As we near the end of 2022, it’s traditional to be thinking about plans for next year. One thing is for sure – marketers must continue to be agile and respond to fluctuations in circumstances. 

Google recently asked six industry leaders to share their predictions for brand building in the next 10 years. Here’s what they said, by topic:

• New customer experiences. Kirk McDonald, North America CEO at GroupM, predicts a merging of digital and physical experiences across touchpoints. He says that building success in advertising is dependent on authentic customer relationships that are grounded by trust, support and value. The merging of digital and physical experiences will bring increased expectations from customers for united interactions without friction across all touchpoints. It’s vital that touchpoints are built on privacy, technology, purpose and sustainability.
  
  

  Kirk also says that it will be up to marketers to provide experiences that remove the responsibility of consumers to commence action. Privacy concerns will have to be addressed and built into touchpoints. AI and machine learning will be used to deliver tailored experiences on demand. Brand purpose must be a part of every brand and organizational decision.

• Personalization and privacy. Yonca Dervişoğlu, VP of Marketing at Google EMEA, is a huge proponent of “the power of technology to make life better and unlock human potential.” At Google, she sees the potential of AI to increase the ability to deliver the right messages at the right time – at scale and with respect to user privacy and choice. Yonca sees 2032 as the time when her “dream state” will be close to fruition: “A world where [ads] are perfectly relevant sources of information for everyone, all while meeting the highest privacy standards.”
• Ethical brand building. Alex Schmider, Director of Transgender Representation at GLAAD, says that by 2032, Gen Z – the most racially, ethnically and culturally diverse generation – will all be adult consumers. This group is already choosy about how and where they spend their money, and they, along with millennials, are changing gender and gender parity conversations. Not only does Gen Z expect brands to reflect their community values with external advertising and messaging, they expect brands to hold their values internally as well. They watch what brands do and what they truly stand for.
• Transformative shifts. Chaucer Barnes, CMO at UnitedMasters, sees on-demand content becoming no-demand content as traditional media loses ground to globalized human networks and AI. He predicts that consumers will gain even more control over brand engagement as AI content creation and more immersive formats increase. He sees “monetized attention” morphing to “monetized enthusiasm” as platforms evolve to the changing marketing environment.
• Building brand trust. Simon Kahn, VP of Marketing at Google APAC, says that today’s consumers want conversation and to co-create messages. The message is no longer controlled by brands with consumers as mere receivers. Every touchpoint matters. In order to tell a consistent story across all touchpoints, there must be trust and responsible use of data. There must be a tight relationship between marketers and the information “stewards” of organizations.
• A return to connection. Marie Gulin-Merle, Global VP of Ads Marketing at Google, sees customers having control – by design, with no effect on performance. She is “excited by a world where compelling and impactful campaigns go hand in hand with user privacy.” Google’s My Ad Center will allow users to have full control over which brands they get messages from. She predicts a return to marketing’s essence – connecting brands and products to consumers, but with a relationship that has trust at its core.