For many of us, 2023 has been awful, with multiple wars and the associated atrocities, constant price rises, marketing spend being cut, job losses and more. Surely 2024 can only be better, right?
However, with an election possible, even likely, new price rises on fuel already planned to kick in early in the year, and no obvious let-up in terms of pressure on cost and resource, it is hard to be massively positive.
Yet, we have to be. So what are the positive things we can cling onto?
Well, first of all artificial intelligence and its use is starting to have an impact and we are starting to see some benefits as a result.
At the moment I see these as being micro benefits, small changes to how content is broken up for use across multiple media, or how translations are done, how search is being refined, or how models are being improved with the use of machine learning. But it won’t be long before these micro benefits are being transferred into macro, long-term, impactful benefits.
In addition, regulation will kick in harder in 2024 with the change to cookie laws. This change will start being rolled out partway through 2024 and it is expected that by the end of 2024, third party cookies will have been entirely removed from browsers altogether. We have to see this as a positive move.
For those of us who are data driven, this means that direct marketing principles – profile, target, learn and refine – need to be applied to digital channels and we should see better media unification as a result.
And finally with Scotland having qualified with relative ease for a major football tournament, I predict we will qualify for the second round for the first time ever. It might not be a perfect year in 2024 but if that happens, at least I’ll be a happy man.
Scott Logie is chief commercial officer at data solutions experts Sagacity
