kantarThis year, marketing and media experts will have to develop new skills, engagement models and assessment methods to appeal to consumers in the crowded media landscape, Kantar found out in its global study "Media Trends & Predictions 2020".

Based on data and findings from all of Kantar's business areas, the study offers an overview of twelve trends that will be of decisive relevance in the areas of media and communication in the year ahead.

Summarily, Kantar’s Media Trends and Predictions 2020 focus on three main topics:

1. Technology trends are changing the media landscape

  • 5G is finally real: the marketing industry will be one of the main beneficiaries of the 5G era. It offers greater opportunities to reach consumers and to get in touch with them. But at the same time, using 5G means a significant transformation for marketers.
  • The struggle of the streaming platforms is getting fiercer: the competition among streaming platforms is getting tougher. However, an increasingly confusing market will lead to consumer fatigue with subscriptions.
  • More brands will find their own voice: in fact, brands will even become bolder and enter into a new era of audio advertising. Newer audio channels are designed to put the mainstream in the foreground.
  • Content meets commerce: content and trade will grow together as the shop advertising changes from shopping social to shopping TV and digital out-of-home. This leads to a shortening of the closed marketing cycle.

 
2. Positions that brands can assume credibly

  • Brands are returning to reality: balancing their digital presence with more practical experience this year, a slowdown in the growth of digital advertising could be expected.
  • Brands take a stand: brands will become more radical in 2020 when taking up the initiative of consumers. But they need to make sure that their media strategy is aligned with their values and purpose.
  • Influencer marketing is growing up and must measure what is important: influencer marketing will mature when brands start to work more closely together and take measurement methods seriously in 2020.
  • eSports will become mainstream in the next twelve months: this will provide eSports with lucrative opportunities for advertisers and the media.

 
3. Context and trigger for change

  • Turn around and face the change: the trend towards media in-housing will continue; more and more brands are building their own teams with digital experts and are pushing agencies and advertisers out of their traditional comfort zones into a new, collaborative and exciting space.
  • Cookies will disappear: without cookies, many marketers could be in the dark. Advertisers must now prepare for the new “mixed economy”. For the first time, direct integrations between publishers and measurement partners enable a real, cross-publisher measurement.
  • Doing the right thing with data: given upcoming laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act in January 2020, the ethics of data protection will come to the fore. Marketers will develop personalization initiatives that focus on people rather than technology.
  • Campaigns in 2020 struggle with jostle and disorder: political advertising will cause excitement and disorder in 2020, especially in the US media landscape, hence, brands must rethink their strategy in the campaign season.


2020 will obviously be an exciting year for marketing experts, who will have to improve their understanding of how different touchpoints work for their brands - online and offline.

By Daniela La Marca