The Drum polled Adland creatives—including the “sharpest minds” inhabiting BBH, FCB, Gut, and Dude London—for predictions on trends in the coming year.
Not a single mention of DEIBA+ emerged.
This inadvertently highlights a major trend at White advertising agencies in Adland: the progressive persistence of systemic racism.
Advertising Age published fluff content titled, “33 Ad Execs Predict Industry Trends For 2023.” Reflecting an actual trend—i.e., the growing disinterest in racial and ethnic equality—only three comments had DE&I-related mentions:
Latarria Coy, head of ethical media, Influential
“As many marketers grapple with contracted budgets in the new year, my resolution to the industry entails sustaining investment in diverse-owned media companies and diverse influencers. History tells us that recessions hit diverse-owned businesses harder, and ethical investments could be at risk. Investing in multicultural audiences, diverse creators, and culturally relevant content drives outcomes. It’s not just the right thing to do; it could be the very thing that helps advertisers weather the recession.”
Najoh Tita-Reid, global CMO, Logitech
“We will all have to embrace the evolution of our industry and commit to enabling Gens Z and A with education, tools and access to pursue their passions. The turning point is now as creators en masse will shift from supporting brands to being brands. Culture stewards and historically marginalized people who’ve had to fight for acceptance will now wield power and own the platforms that decide culture and acceptance, leaving brands on the outside looking in. Academies that have leaned on the privilege of only teaching a select few will now be overtaken by new schools educating underprivileged students who sit at the center of culture, guiding them with valuable practical skills and experiences. The revolution is here, and it will be televised, socialized and digitized.”
Lola Bakare, CMO adviser and author of Responsible Marketing
“We’ll finally stop using the blanket term ‘DEI’ to refer to any and all work related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging…because all work should! Instead we will continue to hear more use of terms that are function and output specific—thus lending themselves to more clarity and in turn much needed accountability. If we’re talking about marketing, ethnographic marketing, inclusive marketing, and my personal favorite because it’s the title of my forthcoming book, responsible marketing, will be among the next wave of function and output specific terms that apply DEI to concrete strategies and actions.”
With all due respect, the comments constitute a diversity of drivel. It’s also interesting that the only predictions with DE&I-related mentions came from women of color. This represents a long-term trend: delegating diversity to minorities.
Ad Age extended another trend by illustrating the content with clichéd royalty-free stock photography—including a shot of minorities joining hands. Perfect.
Advertising Age published content from DIRECTV Advertising highlighting “3 Top Trends In Advertising That Will Carry Into 2023.”
The trio of trends closed with the following:
Consumers are first
As we look toward next year, the most important thing for all of us to keep in mind is that consumers are always the top priority. Advertisers know this, and many are making necessary changes in order to keep consumer attention and boost loyalty at a time when there is more competition than ever. In 2023, we’ll continue to see advertisers shift and blur their media strategies across linear and digital, innovate with more creative ad formats and utilize programmatic technology in an effort to meet consumers where they are now and flourish in a crowded field.
Okay, but a trend in Adland that will not carry into 2023—and never carried beyond 2020—involves embracing true diversity. Despite the global recognition that “consumers are first” and consumers are culturally diverse, no one is clamoring to create a workforce that reflects consumers. Hell, the ruling majority continues to actively resist diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In short, the top trend in advertising that will carry into 2023—having extended since at least 1923—is the deliberate perpetuation of systemic racism, inequities, and exclusivity.
Adweek published the annual trend predictions from self-proclaimed futurist and Havas PR North America CEO Marian Salzman. Gazing into her crystal ball—or Magic 8 Ball™—led Salzman to arrive at the following forecasts:
• Online retailing is getting popular on mobile devices
• Privacy is a growing concern for the public
• Gender issues will continue to be examined and debated
Um, chimpanzees with access to Google could have spotted those trends. In fact, it’s all common knowledge to average humans and simians. Here’s another sure bet for 2017 and beyond: Havas will maintain its position among the worst of the White holding companies.
Why Privacy, Gender and Simplicity Will Be on Consumers’ Minds in 2017
A look at Havas PR’s annual trend predictions
By Marian Salzman
Good riddance, 2016. For many of us, it was 12 long months full of bad news, fake news and surreal news, the most controversial election anyone can remember, plus too many other highlights and lowlights to mention.
This very December, we’ve seen the many shades of orange upstaged by Pantone’s Greenery, and we all know the color of the year is not a nod to hope about the climate or to anyone’s envy of the Western world.
Luckily, I can find solace in an area where my company definitely isn’t green: spotting trends for the year ahead. Here at Havas PR, we devote the end of each year to spotting trends on the rise, and it’s always interesting to look both ahead and back at the predictions that have proven out recently—more stringent legislation around brain damage suffered by football players (forecast in 2010); the universal brain-health movement (2009); and “Local is the new global” (2007).
Here are a few of the trends we believe will directly impact marketers and advertisers in 2017 taken from our more in-depth report, “Blowback to the Future: The Trends That Will Shape 2017”:
Unstoppable e-tail
Retailers are trying to keep up with e-tail, which doesn’t just mean buying products from home computers anymore. Knowing that consumers always have their mobiles on, retailers are engaging in an e-tail/retail mashup, increasingly using in-store beacons to deliver promotions and offers to browsing shoppers.
Despite more retailers closing their stores for Thanksgiving in 2016, a record $771 million was still spent that day from mobile devices. As tech continues to advance and brands evolve their e-tail platforms, we must market brands through handhelds rather than 64-inchers.
