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Are consumers confident about returning to public spaces?

As more lockdown restrictions ease worldwide, things almost seem to be returning to normal.

But COVID-19 is still a very real threat, meaning public spaces simply can’t work the way they used to, with large gatherings a thing of the past and face masks a common accessory.

Many businesses now find themselves facing a new set of consumer segments based on how comfortable they are in returning to public spaces. In the absence of a vaccine, these risk-based segments will rewrite the rules on how retail companies drive footfall in their stores.

Younger audiences, for example, may continue unaffected, while older or at-risk groups may find themselves with a new outlook post-coronavirus.

Here, we look at the attitudes of returning audiences. We also give brands advice on how to ensure consumers are confident enough to come back, and share learnings from APAC’s post-coronavirus success.

APAC’s positive mindset is important in the public sphere.

In general, countries with a more positive outlook show greater intention to return to public spaces at the soonest opportunity. We noted this back in March and it couldn’t be more true now.

APAC, as the first region to experience the effects of COVID-19, is further along the road to recovery and making faster steps toward normalcy than anywhere else in the world, despite some recent setbacks.

Our data reflects that, of the countries most optimistic they will recover, four of the top five are found in APAC.

80% of internet users across APAC are optimistic their country will overcome the outbreak.

Compared to Europe, where the region is beginning to recover, optimism falls to 45%, with lows of 32% in France and Spain.

This may seem disheartening, but attitudes can change quickly. For example, in April, just 3 in 10 users in APAC said they’ll return to shops immediately or very quickly after they reopen.

Fast-forward to May, and this figure rises to 4 in 10, the first time where the top ten countries for confirmed coronavirus cases were all found outside of APAC.

There are exceptions, however. Users in Japan, while having so far avoided much of the devastation seen elsewhere, are still very uncertain about their future – just 12% say they’re optimistic their country will overcome COVID-19, with almost 6 in 10 demonstrating negativity.

Postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and a lack of decisiveness from prime minister Shinzo Abe are factors at play here, and are likely influencing Japan’s pessimism.

Yet, 3 in 10 internet users here say they intend to make an immediate or quick return to shops – the same as New Zealand, the second highest worldwide, where 83% are optimistic.

This suggests it’s not virus fears deterring users from entering public spaces, but a lack of confidence in Japanese authority.

What largely separates APAC from the rest of the world in this scenario lies at the heart of their society – even before the outbreak.

Pre-COVID, many countries in East Asia already used face masks when sick individuals didn’t want to infect others, with the 2002 SARS outbreak only adding to this mentality.

Consumers in this region know beating COVID-19 requires a collective effort, and not a long waiting game. While this is a big adjustment for individuals elsewhere, it’s not one they’re incapable of.

Age isn’t everything.

Knowing what matters most to returning consumers is important, but knowing who the returning customer is means businesses can prepare accordingly.

Using data from wave 4 of our coronavirus study, we categorized internet users based on the speed of which they intend to return to public spaces – immediately, quickly or slowly.

While it’s common knowledge that older audiences are more at risk from COVID-19, we highlighted recently that over 4 in 10 baby boomers actually intend on returning to shops quickly – just nine percentage points behind Gen Zs.

Intent to return to large outdoor/indoor venues is generally lower than for shops, and the gap between generations is more pronounced in this case – 1 in 3 baby boomers would quickly return to a large outdoor or indoor venue against 2 in 3 millennials.

But when viewed across each market, the gap between generations for large venues closes, implying age isn’t the main factor influencing speed of return to public places

Optimism plays an important role in consumers’ readiness to return.

Of immediate returners, 72% say they feel optimistic that their country will overcome the outbreak, falling to 59% for those expecting a slow return and climbing to 75% for quick returners.

Eager shoppers as concerned as cautious ones

Restrictions on normal life are easing, and with it comes newfound optimism. At first glance, it’s easy to mistake this for a lack of concern, however a higher level of optimism appears to bring with it a level of responsibility.

Immediate returners are actually on par with slower ones for levels of concern in their own country, indicating that an eagerness to shop doesn’t imply ignorance to the bigger picture.

While this does drop from 55% to 44% for quick returners, it’s important to note that businesses who are concerned about the deterrent effect of safety measures can proceed without issue.

