New Marketing Approaches and Consumer Trends in Line With Technological Developments

Introduction

The change in production relations with the Industrial Revolution led to many changes and transformations in the world, not only economically, but also socially, culturally and politically. In the age we live in, we are experiencing revolutionary changes thanks to the Internet. In simple terms, there has been an acceleration of everything in our lives because of the Internet. We live, produce, communicate, make choices and decisions faster, and inevitably consume faster.

In today's fast-changing, dynamic marketplace, brands and companies must work harder to stay relevant. Marketing, as one of the main functions of companies, needs to innovate in line with technological developments. In order to maintain their market share, companies must carefully address the changing profiles of consumers and their needs and expectations. Today's consumers no longer make choices along a linear path. They are more likely to move between physical and digital channels. They also want to access products and services through more differentiated, personalized and tailored experiences. However, protecting their personal information and preventing it from being compromised are also among their priorities. The fact that every step they take in the digital environment is recorded as data by brands and companies is perhaps the most negative aspect of digitization for customers.

Today, customers are also aware of their power over brands. They feel that they are the driving and influencing force in their relationship. In the Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report 2021, 63% of customers say they believe they have the power to force brands to change (Edelman, 2021, p. 15). On the other hand, the increasing and diversifying number of channels is at a critical juncture in terms of customer trust in brands (Edelman, 2021, p. 7). Especially brands that try to position themselves as love brands should implement marketing strategies that strengthen the feeling of trust before love in their customer relationships.

Marketing budgets have fallen to record lows at a time when consumer expectations are at an all-time high. That's why fast-growing brands are moving beyond point solutions by rethinking their entire strategy around customer data and, in particular, the customer experience, taking a comprehensive view of everything (Deloitte Insights, 2022, p. 5).

Deloitte's report (Deloitte Insights, 2022), based on interviews with 1099 senior executives in five countries, highlights that marketing trends should have three key themes at their core. The first of these three themes is a uniquely inclusive marketing approach that focuses on people, not profit. The second is building infrastructure around data from a myriad of data sources and designing human-first data experiences to better understand the balance between people who find the use of their data useful or actually frightening. The third is the importance of designing dynamic customer experiences. Specifically, how brands can use key principles of human-centered design to create dynamic and cohesive experiences in both digital and in-person environments. By augmenting customer service with artificial intelligence, one of the most prominent digital technologies of recent times, timely recommendations and knowledgeable customer service will better assist customers in their purchase decisions. It is therefore necessary to see in practice how artificial intelligence can be integrated with human service and how best to bring the two together in the overall customer journey.

Price and quality have always been the primary determinants of consumer brand preference. Today, however, consumers are looking beyond what brands promise them, to how sensitive they are to the world's problems, or whether they are willing to take action to solve them, and their approach to sustainability. On the other hand, trust comes to the fore in how consumers want to engage with brands. In particular, the trust-based relationship that consumers establish with a brand is based on their sensitivity to the data they receive about their customers. Banking and finance stand out as areas where they need to pay attention to data security (Deloitte Insights, 2022, p. 12).