How will digital communication in Morocco 2024 evolve over the coming years? What are the marketing and digital communication trends in Morocco in 2024 ?
You are probably asking yourself these 2 questions. And that’s understandable…
Previously shy or indifferent, brands no longer hesitate to get involved and communicate on these commitments: CSR, fight against inequalities, digital detox, transparency and quest for meaning, the last few months have raised multiple issues for brands and advertisers . Issues that have permeated advertising creation throughout the year and dominated award ceremonies.
These trends call on brands to a new way of communicating around their identity. How does it relate to the era of everything connected and multi-screen where everything is consumed massively, and if possible quickly? What will be the innovation, use or approach that will make the communication of tomorrow? We interviewed different leaders in the sector to find out what, according to them, will be the next digital communication trend in Morocco in 2024.
1- The emergence of new conversational platforms
It will not have escaped you, alongside the web behemoths, Facebook and Google (with YouTube), new platforms have emerged creating new uses for consumers, and therefore new challenges for brands. TikTok, Twitch, Discord and obviously Fortnite are trying to reshuffle the cards of digital communication in Morocco 2024 .
Especially since on the other hand, a certain platform is exploding thanks to its unique functionalities and uses.
2. More data = more creation
As engagement and reach decline, we are seeing a return to advertising creation, after years of data optimization. More than a return, Jean Allary , partner and Head of Strategic Planning at Artefact, sees “ a need for advertising creation in digital. The more sophisticated we are in digital marketing – with data, personalization, etc. and the total abandonment of mass marketing mechanisms – the more we segment messages, media, target groups, and the more we tend to believe that the media controls creation: that is to say, the right place at the right time to the right people. ”
“ This strong idea gives very branding films which aim to create interruption ,” he explains. Then, we unroll the thread via small formats for performance during the customer journey, retargeting, ad hoc content on Amazon, ad hoc emailing in the CRM, etc. There is therefore consistency and integration of messages around this strong advertising idea, but which would be less effective without strong ideas around Fisher Price’s value proposition to mothers compared to the competition. ”
Data and creativity can (must?) go hand in hand, despite the reluctance of two worlds that everything seems to oppose, as Jean Allary confirms : “ There can be mistrust between people who are very “digital” and advertisers, at the same time beyond the generational gap, but in reality there is nothing more effective than loving one another and getting the best of both skills to design systems that are relevant, modern and effective. ”
As proof, he points to Apple, which offered an interactive art tour in augmented reality in Paris this summer, in partnership with the New Museum in NYC. “ The creations made by internationally renowned artists, and which the iPhone has made easily accessible, have given new life to the brand’s experiential journey ,” he believes. This type of artistic initiative opens a new avenue of digital expression, and should multiply in the months to come. »
Companies are all relying on technological solutions that make these experiences more fluid (augmented reality, apps, VR), “but by doing this, we are making the customer experience a convenience, a banality ,” warns Benoit Bertrand . The routes are the same, the technologies are the same, the brand and everything that makes it unique are diluted in the functional, until they disappear. ”
For him, this standardization of the use of technologies is “ a real point of alert and a challenge ” for brands which will only be resolved by “ creativity and hybridization between the culture of the brand and that of technology . “This is what we call at Isobar, the Creative Experience ,” he explains. That is to say the ability to build memorable experiences, using technology to imagine products or services that create value, driven by powerful storytelling .” What the agency imagined with the Jet Lag Social Club (Flying Blue).
3. The monetization of instant messaging, which has become central
For Arthur Kannas , managing director and co-founder of the Heaven agency, the next trend in digital communication will be the “Messengerization” of existing social platforms. Quesaco? “ Facebook is setting out to conquer the monetization of private conversations. This has become a trend confirmed by Mr. Zuckerberg: the growth of interactions on the platform is now observed through private exchanges, via messaging and groups, as opposed to disengagement on public flows. ” Indeed, these under-the-radar conversations have become a major issue for Facebook since dark social now represents the majority of content shared online, according to a recent study.
“ The year 2018 having been a major turning point for Facebook’s image, it is the time to devote its efforts to areas other than feeds, public content that is costly to control and advertisements that are costly to verify ,” he explains. -he. Following the Chinese WeChat model, Facebook will take advantage of this situation to bring together its Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp messaging services and thus constitute a new colossus with more diversified sources of income (commerce, transaction, subscription, currency with Libra) than just advertising . This merger will be as much an area of transactional and conversational opportunities for brands as a “ bulwark against a risk of dismantling against a backdrop of monopoly in the US” , predicts Arthur Kannas .
With the monetization of platforms, Julien Ferrand sees the opportunity for advertisers to move “from a role of product supplier to that of a service provider . » This involves, for example, “ providing a Whatsapp number to access ultra-personalized advice. “That’s what Hellsmann’s did with Whatscook ,” he recalls. The brand has thus gone from mayonnaise manufacturer to cooking coach. “ A great service proposition ,” he believes. Like last spring, where Fitbit, a specialist in connected coach watches, offered fitness programs directly integrated into a chatbot with the support of the media Jam.
