What Your Customers Really Think: Wrangling the new consumer mindset

January 18th, 2010 by Julie Wegman

With less money in the wallets of the more conscientious shopper, marketers are challenged with differentiating their brands in a more selective environment.

With so much economic chaos in their world, consumers are seeking brand relationships that put them in greater control of their product or service selection, the prices they pay, and even how they experience and interact with your brand. They expect better deals and more recognition for their loyalty—without compromising quality. These sentiments are the new “normal,” and as with other recessions, they aren’t likely to go away anytime soon.

Last year, 75 percent of consumers changed their purchasing behavior—some by trading down, others by altering their lifestyles. For example, more than 40 percent of consumers now buy private label brands. In the cold and allergy medicine category, for instance, more than 20 percent of consumers tried a lower-priced option—and 48 percent thought the experience was better than expected.

Evolving your brand value to align with the new consumer mindset is critical to a post-recession marketing strategy. For example, with a dramatic increase in “comparative shopping,”  rather than reacting with discounts that decrease brand value, get creative with product solutions, terms, and value-added promotions. You could even head off the comparative shopping process by providing a competitor comparison tool or campaign. Recently, Bayer Healthcare shifted its usual efficacy-focused Aleve advertising to a head-to-head competitive campaign.  A new TV spot and online savings calculator spelled out a cost-per-dose story to offset its perceived premium price relative to Tylenol and other lower cost brands.

In addition, if you lead with price and do not communicate the value of your brand, at best it will be perceived on par with the competition, and more likely as a dispensable commodity.  Instead, tell the consumer why your brand is worth every penny of the higher price, a la the old L’Oreal or Michelin campaigns. You’ll have a better chance of sustaining brand loyalty, especially during turbulent economic times.

Customer engagement is also more important than ever. And, in the new “normal,” it is expected. Your customers have a growing need to connect with brands as part of their desire for more empowered, thoughtful decision making. Providing information online and encouraging referrals and recommendations are particularly important to brands in categories where consumers are known to do their “homework” before making purchase decisions.

A side benefit to delivering knowledge-based content is that it fosters viral marketing, particularly with consumers who share experiences as part of their desire to gather information. This offers your company the opportunity to build clout for your brand, manage your reputation, and better understand the changing consumer mindset.

Taking charge of your brand online isn’t always easy or predictable, but a solid social media strategy will ensure consumer engagement that aligns your brand voice with theirs, while actively listening to inform the evolution of your brand, of course.

–Julie Wegman

This entry was posted by Julie Wegman on Monday, January 18th, 2010 and is filed under Ad business, Advertising, Brand Strategy, MF. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.