As 2024 kicks into full throttle, it’s time to explore the Ins and Outs that will set the tone for the year ahead.

We want to highlight our top seven Ins for 2024, and say a graceful farewell to the Outs that we won’t be needing anymore.

What's In for 2024:

1. Crafted Emotional Experiences

A multi-sensory dinner under the stars, an enchanting escape into augmented reality, and personalized interactions beyond purchasing a product are igniting excitement among luxury consumers.

The common thread? Creating lasting emotional impressions that linger long after the experience. As more brands and products lean into creating experiences, those in the luxury space will need to elevate their game because anything that’s cookie-cutter or uninspired won’t resonate with the luxury audience.

2. Joyful Inspiration, Wonder, and Awe

Small joys for the win! In a world filled with turbulence, companies and creators have the power to bring joy. The yang to the ying of Crafted Emotional Experiences, the small moments of joy and wonder are all about leaning into micro-opportunities of emotional connection.

You don’t have to make every interaction and experience earth-shatteringly transformative, but if you take the time and care to spark joy and awe at small points of connection, you might just end up making someone’s day.

3. Wellness Beyond the Spa

Think beyond a body scrub and facial. Wild swimming, meditation hikes, forest bathing, slow mornings at home, and staycations—luxury consumers want a break from the stress and workloads of daily life.

What better way to do it than reconnecting with nature and taking a break from doom scrolling on social. Marketers will need to be more aware of what their target audience is experiencing and create marketing cadence that will complement the wellness-focused life rhythms many are taking steps to cultivate in 2024.

4. Cold-cations and Gig-tripping

Hawaii, Mexico, Bora Bora? Nope! We believe more travellers will be opting for cold plunges in Antarctica. Instead of rehashing the nice but overused beach and island scenes, find ways to inspire the audience with experiences and marketing that isn’t afraid to lean into the chilly side of things.

If staying away from the cold is a must for your brand or client, then take note of the increased interest surrounding specific destination concerts and events. If a destination adds to the event or experience, then consumers may happily add the travel as part of the luxury experience.

5. Social Transparency

While BeReal hit its peak by year-end 2022 and saw a steep decline in 2023, the social platform’s values of being more honest, real, and embracing the #nofilter life have impacted the conversation and content on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

In the luxury space, just be extra cautious that real doesn’t mean sloppy, messy, or boring. Rather, look for opportunities to create things that feel and look less editorial and more authentic.

6. Campaigns Based Around Cultural Moments

Creating marketing campaigns centred on cultural phenomena is a solid way into the hearts of Gen Y and Z. Consider 'Barbenheimer,’ which evolved into an audience-driven phenomenon making an impact way beyond the theatre.

And if you’re questioning whether luxury marketing should ever target Gen Z, consider this: Gen Z are buying luxury items up to five years earlier than their Millennial predecessors, and 21% of them are buying these luxury goods online.

7. Standardization of AI

In 2023 we learned A LOT about AI. Lots of excitement, mixed with some confusion, and all the messy things that happened in between. In 2024, we see AI tools becoming the standard on both sides of the customer journey.

Marketers who are not leveraging the fullness of AI tools for research, content, and creating digital experiences will fall behind. On the customer experience side, the general alleviation of fears around AI in addition to personal experiences with different tools mean that customers are more expecting of AI integrations as part of their experience.

More importantly, it will also become far more common for customers to use AI tools to navigate everything from initial exploration to final purchase. Marketers need to start considering the mediator role that AI tools will play in connecting customers with your brand and products.

What's Out for 2024:

1. Hyperstimulation

Navigating intricate decision webs is overwhelming, and bombarding consumers with too many options sets the stage for confusion and overstimulation. Time to dial down the decision-making chaos! First place to start, annoying pop-ups on websites (unless you want your homepage to feel tacky, outdated, and cheap).

2. Green-washing

Empty eco-pledges on behalf of companies won’t cut it in 2024. Consumers want to see their favourite brands taking actionable steps towards sustainability, with observable behaviour and results. It’s no longer enough to talk about environmental concerns for the sake of raising awareness if you’re not putting into practice what you preach.

3. Being Non-Selective on Social

Sharing the same content on all social platforms in a quest to increase reach and stay relevant is over. Both audiences and brands are taking a hard shift away from this mentality.

Rather than spreading time and resources thin by replicating content across multiple platforms, we anticipate more companies will focus on select platforms where their audience is most active, and their content thrives.

4. Unethical AI Use

As conversations around AI ethics continue to evolve, the consensus leans towards the necessity of responsible and considerate AI implementation that ultimately prioritizes the protection and enhancement of human life.

5. Generic Marketing

Companies will be shifting from generic, one-size-fits-all marketing approaches towards personalized strategies that target the unique needs and desires of consumers. If you want to discover how we utilize consumer personas to target distinct consumer behaviours and elevate our marketing campaigns, be sure to read this blog.

6. Excessive Materialism

Consumer sentiments suggest that people aren’t looking for more stuff or junk that provides little to no value. Goodbye knick-knacks, low-quality impulsive purchases, and crappy marketing collateral. Quality over quantity all day, every day, please.

7. Broken Brand Promises

It seems like this should have been out decades ago, but here we are. Brands failing to uphold promises risk losing their consumers. Consumers will easily opt for alternatives and are not afraid to switch it up if the brands they once loved end up failing them time and time again.

And that’s it! We’ll circle back in December of 2024 and rate how our Ins and Outs fared. PSA: trends will change, predictions come and go, but doing good work with good people should always be the top priority.

Feel free to reach out here to start a conversation with our group of really good people.