EXPERT OPINION
The future of marketing
Onder Kilic,
Marketing Director,
Ramstore Kazakhstan LLP
Retail trade is changing in accordance
with new trends and technologies. Not so
long ago, in the recent past, marketing
advertised sales, promotions and
commercials. Retail traders put ‘profit’
at the center of their strategy. To make
a profit, retailers needed more sales. To
have more sales, retailers have tried to
catch customers with huge discounts and
some other promotions. This contest was
the cause of price wars, and the price
war began to put pressure on producers,
as retailers always offered discounts on
products. It begins to affect the quality of
products. Our enterprises simply win and
win. When producers begin to lose profits,
they have to find a way to compensate
their losses. So, the changes began slowly,
and in the end all the shelves were full of
bad quality products. However, this did
not work. When the X Generation appears
on the scene, the game starts to change
again. Generation X started a survey
about the quality and price of the product
at the same time. This pressure pushes
retailers to put ‘customers’ in the center.
Companies that built their strategies not
on endorsement or profitability, but on
customer expectations, began to win in the
medium and longterm.
The change started by the X Generation
has become an evolution giving the Y
Generation its economic freedom. New
trends, competition and technology
encourage retailers to adopt new
strategies. It's not enough just to produce
the product, to promote it, and it's not
enough to put it on the shelf, you need to
persuade customers to use your products.
How? What are the needs of the client?
How can we turn our client into the ‘next
big thing’? What is the next hot trend in
retail?
40
world monitor
Here are some trends that definitely will
have the greatest impact on marketing in
the future.
• Transparency will become the core
of customer loyalty. Customers want
to know what they consume. Writing
ingredients is not enough. Consumers
want to understand if it is healthy or
nature friendly. Does the manufacturer
have a fair trade certification? Currently,
customers are seeking more interaction
with their brands. This trend will continue
as customers become more demanding
in their expectation of transparency. New
research shows that the price has become
the third priority for customers.
• Mobile is going to become the center
of marketing. Smart phones and tablets
will become one of the prime factors
impacting the marketing world. Brands
will be able to set up more personalized
relationships with their customers by
leveraging the power of the mobile.
• Social responsibility will always be
on the minds of customers. Especially
new generations are very sensitive about
community health and the future of
the world. Starting from production to
packaging, every step is important. From
online reviews, to social media posts and
blogs, this means there will be a strong
need for brands to create a positive
impact in their consumers’ minds.
• Study and work for everyone. Some
retailers attempt to define their brands
as luxury, medium level or cheap. New
research shows that consumers care about
quality more than abrand name.
If the products are of good quality and the
manufacturer is sufficiently transparent,