The 5 ‘so whats’ which impacted consumers and brands this week
1. 60% of Irish consumers have prepared the same dish as a celebrity chef
According to Checkout magazine’s latest Consumer Intelligence survey, almost two thirds of Irish consumers now watch two or more food-related programmes weekly, with over 60% admitting to have copied a featured recipe. What is interesting from this research for FMCG and other food and drink brands is the fact that only 14% of those who copied featured dishes used the ‘recommended’ ingredients. Instead the vast majority chose alternative ingredient options.
So what?
MCCP believe that in order for brands to fully tap into our growing home bound foodie status becoming featured as part of a celebrity chef’s offering is not sufficient. For such brands to become central in the consumer journey from seeing a featured recipe on TV to cooking it at home they must work at ways to aid the consumer in the shopping and cooking process. Taking learning’s from other industries indicates that perhaps there is opportunity for brands to do this by bundling featured ingredients together on the shelf allowing the consumer to conveniently obtain what they need to complete their dish.
2. Playtimes lost sense of adventure presents an opportunity for brands
A Heritage Council-commissioned survey based on the responses of 1,000 parents who were asked to identify where they played as children and where their 7- to 11-year-old offspring play now has found that today’s children are becoming increasingly supervised. For instance, the study found a decrease of 23% in the number of children
MCCP Internship
We are looking to take on new team members for our expanding MCCP Trendstream™ department. We will be running a 6 month internship program from February 2011 with a view to looking for a new permanent team member in 2011. We are seeking insightful and hardworking people who are passionate about strategic planning. For more detail on the skills we are looking for, click on MCCP Internship Indepth. If you would be interested in securing an internship at a dynamic and innovative strategic planning agency, send your CV and contact details to shane@mccp.ie or susan@mccp.ie
6 in 10 Irish have a glass ‘half full’ outlook for 2011
Two recessionary consumer mind-sets exist, the ‘adapted’ who see their glass half full and the ‘trapped’ who see their glass half empty
The vast majority of Irish people have an optimistic outlook on their own personal situation for 2011. Justaskmccp™ conducted an online survey amongst a representative sample of 300 Irish people in January that asked ‘Thinking of your own personal situation in 2011 would you say that the glass is half empty or half full?’. 2 in 3 (67%) have a ‘glass half full’ outlook of the forthcoming year whilst only 1 in 3 (33%) take a ‘glass half empty’ view on 2011.
The results indicate that the Irish are resilient and inherently optimistic despite our propensity to complain and grumble, people will be drawn to brands that have a positive and hopeful story to tell.
Younger cohorts were much more likely to have a pessimistic view of their situation than middle aged cohorts. 42% and 40% of 18-24 and 25-34 year olds, respectively had a ‘glass half empty’ outlook compared to only 22% of 35 to 44 year olds and 27% of 45 to 54 year olds. justaskmccp™ findings differed to many outlook reports published in 2010 that suggested that younger cohorts were most optimistic. The joy of children may be one reason for optimism amongst older cohorts given that those with children were more likely to view the glass as half full compared to those without children (71% vs. 63%).
The results are in line with the two recessionary mind-sets MCCP identified last year
1 in 2 would flee rather than fight for a better Ireland
‘The Left Behinds’ a growing segment of disheartened young Irish people lead the desire to escape Ireland in search of a better life.
Justaskmccp™ conducted an online survey amongst a representative sample of 300 Irish people in January and asked ‘If there were no obstacles in your life (e.g. money, age, responsibilities) would you, flee from Ireland in search of a better life or fight for a better life here in Ireland?’ Opinions were split down the middle with 49% claiming they would take flight, while 51% said they would stay and fight. Younger cohorts were more likely to flee the country in search of a better life (55% of 18-24 compared to only 37% of 45-54 year olds). The results suggest Ireland’s young people feel that they are powerless to create opportunities and better lifestyles for themselves here in Ireland.
Future more the justaskmccp™ survey results showed that a person’s marital status impacted greatly on whether or not they would be willing to flee from or fight for life in Ireland. Only 47% of married or cohabiting couples would choose to flee Ireland compared to 55% of singles, living independently and 65% of singles, living at home.
The findings highlight the growing frustration of a youth segment MCCP identified last year and coined ‘The Left Behinds’. MCCP as part of a broader study on ‘Irish Consumer’s Changing Needs and Values’ spoke to groups of 18-30 year olds who have hit a bottleneck in life and feel they are being left behind. MCCP discovered,
6 in 10 resolute to get fitter and healthier not wealthier
6 in 10 Irish peoples New Year’s Resolution is to get fitter and healthier not wealthier. But if they had one wish they would choose the money
Justaskmccp™ conducted an online survey amongst a representative sample of 300 Irish people in January, asking “what were your good intentions and resolutions for 2011? the results were interesting.