As with APAC, individuals who are optimistic about the situation are more likely to return quicker – and businesses are crucial in ensuring this.

How to cultivate confidence for your consumer.

As we noted earlier, it’s not enough to wait for the post-virus positivity – businesses need to instill confidence in consumers by mitigating risk and assuring safety measures can work.

Fears of a second wave of coronavirus have gripped headlines in Western countries, particularly as the hot summer months lure individuals to public hotspots.

While it’s certainly important to avoid large crowds and maintain social distancing where possible, there are steps brands can take to assure even the most high-risk individuals that normal life can continue.

Just shy of 4 in 10 of those with high-risk health conditions – such as diabetes or high blood pressure – intend a quick return to shops when they reopen, meaning this isn’t an audience that businesses can afford to leave behind.

There’s a growing risk of these individuals being marginalized as society returns to normal, so businesses should be doing everything possible to accommodate their concerns and reassure their safety.

This means hygiene needs to be an absolute priority here: 64% of high-risk individuals say they consider regular cleaning important, rising to 72% for those aged 45-64.

Hygiene most important factor in returning to places

But maintaining good hygiene isn’t just important for those most at risk. No matter at what speed individuals intend to return to public spaces, regular cleaning wins outright.

Half of those intending an immediate return to public spaces say regular cleaning is the most important safety factor in public spaces, rising to 3 in 4 for slow returners.

This shows safety is non-negotiable, with hygiene standards paramount for even the most eager consumers.

Of course, those with a more staggered approach to returning score higher for hygiene features in general. But face masks prove the most divisive safety measure between returning audiences.

Two-thirds of the slow returners say a mandatory use of face masks is important to them, while just under 4 in 10 immediate or quick returners say the same.

Face masks are quickly becoming essential wear, so implementing them in-store or at large venues now is unlikely to affect returning individuals. Moreover, consumers who value their safety are certainly going to feel more attentive to businesses that tick multiple boxes on their safety checklist.

The same rules apply for hand sanitizer, with quick returners slightly more inclined to consider this factor, but again overshadowed by cautious audiences.

Conversely, the mandatory use of gloves isn’t as important – despite slower returners still 1.3 times more likely than average to cite this safety factor. While it’s better to be safe than sorry, businesses may take some relief in knowing other measures are sufficient in easing consumer mindsets.

Instead, the more difficult measures relate to enforcing social distancing or limiting the number of individuals inside a building at a given time.

The hospitality industry, hard hit from the outbreak, is gearing up to face these exact challenges. After the announcement that UK pubs, restaurants and cafes could open on July 4th, many voiced their concern that these measures simply weren’t practical.

But individuals intent on a gradual return to public spaces are more inclined to appreciate attempts to comply with these challenges. Particularly entry restrictions, with just under 6 in 10 saying this is important compared to around 3 in 10 of their speedier counterparts.

Businesses can appease both groups by making simple adjustments like staying open longer, a safety feature that 32% of immediate returners say is important to them – 72% more likely than the average internet user.

This is the only example of a safety feature where slower returning audiences are less on-board than their faster counterparts.

Just 16% of slow returners cite longer opening hours as important, suggesting measures not related to hygiene or social distancing are unlikely to affect their decision making.

For the fast returners, they want to know the public space is ready when they need it, while more cautious audiences will likely wait for quieter hours, where social distancing is easier and headcount is unnecessary.

Additional steps

By doing all they can to assure consumers feel comfortable in public, businesses can expect returning individuals to shop confidently and adhere to safety measures in everyday life.

But for some, the new normal isn’t an easy adjustment. Industries need to adapt in a big way, and make major changes to how they used to operate to ensure apprehensive consumers feel confident enough to return.

This means, for the most part, implementing online strategies. Hospitality, for example, is a sector reliant on word-of-mouth and reputation – with restaurants and bars becoming increasingly active on social media to achieve this.

All returning audiences approve of brands running advertising that highlights how they’re responding to the outbreak or helping customers – from 66% of immediate returners to 63% of slower ones.

Businesses can start by shouting about their safety measures online and reassure their consumers that they’re the priority here.

It might be a long road to recovery, but only when individuals feel comfortable can they truly keep calm and carry on.

