The Marketer’s Toolkit: what marketers need to know to succeed in 2023 

Ninety-five percent of marketers globally expect to be affected by economic recession, according to a survey for WARC’s Marketer’s Toolkit 2023, an annual report that identifies the most important market trends that marketers should focus on to help drive their business in the year ahead. 

Context 

End-of-pandemic optimism at the start of 2022 faded quickly as the war in Ukraine turned the world on its head. The invasion has had a transformative impact on energy prices, inflation and the cost of living around the world. The IMF is forecasting the weakest growth in twenty years, except for the global financial crisis and the worst phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Five themes for 2023

The following key themes emerged from WARC’s survey of 1,700 marketers worldwide for The Marketer’s Toolkit: Global Trends Report:

1. Marketing in a cost of living crisis: While almost all marketers are concerned about the impact of the economic crisis, more respondents are planning to increase spend than last year, across both brand and performance. However, 36% are planning to cut marketing investment, despite evidence from prior downturns suggesting they should maintain spending levels.
2. Price vs. planet: a false dichotomy: 37% of represented companies expect to continue with their sustainability objectives despite the economic situation, while 35% foresee only “some small compromises.” Brands are also challenging the idea that eco-credentials necessarily result in price increases, with examples of local sourcing and use of the circular economy potentially lowering costs.
3. A reckoning for Big Tech: The majority of advertisers (62%) agree that a range of changing market dynamics are forcing strategic shifts from the tech giants, and respondents concerned about the dominance of the ‘duopoly’ have halved over the past two years. More respondents plan to decrease investment in Facebook than increase it for the first time in six years, which suggests that brands are resetting their relationships with Big Tech.
4. The clash of demand, delivery and disruption: Supply chain disruptions are expected to hit brands in 2023, but not evenly. Sixty percent of marketers anticipate non-trivial supply chain disruptions, but just 26% expect they will be significant or severe. This rises to one in three amongst European respondents. And 52% felt challenger brands would be the hardest hit, as they struggle for profitability. Marketers have an important role to play in managing and minimizing supply chain disruption
5. The era of ‘bubble up’ culture: Media and audience fragmentation was the second biggest concern in our survey, with 34% of respondents picking it. Among North American respondents, it was the highest ranked. Two-thirds of marketers expect to focus more on platforms that allow them to stitch together interest-based communities to create reach in a fragmented media world. Other channels with deeply embedded communities such as gaming and influencers/social media content are also set to attract more investment from advertisers next year.

A sample version of the global report featuring the first chapter, is available to read here.

The full series, available to WARC subscribers, will include the following reports:

• The Future of Digital Commerce (launching December 2022)

• The Future of Media Report (launching January 2023)

• The China Toolkit (launching January 2023)

The reports will be complemented by a series of podcasts. 

Forget the metaverse, focus on gaming

The fact that only a handful of people turned up to the EU’s gala party for its ‘global gateway’ metaverse launch this week suggests that marketers would do better to address immersive worlds existing in the here and now – and that means gaming, according to Wavemaker’s Growth Trends 2023 report.

Why it matters 

Gaming has been doing “metaverse” things for years. Remember Second Life? That first came out in 2003 and still has a daily active user base larger than many of the metaverse platforms being touted as the next big thing. 

The worlds of music and fashion are already present on gaming platforms which are “carving out an ever-growing sphere of influence in the cultural zeitgeist”. Brands need to be thinking about how they show up in an increasingly diverse gaming ecosystem today, not in an as-yet-unrealised virtual world.

Takeaways

• Marketers need to ditch any preconceptions of gamers, who are both older and less male-skewed than commonly assumed. 
• High-end fashion brands are using gaming platforms to launch new collections and are providing exclusive ranges of character skins for players to buy. 
• Musicians and DJs are playing gigs in virtual gaming spaces, from Fortnite to Minecraft, and attracting huge numbers of viewers.
• Brands such as Nike and Hellman’s have built their own spaces and activations within games like Roblox and Island Crossing. 
• Ad formats within games have significantly higher view times and increase ad recall. 

