Industry trends the YS team anticipate in 2021

Like all startups, 2020 threw us some unexpected and challenging curveballs, but thanks to the hard work of our amazing team, we came out the other side in one piece. We’ve also been fortunate to have some fantastic newbies join the team over the last year, so we wanted to take the opportunity to introduce them all in our latest blog, as well as share their predictions for the comms and marketing sector over the upcoming year. 

Dominic

What’s your role at YS? As a founder, it’s important to me that everything is working well and everyone we work with is getting exactly what they need, when they need it. It’s also really important that the team is happy and we are really living up to our values. 

Favourite part about the role? The variety

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Somewhere I love to work

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? A growth in virtual speed networking. So many conferences and events have moved online over the past year with the knowledge sharing being really rather good. Sadly, what these online events have fallen short with is replicating the ‘spur of moment’ meeting people that happens at real events. Whilst I don’t think digital can fully replicate this at all, I do think we’ll see a growth in virtual speed dating type services. 

Amy

What’s your role at YS?  I’m one of the founders. I’m working to grow the business, make sure we create a strong culture for our wonderful team and keep our lovely clients happy.

Favourite part about role? Seeing the team grow and develop is right up there, happy team leads to happy clients in my view

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Flexible, honest, ambitious. 

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? As we all rise from the ashes, I think ‘purpose’ will be more important than ever and will span across sectors and both external and internal facing comms. 

Brands will need to show heart, humility and understanding and employers will need to use a common purpose to unite teams working remotely. 

Alex

What’s your role at YS? I am an Account Director, so I spend my days on the front-line, working between our clients, our team, external partners and everybody in between. Day-to-day this means ensuring that campaigns are running smoothly, objectives are met and everybody’s feeling happy and informed. Outside of this, it’s about spotting opportunities, solving problems and providing strategic support. 

Favourite part about the role? As with any role within an Agency you get the pleasure of working with a real mixture of people, both within the agency and the clients. I work closely with some truly brilliant Founders and Marketing Directors, working on some brilliant, groundbreaking products. Gaining a deep insight into a mixture of exciting businesses and industries will always be my favourite part of the job. 

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Ambitious, organised and friendly.  

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? Digital transformation’ was a term coined over a decade ago by large consultancies, for their large clients. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, has forced a need for businesses of all sizes to adapt faster than anticipated. The interesting part of the urgency we saw to adapt, was how well businesses across all sectors and of all sizes implemented these changes and how well they worked. The total digital overhaul that we anticipated to take 10 years, might now take three – beginning in 2021. 

I think in 2021 we will see more; 

• Retailers not only heavily and disproportionately investing in eCommerce, but going all in.
• Brands, including B2B, will prioritise direct-to-customer digital and eCommerce routes to market
• Media businesses moving away from physical media and ad-funded models towards digital and subscription/membership offers 
• Events, training, education… if they haven’t already, will all be moving to ‘hybrid’ digital/physical propositions.

Beth

What’s your role at YS? I’m an Account Executive so I work with the team to deliver our clients’ marketing, PR and social media strategies, with a special focus on social and content.

Favourite part about the role? I like how much my role changes on a day-to-day basis. Whether it’s working with different clients, or getting my head into a new aspect of comms I’ve not done before, there’s always something new. 

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Fun, honest and creative

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? Greater investment in social media. Social isn’t anything new but I do think the last year has given us a renewed appreciation for its potential. I think we’ll see more B2B brands looking to dominate in this space after more traditional strategies have underdelivered in the last year. 

Hollye

What’s your role at YS? As an Associate, I lead day-to-day activity on accounts, develop a strong working relationship with our clients and make sure we’re delivering exactly what’s expected.

Favourite part about role? We have such a huge variety of clients from national charities and flood modellers to special effects companies so every day is something different. You get to immerse yourself in a range of different industries so I’m always learning something.

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Fun, flexible, different

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? In 2021, social responsibility will lie at the core of all PR and marketing strategies. 2020 was a milestone year for the development of social consciousness and this year, there’s no doubt that the brands who adopt an ethically aware strategy will win consumer hearts, minds and wallets. But there is one watch-out: we’re not just talking about token CSR activity which brands have done in the past to tick the box. There has to be a natural fit with the brand and its identity, and it will be painfully obvious which brands jump on the ethical bandwagon this year just for social media likes.  

Lisa

What’s your role at YS? I manage social media, draft content, run media relations – anything that’s required to help clients achieve their goals.

Favourite part about role? Apart from the awesome team? Working with some fun, interesting and genuinely exciting clients who are passionate about what they do.

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Committed, creative and supportive.

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? Fake news, propaganda, disinformation – call it what you like, as 2020 progressed, people became so much more aware of the risks of spreading the wrong information. I think this heightened awareness will translate into the content and news stories produced by brands – consumers and customers will be quick to call out biased information, and what might previously have been dismissed as ‘PR fluff’ could be seen as dangerous and damaging. Content creators beware!

Freya

What’s your role at YS? As a Junior Account Executive, I’ll be assisting the team in delivering their comms and marketing strategies across a wide variety of accounts. I’ll be working on anything from social media to email marketing.

Favourite part about the role? It’s only my first week, so I’m experiencing something new every day. I can already tell that I’m going to love the varied nature of the role, working with a VFX company one minute and a ground-breaking tech start-up the next. I’m looking forward to the process of immersing myself in the issues most important to each of our clients, as well as learning lots about the different industries they operate in.

How would you describe YS in 3 words? Bubbly, exciting and welcoming!

An industry trend you expect to see in 2021? As the year unfolds, I think we’ll all become seasoned experts at shifting comfortably between in-person, office-based work and home-working. Hopefully we’ll discover the merits of combining both.

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At YS, we can’t wait to get the year rolling with many exciting announcements on the horizon. If you’re a growing business looking to supercharge your marketing strategy this year, or planning to launch a brand or product for the first time, we offer free 45 minute consultancy sessions with one of our experts for whatever you need. We’d love to hear from you.