MINDSET AND APPROACH AFFECTS PERFORMANCE
Is 2012 a Fresh New Start or more of the same? Your mindset and how you approach 2012 can affect your performance.
As most of us return renewed over the festive period, what we can expect this year from the Irish consumer market place. The more fundamental question is how you can take advantage of the marketplace to gain an edge over your competitors.
Glass Half Full or Empty
If you are a glass half empty person, then it’s going to be another year of consumer fear and instability. More of the same does not mean that you should continue to do more of the same however.
If you are a glass half full person, then you are already seeing opportunities. Only the positively sharp and the most adaptable will really win out. But that is not all.
3 of the 7 leading consumer insight themes that we have identified for 2012 include:
Please call us for MCCP Trendstream Lighthouse Report for latest trends on the Irish consumer 2011/2012
Continuing yo yo of sentiment, consumer hunger for hope and optimism, consumer’s need for release and ability to be not only resilient but also resourceful mean that marketers need to be focused on: (6 of 12 we have identified)
Is your brand positioning right for the consumer in the age of the New Normal ( started 2 years ago and is still in development),what problem are you solving for them; is it right for the consumer and it is better than the competitorsoptimism, consumer’s need for release and ability
A YEAR OF OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES: 2011
What behavioural micro trends did we see in 2011 & can we expect to see in 2012? Here are 20. Call us in January for our top level Lighthouse report and presentation to get behind these and understand how to take advantage of these micro trends for your brand.
- Sentiment continues to yo yo as people are hyper sensitive to both good & bad news.
- People are seeking greater sense of control in any area of their lives possible.
- People are increasingly acceptant of the age of austerity & brag about & earn kudos for frugality.
- People are taking the tried and trusted, safe options to avoid risk.
- Yet people are partaking in resourceful experimentation trying some new products & services in an attempt to make more of what they have to work with.
- People have been forced to take a short term view on planning, meaning that marketers must be more agile, close to consumers but have a clear view as to what their brand story is.
- People are sharing online & offline more, looking for closer connections as a support mechanism.
- People have lost trust in traditional institutions & are becoming justice guardians of their own patch.
- People are desperate for & drawn to positivity & optimism.
- People are partaking in ‘Authentic Participation’, creating their own fun & events as they can no longer afford to buy into experiences.
- People have had to reprioritise their aspirations (what you do & believe rather than what you own & consume) & as a result status indicators have shifted).
- Increasingly people are choosing
UNDERSTANDING ‘SHE WHO INFLUENCES MOST’ OF THE DECISIONS AROUND YOUR BRAND GETTING PICKED UP OR NOT?
A segment of 2.3 m influencing on average 58% of spend across multiple categories of whom 41% feel misunderstood. Could it be that the complexities and contradictions inherent within this segment are barriers to brand’s successful adoption by women as more shifts towards her.
I attended and spoke at SHECOMMERE ‘PURSE POWER’ conference last week. These include both observations from others speeches and my own.
Some key themes;
Women are the largest gender segment and will continue to be so as the population ages; they index in 65+ cohorts
Women move to the home to a greater extent and never return to the workforce between the ages of 35+, there are 110 k more men than women in the workforce over these age cohorts. Even though women are having children later, we see that at a point, it becomes less of a choice for a woman to stay in the workforce. (driven in part by childcare facilities but also by social norms).
This results in women taking over more of the home care and purchasing decision. However what is notable is that the economic downturn currently is affecting men in so far as there are more men than women unemployed in 2010 versus 2000 but the consequence is that women are feeling more stressed.
Women, as well as being important shoppers, they are an even more important channel of influence and are important media in their own right , conversation is a key means by which they can discuss products and brands in some categories including
KAY MCCARTHY EXPLAINS HOW TO WIN OVER THE IRISH FEMALE IN 2011 WITHOUT ALIENATING THE MALE SHOPPER
Ireland’s first dedicated, marketing to women seminar, Purse Power; How to Engage & Influence the New Irish Female Consumer will take place on October 6th 2011 at The Mansion House. Irish women control 58% of all spending and influence 89% of all purchases. However, some companies are missing the mark, as 41% of Irish women say they are misunderstood by marketers, advertisers and brands.
With companies facing increasing economic challenges; it’s even more important to reach women effectively. So how do you appeal to today’s cash-strapped, time-pressed, multi-tasking female consumer?
At Purse Power; How to Engage & Influence the New Irish Female Consumer you will learn from International marketing to women experts. Irish Industry leaders will present case studies and the local perspective, to help you enhance your marketing and communication to women.
5 Reasons to Attend:
1. Hear insights, tools and techniques from marketing to women experts
2. Get new Irish research on what is influencing Irish women in the new trading environment 3. Learn how Irish women are using social media 4. Find out which social media platforms have the greatest influence on Irish women 5. Learn what works from Irish case studies on marketing to women
THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING – BRAND STORIES
People Not Consumers Brand and communications thinking needs to shift and consider consumers (without lots of disposable income as they are in Ireland today) as people. They have needs that brands can help and meet but it does not always mean a consumption moment of the product.
Reflect on People’s Needs People have many needs from brands including: they want to have a say, they act as a community (power of group), and they want it to be personal (brand ME), they want to be in the know (get it first), they support doing what they love and they like to share. People, in short, represent a very powerful channel for your brand if you manage to engage them correctly.