Sourced from Wavemaker, The Times

WARC Awards for Effectiveness North America – shortlist announced

A total of 40 campaigns for north American brands have been shortlisted in the WARC Awards for Effectiveness North America 2022, a search for the region’s smartest strategic marketing ideas

Shining a light on the best marketing campaigns from North America that deliver business impact, the awards are in association with LIONS and are judged by two high-calibre panels using the Creative Effectiveness Ladder and B2B Effectiveness Ladder, providing a consistent approach and global language to benchmark effectiveness.

The Brand Purpose, Instant Impact and Sustained Growth categories are judged by a panel of 12 chaired by Pam Forbus, SVP, Chief Marketing Officer, Pernod Ricard USA.

Cheryl Guerin, EVP, Global Brand Strategy & Innovation, Mastercard, leads a panel of 13 to judge the B2B, Customer Experience and Cultural Impact categories.

Brand Purpose

• Ch’king Pride | Burger King | MullenLowe U.S., Boston
• Underpressure | Michelob Ultra | GUT, Mexico City
• Feeding Imagination | Goldfish Crackers | Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto
• Tough Turban | Pfaff Harley-Davidson | Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto
• Hershey X NBA – Sweeter Together | Hershey's | UM, Toronto
• Reseeding Our Connection To Nature | Air Wick | Havas, New York

Instant Impact 

• Grown-Up Problems | Kids Help Phone | McCann, Toronto
• The Betweenages | Nesquik | McCann, Toronto
• The Wendy's Phone | Wendy's | McCann, Toronto
• Becoming An Investor | TD Easy Trade | Leo Burnett, Toronto
• Invisible Hate | NAACP Atlanta | 22Squared, Atlanta
• Coinbase Super Bowl Ad | Coinbase | Wavemaker, New York
• Pabst Is The Place | Pabst Blue Ribbon | DNA Seattle, Seattle
• Better With Pepsi | Pepsi | Pepsico, Purchase
• We Come In Piece | Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen | Gut, Miami

Sustained Growth

• Mcdonald’s Famous Orders | Mcdonald's | Wieden+Kennedy
• That’s My M-O | Visit Missouri | Osborn Barr Paramore, Creve Coeur
• Moving From Nuclear Laxatives To Holistic Health | Miralax | Energy BBDO, Chicago
• Get Your TV Together | DirecTV | TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles
• Finish -Skip The Rinse | Finish | Havas, New York
• Long Term | CDSS | Canadian Down Syndrome Society, Calgary
• Project Understood | CDSS | Canadian Down Syndrome Society, Calgary
• The Mindsets Paper | CDSS | Canadian Down Syndrome Society, Calgary

Business-to-Business

• HubSpot Success Stories | HubSpot | 72andSunny, New York
• NI - Engineer Ambitiously | NI (National Instruments) | Doremus+Co., New York
• For A Changing World | Workday | Ogilvy, Los Angeles
• Adios Cuadernito | QuickBooks | Alma DDB, Miami
• A Song For Every CMO | Spotify | FCB New York

Customer Experience

• Venmoing Value Meals | Burger King | MullenLowe U.S., Boston
• Social Distancing Sweater | Simplisafe | MullenLowe U.S., Boston
• Gear Up | BMO | FCB, Montreal
• CRM | Tobacco Free Florida | Alma DDB, Miami
• Veteruns 100K | Call Of Duty | GUT, Los Angeles

Cultural Impact

• Shamecards | Change The Ref | Mullenlowe U.S., Boston
• The Inevitable News | The Inevitable News | Area 23, New York
• Cut Out The Bullshit | Change The Ref | Mullenlowe U.S., Boston
• Save It See It | Michelob Ultra | GUT, Miami
• Extra's Pandemic Comeback | Extra | Energy BBDO, Chicago
• Reverse Mode: Reversing Injustice & Rediscovering An Icon | Champion | Energy BBDO, ChicagoIceman To Canton | Coors Light | Alma DDB, Miami 

The winners of the Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades will be announced in January 2023.  More information on the new WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America Edition is available here. 

