The last year proved a litmus test of how consumers across the board can dictate a business’s survival and success through their firm demand for:
- real value in line with personal values (like being eco-friendly, or purpose-driven travel)
- solving their pain points far more efficiently
- and more customization manoeuvrability in any, and all, products and services.
They want it good and they want it right for them, simply put!
Perhaps in hotels, that means the addition of Smart facilities guests can plug & play in according to their tastes, the addition of pillow menus, better pet care, virtual concierges, or even just the consideration of visitors’ budgets and Astrology orientations for room placements.
Perhaps in fashion, that manifests as being able to upload photos of your skin shade and its health status, and immediately yield actionable diagnostics and recommendations for what to do and buy to level you up – all from the convenience of your home.
It does, unequivocally, mean that going forward there is an incessant command for businesses to create and sell products and services which align with what is culturally relevant for even the niche interests though.
Platforms like TikTok have made it such that people are becoming progressively interested in romanticising what’s even surreally banal (See: ‘Girl Dinner’, Bottega Veneta pre-spring 2024 campaign), as well as exploring even the most random hobbies, sports, activities and products, to varied and sometimes vastly positive reception globally, and thereby popularizing the likes of worn-in luxury items, knitting equipment, rolls of latex, and even chicken coups – all having predated the Supply Chain crisis but still culturally significant in 2024s online and offline communities.
Practical. Innovative. Powered by passion, Care, and Sustainability.
Lifestyle convenience which involves smoothing the path to people’s purchase, was and remains a core principle which should drive entrepreneurs and industry in 2024, to prioritize ‘Low-Stakes x High Gains’ strategies for their market. People want to experiment, learn, and eventually be loyal to, as well as be excited by the brands they pick – WITHOUT it having detrimental effects on their wallets and being!
A reminder: From hospitality to fashion, beauty, sports, and technology too, the market is very visibly still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and consumer behaviour seems not quite as predictable and easily steered as it was pre-2020.
“Looking to 2024, fashion leaders are anticipating further headwinds and are uncertain about prospects for the year ahead. Indeed, the word most often mentioned by executives in the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion 2024 Executive Survey was “uncertainty.”
The Business of Fashion – McKinsey Quarterly ‘State of Fashion 2024’ Report
In order to build the cultural cachet necessary to succeed as a brand this year, you will have to be:
- very well tuned to consumer feedback and responding promptly and sensitively – ego aside!
- clear and open to the approaching changing tides of regional politics & their legislation, and international Trade deals tied to where you operate and distribute, which could impact every single part of your business’s life cycle – even if you have no interest in the likes of the Sustainability Movement or even Law, for example!
- adaptive without wasting time.
Now, we predict 2024+ trends taking off from the clarity that people are becoming even more active voices in the evolution of the business landscape, and are changemakers from even the point of business location scouting and raw material sourcing right through to product purchase and delivery. Yes, consumers can even affect whether you can lease a space, what you can do with it, and what you can deal in, in certain neighbourhoods.
They want to know you and they too have made a choice which can be confidently stood for under scrutiny. It becomes the job of marketers and business professionals to accommodate – and do so quickly – or fade into obscurity.
2024 trends and pivots to pay attention to, include:
1. The democratization of business decision-making
It’s no longer about one voice at the top telling their market what to know, do and buy.
The rise of misinformation helped catapult individual agency further in many people who decided to seek out more information from reputable and varied sources, about everything they deem important for their health, in order to make more ‘informed’ decisions when acting as consumers.
Where is it made? Who is it made by? How do your business hires and sourcing impact communities and my wellbeing in the world?
Businesses now have to answer these questions with careful and considered regard if they wish to continue operating without a tarnished reputation and profit losses.
Consumers now affect how your business rises & runs – not just the product!
People are also finally grasping that unlike the universal narrative marketers peddle, there is actually no one perfect method or product to handle individuals’ physical, mental and spiritual health. We all walk separate paths and are built differently, so we have to customize our lifestyle solutions. In the more democratized world of business decision-making, this means your service or product, and business practices, won’t get universal acceptance as everyone is maintaining their own internal standards of what constitutes excellence.
Additionally, people who publicise their shopping (even beyond influencer unboxing videos) are subject to public scrutiny and need their choices (however extrinsically connected they are to you and your business) to make sense to themselves, and others if they wish to continue being social online.
2. Impact values are front-end and not an end-point consideration
With SEO results rising every day where sustainability and community are concerned for example, 2024 business strategies have to account for how potential clients go about seeking information and data online and offline early in their consumer purchase funnel, and keeping track of what exactly they’re searching for, because people are looking with their socioeconomic and geopolitical impact at the forefront of their minds, asking “How does my patronage or visit affect the people, the land, the economy, and the politics of the region?”
In travel, Bucket lists have been culled of ‘unstable’ destinations consistently highlighted in reputable news sources and cacophonies of social media posts, while even remote regions of the world which package their hospitality designs around sustainability and low environmental impacts have seen them make the emerging lists of some of the best travel listicles like those in Conde Nast Traveler or Culture Trip.
Make better choices is the motto!
3. Business Discovery Channels are Social Media BUT you can’t be boring about posts!
It’s not just about being on Social Media, but about being dynamic when you are on there and on online marketplaces.
2023 and years past, were all about getting people to the valley of Social Media, and 2024 will be the year to make businesses & brands build real and lasting trust and engagement in ways that yield returns.
Algorithms are generally ungovernable now so predicting how to go viral isn’t an exact science – regardless of what proprietary predictive software many companies claim to have.
You are better off staying true to your business and its product or service, and goals – building your socials with a brand voice that is clear, inspired, and offers value beyond selling!
