With the onset of this year, we are again hit by another variant of Covid-19. Looking at the brighter side, people have adopted new ways of living and have survived a long way. Here, are the latest marketing trends from people of various industries.
Priyanka Nijhawan, Director, Nijhawan Group
The pandemic has diverted the travellers to make more sustainable and conscious choices for their travel itinerary. Travel is no longer a luxury but a necessity now. Travellers are prepared to spend more money on travel experiences, services, and accommodations that ensure their well-being. There has been a visibly increased emphasis on leisure. You may want to focus your efforts on FIT leisure depending on your business, and design package deals to appeal to these demographics. Another significant trend to foresee and focus on is immediate bookings, as individuals are not booking as far in advance as they were prior to the outbreak. The last two years have been marked by uncertainty, which is expected to pervade one’s travel habits. 2022 is the year where people will go all-out and take up every travel opportunity that arises without waiting for tomorrow.
Mahesh Natarajan, COO, Ananda in the Himalayas
Ananda in the Himalayas, recognised as one of the world’s leading wellness retreats. Looking at today’s scenario of the pandemic, health and wellness plays a vital role. Ananda augments its expertise in ancient wellness offerings with a newly introduced range of traditional oriental therapies. These techniques will play a vital role in enhancing the effectiveness of Ananda’s holistic wellbeing programmes. The wellness programmes at Ananda incorporate traditional Indian wellness sciences of Ayurveda, Yoga and Meditation and now Oriental therapies such as Acupuncture, Cupping, Moxibustion, Tibetan Kuu Nye, Kundalini and Japanese Shiatsu. Together, they are among the oldest systems of preventive healing in the world.
The new Ananda Rebalance wellness programme (minimum 7 nights) addresses hormonal balance, specifically for menopause in women and also address changes in testosterone and other hormones in men.
Tigist Eshetu, Regional Director India Sub Continent, Ethiopian Airlines.
This year begins as a continuation of last year’s pandemic and the new “Normal” is part of the adjustment process. The need to focus on innovative ideas and adapt to the changing environment is of paramount importance at this point in time.
The Aviation Industry which faced its biggest backlash enabled Ethiopian Airlines to shift its priorities. We will be focusing on the movement of Cargo as our core business until such time that the passenger market fully revives. We have a state-of-the-art and fully functioning MRO Engineering base in Addis Ababa. It provides services to other airlines and third-party customers. We intend to provide those services in India as well. Lastly, promoting digital contactless services such as online booking, online payment, web check-in as those practices are the current trend.
Barun Gupta, Director of Sales and Marketing, Crowne Plaza Greater Noida.
As we look towards 2022, my advice to marketers would be to focus on building their marketing strategies keeping in mind the digital evolution in order to remain market relevant. As the pandemic has made it mandatory for businesses to maintain a strong digital presence, tools like video marketing, virtual reality, live streaming, email marketing, voice search optimization, influencer marketing, artificial intelligence (AI), organic SEO among others will play a prominent role in marketing in 2022. Talking about the future of marketing, I personally feel that marketing – be it of any kind, would be a necessity now for businesses to grow.
Kavita Ghai, Marketing Head, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa
With the unwelcoming start of 2022 due to Omicron variant, Marketers must be aware that consumers are feeling as ground down as they are and brands will continue to pin their hopes on something better coming around the bend. Consumers will have shifting expectations, and will also have a self-reliant mindset, knowing that they need to always be prepared for anything. Thus, brands must be adaptive to swings in the consumer mood and should be able to respond in real-time to them. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will continue to capture consumers, digital ad spending will increase along with the focus on buzzy short-form platforms like Instagram Reels, Short Facebook Videos, etc. Influencer marketing