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At Bowen, we fully understand the daunting task of priming a business for the upcoming year. Adapting a brand to meet an evolving digital culture is vital for successfully positioning a brand, time and time again. The best digital agencies pave a smooth digital roadmap for businesses, ensuring that goals are met each step of the way. Go behind the scenes and take a look at the shifting landscape of marketing, and how we’re working to navigate it.

Interrupting the Status-Quo

Moving towards 2018, we are noticing a major societal shift in the cultural zeitgeist. With a prevalence of gender bending throughout Hollywood, there is a mirrored demand for gender-neutrality amongst brands.

By breaking with tradition, banishing gender norms and tearing down stereotypes, gender ambiguity and fluidity is making its way to the forefront. In a survey, 38 percent of Generation Z respondents and 27 percent of millennial respondents “strongly agreed” that gender no longer defines a person as much as it used to. If we are to take social cues from these statistics, gender-specific targets will no longer have the same impact it once did. A 2015 study showed that traditional gender roles will play a lesser role in consumers lives within the next ten years. Digital agencies can no longer rely on such old-fashioned, one-dimensional roles for individuals. This social shift necessitates change within our internal marketing efforts to meet a more gender-fluid landscape.

Bowen works with FREE, whose mission is to help individuals of all abilities realize their full potential. Through community empowerment, and resources ranging from housing and transportation to employment, community services and education, FREE is constantly branching out to meet the needs of its surrounding individuals. Bowen is currently spearheading the creative direction for an initiative called Prideability to celebrate and support members of the LGBTQ and differently abled community.

Visual Content is Key

People are likely to retain 10% of information three days later when it is presented on its own, versus retaining 65% of the information with a relevant image paired. The importance of switching up your content distribution methods cannot be stressed enough. In knowing that 65% of people are visual learners, a simple infographic, video, image or screenshot can drastically change the way content is being received. Brand awareness can skyrocket with the right usage of visuals, as they are more likely to be shared across various social platforms.

Valuing the “Virtual Tribe”

The goal is being shifted from the individual to the greater good. Media is powered by the people, for the people and its users are focusing more on the communities being built from within it. People are forming virtual communities, and placing trust in one another’s experience. Much of this trust is formed by user-generated content. The methods of distribution for UGC span from blogging, reviews and forum posts to video and image content. With a rise in live video streaming, we are creating new networks for underrepresented communities at large. Bowen has partnered with the Mill Neck Family of Organizations to create an online hub for deaf individuals to access resources and communicate with one another in forums through video.

In a study conducted by Nielson ratings, an impressive 85% of people trusted content created by others over brands’ content. This is essentially creating space for micro-influencer marketing. With the rise of shared digital media, we are strengthening our social networks. Addressing the collective, shifting to the group experience and identifying our commonalities are allowing us to rediscover the power of shared content and communal concepts.

Bowen worked with FREE to create a space for Stop the Bounce, an initiative to support those in foster care in need of a loving home. The campaign began as a children’s book written by the President of FREE. Stop the Bounce effectively communicates the impact that the foster care system has on those in it by posting video stories of eight young individuals. Through the power of video, we put a face to the experience as the children share their personal stories and suggestions for prospective parents.  

Remember that whenever you are choosing a digital marketing agency, it is essential to make sure that your vision is achievable and grounded in data-driven results. If you are just getting started, choose a digital marketing agency that can effectively collaborate and communicate the vision for your company’s future. 

Check out our work, and see what Bowen can do for you.

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