A clarion call to the future

Without a vision for the future, we lose our bearings. At dentsu, we believe that brands have the rare opportunity to renew faith in the future now more than ever. As we look to 2022, here are three challenges that we see as clarion calls for a new paradigm. These are opportunities for brands to recreate, reimagine and reinvent business, society, and culture as we know it.

As we head into 2022, consumer concern for pandemic-related health risks is just over 50% while concern for the U.S. economy is around 75% (dentsu Recovery Navigator). Despite upward-trending growth forecasts for 2022, the risks to the economic outlook remain acute: supply-chain bottlenecks, labor shortages, heightened financial market volatility and inflation (Wall Street Journal Economist Survey).

The aftershocks of the pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in production strategies, supply chains and process innovations across categories, but it also gave several businesses the opportunity to ‘meet the moment’ by rebuilding delivery models, creating new brand experiences, and prioritizing sustainability and transparency in the process.

To help our clients meet the moment, earlier this year, we acquired LiveArea to create connected commerce experiences that transform customer journeys. Merging LiveArea’s commerce capabilities with Merkle’s customer experience expertise allowed for our clients to better harness the power of digital transformation strategies to unlock new streams of productivity, growth and sustainability.

While global disruption is creating turbulence in the short-term, the future trend is toward more connected and immersive experiences. This is unlocking opportunities for brands that are willing to embrace a test-and-learn approach and lead by example.

The IPCC report released earlier this year declared “a code red” warning to humanity. The data outlined in this report was bleaker in comparison to past, far more cautious reports. While the effects of past climate change are irreversible, the report also shows that the future is unwritten. People, businesses and world leaders still have the potential to determine the future course and impact of climate change.

At dentsu we are committed to the most ambitious level of climate action. We’re proud to be one of the world’s first companies with validated Net-Zero targets. Our long-term deep decarbonization target – a first for the industry – aims to reduce absolute emissions by 90% by 2040 across our value chain.

Sustainable business for us doesn’t start and stop with corporate social responsibility and governance – it spans every aspect of our creative, media and customer experience capabilities. Our recent report, The Rise of Sustainable Media, created in partnership with Microsoft Advertising, sheds light on how consumers are voting with their wallets for companies that prioritize sustainability:

• Respondents put governments (51%), businesses and brands (43%) and the advertising industry (41%) ahead of themselves (36%) for accountability on decarbonizing the way they experience advertising.
  
  
• 91% of people want brands to demonstrate they are making positive choices about the planet and environment more explicitly in everything they do.
  
  
• 81% of respondents in North America say they would stop using or buying products if they found out they hurt the environment.
  
  
• Almost half (48%) of those surveyed said reducing the reliance on carbon from the supply chain would make brands or companies greener in their eyes.

The report further confirms that brands’ onus to be ‘responsible’ now encompasses a wide spectrum of business and societal issues, including social and environmental impact, diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I), privacy and protection.

In May 2021, we launched an industry-first Economic Empowerment offering with the aim of addressing inequities within media buying and directing more spend towards diverse-owned and targeted media. From inclusive creative briefs to diversified media supply chains and sustainable commerce, solutions that deliver growth and good will continue to be a key area of focus for dentsu in 2022.

A recent survey revealed that just 17% of adults view work as a source of meaning, down from 24% in 2017 (Pew Research Center). This data point combined with the fact that 3% of the workforce quit their jobs in September of 2021, prove that change is past due. 

While the great resignation poses a challenge, it is also the golden era of the empowered employee and the employer to reimagine the future of work. When asked about influence on purchase, 43% of consumers refer to how a brand treats its employees (dentsu Recovery Navigator), suggesting that: “A brand that is modern learns from mistakes of the past. This means that the company treats its employees fairly, equally, and properly...”

As an industry, we’ve been steadfast in prioritizing CX and in doing so, we’ve unfortunately lost sight of the importance of prioritizing EX – employee experience. In 2022, we expect to see greater partnership between Chief Marketing Officers and Chief People Officers with the understanding that brand reputation and business growth are predicated on prioritizing talent attraction, retention and engagement.

The interplay of flexibility, inclusivity and purposeful work will take center stage, helping employees shape their work around shared values. Looking at our own employee data, 6% of our recent hires are boomerang employees, which validates that the technological and cultural investments that we’ve made when it comes to the future of work are proving fruitful.

Rather than see ourselves as producers and consumers, we have the unique opportunity to see ourselves as stewards— of innovative business solutions, swift climate action and inclusive culture. We all have a role to play in stewarding progressive change to build a future that truly belongs to everyone.

I’d like to close by thanking our people, clients and partners who have been relentless champions for meaningful progress. Together, we’re changing the industry in ways that we’ve known to be improbable, but not impossible. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year.