“ Each of these services also makes it possible to collect information on users’ habits and expectations ,” specifies the consulting director of Intuiti. And this is the crux of the matter since we cannot design a relevant service proposal without an acute knowledge of its users.”
The challenges for brands on social networks could be summed up as being interesting before being interested, making your brand useful and exploring new business models (from product to service) according to him.
4. Click Clean
The past year has shown us that societal issues overlap with those of businesses. “ With 2% of global CO2 emissions – more than air transport – our digital activities have gone from the promise of a greener world to the anxiety of a frightening contribution to global warming ,” says Ivan Beczkowski , president and CEO. creative director of BETC Digital. The subject of digital pollution will quickly become one of the parameters that must be taken into account in the digital strategy of brands. Exactly like yesterday consumers were wondering if the promotional leaflet in their mailbox was worth the quantity of paper and ink used, tomorrow they will legitimately wonder if it is worth it to receive your newsletter or why your site is so resource-intensive and bandwidth. ”
He wants to take these figures “ which make you dizzy ”: “ Our daily professional emails represent as much CO2 emitted in a year as 1000 km by car, [and that for only 20 emails per day]. A Google search to get to your site: that’s as much energy spent as an hour with a low-energy light bulb. » He recalls this Greenpeace report “Clicking Clean” , evaluating the energy performance of the main global digital players. Netflix, Twitter or Spotify are pinned there while others, like Google, “ are doing better because they massively use renewable energy sources. ” Like Facebook, which plants its data centers in Iceland in order to take advantage of climatic conditions to cool and/or power these infrastructures .
“ Soon all brands’ sites, services or digital content will also be judged by consumers through the prism of their carbon footprint ,” assures Ivan Beczkowski . Fortunately, there are solutions to improve the energy balance of digital productions: green hosting, clean code, eco-design of sites, carbon compensation for video productions, etc. ”
A more virtuous and eco-friendly approach which will be rewarded: “ The good news is that this goes in the direction of performance, but the challenge is launched to designers who will have to combine frugality and the creation of desire. Consume less, but better, it seems that the future of the planet lies in this. ”
5. Social commerce
After the monetization of messaging and platforms, comes “social commerce”. A trend that Sandrine Plasseraud , president of We are social in France, sees emerging, even if attempts to implement a commerce functionality have been made for 15 years. “Around ten years ago: Facebook already allowed brands to create an online store, we were talking about F-Commerce then ,” she recalls. At the time, it was clear that the failure was bitter. » Was it too early in terms of uses? Was this linked to the fact that e-retailers were content to copy and paste their online sales experience on Facebook, without taking into account the reasons why people spent time on the social network? Without providing added value versus the experience on their website?
“ Today, many platforms are truly getting into social commerce and this trend is here to stay. ” A trend that we now call “shoppable posts”. Not a brand post on Instagram without the mention “View products” which then redirects to their e-shop. Instagram has also launched “Instagram Checkout which allows you to make purchases without leaving the platform,” emphasizes Sandrine Plasseraud . On Pinterest’s side, the “Shop The Look” feature allows users of the platform to search for and purchase products directly from fashion and interior design pins.
Of course, before these features appeared, other technologies helped democratize social commerce, such as visual recognition on Snapchat in partnership with Amazon .
Still, “ these are the uses that have truly evolved to provide opportunities for social commerce ,” believes Sandrine Plasseraud . And these uses have notably developed and democratized via Digital Native Vertical Brands (DNVB), these famous brands which were created in direct-to-consumer and pure-player mode, with no other choice than to sell online ,” as Jimmy Fairly, Bergamotte and Merci Handy in France.
6. The podcast as a standard for quality content?
Another trend that will surprise no one is audio and particularly podcasts. For Matthieu Stefani , co-founder and CEO of Cosa Vostra, the underlying trend is inherent to his discovery of podcasting almost three years ago (he now hosts the Génération Do It Yourself podcast ): quality content. “ Social networks have entertained us for 10 years, in every sense of the word ,” he explains. They have made a diversion towards platforms capturing a lot of attention and generating a sort of intellectual pollution, a permanent snacking. Unlike this intellectual nourishment which is not really good, makes you fat and makes you stupid, people now tend to turn to intelligent substantive content. ”
For what ? “ This trend is a response to the frantic race for visibility in recent years and which has drained us all . » After having the impression of having been dumbed down for years by television and social networks, Matthieu Stefani notes “ a strong withdrawal towards audio, with a fundamental need, for intellectualization, for learning. Even if TV is making a small form of withdrawal, social networks remain an important vector for distributing this type of content. ”
Indeed, “ finally integrated as a full-fledged category of Spotify, and accessible in Google search results for several weeks in France, the podcast will finally benefit from the visibility it deserves!” , assures Julien Ferrand of Intuiti. Its format, particularly suited to mobility situations, is “ to be explored to offer new content that meets several digital challenges:
– Power your content/service strategy
– Respond to platformization challenges (Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, Spotify, etc.)