Brands Can Create Consumers Brands therefore can create consumers if they engage people by relating and meet their behavioural needs. But it means a different engagement model. Brands need to create content to engage them in a richer way.
Don’t Get Distracted By The ‘Shiny New Stuff’ Alone Brands need to create content that is connected to the brand and communicates the desired outtake and not be a digital buzzword. It is not about the channel but the outtake you want people to do or take from your content. To this extent, therefore, the first question is what you want people to do or think as a result of this content.
Brand Stories Allow Brands to Develop Richer Engagement People engage with stories and have done since our inception. Brands are story enablers. If you can
CAN THE IRISH BE PROTECTED FROM THEMSELVES? PART 2 OF THE DEBATE
In response to Shane’s blog yesterday ‘Should the Irish be protected from themselves?’
Interesting given the current fiasco here, where indeed it seems some we should be protected from ourselves and their innate greed and where NAMA is trying to control one sector. However, I wonder can the Irish psyche be controlled! We banned smoking but what has happened is that smoking rates have not shifted downwards, we are happy to smoke outdoors and have even more fun doing so. We have even managed to attract non-smokers to come and join us and get back into passive smoking but once you are part of the banter – it’s ok.
Likewise, we cycle, for some once bikes are free and for many others, it is a form of exercise, few do it only for green reasons. Maybe to control us, we need not only a deep recession but a sense of pleasure to be gained as well. A worthwhile debate…
How do brands add value beyond price?
The question on everyone’s lips today is how can I save money and still buy the brands I want? It sounds like an easy ‘in’ for marketing professionals, i.e. simply cut prices and consumers will respond and buy?
Wrong. After months of extensive research; probing and interviews of over 650 consumers, MCCP have discovered that price is no longer the key driver in delivering value for brands in the eyes of consumers. So if it isn’t price, what is it and how do you apply it to your brand?
MCCP developed the Value Equation™ which enables marketing & brand owners to identify how their brands can create value beyond price, a timely topic for any brand in today’s climate. The backdrop to the need and subsequent development of this Value Equation™ is outlined below.
1.THERE IS A NEW NORM: Consumers are becoming ‘recess ionised’, BUT Irish consumers still love brands. Consumers are now being bombarded by brands with price offers; price cuts; price deals etc. and as a result consumers are no longer seeing brands, they are beginning to only see price:
However despite this, marketers are still not concentrating their efforts on creating long-term value for their brands 90% of marketers we interviewed said they would spend their last €100K on short-term gains activity, but 95% know they should be planning longer term.
2. AS A RESULT CONSUMERS ARE CREATING VALUE FOR THEMSELVES BECAUSE BRANDS AREN’T DOING IT FOR THEM. They are doing this through Experimental activities such as
•Online grocery shopping –obviously not
Brand Strategist Wanted
MCCP is recruiting a Brand Strategist to work on a project basis. Must have big brand strategic expertise and experience in creating and crafting brand propositions, experience of working with creative and planning teams and want to work in a creative, idea centric and growing environment.
For further details, contact, kay@mccp.ie
A NEW SOCIAL ORDER
When will the recession be over…? We often hear this question being debated. Perhaps a smarter question for marketers to start thinking is ‘ what will your consumer want as the recession evolves?’
A consumer with new behaviours and priorities is evolving- we call them the New Normal
Old values and the New Normal are not natural bedfellows.
The context in Ireland is different to anywhere else .
This recession is largely centred around how we feel, it is largely emotional. It is now estimated that Irish households have access to 95 bn in deposits but we are not spending it. We do not feel like spending it. We lack trust and we prefer to keep it until uncertainty lifts.
It is therefore necessary for marketers to understand how to shift the resilient consumer mindset. Not all categories are in decline.
A New Social order exists as consumers change their priorities. Impatience, the prevalent Celtic Tiger mode has been replaced by fear. That is the real problem. Brands need to catch up and play a new role to help them. Brands were always built around emotions. They now more than ever need to remember this.
We are seeing increases in spend and commitment to sectors such as communication, training and savings/debt reduction. Consumers such as females are putting their family first so spending less on themselves and need to justify their treats.
Consumers are now claiming, according to our survey, justaskmccp, that self respect and warm relationships with others are more important to them. Consumers have moved down the
Planners need to step up
Has Strategic Planning a new role to play in post recession or early recovery marketing and communication…
Agency world as is client world is in a state of flux or even turmoil depending which way you look at the world.
The future of agencies is probably the bigger question really. Do we need a horse drawn carriage analogy seems to jump to mind…
Agencies I believe need to get back to fundamentals not necessarily add wings and fancy bits to make them work better. They need to focus on developing brand ideas that can generate business and brand advantage.
Here are a few thoughts on the role of strategic planning…
Poor strategic planning that produces generic insights and what I call tick the box planning is probably costly and should be ‘removed’ from the process.
There are a lot of smart people who is engage in this form of planning. They talk the talk but don’t unearth meaning or significance.
There are some good thinkers and people in agencies who can talk the talk but in essence there are not a lot of people who offer substance in the way of generating game changing ideas for businesses. Those who do need to be treasured.
As budgets have receded and consumers buying process is more complex and we have on going media fragmentation, planners need to be more collaborative in that they need to be bringing clients and the experienced idea generators together including consumer understanding and leading the process of translating it to business generating ideas for the brand.