New Opportunities for Image & Creative

• by Dan Bailey

Recently I wrote a review of marketing trends and ideas for 2010. Drawing from SpringWise.com, I grouped their notable business mentions into major categories (http://jakeaull.wordpress.com/2010/01/06/top-biz-ideas-for-the-new-year/). One of those categories was trial-based temporary marketing. Trends such as “tryvertising” and seasonal, single-brand temporary retail stores are growing in visibility (http://springwise.com/businessideas2010/).

In this economy, so difficult to navigate, creative disciplines desperately seek roles for their skills. It’s no longer a surprise that traditional advertising and publishing models are quickly vanishing. Clearly, opportunity must be found in other realms. So, how about these trial-basis models? If a store changes overall brand and signage seasonally, opportunity exists for designers and advertisers. If different products are continually offered for consumer trial, new packaging and promotion is in demand. As these marketing trends grow, they obviously have more image needs more often. So it behooves creatives to seek out, foster and support such models.

Drawbacks to such approaches however may include concerns of waste. With today’s focus on environmental sustainability, such high-churn marketing models may be questioned for corporate social responsibility. That is, if an entire store is “thrown away” every few months, well, you get the picture. I don’t know much about product salvage and so won’t dive into that issue here (although dollar stores and eBay seem to me to be doing quite well these days). But I do know something about trends in promotions.

Doubtless we are all aware that while traditional publication advertising decreases, Web-based promotion is still strong. Even for brick-and-mortar retail, most customers are active and reachable online. Mobile advertising in SMS and the Mobile Web is growing. Again, even traditional customers can be found in these channels. And beyond these escapes from the paper trail, digital display signage increases in retail. Window- and in-store promotions continue to grow on digital screens, allowing for easier, more frequent creative change.

All of these forces present good opportunities for image and promotion. It’s time for creatives to really put the ideas and channels to work and show off to the world.

(For more about retail digital display promotions globally, please see the following piece on my site:
http://www.zenofbrand.com/creative_extras/RetailsAroundWorld.htm).

– Jake Aull