The new privacy landscape

Doug Gorman

Over the last decade many aspects of daily life have gradually shifted online.

For many, online financial and personal health records have been the default for years, while for younger millennials and Gen Zs, storing and accessing private information online has always been the norm.

Every so often, when news of data breaches reaches the front page, an increasing portion of consumers are given fresh cause for concern about the risks to their own personal data. The real risk may be even greater than we know, as one study suggests that an online hack occurs every 39 seconds.

But beyond nefarious activity, consumers are also apprehensive about data that’s being collected through legitimate means.

64% of internet users say they’re concerned how their private information online is being used by companies.

And, it’s not entirely clear how we can protect ourselves when sharing data is often the cost of doing business online.

As society grows ever more comfortable with virtual doctor’s appointments, fitness classes and remote work, private information spreads across a greater number of online platforms leaving us arguably more vulnerable than ever.

So, as our online exposure increases, how have consumer concerns evolved?

Privacy concerns are high, but not universal.

Throughout the world, privacy worries online have grown steadily in the past few years, and in response governments have enacted measures to protect the public through policies like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in California.

Even so, around 6 in 10 consumers worldwide still say they’re concerned about the internet eroding their personal privacy.

While this sentiment has remained high and relatively stable in mature markets like APAC and Europe, it’s increased the most in emerging markets like Latin America, the Middle East and Africa – in line with the growth of smartphone ownership and online activity in those regions.

Concern for personal privacy online isn’t equal across all age groups, however. For example, in most markets, older generations are the most apprehensive about large company’s access to their online data.

In North America, nearly three quarters of 55-64s are concerned about how private companies use personal data, while in Latin America this concern is shared by 88% of 55-64s.

Some are actively trying to protect their data, while others aren’t.

Measures we can take to protect our online privacy are complicated, especially when we understand the vastness of our potential online exposure, and the few safeguards we have once our data is uploaded.

In the first quarter of 2020, 98% of internet users said they visited a social network in the previous month, 83% used an online directions site or app, and 73% used an internet banking service.

These actions, like most free online services, typically request or require the exchange of personal data, like ongoing location tracking, financial records, or other personally identifiable information.

It can also be hard to know exactly how to protect ourselves. Services like Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), can encrypt our online activities, but even in APAC and MEA where this behavior is most common, only about one third of internet users say they’ve used a VPN in the prior month.

VPN activity is also least common in older generations, who are most worried about their privacy; 55-64s around the world are 50% less likely than average to have used a VPN in the last month.

Much more common is the use of private browsers, like Google’s Chrome Incognito or Microsoft’s InPrivate. Over half of users globally used a private browser in the last month, and the number reaches as high as 63% in MEA and Latin America.

Yet, as recent lawsuits show, even these are at risk of corporate data collection.

So it’s understandable that some consumers feel a sense of hopelessness toward their personal privacy online. According to Pew Research, over 4 in 5 Americans say they have little to no control over the data that companies, and governments collect.

Contact tracing may face hard obstacles.

As opposed to the business-as-usual attitude some have adopted around safeguarding the use of their own data, contact tracing offers consumers a unique opportunity to test the limits of their anonymity online – and the public’s control over their personal information.

In order to fight an invisible disease that may spread before any symptoms appear, healthcare officials around the world are urging consumers to cooperate with contact tracing efforts, and download location tracking apps to help curb the spread of the virus.

But at first glance, consumers’ privacy fears may outweigh their fear of the virus.

Respondents in the U.S. and UK are overwhelmingly more likely to say that they’re more anxious about their personal privacy given the prospect of contact tracing apps than they are about the coronavirus.

Therefore, years of trepidations around sharing information with large companies, compounded by high levels of distrust in authority amid the pandemic, may make it hard for contact tracing apps to attract a significant enough population of users to make an effective difference.

In both the U.S. and UK, just over 25% of respondents said they’re more concerned about the virus than they are about their personal privacy. It’s a surprisingly low portion, especially considering 57% of internet users in these countries are either very or extremely concerned about the COVID-19 situation within their borders.

However, this doesn’t mean that contact tracing is a lost cause from the outset.

