Please tell us about Upshot. What does the company do?
Above all else, Upshot creates brand excitement. We’re in the business of creativity, culture and commerce, but our superpower is how we guide these streams of inspiration into creating connections with consumers with disruptive ideas that motivate behavior. Brand excitement transcends into how we work with marketers because we’re uniquely able to build equity and drive behavior with work that is equal parts awareness and activation. By accomplishing both with the same dollar, we’re providing our clients with significant value.
How will 2022 differ from years past, or even just 2021 for brand marketers? What will be a particular challenge and/or new opportunity for them to capitalize on?
At the risk of oversimplifying the impact of the pandemic in terms of consumer preferences, brands either thrived or atrophied. The opportunity truly lies in how brand marketers synthesize and apply the behavioral and conversion intelligence that was acquired during the past year in remapping consumer journeys so that brands can work toward removing barriers to entry and delivering on evolved expectations of online and in-store experiences. This year will be an adaptive year to source growth with new and lapsed users with omnichannel ideas that drive engagement and accelerate conversion.
We noticed that Upshot often prognosticates on future marketing trends. In particular, you’ve identified several as important ones to watch. Can you tell us about a few and why they’re particularly relevant to marketers this year?
A big one is how marketers absolutely need to consider how they fit into a consumer’s overall wellness ecosystem. We work with many CPG clients that are capitalizing on how consumers use their products as part of an overall self-care regimen, directly connecting health with happiness. Legacy brands promising quick and easy are being swapped for other brands that support wellness and well-being. Our technology clients have recognized the consumer preference for personal and helpful over smart or connected — reflective of a holistic wellness lifestyle where everything works in harmony.
Another trend that offers tremendous currency for brands is what we call modern nostalgia. Much of our industry is focused on the new and next — and that will always be germane to marketing — but applying new and next with a dose of nostalgia is how our clients like Solo, Milk Bar, and Fleischmann’s Yeast are resonating with modern consumer expectations of betterment, convenience and digital fluency. Perhaps most pronounced with Gen Z, this cohort is obsessed with just about any era but the present. We’re helping our clients future-proof by tapping into a longer-lasting form of nostalgia that improves upon the past.
What are you hearing from clients about the Metaverse? What kinds of conversations do you have with them on the topic?
By in large, our clients are open to and leaning into the opportunities that the Metaverse can provide. We’ve been holding high-level conversations about how our clients can test and learn with distinctive experiences that permit our brands to build their communities. They need to be built in ways that are welcomed and add value right now. It’s not a race to be the first, because the finish line keeps moving.
We are helping some clients identify a path that embraces the Metaverse into the total commerce experience as NFTs and avatars will be a natural extension to the digital shelf and eCommerce at large. We lead social strategy for over a dozen food, beauty and household brands so we’re considering how NFTs and other digitally native goods and experiences can enhance their connection with consumers, and most importantly, how we can create exciting shoppable and shareable opportunities that our clients can leverage.
We’re also providing counsel on how to balance marketing investments and operational resources so that the physical, brick-and-mortar experience doesn’t get overlooked. Consumers expect the same level of satisfaction and personalization regardless of the environment. The technological adoption of what the Metaverse has to offer is different among consumer segments, but the physical shopping experience remains a constant.
Parting shot: What else are you seeing trend-wise or want the industry to be aware of?
I think we’re the tip of the spear when it comes to building brand equity through activation. Media proliferation and fragmentation are actually narrowing the opportunity for driving brand and product awareness, whereas it’s benefiting areas of brand activation and experience with hyper-personalized and dynamic conversion-enabled moments.
Developing imaginative digital and physical experiences have never been more prolific or in demand, and we’re working at the forefront when it comes to bringing marketing solutions that fully leverage 1-to-1 engagements as a value exchange to accrue preference, loyalty, and advocacy for the brands we serve.
