Customer-brand relations in 10 years – Dentsu report “Consumer Vision 2035”

In ten years, technology will very much take over our experience of reality, as we will entrust more and more aspects of it to artificial intelligence. To succeed, brands will have to move from understanding to predicting and present consumers with solutions that appeal to emotions. Their proper fit with the customer will determine not only whether he or she will prefer a brand, but also whether he or she will pay attention to it at all in a reality “filtered” by artificial intelligence.

AI is taking control over our shopping

We have become heavily dependent on technology over the past decade, and this trend will continue. As we can read in Dentsu’s “Consumer Vision 2035” report, by 2035 – in exchange for personalized information and assistance with everyday tasks – we will be even more likely and willing to hand over our independence to machines. 70% of respondents believe that in 10 years AI will be used in most aspects of our lives.

Many consumers are waiting for technology to become available that is closely linked to their daily responsibilities. By 2035, 49% would like to use the services of an AI gatekeeper (AI-based assistant) to take care of shopping, administration matters or other tasks in which it could replace a human. The emergence of such virtual assistants will lead to a new business environment in which brands will increasingly sell goods and services to them rather than to humans. A huge number of transactions will take place without direct human involvement.

Artificial intelligence will awaken the need for real experiences

However, paradoxically, when artificial intelligence will begin to make many decisions for humans, people will feel the need for more authenticity and emotion in their lives. They will begin to trust their own feelings more, so they will primarily choose brands that go not only to their heads, but also to their hearts. To put it another way, consumers will begin to look for real experiences and brands that are authentic and that they believe will have some sort of added value.

Emotions such as joy, hope, fear, surprise and even disgust will capture consumers’ attention. This will be their reaction to a world in which everything is becoming increasingly automated. It’s also worth noting that already 7 out of 10 respondents interviewed by Dentsu say that a significant part of their purchasing decisions depends on the mood they are in at the time of purchase. And nearly half (46%) admit that they would like to be more impulsive.

Emotions will drive sales?

In order to be successful in the near future, brands will not only have to become more perceptive and anticipate customer needs, but also focus more on the emotions and values consumers hold than on the products themselves. It will be important not only to anticipate trends and tailor their offerings to the customer – and before the competition does – but also to build relationships based on trust and authenticity.

The more consumers are guided by emotions when choosing products, the more brands will need to develop anticipatory behavior to stand out. The ability to intuitively recognize consumer needs will become one of the main drivers of brand competitiveness. Personalization, surprise and “intuitive interactions” will be key to success. And interestingly, helpful to brands in achieving this goal will be the same artificial intelligence that consumers will try to distance themselves from (at least to some extent).

Report “Consumer Vision 2035” is based on surveys completed by 30 000 consumers from 27 countries, as well as interviews with 20 experts and futurists. It can be downloaded (in English) here.