Trends 2024: Humor, Experiences and Purpose Will Lead the Way

Adweek.com has a great summary of predictions from creative agencies and what they think will happen in 2024 in the world of advertising.

You can read it on the link above but my job is to summarize things and make it actionable for local businesses, let's get to it.

Humor and emotion make a comeback

From various ad agencies:

"The “humor embargo” will break. Recent data indicates that consumers are looking for brands that use humor, with a recent Oracle study finding that 91% of people prefer brands to be funny. Yet the same study found that 95% of business leaders fear humor in consumer interactions."

"It’s going to be a nasty year. As the media and social landscape get fired up and election-y and angry, brands have a chance to offer a ray of hope, or comedy, or happiness, or even just a moment of not yelling. Which brands can make us smile for a second? We will appreciate them very, very much."

"We’ll get the chance to put more beautiful, heartfelt and hilarious work out in the world. And isn’t that why we all got into this business in the first place? I’m not saying advertising can fix everything, but as far as I know, data has yet to prove that it can’t."

Now you know that ad agencies see humor coming and more importantly, it is what customers want.

How can you incorporate humor into your message? Yes, you may have some serious business, regulated even, but there is always room for a smile

All about the experiences

Other agencies say:

"With elections happening in the U.K. and the U.S. next year, many consumers will be looking for an escape from everyday life, so my bets are on experiences becoming even bigger, better and harder to ignore in 2024, whether it’s a PR stunt that becomes a meme or a 360 event for social and press exposure."

"2024 will bring an uptick in innovative OOH installations, both faux (a la Maybelline’s Sky High Mascara) and real (Ikea’s Oxford Street location). These types of activations generated a lot of social buzz but also sparked discussions around reality, augmented reality and the place that each will hold in the future of advertising."

Humans remember experiences more than messages, stories more than facts. What can you do at the local level to offer an experience to your customers? To figure this out start by knowing your ideal client, beyond demographics, get into psychographics (what they think and feel) and setup an experience outside your office or store. Or tell them a story about your product/service and how it relates to their feelings and emotions. We all have them.

Mindful purpose and culture

And finally:

"Audiences are demanding authenticity in their messaging and are cringing at tone-deaf stories. Gone are the days when brands could get away with only talking about themselves, their products or their services. It will be key for advertisers to speak about what matters most to them and how they can improve people’s lives."

"Cultural fluency is the best investment for your brand in and through 2024. While the approach I propose may be a case of “what’s old is new again,” perceiving culture as a network of values, conventions and social practices supports the basic principle of understanding your customer communities better."

Local businesses have an advantage about purpose and culture, we live it every day. We are also neighbors and local shoppers. We know the local culture and our purpose is to help our communities do well.

How can you show more of your purpose and connection to the local culture? Yes, please talk more about it.

Key Takeaways

• Don't be shy, use humor whenever possible, a smiling customer is always a better customer.
• Provide experiences, people will remember you for along time and tell all their friends. There is always a good story to tell about any product or service, form how it came to be to how it has helped other that purchased.
• Purpose and authenticity are things we all notice and recognize. Don't just talk about yourself and your product/service as in a data sheet. See the previous point, turn it into a story of success from previous customers.

Tell us, how can you incorporate humor, experiences and stories into your message for customers? Let's share the ideas and we'll all learn and grow together.

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