– Serve your SEO strategy ,” he explains.
7. Live for everyone
What Arthur Kannas likes to call “the Courteney Cox moment * ”. “ Initiated by adult sites, then by video game content (this chronology being unrelated), lives are getting a new lease of life via advanced conversation and monetization tools. Live is everywhere and brands will have to learn to master it, to make it an interesting tool for the audience and effective for business. In China, Taobao sets an example with its mix of influence and commerce ,” he explains.
8. The content factory
Going against the trend of long audio formats, Guillaume Mikowski , co-founder and CEO of Brainsonic, is betting on the trend of the “content factory, still not very present in France but which has exploded in the United States where we have (still ) three years late .
As he explains, “ this addresses the issue of streaming content for brands .” Certain content, such as long form advertisements, is the subject of a brief and is produced by the agencies. But the brand is faced with another problem with its different speaking engagements and the multiplication of channels, “ it must be always on with its audiences .” Thus, it is obliged to produce quality content in volume to support all its speaking engagements on very different channels, he explains. “ Stories on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram have made the syndrome explode .” For the brand, the challenge is to produce at the right price with regard to the lifespan of this content, from a few seconds or minutes to a day, while maintaining recurring production and a regular flow. Without forgetting to adapt to peak loads which require being ultra reactive.
For the founder of Brainsonic, “ the answer comes with the content factory, an organizational mix, processes, work flow, profiles (executive, creative, DA-CR team, editor, CM, etc.) bringing together all the professions of the “image that allows you to work in PAAS mode, Production As A Service.” That is to say like SAAS, except that the advertiser pays by ticket. “That is to say a certain amount for one hour of work on a required agency profile ”.
“ Brands are obliged to organize themselves to be able to respond to this problem, otherwise they cannot be responsive enough to their audience and infiltrate communities of interest at key moments ,” he still believes. The content factory is the industrialization of image professions in the service of these new challenges and problems. It will grow among advertisers, that’s obvious. ”
9. Google’s no-click and the end of SEO that generates traffic… but generates visibility
A study conducted by SEO specialist Rand Fishkin, using data collected by Jumpshot* (marketing analysis company) showed that users click less often on the search results of the Californian engine because, in most cases , the preview displayed by Google contains the answer to their query. According to data provided by Jumpshot on more than a billion queries, the number of “zero click” searches carried out on Google (by US Internet users) has continued to increase over the last three years (+12 % compared to the first quarter of 2016).
10. Commitments & engagement
There was a time when brand engagements meant low engagement on social media. This year, however, we have noticed a growing desire on the part of brands to commit to the planet, to people, in order to better meet their aspirations.
Digital has this facilitating role that allows anyone to “ ask the questions they want to a brand, in the most transparent way possible. As Everlane does in Instagram stories every Tuesday with “Transparency Tuesday” which allows everyone to ask employees questions about the brand, its products, its internal policy . »
Even if certain divisive commitments do not prevent controversies, from Nike and “Dream Crazy” with Colin Kaepernick or the Gillette ad “The best a man can be” in the United States, “ they very often create a positive impact broader (despite the controversy, Nike saw its online sales increase by 31% the weekend the film was broadcast). Proof that Engagements create digital engagement but above all generate preference and profit; so why deprive yourself of it? ”.
Hélène Ortola recalls, however, that “ beyond brand promises and reversals of promises or signatures, people especially expect speeches of proof, since 49% of French people believe that “for good” communication corresponds to greenwashing, they do not Only 23% believe that it is transformed into concrete measures in reality ,” according to the latest study by the Goodvertising Observatory .
For brands to be as successful as possible in engaging their communities through their commitments, “ it is also up to the communication agency to provide advice by offering, among other things, more responsible sites, less color to reduce energy consumption or using image banks that are more diverse in terms of populations, as offered for example by The Gender Spectrum Collection . »
Note the upcoming publication of our interview with Thomas Kolster during the month of October.
Bonuses
– The return of the good old competition game?
You read correctly, as Lucas Denjean , general manager of SensioGrey , explains , “ after a phase marked by an increasing dependence on paid, advertisers are once again concerned about first party data collection. ” “ We are therefore betting on the return of engagement programs, contact plans and the collection of consumer data ,” continues Lucas Denjean . A regaining of control over the data which cannot be done without compensation: “ For this, we must offer something in exchange, a service, a functional benefit, an endowment . »
– From social listening to emotion listening
Authenticity and quest for meaning, consumers are demanding more sincerity and emotion from brands. This is why, “ beyond technological trends and uses, on digital even more than elsewhere, brands want to create a connection with their audiences ,” says Laura Meunier , strategic planner at tequilarapido. And for this, what could be better than going through emotional stimuli? ”
Also read: The Best Digital Strategy For Your Website?
