Top 5 Luxury Trends for 2022

The year end is fast approaching and as markters we are all deep in the trenches with planning for 2022. A big part of successful planning is keeping key trends for the year ahead front of mind, staying ahead of the curve and catering to audience behaviours and tech advancements. We, at VERB Brands are sharing our top five luxury digital trends for 2022 to consider for your planning for 2022. 

NFTs

NFT was crowned the word of the year by the Collins English Dictionary! And we’re not surprised. NFTs or non-fungible tokens have been a huge talking point of this year with few brands dipping their toes in the world of NFTs, with “gaming skins” (Louis Vuitton), digital / virtual products (Gucci) and digital asstes (adidas). We expect NFTs to become a huge part of a brand’s product portfolio, but also to start becoming the heart of a how luxury will begin to operate digitally. NFTs in their very essence create exclusivity as they are unique and original digital assets with one owner. We predict we will start seeing physical products be assigned an NFT asset, so that that product can be traced when it is resold, with blockchain technology registering that products ownership history. We also predict NFTs will sit at the heart of Luxury events with POAP NFTs. Proof of Attendance Protocol. We’ll be sharing more on this in the new year – watch this space. 

Ephemeral content 

Ephemeral content is having a real moment. What we mean by ephemeral content that it is live for a limited time only. This trend started many years ago with the launch of Snapchat; then Instagram Stories – the content that has a life span of 24 hours. The reason why we’re paying more attention to this content is that this year the usership of Instagram Stories has overtaken the usership of the Instagram feed. There is an urgency to view this content and it is typically very much content shared in the moment. Something that lends to another trend – lo-fi (low production) content.

Furthermore, in a few instances, we’re seeing content being approached in the same way as a limited edition product drop. Balenciaga have recently started taking the bold approach of sharing their campaign content on their Instagram page, and once the campaign is complete, they then archive the content. This creates suspense and excitment over the next content (and product) “drop”. 

Influencers will become the heart of social content

Now, more than ever, we are putting influencers and creators at the heart of our social strategies. With the rise of TikTok, lo-fi content featuring people is what is driving engagement and audience connection. We are encouraging brands to give over more creative license and hand the reigns over to influencer talent. Where influencers were previously recruited to drive awareness, now, more than ever it is content that is at the core of the influencer partnership. Above creating interesting content, influencers (or creators as the talent is more commonly being referred to), are giving brands reach with a new and engaged audience. Win-win. We have also seen some creators be put at the heart of brand’s creative direction for thor hero content pieces. Celebrating influencer talent will only continue to grow. 

Shoppable social 

Earlier this year TikTok announced their partnership with Shopify, introducing TikTok Shop. Similar to Instagram this enables brands to have a dedicated in-app shop on the platform, and allowing for the products to be tagged in TikTok videos. Thus far the shop is still in testing phases and is only rolled out to the UK and USA. One of our contacts at TikTok has mentioned TikTok Shop will be further rolled out to other markets in 2022 which will see the digital space become that much more shoppable in the near future. As part of this we will see more shoppable live video being used by brands. Post-pandemic consumers are that uch more acquainted to purchasing online and social ecommerce is only going to grow. 

Content strategies will dominate Search

We know that 46% of affluent consumers use Search as their first platform for their “pre-sale” product/brand/service research. Google is often the first port of call and as such, SEO really is an incredibly valuable tool when looking to reach the affluent audience. Technical SEO, (optimising ones website technically so as to make it as readable and searchable by Google) will remain incredibly important, but we’re seeing that in 2022, content will really dominate how one’s Search performs and will set brands apart. Clever and bold campaigns that drive brand buzz and talkability will be vital, but so will on-site content that relates to the ever dynamic consumer search behaviour. Brands that succeed in understanding creating content that is relevant to the target audiences, will succeed.

If you want to learn more about these trends or speak to a digital expert, get in touch with VERB Brands.