While 4 in 5 consumers in the U.S. and UK say they have privacy concerns related to contact tracing, the biggest issue faced by contact tracing apps may actually be a lack of awareness.

Increasing awareness and igniting discussion is key

Nearly 40% of internet users in the U.S. and UK were either unaware of the mechanics around how contact tracing works, or unaware of contact tracing in general. The portion of uninformed citizens is highest in under 24s and over 55s.

Furthermore, a recent webinar by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) claimed that while half of consumers in America were willing to download a contact tracing app, they were much less likely to do so when the government or large corporations were involved in the data collection.

So, even though privacy concerns currently outweigh coronavirus fears, there’s still an opportunity for contact tracing efforts to succeed by playing to the altruistic nature of local communities, allowing individuals to have greater control over their own data, as well as educating consumers about what contact tracing means and how it can benefit their communities.

Contact tracing efforts can benefit from focusing on addressing the privacy fears most likely to keep consumers from taking part.

Whatever the case, it’s clear privacy concerns are the largest barrier standing in the way of contact tracing efforts and will no doubt reignite public discussions of whether big tech companies and governments should have control over our personal data.

Persona spotlight: online TV & movie streamers

Stefani Lanteri

Having spent prolonged periods inside during an unprecedented lockdown, it’s hardly a surprise we clocked up more hours on online media in 2020 than we’d probably care to admit.

Throughout COVID-19, appetite for streaming content has barely wavered across 13 markets we’ve been keeping track of:

51% of consumers were streaming more TV shows and films in the first wave of our study in mid-March 2020, compared to 52% in our fourth wave in May.

In response, streaming providers across the online entertainment space are expending a lot of effort to grow their user bases and keep people engaged.

But whatever our movie and TV streaming preferences are driven by – boredom, what’s viral, our desire to switch off or escape, for example – needs are needs, and for those providers hoping to continue on an upwards trajectory, these are the types of needs that have to be met.

So who’s streaming, and what’s the data you might be missing?

Who’s streaming and where?

In the U.S., Netflix is the dominant player in the streaming landscape across every generation.

69% of U.S. consumers have used Netflix to stream movies/TV in the past month.

Younger consumers are present most frequently on the platform, and figures decrease steadily with age. In the past month, 82% of Gen Z, 79% of millennials, 64% of Gen X and 46% of baby boomers say they’ve used Netflix to stream TV shows and movies.

We can also see that Hulu and Disney+ are most favored by Gen Z and millennials, whereas Amazon Prime is favored slightly more by older generations, rising to 36% of Gen X but falling to just 25% of Gen Z.

It’s especially worth noting how much of the market Disney+ has managed to acquire in a very short period of time since its launch in November 2019. Close to 3 in 10 in the U.S. have used Disney+ in the past month, rising to 37% for Gen Z and millennials.

The genres that fly

From custom research we ran in June in the U.S. and UK, we can dig a little deeper into streamers’ preferences for genre.

The three genres with the most cross-generational appeal are comedy, action and adventure.

Comedy takes the top spot as the genre Gen Z, millennials and Gen X tend to watch on streaming services, except for boomers, who say action is the genre they tend to watch most.

What’s more, it’s interesting to compare which generations stand out for watching genres others are less likely to.

Streaming genres according to popularity

% of internet users who say they tend to stream the following genres

	Gen Z	Millennials	Gen X	Baby boomers
Comedy	74	70	64	55
Action	60	60	58	56
Adventure	55	52	49	45
Horror	50	41	31	22
Sci-fi	43	48	48	42
Thriller	42	40	40	36
Romantic comedy	37	36	29	24
Romance	37	41	36	22
Fantasy	37	41	38	31
Superhero	36	41	33	24
Documentaries / factual	35	44	47	47
Sports	23	27	26	25
Period drama	17	26	27	30

Source: GlobalWebIndex Custom Research, June 2020. Question: Which genres do you tend to watch on TV / film streaming services e.g. Netflix? Base: 2,001 (U.S.) and 1,000 (UK) internet users aged 16-64.

The genre of horror holds more appeal the younger users are; viewed by around half of Gen Z users, compared to just 1 in 5 baby boomers.

Period dramas on the other hand, are almost twice as likely to appeal more to boomers (30%) than Gen Z (17%).

