Communicating during the current COVID-19 pandemic is a difficult task that a lot of marketeers are now facing. The impact is being felt across all industries: Events are cancelled, the marketing teams are working from home and the situation outside is changing on a daily basis.

Every year a few strong trends dominate the marketing industry. This year was supposed to be about blockchain, artificial intelligence, machine learning and the rise of the consultancies, but one subject has emerged to overshadow the rest.

2019 was the year TikTok exploded and influencer marketing gained traction, especially with marketers in beauty, fashion, e-commerce and auto. In 2020, we predict that influencer marketing will continue to grow and that social commerce will achieve liftoff, thanks in part to the growth of shopping-related content, experiments in VR-powered shopping experiences, and the rise of bots for customer service.   

Now that there’s rapid growth in virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), there is increased confusion about the differences between the technologies. While all are immersive technologies (technology that integrates virtual and real-world elements) and have similarities, there are differences. Here I outline the differences between virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality.

Marketing activities that realise an immediate return tend to win out when it comes to the allocation of budget, but a new study warns that brands should not neglect the need to lock in long-term growth, which very few are able to do.