversion.
What did you observe as being one of the more surprising events, trends, shifts or demands over the last year?
Social media has grown from being a media channel to a strategically important business accelerant – it’s now a full funnel product/brand discovery and purchase channel. The TikTok effect is real and social is rapidly reshaping both the customer journey and consumer expectations from brands. From the explosion of the creator economy, to scaling of social content, to new ways to shop and engage with our customers, social is driving radical change in the way brands invest and market. While this isn’t entirely new this year, what has been most notable is how quickly and globally we’re seeing the impacts and demands on us as marketers.
If you could bet on the next big marketing opportunity for brands in 2025 – what would it be?
The next big marketing opportunity for brands will be rooted in building trust through authentic, customer-centered messaging that reflects their real needs, especially in times of stress and economic uncertainty. Customers need help, they need to see true value, and their fatigue levels are at an all time high – Canadians need to feel like they can trust brands more than ever. Ultimately, while creativity always matters, putting those everyday customer truths at the heart of the marketing work is key to connecting with them to earn and retain brand trust.
Melissa Clemance, VP of marketing and communications for Re/Max Canada, is the next in our end-of-year series.
If you, or the industry, could go back and re-do one thing in 2024, what would it be?
Much of 2024 for the real estate industry has been spent waiting on rate reductions in hopes of spurring more market activity. While we don’t have any control over those triggers, finding ways to use that negative and the downside to slow market activity and turn it into a positive for continued brand building was something the marketing and PR teams grew increasingly strong at throughout the year(s). If given a chance to re-do one thing in 2024 it would be finding those opportunities sooner and continuing to look in some unlikely spaces for partnerships and hooks into the website that help make up for lost traffic in the absence of natural market activity and cycles.
What did you observe as being one of the more surprising events, trends, shifts, or demands over the last year?
While not entirely surprising, the speed and need to integrate AI and AI powered tools into your marketing toolbox is faster than ever now. Finding that right balance between making smart, informed decisions and taking moderate amounts of risk is a skill set more than ever right now as marketing leaders lead their brands and teams forward, in a race to be most productive, effective, and modern.
If you could bet on the next big marketing opportunity for brands in 2025 – what would it be?
Finding authentic ways to showcase your brand and connect with consumers while allowing for scalability and leveraging AI tools. Brands will need to embrace tools that scale content in mass ways or allow for creativity to be brought to life minutes, but the real opportunity is finding ways to still show up authentically while doing so – and within the safety parameters of the brand. The same way the effect of the influencer has waned on consumers, AI and the ability to generate mass content with the click of a button needs to be used strategically as there is a higher expectation being set by the end consumer. Ultimately the biggest opportunity will be finding authenticity and scalability to win consumer attention in what has become a very robust online space.
For more of our Year in Review series, please check here.
