Key 2014 Marketing Trends part 2

In part two of our marketing trends for 2014 blog, Jim, Brett and Neil look at trends they feel businesses will need to adopt to maximise their impact throughout the next 12 months.

Jim Harris, managing director: Native advertising
Native advertising has been around for a while, indeed some would argue that good old advertorial is the original form of native advertising, and I believe that we will be seeing plenty more of this in 2014. According to a recent study undertaken by IPG Media Lab and Sharethrough, native ads are viewed 53% more than traditional ads and result in 18% higher purchase intent than banner ads.

Brett Chapman, videographer: Video
Video has never been more popular here at Harris Associates, which is what led us to launch a dedicated construction video company in the shape of constructv.co.uk Integrating video as a key component in an online marketing campaign is a trend that has built up a real head of steam in the last couple of years. Marketers are starting to recognise the ability of video to get your message across in a quick and visually exciting way, at relatively low cost. It’s a commonly thrown around line that ‘video can do in a few seconds what it may take paragraphs to say on the page’ and that idea has developed for good reason. Dr James McQuivery of Forrester Research has stated that the value of a one minute video is equivalent to 1.8 million words and reports show that 59% of senior executives prefer video over copy. With the social media still being a major player in online marketing, the sharable nature of video sets it up as the perfect tool in terms of communicating and spreading a brand or product message. If current trends continue I don’t think it’ll be long before the majority of agencies look to bring filmmaking on-board as an in-house service.

Neil Craven, design director: Print
As a full service marketing agency we’re busy with all manner of digital marketing but we continue to appreciate what print can bring to the marketing mix. Targeted and well designed print can add another dimension to any company. It brings with it credibility, weight, reassurance and, let’s be honest, you can’t leave a website behind after a new business meeting! 2013 was one of our busiest years for print, and I can’t see 2014 slowing down as we continue to drive a full marketing mix approach to projects.