2024 is Year of Marketing Challenges
Advice: Adapt Like Giant Squid
At the start of the Year of Dragon, Your Answers presents marketing trends predicted by Asst. Prof. Dr. Ake Pattaratanakun for everyone to foresee what the economy and marketing scenes will be like in 2024. Our guru describes 2024 as an “extremely challenging year”. Enterprises therefore must fast adapt, otherwise it will just be too late.
Global Economy, Obstacles and Solutions
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ake says “things will be tough and challenging in 2024” based on insights shared by 121 chief marketing officers (CMO) via the Marketing Association of Thailand. In the CMOs’ opinion, the economy will grow by just 1.33 percent and marketing budget will rise by 2.99 percent only.
Three main obstacles are: 1. Wars that cover various areas and exist in many forms; 2. Gloomy global economy, especially in light of soaring policy interest rate and the shortage of many raw materials; and 3. Lower investment budget in the private sector, which in turn will slow down the global economy.
Yet, the guru believes three industries in Thailand have brighter prospects than others. Enterprises therefore should try to connect with them:
• Tourism industry: The government intends to promote tourism in a bid to attract more international visitors. As tourists’ travel budget gets smaller, they will look for a destination with value for money. Thai tourism therefore has got a good chance in such climate.
• Health industry: Wellness, Prevention and Recovery sectors should be doing well because health is the new wealth in 2024. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, several diseases such as Influenza A and B have spread widely. People, therefore have continued to accord importance to healthcare. In Sakon Nakhon, local indigo fabrics no longer focus on just colorful appeal. They also highlight their UV-protection property, which promises to reduce wearers’ risk of wrinkles and skin cancer.
• Tech industry: It will continue to be a star in the economy. Three top technologies in 2024 will be: 1. Artificial Intelligence (AI); 2. IoT (Internet of Things). Look at how Xiaomi toothbrush, temperature and weight can connect with one another on the internet paving the way for people to compile meaningful data and enjoy greater convenience; and 3. Robotics that looks set to lead the industry.
Marketing with Precision & Low Cost
In 2024, Precision Marketing is a must just like Low-cost Marketing. Today, there are so many marketing tools to consider. Marketers must choose the tools that fulfill objectives at the lowest budget. AI, for instance, can be leveraged to support marketing as AI Chatbot can answer customers’ queries and complete a sale without the need of human help. Enterprises who can develop such tech-enabled solution will be able to make money even during nighttime while also saving labor costs. Midjourney can help generate images that enterprises can use legally. Canva, meanwhile, is a cool tool for designing advertisements and Rytr.me is perfect for copywriting.
With the aforementioned tools, businesses will be able to achieve marketing objectives at a lower cost.