Brands and business success can also sometimes come down to the credibility of being easily verifiable and vetted online. And the ones who will win big in 2024 are the ones who have a presence, up-to-date information, and who don’t approach posting online like a quick way you can publish a brick-and-mortar pamphlet. The winners will be those who actually delegate to the creative & social media savvy teammate who will be in touch with the business ethos, the global and local trends that are relevant (and an inherent ability to harness internet culture), and what the purpose of the brand’s socials is, to reconcile everything into posts that make bank!
Don’t just post. Post with purpose!
4. Gender Neutrality
No excuses. Just action!
Contrary to the earlier arguments of perceived revenue loss from pivoting to gender neutrality in facilities and in product & service offerings, doing this is a potentially lucrative venture where consumers aren’t bound by one binary section in their purchasing experience but have more range to explore, and potentially more to buy & try.
Being businesses which champion the progressive culture happening in the real world is another way a business will secure its future starting in 2024.
5. Rethinking Traditional Launches
You have got to begin properly and skillfully fighting to get AND retain consumer attention and client loyalty because the lack of truly competitive spirit in certain avenues, is leading to lacklustre roll-outs to start, and it is why RSVPs are not at higher numbers than they used to be circa 2019!
Whether it’s a beverage launch, or a travel offering repackaged and to be presented, I can echo the sentiments of my fellow attendees around the world in saying ‘The Launch’ needs a rethink.
There has been a steady rise in breaking the mould of launches in fashion and food, as well as adventure travel (See: Experiential Travel), but 2024 should see consideration for each product or service being pedestaled being memorably launched with unconventional approaches. It’s not about being solely exclusive, remote, expensive, or utilizing wild gorilla marketing.
Businesses and brands need to plan launches more tastefully, temptingly, and tactically.
Because traditional media, and your wholesale, phone-led Invite List only make up one avenue to push your brand to. And even authorities in the game, like Vogue Magazine, have been seen by fashion designers as a goal to get on their radar, but not the only mark to work towards for their products’ reach, resonance, and revenue.
When only conventional modalities and timelines are used for launches…well, I’ve seen even the likes of food markets tied to big names, fail at their unveiling in a foodie city.
To pique interest, and entice whole new customers and loyalty, your Marketing team needs to think differently this year about their launches – beyond cocktails and canapes!
6. The Diversity Essential will also affect securing your headhunted candidates
While money and benefits in relation to job description, will always be in the Top 3 considerations for someone looking for a job change, the diversity numbers will also factor in stronger than ever before.
People are asking companies in their hiring process what their teams look like, what the workplace culture is like, as well as real demographic retention & upward mobility statistics which subsequently influence prospects’ final decisions to join a new business family. Because health, well-being, and fulfilment are being weighed up differently by individual business professionals, they’re considering every factor before signing on with companies – vetting values and goals, expectations, and diversity, in their deliberation.
“It’s worth revisiting your salary and benefits packages to make sure they’re competitive. Consider offering perks such as flexible work schedules to attract employees, and if your quit rates are off the charts, it may be time to reevaluate your workplace culture.”
Jody Hewitt (Senior Content Specialist), for Lightspeed. (2024).
Fashion may have backtracked on diversity in 2023, according to The Business of Fashion, but diversity will power up the companies that position it as important in their journey.
It is no longer just the right thing to prioritize qualified, talented, and ‘hungry’ diverse teams, but it is a sound business decision that positively tallies on paper and in the real world.
*HINT: Before you focus on the role of automation and robotics in the future of your company, focus on what a diverse workforce of real people with a unique insight into the human experience and habits, can offer you in 2024 and beyond!
7. Localization is VITAL!
Topshop is one such cautionary tale about what happens when a brand chooses not to localize its brand to the countries it launches into. From a bland disposition slightly off-set, for a time, by a Beyonce collaboration, Topshop landed in South Africa not speaking the veritable ‘Rainbow Nations’ lingo – producing boring advertorials and garment size ranges veering more on the side of size Small contrary to the local markets’ actual measurement ranges which lean more in the middle to larger clothing sizes for the majority.
In hospitality (like at The Taj Cape Town), Augmented Reality (AR) technology has been installed in savvy outposts that understand their potential customers need to see their rooms or suites, as well as other facilities before and even after they book. Those differently abled can also do an initial assessment of whether the hotel or resort spaces are truly accessible to them and comfortable enough to suit their needs and wants.
This adaptivity to local preferences is an excellent move to make visitors comfortable with the lay of the land before they visit – appeasing those prone to anxiety and ensuring they have up-to-date visuals of the quality and look of the spaces they’ll be stepping into and patronizing.
Localization should work hand in hand with tailoring guest experiences and using technology and space in smart ways that enhance the overall local experience of a brand or business.
Even the finest Fine Dining restaurants in the world have set the trend and encouraged a cultural shift to pivot away from relying on foreign exports for ingredients and even workforce, and localizing with predominantly ethically and locally sourced ingredients which speak to the regional palettes and cultural sensibilities.
THE TAKEAWAY TO CARRY MOST IS ASKING AND ANSWERING THE QUESTION OF WHAT YOUR BUSINESS OR BRAND ADDS TO THE CONVERSATION ABOUT YOUR INDUSTRY.
WHETHER IT BE LUXURY TRANSPORTATION, MINING, BEVERAGES, FASHION ETC. YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE MUST BE MORE THAN A NAME AND A SIMPLE OFFERING. IT NEEDS TO BE VALUE IN PERPETUITY!
There are more trends, of course, from Artificial Intelligence to the grey market, and the decline in exuberant luxury spend. WANT TO KNOW MORE?
Let me know!