The (elusive) beauty of simplicity
We crave simplicity, though few can actually attain it. Think of it this way: How many people buy Dave Bruno’s The 100 Thing Challenge compared with the number who pare down to only 100 possessions? Well, today we’re seeing a nuance to the decluttering. It has become more about craving simplicity than actually attaining it. And, let’s face it, that’s good news for marketers.
Rediscovering privacy
More than ever, people recognize that everything from personal information to high-level data is an open book for hackers backed by foreign powers and bad actors. Expect the demand for greater privacy to grow, much to the benefit of brands, businesses and even politicians that get it and help facilitate it. We’re already seeing this in the EU with a recent crackdown on data sharing for the platforms we use daily—Facebook, Google and Snapchat. Expect this to impact marketers even more in 2017.
Confused men and confusing women
From man buns and beards in the world’s Williamsburgs to the retro-sexist return of traditional gender roles, the malleability of manhood is being put to the test as we find what will work when many can’t find work at all. The big trend driving all the shifts in male fashion and identity: men’s underlying anxiety about what is manly now and who the heck decides.
Many women, meanwhile, will be even quicker to call out sexist behavior like mansplaining, manspreading, groping and public sexual harassment (as we have seen resonate deeply in the ad world). But there’s also increased muttering around the world, many of the voices female, saying feminism is old-fashioned or even obsolete and that the central tenet of feminism, women’s right to self-determination, can and must include a woman’s right to return to the gender roles of an earlier time.
So what do women expect now, and what do they feel is expected of them? How they align, balance and reject those answers will form a roiling, ongoing dialogue in 2017, with millions of voices pitching in online and off.
Marian Salzman (@mariansalzman) is CEO of Havas PR North America and chairman of the Havas PR Global Collective.
In 2013, former JWT Worldwide Chairman and CEO Bob Jeffrey said of former JWT Worldwide Chairman and CEO Gustavo Martinez, “Over the past few years Gustavo and I have cultivated a relationship of mutual admiration and respect. He is passionate about the business, devoted to clients and understands that the key asset of the business is the caring, nurturing and understanding of its people. Gustavo Martinez is the future of JWT.” Gee, Jeffrey must have tapped the JWT Trendspotting Team to make such a bold prediction of the future.
Campaign published The year ahead for cultural trends by Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R CEO Ben Kay. Of course, Kay focused on White culture—which pretty much covers the trend in UK advertising agencies. In short, the year ahead will see zero meaningful or measurable changes in the cultural cluelessness and mono-cultural shops across the UK and US ad industries.
WPP Overlord Sir Martin Sorrell published a perspective titled, “The 10 Trends Shaping the Global Ad Business” via LinkedIn—which immediately begs the question why Sir Marty is on the social site with nearly 108,500 followers. That’s a lot of WPP sycophants. Regardless, one must also wonder if the amazing JWT Trendspotting Crew helped their boss type the piece. Of particular disinterest is the following excerpt:
2. Supply exceeds demand—except in talentDespite the events that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, manufacturing production still generally outstrips consumer demand. This is good news for marketing companies, because manufacturers need to invest in branding in order to differentiate their products from the competition.
Meanwhile, the war for talent, particularly in traditional Western companies, has only just begun. The squeeze is coming from two directions: declining birth rates and smaller family sizes; and the relentless rise of the web and associated digital technologies.
Simply, there will be fewer entrants to the jobs market and, when they do enter it, young people expect to work for tech-focused, more networked, less bureaucratic companies. It is hard now; it will be harder in 20 years.
To his credit, Sir Marty has previously covered the topics of talent recruitment and development in the industry, albeit mostly admitting his own companies do a lousy job in the areas. Hell, he recently lost JWT Director of Trendspotting Ann Mack to Facebook, underscoring his point about folks’ desire “to work for tech-focused, more networked, less bureaucratic companies.” Yet like the pap annually excreted by the JWT Trendspotters, Sir Marty’s pseudo thought leader puffery lacks any true vision or action plans to address the issues. Indeed, the man appears oblivious to the fact that he’s directly responsible for the trends, given his continuing success at erecting tech-fucked-up, poorly networked, brontosaur-like bureaucracies.
AgencySpy reported JWT Director of Trendspotting Ann Mack is bailing out of the Commodore’s ship of fools for a position with Facebook. It’s safe to predict the agency will proceed to interview any monkey with a Magic 8-Ball® and the ability to conduct Google searches to replace Mack.
Advertising Age published the annual puffery predictions from JWT Director of Trendspotting Ann Mack and her Magic 8 Ball® team. If there’s one thing you can always accurately predict, it’s that the JWT crew will uncover insights readily available to any monkey with online access. “100 Things to Watch in 2014” is a cornucopia of common knowledge that will likely never be directly applied to billable assignments. Ad Age only bothered to print ten excerpts from the PowerPoint presentation. However, the trade journal’s link to the full document displays “100 Things to Watch in 2013.” Guess JWT’s all-knowing gurus weren’t smart enough to catch that.
Advertising Age videotaped JWT Director of Trendspotting—and Marian Salzman protégé—Ann Mack providing her standard Magic 8 Ball® wisdom. Mack is keeping her eye on wearable tech and predictive personalization, which allowed her to sprinkle a Big Data reference into her trendy mumbo-jumbo. Honestly, do hucksters like Mack ever deliver anything that couldn’t be acquired via a basic Google—but certainly not Bing—search? Here’s a prediction: Over the next 12 months, Mack will fail to offer a single insight that creatives will be able to incorporate into a campaign, commercial or coupon flyer.
