By Catie Owen.
A new market survey from Pico Group has been released. The research explored businesses’ investments in topics such as event types, sustainability, new technologies such as metaverse, and data analytics.
As a brand activation company, the results also cover underlying trends in brand and experiential marketing.
Tyronne O’Callaghan, vice president of client strategy, Pico Group, said: “Audience behaviour has changed across all spheres of life, and not solely due to Covid-19. For some, purchasing decisions hinge on issues such as climate change.”
“As expected, the volatility we are seeing – whether due to the ongoing pandemic or concerns over the global economy – is a key challenge to be faced over the next 12 months.”
Studying the results, O’Callaghan said that its participants are becoming less concerned about budget – noting that the survey shows a year-on-year drop of 32% points on that issue.
“This raises the question of whether and how the audience experience is also changing,” he added.
Key findings
In-person vs. hybrid
From the survey responses, it was evident that, with health restrictions being lifted in most markets, in-person events are more important in 2022 in comparison to pre-Covid-19:
- 64% of respondents ranked them as ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’, whereas pre-Covid-19 they were only ranked by 45%.
Feedback from the survey demonstrated that brands are planning in-person events cautiously, leaving room to manoeuvre in the face of sudden macro-environment change. For many, this has meant investing in hybrid.
- While many respondents placed a lower importance on virtual events, 47% said hybrid events are ‘extremely important’ or ‘very important’ to them over the next 12 months.
- 62% of respondents said that virtual and hybrid event platforms were a critical component of their hybrid toolbox, or that they were ‘exploring/looking to increase’ their use.
Metaverse
When discussing the metaverse, 47% of respondents were currently ‘exploring [its] potential’, while 13% had already ‘conducted some activity’ there.
Data
Respondents indicated that, while they understood the importance and benefits of data, only 31% were ‘comfortable with’ their current level of data analytics.
Values
The survey demonstrated that how a brand contributes to society is important to both brands and consumers.
- Over 75% of respondents indicated that they felt that their marketing activities had put purpose into practice effectively.
Regarding challenges to brands practising their purpose, such as making sustainable decisions, the most significant concern was cost.
- 53% of respondents said the cost of being sustainable wasn’t aligned with their budget realities.
Conducted between April and July, Pico Group’s Annual Market Survey 2022 elicited the opinions of global executives (20%), directors (31%), managers (47%) and others (2%) from a variety of sectors.