3 in 5 people surveyed made a New Year’s resolution and women were more likely to do so than men (68% vs. 57%). It would also appear that up until the age of 44 people are likely to make a New Year’s resolution but interest in doing so thereafter significantly drops off.
To get ‘fitter or healthier’ was top of the resolution list with 38% choosing it as their number one good intention of 2011. Better financial management took the number two spot as 23% of people claimed that in 2011 they would attempt to “reduce my debt” or “save more” or “manage my money better”.
The fact that health trumps wealth in the resolution list is telling. It is yet another indicator that people are stretched and struggling to save or cut back any more than they already are. Since they cannot do anything more to control their finances they are turning to controlling their fitness level.
However, although, people seem to be focusing on improving their health over their wealth when asked “If you had one WISH for 2011, what would it be?” the focus shifts or indeed flips.
People’s number one wish is “to have more money”
Irish Consumer Trends 2011
Trendwatching companies tend to release annual sets of trends, never telling you what happened to last years set . MCCP Trendstream™ is different. We don’t believe trends develop across a neat yearly timeline and we continually monitor existing trends to see where they are on the product life cycle (e.g. adoption, maturity or saturation).
Back in October at our brand forum we highlighted many emerging and developing consumer trends and most importantly the So What for Your Brands? We will be hosting another brand forum in April highlighting how these trends have progressed and other new and revelant developments for your brand. So watch this space for updates on the next MCCP Trendstream™ brand forum in the meantime recap on the Irish consumer trends 2011 and the so what for your brand we shared with you last year.
Digital is not the main event
Digital often facilitates and sometimes even transforms real life, but it is not the main event. People are simply using online tools such as Twitter and Facebook to enrich their offline experiences. If online content or brands don’t enhance people’s real life or inhibits it in some way they will log off. 60% of users considered quitting Facebook over privacy concerns this Summer and 16% did quit. Unique, real experiences are peoples sweet spot, online tools merely allow us to lengthen the feel good factor of LIVE by sharing comments, pictures and posts. Brands can create longevity around their events and sponsorships with a strong digital presence which builds group momentum and anticipation prior to the LIVE event and allows them to relive it afterwards.
Community has stolen a brand space
Irish people once found meaning and fulfilment in brands. A BMW could tell others that you were successful and you would knowingly nod at other BMW drivers feeling part of an elite group. Only 8% of people believe that ‘nowadays status comes from having well known brands’.
People can no longer afford to buy into status brands. Rather they are flocking back to local, intimate communities in search of meaning and fulfilment. They are being drawn to micro groups because macro groups, the government, the banks and the church have let them down. Essentially they are searching for trust. By acting local and intimate your brand can get to a point of trust more quickly and earn peoples loyalty. Call us to find out more.
The individual is dead. Long live the collective.
One only has to look at pop culture over the last twenty years to see how we as a race have treated the idea of a singular mind. For ten years, Federation captains in Star Trek battled The Borg to foil their attempts to integrate humans into their collective, be as one with millions of others. The last decade has seen a TV show place members of the public into a house for the Summer, where psychotic individualism is encouraged, and where singular thinking, and the conflict it results in, entertain us…or at least used to.
Now, Big Brother, and its breed of mutant Freud Id complexes, meets its maker on the close of the current series, and Trekkies everywhere know it’s inevitable that the Borg will win out eventually. Resistance is, after all, futile.
There are numerous examples of the collective mind gathering momentum at all levels of Irish society. Take the number of community based initiatives being launched and adopted by the masses. Street Feast, for example, is a new activity that celebrates community and encourages people all around the country to hold street parties. Community gardens are developing all around Dublin with the aim of bringing communities together with the shared goal of making the city greener. The success of Dublin’s shared bike scheme indicates that even ownership is taking a collective shift.
In Post Celtic Tiger Ireland, it is the collective mind we are embracing more and more. Empowerment for the consumer no longer lies in being able to
From Filthy Rich to Guilty Rich
Decreased household income and uncertainty about our personal and economic future are the most commonly cited reasons for the dramatic decline in consumer spending. But could guilt also play a role in our propensity to keep our purse strings firmly tightened?
I began to ponder this question on reading an article in the Independent entitled “Ireland’s Guilty Rich”. The piece featured Westbury Mall located, lingerie shop owner Susan Hunter who said, “Women can’t be seen to be wearing bling-tastic clothes these days and are afraid to show off ostentatious wealth… they are spending as much as they want on expensive underwear which no one can see”
During the boom consumption was conspicuous. We paraded our luxurious clothes, houses and cars with pride. It seems now that we are afraid of being shunned and scorned for supposedly lavish spending. Post Celtic Tiger frugality, practicality and resourcefulness appear to have become the new status symbols.