How to connect strategically with recessionary consumers

Joseph Chan, International Insight Manager at MediaCom reveals connectivity insights of money strapped consumers during the current economic meltdown…

Global consumers have submerged themselves long enough in a sea of recession and fear. Now they are gradually emerging from their state of pessimism and are becoming more adaptable and finally learning how to live simpler and happier lives.

At MediaCom we recently conducted some research – Global Consumers in Recession and Real World Money – to find out how we can strategically tap into the mindset of the ‘recessionary consumers’. These two insight initiatives were conceived with the purpose of monitoring the shifts in consumer attitude and behaviour on a continuous basis since the beginning of this year. Mixed methodologies, including telephone interviews, online surveys, accompanied shopping and blogs were used to canvass how the current economic climate is affecting them. From this we discovered three key insights in order to connect with them.

1. ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’ IS ESSENTIAL

• Being cheap does not necessarily guarantee a purchase! Superb value for money and quality is what counts these days! Any perceived ‘trade offs’ made by consumers must still satisfy their own minimum standards and as you would expect the decision criteria they use to evaluate such purchases differ by country, category, as well as their own personal aspirations.
• Recessionary consumers are becoming more research-savvy with the empowerment of various digital platforms such as price comparison sites, money-saving forums and online voucher portals. They have become more inquisitive in searching for best deals based on recommendations and advice from ‘trusted’ sources eg industry experts’ opinion, friends’/family’s recommendations, etc. Decision making is becoming more rational and brands are under more scrutiny than ever before.
• Non essentials are hit hardest! Indulgence and novelty has become ‘luxury’ these days and all the most obvious un-necessaries are reduced. Purchases of expensive holidays, new cars, high-tech mobile phones, champagne etc. are already down significantly. In a nutshell, consumers globally have wised up and are rapidly becoming more responsible in terms of what they buy and use.

2. TIME FOR A BIT OF ‘FUN’ & ‘ESCAPISM’

• There appears to be no end of uncontrollable factors (eg increasing unemployment rate, falling house prices, MPs’ expense scandals, etc.) which are leading consumers to seriously question their financial security and also their confidence towards society and government. Stress and anxiety are at an all time high. Worse, trust in brands has also been dented partly because their belief towards traditional advertising has been undermined. Consumers become more rational upon the advertising messages they receive and constantly assess what the truth is underneath.
• Despite this loss of trust in brands and uncertain future prospects, our study indicates that consumers have become more successful at combating hidden pessimism. They are now trying to adopt the ‘don’t worry, be happy’ approach and search for ways to get off the treadmill, to have a bit of fun in life and to re-evaluate what really makes them happy. For example, there is an increasing number of British people claiming to grow or intending to grow their own fruit and vegetables, following the famous British chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s way of life by growing his own food in Chanel 4’s River Cottage programme.

3. ‘HOME’ IS WHERE THE HEART IS

• During an economic downturn consumers tend to spend less time out and about with friends and family; they become more home-bound to cut down on their social and entertainment expenses. For instance, Domino’s Pizza were up 15% in the first six weeks of 2009 and lovefilm.com was increased by 239% year on year!
• Home, family and health become more important in life with family values coming to the fore. People are now using their imagination to create more fun and laughter at home, particularly for the younger generation who were used to “getting out and about” to combat their boredom. Home entertainments such as games consoles, online movie rentals (eg lovefilms.com), video on demand (Sky & Virgin), etc. have achieved huge successes and even some traditional games like Monopoly and Scrabble are enjoying a resurgence.

The recession is discernibly affecting money-strapped consumers’ lifestyles who are in turn responding by living their lives more prudently and taking advantages of all resources they can access. To make the very most out of the insights revealed above, communication planners can follow nine steps to maximise and create a heartfelt dialogue with the recessionary consumer:

How to communicate ‘VALUE FOR MONEY’?

• Focus on the value message and make sure augmented benefits are constantly reassured. ‘Give them something extra’!
• Create a socially-responsible image to restore trust and add value; convey the message of ‘helping yourself and also helping others’.
• Communicate simply about important functionality and facilitate the consumer decision making process.
• Dramatise both emotional and functional benefits of a brand.

How to communicate ‘FUN’ AND ‘ESCAPISM’?

• Tap into the potential of using various digital platforms to drive consumer connectivity and rebuild trust through word-of mouth and brand equity building.
• Inject a bit of fun, laugher and escapism into their lives to increase brand preference.
• Experientially engage them with social media and reinforce the brand-and-consumer relationship in long run.

How to communicate ‘HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS’?

• Use every opportunity to take advantage of their home-bound lifestyle. Eg cross brand partnership with in-home entertainment brands.
• Exploit innovative communication strategy from recommendations by friends and family, both online and personal communication to drive your campaign.