Younger generations stand out from their elder cohorts in their genre preferences:

Gen Z are more likely to prefer comedy (74%), adventure (55%), horror (50%), sci-fi (42%), and romance (37%) compared to other generational cohorts.
Millennials, meanwhile tend to gravitate the most towards thriller (48%), superhero (41%), romantic comedy (41%), fantasy (41%) and sports genres (27%).

Why users are also considering watching new genres

Around the world, users of online streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, or Disney+ show heightened levels of concern about the negative impacts of the coronavirus.

In fact, users of these platforms are over 40% more likely than average to be concerned about the COVID-19 situation in their own country.

Streamers are seemingly escaping feelings of continued anxiety around the outbreak not only by spending far longer on online media, but increasing the time they spend on nearly every device.

In the streaming stakes, even though each service attracts viewers looking for different types of content, many have found the time to discover new genres they never thought they’d enjoy.

This is evident in another custom research study conducted in the U.S. and UK in May.

Chart showing streamers are discovering new content

By prioritizing the most sought-after content at present – especially by new audiences – streaming services have a huge opportunity to rake in more viewership.

How they choose what to stream

It’s clear that all generations wish to see more comedy programs on streaming services.

With so much choice at their fingertips, what actually influences users’ choice in what they decide to watch?

From our custom research, recommendations from family and friends are the most influential factor for U.S. and UK streamers when it comes down to deciding what to watch.

Factors that influence what viewers watch

% of internet users who say the following genres are influential

	Gen Z	Millennials	Gen X	Baby boomers
Recommendations from friends / family	66	65	64	57
The list of what’s “trending” or “popular” on a streaming platform’s home screen	54	47	35	21
“Suggested for you” / recommendations from the streaming platform of what I might like	49	53	41	25
Viral hype on the internet (e. g. memes, articles, a lot of people posting about a show / film)	48	44	30	14
Reviews / ratings from movie sites (i. e. Rotten Tomatoes, IMdB)	43	47	36	28

Source: GlobalWebIndex Custom Research, May 2020. Question: How influential are the following factors when you decide what TV show or movie you want to watch? Base: 2,017 (U.S.) and 1,005 (UK) internet users aged 16-64.

As for what influential factor comes in second:

For Gen Z it’s the list of “whats trending” or “popular” on a streaming platform’s home screen (54%).
For millennials and Gen X, it’s “suggested for you” recommendations from the streaming platform of what they might like (53% and 41% respectively).
For 28% of baby boomers, it’s reviews and ratings from movie sites.

Getting a 360-degree view: the data many brands are missing

70% of U.S. millennials who use streaming services at least 2-3 times per week cite watching TV shows and movies as one of their main reasons for going online.

Meanwhile, 36% say they regularly watch back-to-back episodes from the same show in one go.

But aside from what they’re already doing, how do you know what pushes their buttons? What other questions should you be asking?

Sharpening the focus relies on building a more nuanced understanding of why people behave the way they do, both in relation to brands and purchasing, and in their wider lives.

Psychographic insight provides the context needed to deliver products, services, and messages that really hit home.

This crucial extra context means less guesswork for brands. Deciding which programs to invest in, how to advertise, and who to partner with can suddenly be derived from knowing what makes consumers tick – what’s shaping their agenda now.

Take the same audience of millennial streamers in the U.S. who’ve watched TV and movies on a streaming platform at least 2-3 times per week. What happens when we dig a little deeper?

Personality, self-perception and values

This group is more inclined to be swayed by others opinions – but not just this, they’re also 11% more likely than the average online TV streamer to regularly inform friends/family about new products and services too (60% do).

They’re also more likely to be ‘brand conscious’ and over half are willing to pay more for sustainable/eco friendly products.

Interests

Their top interests are music (70%), television (65%) and food & drink (65%). Yet, compared against the average U.S. online TV streamer, we can see they’re 31% more likely to be interested in esports and 23% more likely to be interested in vegan food.

Almost 3 in 4 go on a domestic vacation at least once a year. Noting the higher costs of travel abroad, it’s not surprising that, at 37%, value for money was cited as having the biggest impact on their travel destination.

