Wavemaker has rolled out a report through which it showcases 23 strategic areas in digital and technology for marketers.
The report is called Spotlight 23 and states the potential implications of these trends for marketers.
Here are the trends and implications:
Meta diversifying with focus on Reels, WhatsApp business, Marketplace and Metaverse
- Ensure that all comms are Reelified, Reels format for meta is a must do!
- WhatsApp could become critical for brands, which want to engage consumers through lead gen, content, and contests.
- It will be easier for brands to create partnerships with creators or launch NFTs.
- While Meta is invested into the metaverse as we know it, 2023 might be the year where Meta would add extra layers in shaping their version of metaverse.
Apple an ad company, now with plans to increase revenue from digital advertising
- Brands which use Apple ads for app downloads could potentially have scale with the increase in advertising opportunities.
- To create impactful communication on Apple Ad platforms, a better understanding of Apple consumers will be important.
- While Google, Facebook have established credentials in delivering ROI, Apple Ads needs to demonstrate similar capabilities in driving ROI for increasing revenue from ads.
Google search is facing some regulatory challenges that are likely to intensify
- In the short run monthly active user and daily active user for key Google products –Google Search, YouTube, etc could get impacted.
- Local business discoverability could get hampered as they are dependent on Google Business Profiles, which might not get preference under the new law.
Netflix focus on ads, no password sharing policy and games to increase revenue and consumer engagement
- Netflix ads has premium pricing due to its audience affluence. With very limited targeting, high pricing and ad policies may reduce the potential number of advertisers.
- Netflix has the potential to completely shake up the gaming industry’s monetisation model. That said, current AAA PC games see tough monetization challenges, and Netflix will need to use its successes from film and web series IPs to see what works for their original gaming titles.
Jio – tech giant or yet another walled garden?
- Jio Ads has the potential to emerge as one of the top advertising platforms in the country. Jio could accelerate social commerce and brands could look at potential partnerships.
- Jio could create interesting consumer engagements for IPL Live streaming, which brands could leverage as sponsors.
Connected TV: Bringing the best of both worlds – TV and digital
- CTV to become important element in the integrated video planning and needs to be considered for all TV plans for brands which target the NCCS AB audiences.
- Brands would need to make creatives for the CTV ecosystem with far more personalisation and interactivity, unlike linear TV.
Retail media will expand leading to more ad inventory and better attribution
- Closed-loop attribution will continue to drive ad spending in retail media, and solutions such as Amazon Attribution (beta) will also help non-retail media.
- Meta and Google are likely to continue partnering with additional online retailers.
- We anticipate more non-endemic brands to experiment with retail media solutions.
Social commerce continues to grow as innovations reduce frictions along consumers' existing shopping journeys
- Influencer activations and collaborations will expand more rapidly due to social commerce. However, brands will seek to measure ROI of such activations.
- Brands will need to become more creative on the social storefronts.
- Live shopping will continue to expand, and brands will strive to provide consumers with a more enriched and personalised experience.
- With AI advancements, chatbots could help automate call centres, improve customer experience while reducing costs.
The continued expansion of B2B E-commerce
- We can expect more traditional B2B business launching E-commerce storefronts in 2023.
- B2B businesses will continue to adopt more B2C customer experience strategies, such as providing immersive mobile experiences and focusing on educational content.
- We could see more B2B companies transitioning to B2C and vice versa. In 2020, B2B firms such as Udaan opened a B2C marketplace, while B2C brands such as Picky Bars and Amy Myers MD launched B2B storefront.
VR, AR and XR are creating more immersive shopping experiences
- We could see increased adoption of VR,AR and XR from retail sectors such as auto, fashion, beauty, home decors where shoppers want to interact and try before they buy the product.
- Brands could leverage these technologies to improve conversion rates - according to Shopify, retail conversion rates for brands employing augmented reality increased by approximately 250%.
- Designing the virtual experience and developing content would continue to be a hindrance to widespread adoption
ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) is set up and could make it big in 2023
- Small retailers can create an identity and visibility on the e-platform and do their business.
- ONDC will empower the Consumers by giving variety of choices, Price discovery and comparison, no matter what platform/application they use.
- Building loyalty, better customer experience becomes critical to stop customers from switching.
AI for all – AIaaS (AI as a Service) and no-code environments continue to democratise AI
- We could see increased usage of AI in product development, market research, campaign optimisation, churn prediction and smart consumer engagement.
- Businesses could quickly use plug-and-play mechanisms at nominal costs to see what works and allows for scaling before committing.
- This will increase the need for businesses to eliminate data silos, as lack of data is another significant barrier to AI.
The Generative AI landscape – the creator’s best friend
- This unprecedented scale could give personalised communications, more fire-power. This could solve challenges in customer service, content creation, entertainment, ecommerce etc.
- Increased productivity in creative and content production.
