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2023 calls for a period when firms sharpen their attention on marketing and advertising trends to make an impression as consumers grow more cautious about which brands they spend their time on.’

Dubai-born and based, Nested VFX, a post-production and visual effects studio, shares its projections in the marketing and advertising sector for the upcoming year:

Trend 1: Back to basics and traditional advertising
Post-Covid, a trend to go back to producing high-end quality commercials and shows started to take shape in the region, and, based on Nested VFX’s predictions, we can anticipate this trend to take complete form in 2023. Long gone are both masks (hopefully), cutting corners, and production budgets.

Brands today understand that they now face a brighter and more informed audience that cheap promotional videos cannot sway. In order to get their focus and, ultimately, their loyalty, brands need to give their audience a compelling story without insulting their intelligence. This trend will see its full potential only when a seasoned production partner and creative team work together for a brand.

Trend 2: AI-generated content, copyright ambiguities, and stock
AI-generated content is taking steam, but there are still many copyright ambiguities surrounding them. Any media creator or advertiser should be wary of using them if they are serious about monetizing their content or promoting their brands.

In 2023, it is projected that brands and creators will increasingly opt for soundtracks and footage production to make videos stand out, as opposed to using stock footage and library music, a trend that took charge during the early days of the pandemic.

Trend 3: Customize, customize, customize!
One trend that the studio is personally rooting for in 2023 is for brands to choose the route to customization. Just before the new year, Nested VFX worked on a global telecommunication brand campaign where they delivered a different video for each social media platform, carefully divided into awareness, consideration, sales conversion, and call-to-action. A route popular within the western markets but yet to take shape in the MENA region.

2022, witnessed how taking a master video, cutting it down to shorter bits, and roughly fitting a video shot for horizontal displays into the various new formats is proving ineffective and – we dare say – harmful for brands. Each platform demands a different narrative and needs videos curated explicitly for its intended format.

Each medium calls for a different approach these days. It might have a higher upfront cost, but if it is carefully customized content for each, the rewards down the line will be far greater.

"We are dealing with an audience that is moving quickly, and if you can’t keep them entertained, you will be replaced with just one click. With the ever-changing media and advertising industries, brands are in a do-or-die situation in which thinking outside the box is no longer an option but a necessity. To survive in this game of survival, the brand must understand where the world is going and stay one step ahead of the bandwagon," said Samer Asfour, CEO and managing partner of Nested VFX.

Trend 4: Away from social media
Taking a look at what is happening with Twitter and Meta’s latest earning reviews, it is anticipated that international brands and their regional branches, as well as studios and content creators, will slowly steer away from social media in the upcoming year and start investing in free-to-air TV and platform ads through Shahid, YouTube and the ad-supported tier of Netflix to name a few.

The region can also anticipate a lot more product placement and sponsored content videos being brewed for in the coming year.

Trend 5: HDR- Expecting a colorful high for 2023
Although a little wishful thinking, the studio is optimistic that broadcasters and brands will grasp the opportunity to use the full video mastering tools and take a step towards creating their media in a High Dynamic Range rather than the status-quo Standard Definition.

The west might be heading into a recession that will affect all industries, including the media and advertising ones. However, the region, especially the Gulf, proved resilient and is indeed growing fast. Agencies and production houses alike in the region are confident and excited about the year to come and the opportunities coming with it.