Touchpoints and purchase drivers

YouTube and Facebook are their two most frequented social media platforms on a daily basis. When actively looking for more information, they consult search engines (54%), consumer reviews (40%), and social networks (33%) the most.

In the past month, they’re more likely to have visited a brands website (60%), than to have watched a branded video (26%), or have read an email or newsletter from a brand (24%).

Free delivery (60%) is their biggest purchase driver when shopping online, but their sense of community also plays a key role: they’re 20% more likely than the average streamer to buy a product or service simply for the experience of being part of the community built around it.

Streaming providers that can encourage a more personal, community-driven experience this audience craves could therefore be onto a winning formula.

Relationship with brands

U.S. millennial streamers want brands to make them feel valued (47%), and the theme of community is prevalent in many aspects of their persona: they’re 14% more likely than the average U.S. online TV streamer to want brands to run customer communities/forums.

Though they value high quality products (48%) and rewards or discounts (46%), they want brands to offer customized/personalized products – more so than the average streamer.

They’re also more likely to say they want brands to be funny and bold – qualities streaming providers should aim to embody.

Insight in action: BBC case study

As these insights demonstrate, the way to outperform competition is to prove to your audience how well you know them – and mirror what they desire.

With full knowledge of the opportunities fresh insight can bring, The BBC, the oldest and largest national broadcasting agency in the world, is deeply committed to understanding its audiences.

They needed behavioral and psychographic data to assess what was working and why. And when the team signed up to the GWI analysis platform, they wanted to know as much as possible about who was consuming their content. They were looking to analyze the quality of their audience and understand how media consumption was changing.

Having identified affluent millennials as a key consumer for the brand, the team needed to prove to those who advertised with them that they reached more affluent millennials than other international news platforms.

These questions formed the starting point:

What defines affluent millennials?
What do they value?
What do they want from brands?

With the answers they needed, the teams were able to present to key stakeholders, helping drive new business and advertising revenue by confirming their wide-reaching appeal to millennial audiences.

When brands in the tourism sector wanted to know why affluent millennials travel and what they look for in a leisure trip, the team stepped in to help.

BBC’s research proved that while older generations might want to spend more time on a beach being ‘pampered’, this younger generation is more interested in having an active holiday, using it as a time to explore a local culture.

It’s not just about guaranteeing a good advertising ROI for partners, says Hamish, global insight lead at BBC News. In an overly saturated media landscape, the BBC also hopes to galvanize loyalty by shaping more programs its viewers want to watch.

4 takeaways for streaming providers

Marketing and advertising professionals are facing increased pressure to prove their impact and justify everyday decisions with hard data. From attracting more viewers to gauging the potential reception to a TV show that’s yet to air, data holds the answers you need to achieve almost every business goal.
More specifically, psychographic data has a number of commercial benefits, including: guiding media spend, creative, product development, new business pitching, and brand purpose.
With insight into the motivations and attitudes that shape consumer behaviors, your decision-making process will be easier and your strategy will have more impact.
It’s crucial to use tools that go beyond demographic and behavioral data. Combining this with psychographic data, you can integrate the what with the why to build highly sophisticated profiles of your users. Really knowing your audience is the edge brands need to build better brand experiences that keep users coming back for more.

This post was first published on June 30, 2020. For more entertainment tips, browse our other articles.

Why psychographic data is crucial in times of crisis

Sofie Lundberg

In times of crisis, behaviors change. Brands must change theirs too, or risk being left behind.

Psychographic, or ‘attitudinal’, research explores peoples’ values, desires, goals, interests and lifestyle choices. Combined with demographic research, it builds a complete picture of your target audiences and gives you insight into where and how to meet them.

But even brands that have a firm grasp of this audience portrait have seen it shattered by the current global crisis. So what needs to be done to get a true view of the 2020 consumer?

The ‘next normal’: why psychographic data matters

The passing of time and changing circumstances has always meant consumer wants, needs and motivations are in constant evolution, but the coronavirus pandemic has not only fast-tracked this – it’s created a new world.

Charlie Echeverry of marketing company Black//Brown predicts there will be no ‘new normal’. Instead brands must look to the ‘next normal’, where the main focus lies on psychographic research over behaviors. Here’s why.

