Tag Archives: Consumer Insight
With the advent of social media, it has never been easier for consumers to interact with companies. An Experience Matters post a few weeks ago by Jeana Anderson showed how a couple simple tweets turned into an extraordinary experience. However, companies must be careful when using social media, because while good personal interactions can become extraordinary, bad personal interactions can become disastrous.
Curious’ recent research using our online community ShopTalk touched on why people choose to boycott companies. We found that boycotts which stem from bad personal interactions with companies are far more powerful than boycotts that arise from social or political scandals, as the case with BP or Nike.
About half of our members boycotted a company based on the company’s social practices or political views. Members talked about boycotting companies like Wal-Mart, based on their employment practices or Citgo-gas because of its ownership by “enemy of America” Venezuela. The other half boycotted a company based on a bad personal experience, such as terrible customer service. It was the first time I’d heard of Denny’s, Barnes and Noble, and Suave being boycotted.
While money-saving promotions are effective for increasing fans or followers on social networking sites, many companies don’t go beyond this. They offer promotions to increase their number of fans, see their numbers growing, and throw a massive party. Unfortunately, by the time their hangover wears off, they realize their ‘fans’ aren’t really fans at all, but rather coupon zombies with a singular goal: to save money on stuff they would buy anyway.
So how do you build a social networking presence which goes beyond coupons? Curious asked members of its research community, ShopTalk, why they were fans of companies and we found they liked companies that acted as ‘brand butlers’. A brand butler is a Trendwatching term for companies that assist consumers in making the most out of their lives, rather than try to sell them a lifestyle. When it comes to social networking sites, it’s all about providing value to your fans/followers through content that is unique, relevant, and useful. To become an effective brand butler on social networking websites, consider the following traits: Personality, Share-ability, Brevity, Channel Integration, Responsiveness.
Cindy Nelson | Critical Mass Executive
Last Thursday I attended the WWD Forum on Mastering Mobile Marketing, part three of WWD’s series on digital media http://www.wwd.com/wwd-summits/wwd-series-on-digital-media-2443804/. Over the course of the day, I listened to marketers from across the retail sector share how mobile fits into their marketing strategies, and how they’re integrating mobile into their overall marketing mix. The key takeaways for me were: 1) Mobile is truly changing the way that brands interact with consumers, and this change is largely being driven from the bottom up (consumers are challenging brands to evolve, not the other way around), and 2) The success of any mobile brand initiative can often be boiled down to a single, simple (yet all too frequently overlooked) principle: “know thy customer”.
Consumers are challenging brands to evolve
Consumers are using their phone as a device to gain confirmation from peers prior to purchase. I recently learned that today’s “second opinion” involves taking pictures in the dressing room, sending the photos to a friend, and if the response from that “trusted personal stylist” is positive, then (and only then) the credit card comes out. Smart brands are recognizing this trend towards buddy-shopping and co-browsing, and building parts of the shopping experience (both in-store, and online) around this new set of digitally-enabled social behaviors; they’re using their mobile initiatives to connect prospects and customers with their brands and with each other. But are they doing enough?
Ever heard of GotryIton.com? http://www.gotryiton.com/ An Accelerator Finalist at this year’s SXSW, Gotryiton is an online community that allows users to upload digital photos of themselves wearing outfits they’re thinking about buying. So the next time you buy an expensive pair of jeans, you have someone to blame!
Panelists agreed that as consumer needs evolve, so too must brand experiences. This is especially true of mobile. And especially now. At Critical Mass, we’ve become adept at recognizing the types of bottom-up changes that force evolution, and turning observations into insights that lead to extraordinary work for our clients.
Know thy customer
Deep knowledge of the customer was a consistent theme throughout the day. These marketers understand their customers! They understand the purchase process their customer segments go through and they’re using this knowledge to find unique opportunities for engagement. They’re monitoring usage of their mobile sites to understand changing behaviors. They’re building apps and developing content, and watching where and when the content is consumed.
While it seems that consumer confidence is starting to turn around, reaching its highest level in almost a year and a half, President Obama’s recent State of the Union address, signals that the poor economy and job instability are still priorities to many Americans.
A few weeks ago, we decided to ask our Critical Mass ShopTalk research community who represent a broad demographic of consumers across the United States, what they will be spending more and less on in 2010, including both time and money. What we heard from them was both expected and surprising.
Consumers talked about spending more time on hobbies and interests, with family and friends and of course the resolution favorite, exercising. What’s interesting, though, is that a large number of consumers also talked about spending less time worrying or focusing on things beyond their control, like the economy or the job market. Many seem intent on living in the present and enjoying what they have today. While our community is mindful of the poor economy and the fact that saving and scrimping are ever-present goals and challenges, many want to worry less about the uncertain future and instead concentrate on the present.
The word cloud below captures the key words consumers used when asked what they will spend their time on in 2010.
Other activities that consumers say they won’t be spending as much time on in 2010 include TV and the internet, most notably social networking sites. Consumers talked about devising strategies to limit their time in these arenas so that they can spend more time outdoors or engaging in more active and/or quality pursuits with their families. While these are admirable goals, I’m not sure how much people will be sticking to this. If they really want to stress and worry less, I think TV and Facebook provide great distractions from the everyday pressures of life. I’m looking forward to seeing whether our consumers stick to this goal.
At the annual investors meeting last week, coffee brat Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO, went on the offensive regarding the perception that his coffee is expensive.
Howie (I feel like I can call him that since Howard is my middle name) made two key points. First, that Starbucks has “…become the poster child for excess…” Man, Ozzy Osbourne might have an argument with that if he could still form a sentence.
The second point he made was that because of the extraordinary taste of his coffee, it is a great value. “Don’t let anyone tell you their coffee is the same as Starbucks because it is not.” Oh, and by the way, they have plenty of coffee under $4.
Finally, Howie announced a forthcoming ad campaign that will convince people Starbucks is not as expensive as they are perceived. He said that recent campaigns have generated strong response. So here is my question – what exactly is a “strong response”?
I’m a believer that all campaigns should be driven by an insight, a consumer truth as one of my colleagues here likes to say (thanks for the line, Roger). So, yes, the fact that we are in a recession/depression/AIG induced spiral and people want to save money is an insight. But is it the right insight for Starbucks to act on?
