This will be WARC's 10th edition of the Marketers' Toolkit and in the words of the VP of content at WARC, David Tiltman himself, " the questions facing marketers as we approach 2021 are more profound than any previous year." In hindsight, the impacts of 2020 were necessary in some sense. It helped break old thought patterns and habits and allowed people to build new ones. Look at ideas and thoughts from new perspectives. However, such monumental changes also bring with it, their own set of challenges. 

Responding to Recession

The seismic events of 2020 have been traumatic, to say the least. As Communicate covered in earlier reports: media budgets have been slashed, brand-building activity is on hold, while performance channels receive greater spend. At the same time, brands must find new creative solutions to achieve recognition in the post-pandemic marketplace. 

The insights in this toolkit are based on global surveys with 1000+ marketing executives and one-on-one interviews with more than 20 CMO's and marketing leaders. Based on their feedback, 73% believe that majority of budgets will be allocated towards influencer marketing in 2021. Respondents also believe that nascent channels including gaming and podcasts can be optimistic of growing ad revenues over the coming 12 months, while print and cinema media will be bracing for a tough year.