Top 5 trends to watch out for 2023

The past few years have been monumental for all of us. The headlines have been dominated by Covid, War, Inflation, Climate change, Cyber hacks, AI, and the fall of the Crypto bros. We wanted to investigate what that means for our brands, behaviours, and businesses. So, we went through multiple trends reports to pull out some of the top trends for 2023 that are likely to dominate your conversations and activities, this year.

Everyone is an artist with AI tech

In the realm of creativity, from music and art to writing and design, technology is playing an increasingly important role in shaping the way we express ourselves and create new things. Whether it is generative AI tools to create TikTok effects, or using ChatGPT to research writing material, the rise of artificial intelligence and machine learning is giving creators new ways to generate and manipulate video, art, music, or other creative content. Technology is having a profound impact on the way we create and express ourselves.

Renewed focus on gaming

The Metaverse hasn’t proliferated into the mainstream, exactly how some expected it to. But gaming’s influence is bigger than one can imagine with the average age of the Australian video game player being 34 years old. And nearly half of those playing video games are female. We can all learn from the fashion industry which has always been gaming native, to look at gaming platforms more seriously as a marketing channel. Especially as confidence in the big media platforms such as Facebook, has started to wane.

Web3 tokens fuelling brand loyalty programs 

With the focus shifting off the shiny (bit)coins & NFTs, we might see more spotlight on the applications of web3 technology such as tokenization to enable fans, followers, and customers, to access rights to content or community, or to join an event. In some ways, Sports brands are showing ways to experiment with Web3 technology, not only to enhance revenues but to actively confer rights to fans.

Creating shareable culture not content

WARC points out “TV shows and platforms such as Netflix, are now writing in meme-able scenes with gifs in mind for viewers to share online, increasing attention for their show, making it more salient”. This year, the job-to-be-done for brands is to find an authentic way to be invited into cultural conversations through creative, timely content.

Profits = Price x planet

Customers are equally worried about inflation as they are about climate change. It’s time to recognize that sustainability and effective cost pricing need not always be at odds with each other. Sustainability efforts may not be perfect yet, but we have the perfect storm of supply chain issues, inflation, and other macro factors coming together, to help us integrate climate action & effective pricing into their customer experiences, to future-proof our value.

Written by Shruti Rai, Strategy Director GHO Sydney and ChatGPT
Reference material: Twitter #DigitalTrends2023 , Google drive list of 2023 trends report