The 5 ‘so whats’ which impacted consumers and brands this week

1.   Twitter voting for the X Factor

Viewers of X Factor USA now have the ability to vote for their favourite act in a host of new ways. X Factor USA have announced that you can cast your vote through Twitter; The Xtra Factor App in addition to toll-free calling & text voting.

 

So what?

This is a sign that media is having to move towards consumers social media habits rather than expecting them to adopt to voting procedures. By implementing & encouraging social media discussion television shows have made their programme more than just entertainment. It’s now a discussion piece allowing people to give their two cents on the social media highway of twitter or Facebook by simply including a hashtag phrase. What X Factor need to address is where is the line between keeping the show relevant & popular versus maintaining advertising spend and revenue from phone voting?

2.      Majority back universal health care

The Pfizer Health Index found that 53% of Irish people were in favour of universal healthcare, even if it meant a 1% hike in income tax. Only 15% were opposed to paying more tax for such a health system.

So what?

With an aging population & our national health service in of a state of disarray people’s future wants & needs are in a state of flux. The gap between what we as consumers expect and what we are being offered by HSE is widening. This highlights consumers’ willingness to pay more for services deemed important enough. How can this be applied to other industries such as education?

3.      Are you a brand ambassador in disguise?

Red Bull have started to target interns. A letter is sent reading ‘Want to be intern of the hour?’ with a prompt to sign up for free cans of their signature beverage. Aiming at an interns’ general desire to be recognized and remembered, the language in the message conveys the idea that getting free energy drinks would make them the “Intern of the Hour” within the company they work for.

So what?

Tapping into the eagerness of interns Red Bull is offering their product as a symbol for advancement – both figuratively (career ladder) and literally (improve your brain power by staying alert). Placing the sense of achievement onto the shoulders of the intern rounds the campaign off nicely leaving all parties with positive takeout’s. This campaign advocates the drink & creates new occasion something every brand is keen to do.

 4.      Is grocery in free fall?

The Irish grocery sector slumped 3.45% in Q3 of this year, with September recording a like for like sales dip of 5.23%. Like for like sales in the grocery industry fell 3.26% in July, 3.9% in August and 5.23% in September.

So what?

These figures support MCCP’s findings through consumer dialogues that people are making ingredients & food stretch further; will mix & match meals to get the most out of ingredients (‘waste hate’) and for some shopper archetypes stock buy essentials when special offers are available. What’s worrying for the brand managers out there is that with the Christmas market approaching how do you get the consumer to break a habit in formation?

 5.      Game changing idea of the week: Taxis by touch

Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia has launched a taxi-hailing system in Taiwan that uses near-field-communication-enabled posters. Touching the poster with one’s phone communicates with cab firm Taiwan Taxi, which responds with a text message and an order number. A cab is then dispatched to the poster.

 

So what?

This development is the latest in a trend MCCP are watching called “online/offline” which essentially is the merging of the worlds, whereby consumers are interacting with daily experiences and enhancing them using the online world. Nokia have progressed an industry that for some passengers hasn’t changed much in its offering in the past decade & this development brings it into line with twenty-first century technology.