We sit down with Prakash Kamdar, CEO, dentsu Singapore, as he talks about some of the industry trends that are shaping businesses in 2021 and beyond. 

Purposeful and balanced growth as a focal point

Prakash: I think what you're starting to see is - firstly, businesses, and frankly, society, understand that we’ve now reached that point, that inflection point, where you have to pursue balanced growth. 

This is putting significant pressure, and rightly so, for businesses and brands to evolve how they look at growth. It’s not growth by sacrificing good. It has to be both hand in hand. We've reached that point -  that's one big trend and therefore you start to see the rise of purpose-led businesses and brands. You see the start-ups emerging, incumbents, and some of our largest clients, starting to invest more in ways that they can pursue such balanced growth. 

Commerce in the always-on endemic world

Prakash: The second thing you’re starting to see is, what does commerce look like in the post pandemic or always-on endemic world? 

The behaviors and habits that we’ve picked up in terms of the way we experience and buy things, the way we do commerce both in B2C as well as a B2B perspective has changed dramatically. Or, I would say, it has probably accelerated over the last 21 or 22 months, in a way that will influence how we do business, how we purchase, over the next 20 to 25 years. 

None of this is going to go away. If anything, it's only going to accelerate. So what does doing commerce feel like and look like in the next decade or so?

The power of the metaverse

Prakash: Third, is the exciting world, or universe of the metaverse. We've now come to a point where people will be able to access content and utility. In fact, they are already able to do so, in a way that cuts across platforms seamlessly, as opposed to walled gardens. So at dentsu, we're thinking about how do we leverage the power of the metaverse to enhance human experience.