1. The world, and consumer behavior, is changing fast.

This is a time of fast, unpredictable change on a global scale. And while consumer actions are, and will continue to be, a crucial part of any marketing strategy, the motivations behind these actions are only set to grow in importance. It’s never been more important to know why your target audiences act the way they do.

2. Be responsive – in the way consumers want.

The pandemic has impacted the entire world on a personal level, and it’s imperative that brands keep their finger on the pulse of how consumers will react to their message. Our coronavirus research tracks these attitudes and shows how they’re evolving as time goes on.

3. These times are unprecedented – and your creativity has to match.

It’s not good enough to fall back on your brand campaigns and stick to your brand message without reassessing its purpose. It’s time to be creative and make sure to resonate with your target audience as they are right now. The only way to do this is to have access to the kind of psychographic research that gives you up-to-date, relevant context around changing mindsets as well as habits.

4. In an uncertain environment, you must be flexible.

What 2020 has proven to brands is that you can be as prepared as you want – some things are simply out of your control. While you may have a shiny, data-driven marketing plan at hand, you must come back to the consumer data to make sure it still holds up – and attitudes change faster than actions.

The state of the consumer mindset

Globally, only 20% strongly approve of brands running “normal” advertising campaigns.

And while overall approval is on a steady rise, proving it’s crucial for brands to not cease your advertising efforts, it shows you need to rediscover what your target audiences want to see from you.

Audience spotlight: Mothers in a crisis

To dig deeper into the attitudes and expectations of consumer segments, we zeroed in on mothers and their unique reactions to the pandemic. Here are some key findings from wave 4 of our ongoing Coronavirus study, conducted in May.

Regular cleaning and disinfecting (75%) is the most important factor in public spaces, ahead of things like face masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing measures.

They’re more concerned, to any degree, about the global situation (85%) than their own country’s (67%).

45% say corporate sustainability has become a lot more important to them during the outbreak, ahead of reducing their personal use of single-use plastic (40%) and reducing their carbon footprint (42%).

37% believe the outbreak will have a big or dramatic impact on their personal finances.

46% claim they’ll shop online more after the pandemic.

Steps to reassessing your psychographic model

While you may be well-acquainted with the steps to get psychographic research into your strategy, how can you use it to resonate with your consumers during a global crisis?

Revisit your audience segments and personas.
Look as far ahead as possible.
Tell emotionally compelling, but culturally sensitive, stories.
Keep coming back to refreshed, attitudinal research and adapt alongside.

How food brands can have their cake and eat it

Shauna Moran

Cultural narratives have always had power over our relationship with food.

In 1870, for example, a German chemist assessed the iron content of various vegetables and mislaid a decimal point when transcribing the data – reporting spinach to contain an unnaturally high amount of iron.

This planted the legend of its nutritional charge and prompted TV executives to feature it as the source of Popeye’s strength. As Popeye took off, so did U.S. sales of the mighty vegetable, which rose to become a top trending food item.

The focus may have moved from spinach to kale smoothies and ginger shots, but this anecdote reminds us that what’s “in vogue” fluctuates over time, even in the world of food.

As discussion around the pursuit of good health evolves, so does the value we attribute to food and nutrition.

Here, we put forward four of the most impactful changes to the consumer mindset in recent years (and months) that food and drink brands should take note of when preparing their marketing strategies.

1. Consumers want numerical summaries of their lifestyle.

In the last few decades, the concept of good health has become less of an ideal as something that can be actively measured.

From fitness trackers that calculate resting heart rates and calorie output, to body fat composition monitors, consumers today are surrounded by numbers.

In recent years, new technology and the ubiquity of smartphones have facilitated our increasingly inquisitive approach to food.

Since 2015, the percentage of consumers using a health, fitness or nutrition app each month has increased by 64%. Over a quarter of internet users now track their health via these means.

What’s more, the pandemic has accelerated this trend. With a third of consumers across 20 countries admitting to spending more time on apps during the outbreak, now is an opportune time to be a developer. Especially one in the health and fitness category, where global app downloads have seen 47% year-on-year growth in the second quarter of 2020.

Snap is the latest company to acknowledge the benefits of investing in the nutrition space, and has plans to integrate with Yuka (an app that analyzes diet and cosmetics) later this year, to let users scan packaged foods for nutrition information using the Snapchat camera.

