AdNews asked industry figures for their assessment of 2022 and outlook for next year
Pete Bosilkovski, co-founder, It's Friday
For me, 2022 can be summed up as ‘everything you want is on the other side of fear’.
Taking the plunge and starting an agency has been anything but fearful for me though. It’s been unbelievably liberating and rewarding, a feeling I haven’t experienced in a very long time.
This has been driven by the fact, that I’ve got back to what matters most – influencing the work. Often when you sit at the top of a big agency, you become a political handler and a firefighter, none of which impacts the work, nor your client’s business or brand.
Influencing the shape of the work or direction of the brand is why I fell in love with the industry. Now, add 25+ years of experience and getting back to influencing the work, and I’ve fallen back in love. And it runs so deep. You truly underestimate how much value you add and the impact you make, when you have your hands on the wheel of a brand.
Everything from business strategy to developing timelines, I’m loving it all. The mindset we’ve instilled in our company, is don’t wait for the brief.
We have the ability to be more agile and act as an extension to the brand’s marketing department. We have a better understanding of a brand’s issues and consumer tensions.
We act on these to create new experiences for a brand. As a result, we play offence delivering more ‘aha’ and ‘ta-da’ moments for clients.
Looking back on previous roles, I realise how removed you are from your client’s business and having the ability to impact it. Our clients are loving this way of working. Having that level of experience and energy firmly engrained in their day to day has been defining.
In 2023, there will be more uncertainty as inflation continues to wreak havoc on brands. It won’t be easy as we will face massive headwinds in all aspects of business, society and culture.
However, more than ever, distinction and differentiation will be the custodian of profits. As brands embrace pricing strategies offering more value to consumers in these tough times, it’s those brands that find and unleash their unique brand energy to create distinction and differentiation in their respective categories that will set themselves apart. Finding it isn’t easy, as the convenient path is most often selected. But in these times more so than ever, how brands show up will determine their fate. Competition on the pricing front will be fever pitch, so pricing alone isn’t enough.
Employee engagement - or as some are calling it, employee activation – will also need to be deployed. It’s not enough to solely focus on delivering exceptional customer service, product and price. Activating experiences with employees is as important. An engaged work force makes and breaks customer experiences. As Peter Drucker put it: “culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Doubling down on employee activation across marketing programs will be key. In 25 years in this industry, I don’t remember this being such an important factor for success. You can have a breakthrough innovation, product or service; however, without an engaged and activated workforce, the success of all those elements will be reduced.
If there’s one thing for certain, 2023 will have its own energy. Not to be compared to historical times. How we choose to embrace and unleash that energy, will determine our success.
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