The inaugural WARC Awards for Effectiveness, North America are part of a suite of WARC Awards, which also include the global WARC Awards for Effectiveness, and two other regional competitions – the WARC Awards for Asian Strategy and the WARC Awards for MENA Strategy.

WARC Awards for Asian Strategy 2022 – shortlist announced

A total of 30 campaigns for international and local brands from across the region have been shortlisted in the WARC Awards for Asian Strategy 2022, a search for the region’s smartest strategic marketing ideas that have driven business growth. 

The jury panel of 12 leading industry experts, chaired by Dhiren Amin, Chief Marketing Officer, NTUC Income, have shortlisted the following campaigns:

• IKEA Dollar Catalogue · IKEA Taiwan · Ogilvy & Mather, Taipei City
• The Philosophy of Thrift · PX Mart · Ogilvy & Mather, Taipei City
• Builds for Two · Lego · Lego APAC, Singapore
• The Un-Pantene Brand Ambassador · Pantene · Dentsu Creative, South Jakarta
• Honda Wins India’s Regional Markets Using the Power of Mind Space · Honda Cars India · Interactive Avenues, Gurgaon
• Your Plastic Diet · WWF · Grey, Petaling Jaya
• The People’s Gallery · National Gallery Singapore · MullenLowe Singapore, Singapore
• Until We Meet Again · Thai Life Insurance · Ogilvy, Bangkok
• Creating an Army of Bystanders · L'Oréal Paris · McCann, New Delhi
• Me First · NTUC Income · BBH, Singapore
• How The Navy Turned “Crazy” into a Desirable Thing for Gen Z Jobseekers · The Republic of Singapore Navy · MullenLowe Singapore, Singapore
• One Vision, Many Stories: How Lead Shifted the Education Conversation in India · Lead School · TBWA\India, Mumbai
• The Anthem of Financial Freedom · Maya Philippines · Bates CHI & Partners, Makati City
• No Sugar - No Competition · Sprite Zero Sugar · Ogilvy, Shanghai
• Matchmaker · Netflix · Wavemaker, Mumbai
• Money Heist Season 5 · Netflix · Wavemaker, Mumbai
• Safe Ticket Home · Lifebuoy · Mindshare, Ho Chi Minh City
• City Hall of Love: Using Web 3.0 to Make the World We Live In More Inclusive · Closeup · MullenLowe Singapore, Singapore
• Bringing Men into Menstruation · Stayfree · DDB Mudra, Mumbai
• One Bite Closer to Equality · McDonald’s · DDB Mudra, Mumbai
• The Chicken That Connects Generations · Five-Star Chicken · BBDO Bangkok, Bangkok
• Jeepney Jam: SB19 Album Launch · Spotify · TBWA\SMP, Makati City
• Oddly Pleasurable · Dove · BBDO China, Shanghai
• Nothingcoin · Cadbury 5 Star · Mondelēz, Mumbai / Ogilvy, Mumbai
• Have You Ever Been Made to Feel Small? · Rupeek · The Womb, Mumbai
• The Undie Army · Friends Adult Dry Pants · The Womb, Mumbai
• Bas Socho Aur Chal Pado · Uber · FCB India, Delhi
• Chatpat · SOS Children’s Villages India · FCB India, Delhi / Kinnect, Mumbai / FCB Chicago
• SRK - My Ad · Cadbury · Ogilvy, Mumbai
• Unbox Me · Unaids · FCB India, Delhi / FCB Chicago

Launched in 2011, the WARC Awards for Asian Strategy are part of a suite of WARC Awards, which also include the global WARC Awards for Effectiveness, the WARC Awards for Effectiveness North America, and the WARC Awards for MENA Strategy. 

The winners of the Grand Prix, Gold, Silver and Bronze accolades will be announced in January 2023. More information about the WARC Awards for Asian Strategy and the shortlisted entries is available here.