60 Second Articles:

1. Crack The Marketing Code By Answering These 10 Critical Questions
2. Look Who’s Talking — Not The Movie
3. The 60 Second Close: Is It Time For “Retro” Marketing?

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1.  Crack The Marketing Code By Answering These 10 Critical Questions

1. Does your company have a unique “story” to tell that makes it stand out from the competition?
2. Does your company offer a product, a service or an experience that is not only of value, but is memorable enough to break through the advertising clutter and be heard by your target audience?
3. Does your company employ a team of goodwill ambassadors who have a passion for the company’s culture, philosophy and the product?
4. Does your company understand what business it is really in? (Southwest Airlines is not in the airline business, but in the business of providing people a safe, fun and memorable way to get to their destination.)
5. Does your company understand the lifetime value of a customer and the exorbitant costs of gaining new customers versus retaining current customers? Does your company have a customer retention strategy?
6. Does your company know who its best customers are, not by demographics, but by their first name? How is your company rewarding the best customers for their valued loyalty?
7. Does your team have not only an intimate knowledge of your product and service, but an understanding of what’s most profitable — not in terms of percentages, but in real dollars and cents?
8. Does your company strive to make a difference in your community, where your customers live and work?
9. Does your company have a “face” – a personality, a CEO, a President or an owner to which customers can relate to and readily access?
10. While everyone loves first impressions, does your company leave an everlasting final impression with customers that creates memorable conversations and encourages repeat purchases?

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2.   Look Who’s Talking — Not The Movie 

• Here’s an instant and reliable way to find out if anyone’s talking about you or your company on Facebook or Twitter. It’s a new search engine called Kurrently, at www.Kurrently.com.
• Test it yourself by sending out a tweet and then go to Kurrently and do a search for a keyword within that tweet. Presto, you’ll be found. Now, test it with other keywords that are relevant to your business. It’s quite possible that people are talking about your product without you even knowing about it.

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3.  The 60 Second Close: Is It Time For “Retro” Marketing?

• Incorporating TV, radio, print, direct mail and billboards into your advertising plan almost seems “retro” because no one talks about traditional advertising anymore. It’s not the “in-thing” and it just doesn’t seem glamorous like it used to be.
• Contrary to what the many pundits are saying, we strongly advocate that when targeted properly, “retro marketing” still works and it works even better once you’ve cracked the all-important marketing code.
• Crack the code then develop your sales-building plan. It’s your model for real growth and profitability. Need some help? We can show you how to get there … now much faster than ever. 

Since then, legislation has been introduced that requires food chains in certain geographical regions to post the calorie counts on their menu boards; the “heaviest” states now boast obesity rates greater than 30% and we know that in fact childhood obesity rates tripled in the last 20 years.

Now, we are staging a Revolution against Obesity.  British chef and television personality, Jamie Oliver has become the visible advocate of the Food Revolution—charging that American kids need better food at school to improve their health prospects. Michelle Obama agrees.  She has taken the charge with a goal of reducing childhood obesity from nearly 20 percent to 5 percent by 2030.

Undoubtedly, there will be casualties in the obesity revolution. (We all know obesity is a big business.) The food industry is at the front lines, but the White House is now calling on food marketers to curb the marketing of unhealthy foods to children. The recommendation is a part of a report, released Tuesday, that outlines measures to fight the national epidemic. The report additionally recommends that the Federal Communications Commission consider stronger regulations if these recommendations are not implemented.  The battle has begun.

To learn more, click here.

The question we asked ourselves was – is there a limit to how far consumers will go to remain brand loyal? The answer is yes!

Bargain hunting for your favorite brand is exhausting and many shoppers said that private label products offer the quality of branded products without the “headache.”

Each time your consumer experiences a headache (a sacrifice of time and money) to remain loyal to your brand, they expect recognition and compensation. Their rallying cry is simple— “Meet me halfway.”

This next video honors those brands that have taken this message to heart.

Instead of keeping that valuable information locked up in a safe, we’ve decided instead to share it with you through YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Our Next New Normal weekly video series features consumer insights, marketing trends and research findings on YouTube.  Don’t worry, we’re keeping it to 90 seconds or less each week. Subscribe to this channel to be alerted each time a new video is uploaded.

On Twitter we’re tracking the latest news, trends and reports around consumer frugality. Follow us for insights from the leading frugality gurus, at a 140 characters or less, of course!

On LinkedIn you can join the frugality discussion, or start your own discussion, by posting news and information you’ve found on consumer frugality. Join our group and check out relevant posts and discussions. We promise you’ll learn something new!

All right, back to the storm front. Until next time!

I was surprised to come across a recent study published by Decitica Marketing Strategy & Research (www.decitica.com); Marketing to the Post-Recession Consumers: How distinct segments emerging from the recession will create challenges and opportunities for marketers. I was surprised not by their findings, but by their willingness to investigate how varied groups differ in ways besides spending ability. The study concludes that the effects of this recession on consumer behavior have invalidated many of the assumptions underlying consumer segmentation. For example, psychosocial factors such as attitudes and behaviors may now be more relevant than traditional demographics. Additionally, researchers warn that marketing strategies that do not fully recognize the diversity of consumers’ recession experiences will not have the desired effect given current conditions.

The study identifies four types of consumers: Steadfast Frugalists, Involuntary Penny-Pinchers, Pragmatic Spenders, and Apathetic Materialists.

• Steadfast Frugalists commit to prudent behaviors enthusiastically.

• Involuntary Penny-Pinchers are those that have changed their behaviors out of shear necessity—they do not seem to derive significant
pleasure in hunting for bargains.

