Top Advertising Trends for 2013

With a new year on the rise, it’s time for professionals to roll out their 2013 advertising trends.  Here is what’s actually affecting your business this year:

Trend: I Know What You Did on Google Last Night

Marketing and advertising trends continue to innovate at a rapid pace thanks to technology.  In previous years, you were but a little name and age to an advertiser.  A mere demographic.  Now, advertising trends continue to move toward knowing…well…just about everything about you.  Your income levels, what type of job you work at, your seniority, your browsing habits, things you talk about.  Who knows, maybe even things you think about.

Trend: Tingling Your Senses

Advertising will no longer be about words in 2013 and beyond.  In Korea, Dunkin Donuts has installed gizmos in buses & subways that play a jingle specific to their brand.  But it’s not just any jingle.  Not only does it jingle, but it tingles as well.  Your senses that is.  Get this: it then releases the smell of their coffee into the air.  Taking advantage of sleepy caffeine addicts where it hurts the most: the wee hours of morning on their way to work.

Trend: The Non-Profits Called, They Want Their Sponsor Back

Advertising was once a game only the big boy corporations could play.  And the term sponsor was a game only the non-profits got to play with small businesses.  Even still, the vast majority of display advertising spend comes from multi-million dollar budgets (ie: BIG COMPANIES).  While the big budgets may not be as fast to innovate, small businesses are saying hello to trend “sponsored content”, a fast growing form of native advertising.

Trend: Mobile Might Actually Climax

(Note to app developers: climaxing is not the foreplay stage)  According to research from Gartner and Smaato Inc., mobile advertising is expected to peak around $13.5 billion in less than two years.  2012 was supposed to mark a turning point, a very profitable year for consumer apps monetizing through mobile advertising.  Instead, many funds reported returns that weren’t as expected.  Could it be mobile is just taking a bit longer to climax, waiting till 2013?  Or is she faking it?

Trend: The Blast is in the Past

Advertisers are moving away from purchasing decisions based on buying ad formats and impressions.  They buy audiences.  Specific audiences. (See first trend) Advertisers now have a much better sense of who their customer is, who’s buying, and who’s not doing much of anything besides wasting space.  Blasting out to a wide audience is a thing of the past.  Targeted audience that buys.  It’s that simple.

Trend: Naked With Cousin Social Media

We have always known social media trends to be about nakedness and transparency.  But advertising?  It’s an industry filled with tricks and lies, right?  While internally it may be a tough business, new age advertising has learned a trick or two from it’s cousin social media: transparency.  A new advertising scheme originally started by Yahoo in 2011, now finally gaining faithful followers in 2013 advertising trends.