How to Know Which Trends Will Shape 2022
A year ago hardly anyone knew what an NFT was. Even fewer had heard of something called the Metaverse, and Instagram still defined itself as a photo-sharing app. The acceleration of digital was ignited by the pandemic, causing a paradigm shift in how brands connect with consumers.
Below are 5 of the top digital trends we wrote about in 2021 that future-focused brands need to embrace to lead growth through 2022:
Rise of the Metaverse
2021 was the birth year of the metaverse. While we first wrote about the concept in June of 2020, it was just this past year when brands began experimenting at scale. Leaders like Vans and Nike built fully immersive experiences blending gaming with community and commerce to great effect in Roblox along with Gucci, which celebrated their 100th anniversary on the platform. Here they launched digital twins of classics like their Dionysus mini chain bag, which sold for more than its real-world counterpart. Balenciaga followed up by launching their first-ever Fortnite capsule collaboration, which quickly sold out.
What’s next
What the internet was to the ‘90s and what social media was to the ’00s, the metaverse is for brands today. In 2022, metaverse activations will become table stakes, especially for brands targeting Gen Z.
NFTs Go Mainstream
In 2021 we saw our real lives go increasingly digital as we spent more time and money virtually than ever before. We first wrote about this “dematerialization of consumption” in June of 2021 as a prolific shift in human behavior ascribing tangible value to intangible things. Since then CryptoPunk NFTs went on to sell for over $1 million and brands as diverse as Burberry, Coca-Cola, Mattel, and Louis Vuitton began experimenting with NFTs. Dolce and Gabbana, for example, launched an NFT-based hybrid couture capsule generating $6 million in days.
What’s next
In 2022 we’ll see web3 strategies coalesce further around NFTs providing consumers with new forms of ownership, identity, and community that deepen brand equity and strengthen consumer loyalty.
Social Shifts to Video
When TikTok became one of the most downloaded apps of 2021, we wrote about how it forced Instagram’s hand to make some major changes. In a move to remain relevant and stem the loss of Gen Z love, Instagram announced it was no longer just a photo-sharing service and would instead prioritize video. This created an opportunity for brands to boost organic visibility on the platform by producing more video-based content. Although video consumption has been on the rise for years, 2021 will be remembered as the tipping point when video finally took the lead.
What’s next
By 2022, online video will make up more than 82% of all consumer internet traffic according to Cisco, driving brands to produce more content for Reels on Instagram and develop an “always-on” strategy for TikTok as it continues to win market share beyond its core Gen Z base
Evolution of Social Commerce
While the pandemic may have lit the fuse for social shopping, in 2021 we saw lightspeed evolution and adoption as it grew 36% in the US to $36.62 billion evidenced by the rise of #tiktokmademebuyit. The hashtag has now been viewed more than 7 billion times. In March of 2021, we wrote about the expansion of social commerce to include live shopping which reached $11 billion in the US powered in part by drop marketplaces like NTWRK, and features like “shop with friends" which Charlotte Tilbury recently launched for the holidays. All the major platforms now offer some form of commerce, even Twitter – which Walmart called the "future of retail."
What’s next
Next year, US-focused social apps will continue to take the lead from Asia’s super-apps and find ways to increasingly combine community and commerce. The elevation of the shopping experience from a lonely detached action to a more engaging experience shared with friends provides brands with an opportunity to differentiate in 2022.
Community Builds the Brand
Tired of being tracked, targeted, and re-targeted, young consumers continued to seek out private communities in 2021 where they can be themselves, hang out with friends and go deep on what they love. We wrote about this trend of consumers moving away from the public feeds in 2020 and again this year as Discord became the community platform of choice for Gen Z consumers. What started out as a gaming chat app has now evolved into a $7 billion powerhouse with 19 million groups and 150 million monthly active users. Through text, chat, video, and live audio rooms, consumers can have meaningful conversations with their favorite brands and creators. Early access to limited editions and exclusive threads for high-value customers create scarcity and deepen relationships in ways simply not possible on social media.
What’s next
Sneakerheads, Hypebeasts, and NFT collectors are among Discord’s early adopters, providing a 2022 framework for brands serving consumers across adjacent, community-driven categories like fashion, beauty, luxury, and entertainment.
Looking towards 2022, it’s clear we’re on the precipice of more meaningful and deeper digital experiences. The rise of the metaverse, digital ownership in the form of NFTs, and the culmination of commerce, community, and content are once-in-a-generation opportunities for first-mover brands to drive growth. Laggards who are unable or unwilling to adapt to change will find themselves losing relevance and fighting for survival.
In The News:
TheWrap – Commentary by Quynh Mai, MI&C Founder & CEO
Why BuzzFeed May Already Be in Trouble as a Newly Public Company
“If the lifestyle and fashion digital publications, like Refinery29 and Vice, have struggled to grow with e-commerce, how can a news site think it can?” Mai said. “Today, consumers and primarily Gen Z consume most of their media from TikTok and Twitter, so right there, the connection to the consumer is severed. Without that deep, daily connection to the consumer, retail growth is impossible.” – Quynh Mai, MI&C Founder & CEO
This article originally appeared in the December 14th, 2021 issue of Moving Image & Content’s agency newsletter. Subscribe here.