This year is expected to be a whopper and we can look forward to a lot happening. From it being a leap year, the 2016 Summer Olympics happening in Rio, to even the Juno Spacecraft finally reaching its destination on Jupiter. We’re making history happen!

Not one to ignore the trends, Decimal Agency is hopping on that exact bandwagon and making 2016 a year to impress. And in order to do that, we’ve armed ourselves with the latest trends in Advertising & Marketing to ensure you get more than you expected.


In order to pay special attention to each of our offerings, Decimal has looked at the trends occurring in the major silos of the industry:

Traditional ATL Advertising:

With Television and Internet advertising making up more than 60% of predicted adspend this year, it would be foolish not to pay attention to this type of media. Especially with international events, such as the Olympics and the much-talked-about US Presidential Elections, television will dominate in developing countries and rural areas. In fact, television advertising is projected to provide up to 30% of global revenue in the advertising industry.


Social Media Advertising:

Social Media this year will be connecting real-time living with the digital world, giving consumers the opportunity to educate themselves and to make convenient, well-informed choices - without much effort and right when they need it.

With the explosion of advancing Digital Technology, accompanied by multiple platforms and channels, Social Media Advertising has reached a point of limitless potential. Facebook is working on launching their own search engine, Snapchat will start embracing advertising, and even video streaming is becoming a vital marketing tool. In addition to this, Identity-based PPC (Pay Per Click) allows you to target specific consumers based on their phone numbers or email addresses.

With better Internet connections and evolving apps on all mobile and static devices, video streaming is taking over. Vlogs are allowing people to share their brand experiences with friends on a global scale, completely changing the very definition of word-of-mouth marketing. This makes for a potential goldmine in your advertising strategy.

The notion of Content Re-marketing is also taking Social Media by storm, with marketers being able to tag visitors on their site en re-targeting them with content after they have left. Digital marketers are using all these opportunities to create an Omni-channel experience, taking you from brand consideration right through to brand experience and after-sales opportunities.


Digital Media Advertising:

Working hand-in-hand with Social Media advertising, Digital Media is constantly changing and evolving. With new tools, platforms and technology, it might be difficult to stay abreast of the opportunities available.

Digital Marketing has long since not just been about SEO and mobile-friendly websites. Interaction and convenience is fast becoming an integral part of your advertising strategy, if not the complete foundation of it. By using multiple digital platforms (such as Smartphones, iPads and Apple watches) your brand should be creating seamless, engaging experiences.

With more personalised ways of avoiding adblockers and Social Media gaining more and more recognition, it is becoming easier for brands to build lasting relationships with their consumers, thus creating more loyalty and return purchasing.

Mobile use is expected to increase even more this year, dominating desktop use by far. Convenient and easy use of mobile technology should be your first thought when it comes to your advertising strategy.

But, of course, content is still king, using blogs, website content and Social Media to tell your brand’s story. Put yourself in your consumer’s shoes and give them content they can relate to.


Visual Design Trends:

It’s not only the back-end of advertising that is changing. Even the “window-dressing” is evolving and creating waves in the industry. While Graphic Design trends might not disappear overnight, there are definitely some interesting versions of the current styles heading into 2016.

In the past few years, designers have gotten a lot of retro inspiration from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, and they’ve mixed this with a sophisticated, minimalist twist. This year’s designs will follow the same trends, but with a more 80’s colourful, bright interpretation.

Flat designs will continue to dominate, with negative and white space still as critical as ever, leaving designs looking clean and noticeable. Designers are getting creative with negative space to create a few “picture-puns”. Dynamic logos, kinetic logos or logos that change-but-remain-the-same will also find greater appeal, offering the consumer something that is fresh yet familiar.

Handwritten fonts in logos are a rising influence, as this creates an honest, intimate feeling. By stacking the letters, you can also create a fun, interesting element, and “trick” the consumer into reading the whole name.


Overall Marketing Trends:

Put all these trends together, with a few basic principles, and you’ll get a winning advertising strategy to support your marketing objectives.

Not sure yet what your marketing objectives are? Well, here is what you should be concentrating on in 2016:

Relationship Marketing tops the list, where building stronger loyalty and long-term customer engagement trumps quick, short-term purchases every time. A personalised, intimate, relatable strategy is vital if you mean to succeed in 2016.

As technology continues to grow, marketing tools are becoming more specialised and advanced. This allows marketers to refine their targeting with location-based marketing. This makes it possible to target users at the point of engagement, giving them what they want, where they want it. It’s not just about what you say anymore. Marketing strategies have become a multi-dimensional challenge of “what, where, when, why and how” your message is communicated

Instead of moving slowly, marketing trends seem to be running into the digital space. With virtual reality tools, like the Oculus Rift, that create 360-degree brand experiences, to real time Social Media platforms (Snapchat) that make your consumer feel connected and unique. Your strategy needs to reflect this, with a strong support system of ATL, BTL and OTL tools.


As a TTL Advertising Agency, Decimal has all the tools, knowledge and experience to use these trends in successfull, result-bearing campaigns. Our skills set and creative genius not only leads to brilliant ideas, but also makes for actionable, realistic strategies that gives you results.