Advertising Week New York ‘23: Top trends and tips.

Advertising Week NY curates a rich blend of immersive brand activations with inspiring keynotes and insightful panels, uniting the industry to unpack the biggest ideas, latest innovations and most wrestle-worthy issues of today. So what's shaking and shaping today's creative agenda and how did experience marketing show up at Advertising Week NY 2023?

Written by Andy Sexton & Kate Fulford-Brown.

1) AI tops the bill.

The AI hype machine was loud and seductive, with insightful discussions on AI’s evolving role in marketing, creativity and society.

AI helps us change the order of the creative process and unlocks new non-linear thinking.
Responsible usage must be built into the tools.
Adobe Firefly has created over 3 billion images already – 1 billion in the last four weeks.
Bots x Brains. Human-AI collaboration is key as the rapid democratising of tech continues.
YOU are the creator. Spend an hour each day crafting your prompt engineering. Better input = better output. One-third of Americans have used generative AI.

2) New design realities.

As we continue to merge digital and physical experiences, it’s clear that AR/VR/MR and Web3 can be leveraged to deepen brand connection.

New design realities is the merging and converging of portable 3D assets that can be used across multiple channels, platforms and tools.
Technology is the enabler, not the idea.
AR can bring brands into the home, dimensionally, in ways no other tech can offer, but without a good storyline, the novelty isn’t enough.
Your digital likeness is valuable, own it.
The physical world has become a canvas, a layer that we can build upon and manipulate – it’s context for your content.

3) There’s still a Metaverse.

It’s harder than ever to build trust and relevance with today’s conscientious consumers. Gen Z looks to content first, so how do we build trust through content, across different channels?

Emerging audiences are different to established ones. Create new things in new channels – be where your customers are.
Human ‘assets’ are easier to trust (for example @Jakefromstatefarm) but you can digitise these characters credibly.
Home Depot’s ‘Redcliff City’ metaspace had 10 million visitors, a 15 minute dwell time and 85% completion.
Games are the future of entertainment. Immersive, interactive opportunities to engage like nowhere else.

4) The B2B renaissance.

B2B is undergoing a renaissance as business models, innovation drivers and buyers evolve dramatically – some of the most profitable companies across the globe are B2B companies.

B2B budgets are on the rise for 2024.
The B2B CMO role is growing in impact, driving demonstrable revenue and growth.
Storytelling has emerged as more important than ever in B2B, the mechanic to build emotion.
Six out of 10 leaders acknowledge the increasing importance of brand building (even sales leaders).
In-person events and experiences are the #1 marketing activity B2B marketers intend to use in 2024.

Download the LinkedIN Global B2B Benchmark

5) The Barbie experience.

From a doll to a cultural phenomenon, Barbie has become THE experience brand and she’s got a lot to teach us about experience marketing.

Limitless channel extensions through retail, screen, metaverse, social and OOH with 165 brand partnerships around the world.
Barbie is an idea rather than a doll or even a brand. She’s whatever the kid playing wants her to be.
The world created the pink trend, not Mattel. It’s all about post-pandemic optimism and the hunt for escapism.
A new era for brand extensions and entertainment collaborations. Mattel’s shifting from a toy company to an experience entertainment company.
New scale coming to ‘experience Barbieland’.

6) The purpose advantage.

Next-generation ‘exponential’ organisations all have an underlying purpose to positively impact the world – this propels them forwards.

The Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP)* describes the change in the world that you want to achieve, the positive impact you want to create.
Leveraging a brand’s MTP helps shape uniquely transformative experiences others can recreate.
Transformation is the change you make, not a transaction you pursue.
People want to know what their part is, what role they play and how they find their purpose in contributing – elevate the employee experience.

*From ‘Exponential Organizations’ by Salim Ismail

7) The future is female.

TFQ (The Female Quotient) is the equality engine for the world’s greatest businesses – and they dominated AWNY 2023.

The power of connection. The Equality Lounge® was large, warm and welcoming. Micro-experiences and activations were rich with opinion and optimism.
The power of communication. Exceptional and varied ‘always on’ content programming, captured and distributed through live social feeds.
The power of change. Bold insights at every junction, informative and inspirational messaging created depth and empowerment.
AWNY had a welcome level of focus on female content through the wider event program with “The future is female” awards (sponsored by WBD), Female Creative Leaders and Women in AI.

How can you create The Experience Advantage® at AWNY (pro tips for 2024)?

Forget what you know about Cannes Lions, AWNY is a very different experience – less focus on creativity, less agency attendees, less parties, less polished content – but it’s busy and richly curated, so lean into these pro tips for 2024:

Queues (or lines!)…you’ll be there a while so make friends.
If you’re a brand, be clear on what and who you’re there for. Focus.
Plan your schedule and absorb like a sponge – this one is more about the content than the meetings.
Understand the venue – this year’s space (The Penn District) was very unusual, activating in a disused shopping mall takes a different mindset.
Keep it simple, focus on the audience.
Think 360. Create unique content on site, infiltrate the session agenda, activate with a big idea rather than a big space.

Let’s talk.

If you’d like to discuss supercharging your brand experiences, contact us to make the most of moments that matter.