Happy endings & hidden persuaders
SILVER SPRING, Maryland, USA — January would not be complete for “Commonness” without an inventory of trends in marketing and communication. Luckily enough, this writer was able to draw up a list from information sent by trendwatching.com (TW), an independent and opinionated trend firm online and advertising principle I picked up in the ’70s that continues to be applicable today. Read on.
1. Making your existing products and services more relevant to consumers will be key. Your offerings can become more desirable if you slot in attributes and uses that will accommodate a distinct, if not a niche, standard of living and circumstance of identified target consumers. TW calls this observable fact Nichetributes. It is not doing clever marketing communication but tailoring a mass product’s message to a specific audience. As has been discussed in a previous column, in niches there are riches.
Today’s consumers prefer practical and useful products that will be appropriate during more rigorous times. Anything that suitably matches their needs will be reciprocated with positive reception and benevolence. In today’s harsh business climate it is a competitive edge. For businesses, creativity in product offerings coupled with a good nose for what’s in and what’s out are critical factors for survival.
2. Luxury will be whatever you want it to be. In an economic downturn, train your sights on what could possibly be the next big thing and define it unmistakably, instead of wasting your energy getting perturbed about missing out on it. TW identifies it as the “Luxyoury” phenomenon that could have various dimensions — prudent elegance or recession chic, among other apt descriptors. It asserts that the demise of a product is inevitable for anything that gets too reasonable, too reachable, or just too popular. Thus, it is best to launch something evidently unusual, or at best differentiated, appealing to the in crowds who can be persuaded to join your bandwagon. “Whatever approach you may go for, luxury during this period goes beyond ostentatious display of wealth. Find the right status trigger for the right audience, then coin it and build on it. It is all yours. Downturn or upturn,” TW underscores.
3. Having an honest-to-goodness feedback mechanism in place will be indispensable. Set a goal for your company or product that will allow it to join conversations that can get its side of the story to a mass audience that now reads reviews from a preferred platform. This is an occurrence that TW labels “Feedback 3.0.” With it, you will expectedly have the opportunity to post your apologies and solutions, preferably directly side by side with comments from disgruntled customers. You can post candid rebuttals if you believe and can prove that a particular review is unfair or inaccurate.
TW predicts that in 2009, many big brands will join the world of open dialogue, asking for comments and suggestions in the process. Sadly many of these brands will only do so because of their own weakening prospects. Suddenly you hear them expressing their willingness to listen to their customers, seeking opinions and begging for ideas to avoid bankruptcy. Needless to say, those pleas will fall on the deaf ears of indifferent customers who have been neglected all too long. “In fact, the reason so many companies are struggling is precisely because they’ve never had these conversations,” TW emphasizes.
4. Green will be the new black. Firms and services dedicated to helping households go green (environment-friendly, that is) in any possible way will make this happen. TW dubs this socially correct event as the rise of the “Econcierge,” the noble purpose of which is to provide advice that can help reduce harmful energy consumption, save money in the process and make people embrace the sustainability of green-related efforts that have already been started.
The talk on global warming heightened the desire of people to go green. It appears to have passed a tipping point, but in 2009, TW reports, it is likely that consumers will be bombarded with regular communication about its long-term effects on those living in low-lying areas along coastlines, those attempting to grow crops in rapidly shifting climates, those living along the equator as opposed to temperate climes, and even those getting ready to drill for oil in open water that the polar ice caps still cover. The list goes on and on.
Going green will be confronted by industry more than government. The Econcierge will indeed march on as it underscores the need to save money and why more efficient products and conservation measures must be put in effect. For example, when heating costs go up, the consumer must be counseled to insulate, or when electricity costs go up, the consumer must be educated on buying compact fluorescent bulbs. This market/consumer-driven need will drive companies to produce more efficient products and services.
The Econcierge can also share product successes like the Toyota Prius, a hybrid car that has impacted Toyota’s profits in a very positive manner and the Fiat-branded widget that improves driving efficiency. It can likewise make available free, downloadable greenhouse plans that can help create home designs that incorporate environment-friendly combinations of products, materials and vendors.
5. Mapping will be the new interface activity. Geography is about everything that is literally close to consumers. It’s a universally familiar method of organizing, finding and tracking relevant information on objects, events and people. Today, as TW accounts, that superior geographical information is accessible on the go, from in-car navigation, tracking, knowing and connecting or whatever else you can do with it. The sky is the limit. I have personally experienced this marvel, which TW calls MapMania, while on a recent vacation in the US tri-states of Maryland-Washington, D.C.-Virginia, where each car I rode in was equipped with GPS, a map-based tracking device that tells you where to go.
6. The silver lining will always show after each downturn. TW foresees that the umbrella brand for 2009 is Happy Ending, and quickly adds that it will be an excellent year for businesses keen on showing consumers that they really care. It is a great moment to innovate given the shrinking budgets and diminishing revenues from current offerings. Truly, during tough times, the tough get tougher and smarter. TW warns, though, to “Expect pockets of consumers to switch to lower-consumption models with surprising ease, and to look for different and less costly sources of happiness and thus, ultimately, status. Any way you can help them will be a guaranteed winner.”
In a tight marketing and communication budget situation, you might also want to go back to the advertising principle advanced by author Vance Packard as the “hidden persuader.” I was introduced to this concept during my college years, and reviewing the theory, it seems even more useful today. It talks about unseen influential hooks or “subliminals” that bring attention to what you are selling. The process may not necessarily be attached to expensive paid ads. It can be embedded in your product ideas, your merchandising activities, and the events that you build around your offerings.
To illustrate, a study was conducted by author Martin Lindstrom for a product as utilitarian as a remote control. Consumers were given both a lightweight and a heavy version of this “on-off-surf-zap” gadget to use. What did research say? “It is broken,” was the widespread reaction to the lighter version, and even when the respondents found out that the lightweight remote was totally functional; they still saw it as inferior. Customers believe heavier objects are more sturdy and substantial, and they are willing to pay a premium for them.
The second example may be as true in your experience as it is to me — drinking Corona, a Mexican beer squeezed with lime. It is a ceremony supposedly done to enhance its taste. Some say that the ritual came from an ancient Meso-American practice intended to kill germs, with the acidity destroying the bacteria. Truth to tell, the Corona-and-lime ritual started only in 1981, when, reportedly during a bet with his friend, a bartender burst a slice of lime into the neck of a Corona to see if he could start a trend.
This basic, uncomplicated citrus-squeeze spread like a virus. Drinking buddies demanded lime in their Coronas before the toast and the toss down. Corona became a wildfire brand propelled by smart marketing and non-traditional thinking. It eventually overtook Heineken as the best-selling imported beer on the American market. As Lindstrom declares, “The more stressed out we are by the financial crisis and other problems, the more we unconsciously adhere to familiar, comforting rituals. Marketers know this full well and exploit it.”
* * *
E-mail bongosorio@yahoo.com or bong_osorio@abs-cbn.com for comments, questions or suggestions. Thank you for communicating.
