Digital MarketingKey insights: OTT, CMOs’ agenda, and consumer engagement in 2021

Key insights: OTT, CMOs’ agenda, and consumer engagement in 2021

One-fifth of the US population will use Disney+ in 2021, CMOs will be heavily responsible for marketing strategy and capturing new markets, some key themes that will be the heart of brand marketing success.

30-second summary:

  • Disney+ will pioneer the OTT market with 72.4 million US monthly viewers in 2020 as it marks its first year.
  • Marketers will need to strategize their ad spend and campaign designs mindfully as ad-free streaming will continue to reign in 2021.
  • Top five priorities for C-suite will be – Improved productivity, risk management, the transition to digital platforms/technologies, improving customer engagement, and retaining top talent.
  • 81% of CMOs stated to have a crucial impact on the C-suite’s marketing strategy conversations proving that they will take center stage in 2021 and the years to come.
  • CMOs will be heavily responsible for marketing strategy (81%) and capturing new markets (67%) with a fair share of voice even in the product road map (39%).
  • Consumers want to purchase from brands that align with their beliefs and are more conscious. In fact, organizations that better align consumers’ values are 2x as likely to outperform peers in revenue growth.
  • A more human and value-driven approach will be at the heart of winning customer trust.
  • Find out more about how communities and consumer engagement will help businesses drive growth and transformation.

This week our key insights aim to give you a vantage point of the marketing technology industry, OTT trends, C-suite’s priorities for 2021, how CMOs will spearhead strategic market growth, and other key themes around consumer engagement that will be crucial for organizations to succeed in a new, emerging world.

OTT will continue to win in 2021

OTT streaming services saw the largest screentime share as Netflix reached 200 million subscribers while Disney+ racked up 60 million subscribers in record time further fueling the streaming wars in 2021. As per Fox Business, these were the top five OTT services as per subscriber counts were – 

  1. Netflix
  2. Disney+
  3. Hulu
  4. HBO Max
  5. Amazon Prime

OTT viewer stats in 2020 and 2024

According to Insider Intelligence, Disney+ will pioneer the OTT market with 72.4 million US monthly viewers in 2020 as it marks its first year. In fact, the estimate shows that one-fifth of the US population will use Disney+ in 2021 which will climb to one-fifth of the US population in 2024. 

New entrants will have to grapple for their audiences as the existing leaders will struggle to create waves in the market. 

Viewers are spending most of their time with ad-free viewing on OTT platforms – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ which comprise half of the total streaming time. The other half of steam time is divided between Apple TV+, Pluto TV, and Hulu. These statistics imply that marketers will need to strategize their ad spend and campaign designs mindfully as ad-free streaming will continue to reign in 2021.

C-suite priorities for 2021

Improved productivity, risk management, transition to digital platforms/technologies, improving customer engagement, and retaining top talent will be the fast five priorities for C-suite. In terms of segmented priorities, C-suite’s top focus areas for 2021 ranked by Delloite’s Global Marketing Trends will be: 

  • Digital and technology (68%)
  • Marketing and sales (61%)

C-suite's priorities for 2021

Here’s a C-suite priority list as per the report:

  1. Engaged in new partnerships to better serve customer needs (45%)
  2. Continue to transform how the organization engages with customers (39%)
  3. Entering new geographic markets (38%)
  4. Pivot product offerings (37% intend to continue while 50% showed intentions of retaining parts of their new offerings)
  5. Entering new industries (35%)

CMOs take center stage in 2021

The CMO will continue to have an increasing impact on C-suite conversations. In 2020, 46% of CMOs stated to have a crucial impact on the C-suite’s marketing strategy conversations – now this statistic has roughly doubled to 81% proving that CMOs will take center stage in 2021 and the years to come. The table represented below shows that CMOs will be heavily responsible for marketing strategy (81%) and capturing new markets (67%) with a fair share of voice even in the product road map (39%).

CMOs and their areas of impactKey priorities for CMOs will be:

  1. Cost optimization
  2. Customer research to understand and improve cultural awareness that impacts brand affinity and buying behavior
  3. Customer engagement
  4. Agility
  5. Focus on community building

CMOs and their need for agility

Focus on the human aspect and a value-driven approach to win consumer engagement and trust

Organizations will need to operate as a human entity and empathetic leadership will serve as the first step. A more human and value-driven approach will be at the heart of winning customer trust. A common theme that has recurringly occurred across our Advisory board meetings, virtual events, our key insights, and even the Gartner Leadership Vision for 2021: Chief Marketing Officer is – Consciousness and aligning with consumers’ values. 

Consumers want to purchase from brands that align with their beliefs and are more conscious. In fact, organizations that better align consumers’ values are 2x as likely to outperform peers in revenue growth.

One in four consumers is prone to drift away from brands that act in self-interest while they (70%) will value and lean towards brands that help deepen their connections with other people during times of adversity.

Deloitte’s report also mentioned, 

To truly ensure that an organization operates as a human entity, it needs to balance human needs with speed-to-market and efficiency objectives—or risk greater accrual of “experience debt.”

CMOs and brands need to focus on human aspects to win customer trust

CMOs will need to be conscious of their community

Humans are social animals and the “social” part is what will be at the heart of growth in 2021. In order to identify and rectify blind spots, CMOs, CEOs, and brands as entities will need to listen to their communities for a clear understanding of their sentiments, outlook, values, expectations, and pain points. The most effective tools for focusing on communities and consumers will be:

  1. Social listening 
  2. First-party data from self-conducted surveys
  3. Customer feedback and review

The next segment dives into how the community tangent has shown to add value in the form of customer engagement.

Consumer engagement insights

37% of consumers have been instrumental in deeper consumer engagement activities at least once a week which ranged across key elements of the brand and product spectrum of providing direct input on design. Following this were two other crucial, deep engagement elements where consumers engaged the most – giving online advice (35%) and creating content (35%).

listening to community and consumer engagement - how they impact brands

32% of consumers participated in online conversations about brands. Brand engagement has been at its prime as 21% of consumers gave online advice on products or services while 15% provided direct input on design, and 14% developed original content for a brand.

The top four countries in terms of online brand engagement were:

  1. Brazil (67%)
  2. China (59%)
  3. UK (51%)
  4. USA (49%)

China has achieved the deepest form of customer engagement as:

  • One in four people providing direct input on design 
  • One in five people created original content for a brand

consumer engagement with brands across countries

Consumer engagement: The most engaged groups

Deloitte’s Global Marketing Trends Participation Survey found that consumers of age groups 18-25 and 26-45 are the most engaged folks. In fact, consumers aged 25+ were the most passionate about engaging with brands online which are seen in the graph below.

consumer engagement is passion driven for 25+ year olds

ClickZ readers’ choice for the week

Our readers, week on week continue to find strategic key insights on the martech industry landscape, the digital marketing trends, and email marketing predictions for 2021.

  1. Key Insights: Revenue attribution, digital titans, advertising & AI forecasts
  2. The digital marketing forecast for 2021
  3. Continuing trends & new opportunities: 5 predictions for email marketing

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