The digital era brought with it a revolution in how brands communicate with their audience. Data from a recent Warc survey highlights that currently social media is the largest channel for advertising investments, expected to surpass $247.3 billion globally in 2024. This represents a 14.3% growth compared to last year.
Furthermore, another study, this time by GWI, pointed out that time spent on social networks has increased by 50% in the last decade. The average daily consumption would have jumped from 95 minutes in 2014 to 152 minutes in 2024. This means that the platform connecting Generation Y (Millennials) with Generations Z and Alpha is no longer television, but the online social media experience.
Moreover, a few days after the first round of municipal elections throughout the country, there is a clear evident social, political, and cultural transformation resulting from the role of ‘influencers’ and the power of social networks in shaping and consolidating opinions among all audiences and age groups, each with their own network of ‘personal preference’.
Meanwhile, data from Merrill Lynch indicates that the largest wealth transfer in history is underway, led by Generation Z and their successors, who will inherit over $84 trillion in assets. And what do all these data mean? To be straightforward: money has changed hands, society has changed how it communicates, so you either understand these changes and the aspirations of the new generations with increasing purchasing power, or you are doomed to failure in the medium term.
For some years now (especially after the pandemic), building a strong brand presence is no longer just about ‘talking to the young audience’ or ‘providing SAC 3.0,’ but a fundamental practice for the survival of the company. To make this need and this change even clearer, remember television, that if you are over 30 years old, was the great family companion? Well, it has already started its migration to social networks — and I’m not saying that it will have a profile on Facebook, but that television will undergo its biggest change in history with TV 3.0, which, in Brazil, is scheduled to start next year.
With TV 3.0, broadcasters will be able to offer different programs simultaneously to specific audiences based on the viewer’s profile, which will be monitored in real-time through algorithms. This suggests that TV 3.0 will have a level of customization that conventional TV does not possess. Thus, turning on the TV will be like seeing the ‘feed’ of social networks.
In Brazil, keeping an eye on these trends and on TV 3.0, Rede Globo is also innovating in the field of advertising. The company has launched GloboAds, a platform that offers a variety of advertising solutions for brands. In addition, it has also introduced Binge Ads, new attractions in multi-platform programming, and new FAST channels.
Partnered with this change is the phenomenon of artificial intelligence, fueled by Generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini. Meta, for example, has been investing heavily – often less visibly to the general public – in AI. Recently, the company announced the international expansion of Meta AI, an AI assistant that allows users to access real-time information through Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Additionally, Meta has launched the AI Sandbox, a “testing ground” for advertisers to experiment with new AI tools. It has also been making waves in specialized circles in recent days with its new augmented reality glasses and AI applied to the user made with Ray-Ban, which – it was discovered – inevitably captures everything we are seeing in our homes and lives to train its own AI with data if we want to utilize the functionalities that this technological innovation offers.
Meta is one of the iconic examples of a 21st-century company that has rapidly embraced and led these social and market transformations, much like in greater or lesser scale all the ‘Magnificent 7’ of the American NASDAQ and their Chinese counterparts/competitors.
These AI initiatives are transforming the way brands interact with their consumers. Now, brands can create personalized content, respond to customer questions, and even predict market trends in real-time. In this way, they can understand the needs and desires of their audience in ways previously impossible, and all of this directly in the social media feed, where consumers interact using a multiplicity of personalities that merge into the ‘I’ of our physical-digital personas.
My final message is quite simple: it is no longer possible to separate real life from the digital one, as they are in symbiosis and increasingly integrated. With artificial intelligence no longer restricted to science fiction movies and becoming a tool of everyday life, adapt quickly or prepare for irrelevance with customers. Welcome to the world of the 4.0 revolution.