- Like any other immersive technology, Generative AI comes with its attendant risks like security issues , concern over data privacy, limitations in creativity and copy right issues. New data laws, organizational protocols and governance would change basis this.
There will be a continued push towards ethical, transparent, and fair AI
- There is likely to be more push for 3P Audits on AI blackboxes.
- Partner’s AI ethics and biases could be become an important evaluation criteria when embarking on a partnership.
- Organisations are likely to implement checks and balances to continuously monitor AI bias against ethics guidelines.
The race towards a seamless cloud: Alternatives like edge computing and fog computing are complementing the general cloud technology
- Edge and Fog computing complement cloud computing, by reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent to the cloud it reduces latency and improves, response time.
- Through smarter applications, increased personalisation, and improved shop experience and logistics, Edge and Fog computing will push the limits of customer experience.
- Edge and Fog computing, together with 5G and artificial intelligence, might nurture better IoT devices and fuel advances in smart cities, self-driving vehicles, and drone-delivered goods.
Servers on lease: Pay as you go for any function as a service with the serverless technology
- Developers are now able to develop and construct applications with improved agility and rapidly deploy new solutions.
- Reduced time spent on maintenance and the requirement to manage servers could result in a boost in business efficiency.
- Pay-as-you-go reduces costs significantly, making it easier for enterprises to have access to previously unaffordable resources.
Privacy-focused technologies and platforms will gain traction
- Brand may need to place Data Privacy and Ethics at the core of their data strategy.
- We anticipate that businesses will invest in privacy-centric technologies such as DCR and CMP.
- Web3 products, despite their small scale, may present novel ways for brands to reach and engage consumers.
Free speech narrative influencing how social networks are being run
- Free speech vs brand safety: Advertisers may continue to abandon platforms such as Twitter until a compromise between free speech and brand safety can be found.
- Social Media may become more fragmented, with customers willing to experiment with new and emerging social media platforms.
- We could see platforms move beyond ad-monetisation models, with Twitter dabbling with Subscription revenue, and decentralised networks using a form of digital currency, to keep operations running.
Sophisticated avatars and digital twin technology will augment experience in Metaverse
- The sophistication of avatars and their interoperability could drive growth across platforms in the ecosystem.
- Marketers are likely to build more virtual products, create more immersive experiences to engage the avatars of their consumer.
- Integrating digital twins with metaverse could drive more corporate adoption of metaverse, as it could help enable improved prediction, monitoring, tracking, allocation, resource management, and quality control.
Beyond the hype, Web3 is growing and creating value
- More brands and businesses will embrace this technology in 2023.
- More businesses will accept Cryptocurrency payments, and more countries will recognise it as legal tender.
- NFTs could continue to play a role in loyalty management, community management and reward programmes.
- Decentralised social networks, gaming, and finance could have fascinating use cases.
- Government involvement and restrictions could define Web3's future.
The future of money: Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is being rolled out by governments
- If tethered with UPI, CBDC could expand the digital payments market in India.
- If appropriate anonymity is ensured, the preference for cash for routine expenses and small payments due to their anonymity may be diverted to CBDC It could expand the payment alternatives for e-commerce, where cash is not accepted except for the COD option.
- Government regulations and restrictions are likely to increase on Stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged to real world assets like dollar or Gold.
Account Aggregator (AA) Network could become the next UPI moment
- AA services could enable institutions to provide credit facilities and reach underserved rural areas, hence promoting greater credit inclusion.
- AA might also generate potential for the introduction of new products in sectors such as microcredits, customised loans, financial planning, tax planning, etc.
- There is a general belief that AA will construct the future for data sharing outside the banking sector to enable access to healthcare and telecommunications data for individuals.
Some of the futuristic technologies may be introduced as early as 2023
- Quantum computers can contribute in the advancement of a variety of fields, including artificial intelligence and simulations, medicine discovery, global economic forecasting, materials research, and renewable energy.
- As the capacity of quantum computers to decrypt data encrypted by conventional computers is a big security risk, businesses will need to begin focusing on ways to mitigate security risks.
- Further use cases for BCI could evolve not only in healthcare, but also in gaming and other VR, AR, and XR experiences.
Ajay Gupte, CEO - South Asia, Wavemaker, said, “We've always had a strong focus on innovation and creativity, and this report proves that we're leading the way when it comes to helping our clients navigate the changes. We’re so excited to present the inaugural edition of this enriching report and I hope you find it useful as you steer through this new era of digital transformation!”
Vishal Jacob, chief transformation and digital officer, Wavemaker India, added, “The world around us is evolving at a much faster pace than anyone of us imagined. It is, therefore, imperative for us to adapt to these changes. Spotlight 23 is an attempt by our team to chart out potential disruptive technologies that may show some advancement in 2023 and how they will have an implication on the businesses.”
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