• Pragmatic Spenders are those most willing and able to resurrect their pre-recession spending habits.

• Apathetic Materialists are those least concerned with price but may not have significant spending power because much of the group is
made up of Gen Y.

The study goes on to identify the satisfaction and confidence levels associated with frugal behaviors for individuals across all groups.

As the study notes, the great recession has not affected the population uniformly in terms of budgetary restrictions or emotional response. Assessing the emotional impact of the recession on these distinct segments will provide the marketing community some valuable insight assuredly. But emotions only tell part of the story. The study neglects to mention how the recession has changed consumer values. Have consumer values changed? Instead of looking at the characteristics of a segment, marketers should look at the values that drive purchasing behaviors. Values are continuing to be reevaluated as behaviors that were previously forced upon consumers are coming to be viewed as pleasurable. However, this transition is not going to last much longer. Marketers need to quickly zero in on those values that are shifting and react to them. Because, as we all know, values are what ultimately drive purchase behaviors. As consumers change theirs, so too will their purchases change. And therein lies the opportunity.

Yet, the last two years have taught us that few things are sacred. Consumers are under more pressure than ever before and have reacted accordingly—overall spending is down, private label consumption is up, and consumers no longer enter a store without a game plan. We know all that. But we still had questions, so we conducted a second phase of frugality research to uncover which behaviors consumers will shed after the economy recovers and which behaviors consumers will stick with. 

One of the most unexpected findings was just how determined today’s consumers are. For some, their current situation made it nearly impossible for them to continue purchasing branded products—but that didn’t stop them from buying the brands they love.  In order to stay within their budgets, consumers scoured newspapers for coupons, hunted for deals online, and made frequent, specific trips to multiple grocery stores. (Clearly, brand loyalty is a strong motivator.)

Yet, is brand loyalty limitless? We found that it isn’t. Consumers have exhausted themselves expending the amount of effort required to thoroughly bargain hunt. Driving to multiple grocery stores, tracking down online coupon leads, clipping coupons at the kitchen table—each activity puts additional limitations on already tight schedules. Many shoppers are finding that private label products offer the quality of branded products without the headache. Consumers inherently understand this, so each time they sacrifice time or money to remain brand loyal, they expect recognition and compensation.  The quality of the branded product used to be sufficient. Now, however, consumers are asking brands to do more because the benefits of brand loyalty alone are dwindling. The rallying cry is simple—“meet me halfway.”

Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring the ever changing consumer expectations and the ways in which brands can exceed them. Consumers are weighing their options and it’s likely that a simple coupon simply won’t do.

For the past six months I’ve set out to uncover key insights behind consumer behavior related to the recession. Our first wave of research took place earlier this year. We found that consumers are more mindful when making purchases both large and small and that childhood traditions are making a comeback.

But what’s next?

I am excited to announce we just launched our second wave of post-recession consumer research, which will answer that exact question. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, we will reveal important consumer attitudes around the battle between private label and brand name, products and brands consumers will gravitate to post-recession, and behaviors that will stick once the economy rebounds.

Our analysis of the qualitative research results and our projectable national quantitative survey will be available by December 7. You can look forward to many blog posts by me and fellow Northlichers in the months to come regarding consumer frugality, but, if you can’t wait that long and want a copy of the research report, respond to this blog post or send me an email. But please, don’t stop me at the grocery store; I have a lot of ground to cover.

They are the essence of nearly every Spirits ad created over the last decade. Not convinced? Let us prove it. You can create your ad with the Generic Vodka Ad Generator. Just answer five simple questions and then you too can be considered a spirits marketing pro.

So how’d it go? Go ahead, make another one, I know you want to. When you’re fnished playing around, then you can read the rest of my blog post. It’s not going anywhere.

Finished? Okay, good.

Whether your spirits brand is inexpensive or top shelf, coconut or caviar flavored, prominently displayed or in the background, there isn’t much differentiation these days in the spirits category. The category has been marketer’s dream: create badge brands based on premium pricing, beautiful packaging, images of people enjoying themselves in social situations. It has been less about what’s inside the bottle than what’s on the outside. So the connection is largely superficial, with little differentiation and a lot of brand switching.

There are a few problems with this picture. With the economy in recession, the trend toward “trading up” has declined. Consumers are re-thinking some of the affordable luxuries they’ve been indulging in, whether a $5 venti latte at Starbuck’s or a $15 Grey Goose martini. Nights out on the town are few and far between and so is the need for a badge brand of vodka, bourbon or tequila.  When you’re drinking at home, a mid-tier or bottom shelf brand may do just fine.  Substance is beginning to play a more important role than style.

So when we ask ourselves, is it a tough time to market spirits brands, the answer is yes. However, with the emergence of an increasing number of digital options, the decline in on-premise consumption, and the increase in off-premise, there are opportunities to connect with spirits drinkers in ways and places that will increase consumer engagement and loyalty. There is also an opportunity to more precisely define the spirit drinker, beyond the typical 20-something “pub and club” set that just about every spirit brand goes after.

Northlich has experience helping brands in the vodka, rum, tequila and liqueur categories find a unique place to live; then connecting that ownable position with a targeted group of consumers, defined by their attitudes toward life, as well as their attitudes about what to drink, where to drink and who to drink with. Take a look at our Finlandia Vodka work to see how we positioned Finlandia to represent a moment and place of purity in an impure world, targeted to an older, more confident audience driven more by quality, authenticity and substance.

If you are interested in knowing more about specific tools and techniques we use to uncover these insights, or want to learn more about our experience in this category, let me know. We are always up for a good drink.

Cheers!

Ashley