Inclusive Trends for 2024

By Russ Gottwald, Associate Strategy Director – PACO Collective

When we look for trends to watch in any given year, it helps to think of them in the context of mega-trends – long-term cultural questions that don’t resolve one way or the other. These are topics like whether brands should take stands on cultural or political issues, how increasing consumer savviness conflicts with motivated ignorance, or how the ability to target increasingly fine-tuned groups of people exists in a world where any statement or campaign is accessible to the entire population. The trends of 2024 are variations on these larger themes.

The Ongoing DEI Debate – Where Do Brands Fit?

Following the murder of George Floyd and the protests that followed it, America’s perspective on race, racism, and how to think about both shifted very rapidly. The concept of systemic racism entered the general consciousness, and younger generations in particular – being more diverse and more inclined to believe that diversity is a strength rather than a weakness of American society – became more willing to say it existed and that we should combat it.

The debate over systemic racism inevitably got folded into the larger polarization in American society. At first glance, the increasing focus on DEI and subsequent backlash against “woke-ism” looks like Newton’s Third Law applied to politics. The reality is more complex – agreeing that systemic racism is a serious problem doesn’t mean people will agree on how best to combat it. And that question is just one of many in a larger DEI debate with eddies and crosscurrents cutting against a simple left/right divide.

The combination of polarization, intra-partisan disagreement, and a presidential election heightening the importance of all political topics mean that 2024 will be a particularly perilous time for brands caught in an omni-directional crossfire. Why? Because Americans also don’t agree with whether brands should take stands on social or political topics. Over half aren’t interested – but those who are, expect them to do so and consider it of great importance. With almost 2/3 of consumers expecting brands to connect with them, how to reconcile those expectations and the partisan divide is a lot to consider. One crucial takeaway: whatever a brand does, it should be prepared to stick to it. Nobody wants to be the next Bud Light, and a clear action plan based on authenticity to the brand and fidelity with consumers will help make engagement on any topic meaningful and sustainable.

Identity: from Unique to Universal

Identity isn’t what it used to be. Thanks to factors like the census allowing individuals to select more than one racial or ethnic category – soon to be joined by the addition of more granular national origin options, as well – and greater awareness of concepts like intersectionality and colorism, Americans increasingly rank multiple elements as equally important when it comes to how they define their own identities. Our identities are becoming hyper-specific, but we also identify with ever-greater numbers of other people whose identities overlap with our own.

Brands also face a tension between the ability to be hyper-specific when targeting groups and telling stories featuring them, and the pressure to be as efficient with budgets as possible. Co-creation and collaboration offer a way to resolve the tension, while also staying more authentic than might otherwise be possible. By amplifying specific voices, we not only center marginalized stories; we also create opportunities to demonstrate their universal appeal and importance. Of course, we also create opportunities for backlash. But we shouldn’t run from that, and we certainly shouldn’t back down in the face of it…if for no other reason that doing so will just make everyone angry while appeasing nobody.

Battles over Data Abound

When it comes to data, people expect transparency. And privacy. And responsibility. And accountability. And control. And…well, you get the picture. Conflicting demands over how data is collected, stored, used, and even owned aren’t going away anytime soon. And they’ll affect whether and how data can become a tool to foster greater inclusion and belonging for marginalized and historically excluded groups and subcultures of people.

The battle over data is itself the trend for 2024. How will policy reflect these competing demands? When rights collide, which will we prioritize? What will “inclusion” mean in the data sector? How much will decisions in places like the EU and Communist China affect how data is handled and perceived in the United States? Will zero-party and/or synthetic data offer ways to address some of these questions?

No matter what the answers 2024 holds – and we don’t believe they’ll be the final answers in any case – we can confidently predict one thing: transparency will continue to hold the key to trust for advertisers.

AI’s Opportunities and Limitations Reflect Those in Human Society

We’ve talked about AI bias before – its presence, what it says about us, and what we can learn from it. Well, the lessons keep coming – and perhaps the most important is that even our efforts to correct for bias contain their own biases. They also remind us that it’s very, very tricky to teach AI.

Bias is of course just one issue we’ll be confronting in terms of AI and inclusion. Fortunately, the technology offers magnificent opportunities as well as challenges. The ability to assist volunteers and to help people fulfill religious calls they might not otherwise be able to are just two of the many ways AI can help enhance human experiences and lives.

Rather than replacing human judgment, AI brings new challenges that require it. The trend for 2024 will be the struggle by brands, agencies, governments, and people in general to harness that judgment.

How They Fit in the Mega-Trends

The battle over DEI is part of the larger question of whether, when, and how brands should take stances on major issues of public interest. The increasingly complex way in which people define their identities, and how brands can reach and speak for them accordingly, is a manifestation of the niche vs. universal paradox we’ve seen in marketing for nearly 20 years. As we’ve briefly examined, opportunities abound in both.

The struggles over data and AI we’ll see – and participate in! – this year are more fraught than many because so many of us are unfamiliar with and uncertain about them both. The absence of common frames of reference has affected all manner of public discourse of late; that’s the mega-trend the two final trends manifest. That absence is even more keenly felt when we don’t even have a frame of reference to find a frame of reference. But as we stagger towards some consensus, keeping an eye towards transparency, inclusion, and belonging for all will help ensure these powerful tools aren’t used to the detriment of society.