To capitalize on the growth of various conscious eating and lifestyle movements, many more brands are expected to break into the mobile health market, or add nutrition and fitness offerings to their list of services.

2. Consumers want food to be simple and traceable.

Alongside increased digital health monitoring – enabling consumers to better understand the nutritional balance of their diet – they also want to know their food is free from pathogens and chemicals.

Over the years, food companies and the media have fueled distrust toward long ingredient lists, by drawing attention to certain aspects of processed foods.

Consumers want to feel reassured that their meals are clean and safe to eat; and knowing it hasn’t been mixed with impurities such as artificial additives can provide this.

Since the beginning of 2018, the portion of global internet users who say they aim to buy natural or organic products has increased by 8%.

It might not seem like a huge jump, but this rises to 14% among Gen Z (aged 16-23), who are now just behind millennials (aged 24-37) in terms of their regard for unprocessed products. This is enough to indicate a steady increase in the direction of conscious consumerism.

Not only are younger consumers the most attentive to additives in their food, they’re also the most likely to use a health-based app each month. This establishes a clear link between clean eating and health monitoring, as today’s growing category of health-conscious consumers identify both factors as wellness facilitators.

As coronavirus unsettles global supply chains, consumers are growing more conscious about where their food comes from.

The pandemic has shed light on food production, bringing new information about how food is grown to the masses.

Citizens across France, for example, have begun posting snippets of rural life online to help urban dwellers better understand agriculture. Meanwhile in China, TikTok has seen a boom in connecting growers with consumers.

Despite remaining mindful of the global situation, consumers in affected countries are currently more concerned about what’s happening locally.

Compared to the end of 2019, internet users are less likely to agree with almost all our “cosmopolitan” attitudinal statements, including the sentiment that they regularly try new foods from other countries. Demand for adventurous ingredients and unfamiliar food imports is therefore likely to be lower.

By the same token, over a fifth of consumers across 17 countries say they’d be inclined to buy from brands that are local or independent post-outbreak. While supporting local businesses plays a role in motivating this decision, the desire for more traceability and transparency also bears influence.

Now more than ever, underlining locality when marketing food products can give brands a competitive edge, as consumers turn to the mental security that comes with buying from national suppliers.

3. The surge in home cooking is accelerating the mindful eating trend.

You might expect increased economic strain to put consumers off buying organic items, but recent research shows the pandemic has actually led to a spike in demand for organic and sustainable food.

This willingness to spend money on natural products has been influenced by a number of factors – a significant one being the growing popularity of cooking.

Internet users with an interest in cooking are 32% more likely to say they’re interested in health foods (60% are), and 22% more likely to use a health-based app (32% do). We can therefore make a link between the habit of cooking and heightened awareness around ingredients.

Cooking during quarantine is considered therapeutic; custom research we conducted in April found it’s often motivated by an interest in looking after mental health during lockdown.

But the portion of internet users wanting to maintain these levels of cooking as the situation improves shows that incentives now run deeper than that.

4 in 10 across 20 markets report spending more time cooking due to coronavirus; and over a fifth say they’ll continue to do so post-outbreak.

By driving consumers to cook more, the pandemic is drawing attention to the relationship between nutrition and overall health.

A return to basics has reminded many of the benefits of fresh, wholesome, home-cooked meals.

Various brands are tapping into this. Unilever, for example, has strengthened the recipe offerings of its largest food brands. This makes sense, given that certain baking brands have seen the traffic on their recipes grow 300%-400% compared to last year.

Nestlé Toll House has also jumped on the baking bandwagon, by introducing an online competition for the most creative recipe containing its chocolate chips.

If able to create buzz about the cooking experience alongside their products, CPG manufacturers stand to benefit most from these recent developments in the food space.

4. Different types of food providers face unique challenges.

Now we’ve mapped out the food trends to watch and why, it’s worth laying out key differences between diners based on their regular eating patterns.

By using our data to compare pre-outbreak habits with expected post-outbreak behaviors, we’re able to highlight different personas and their expectations going forward. The results are profound, and indicate the challenge that lies ahead for the catering industry.

Of those who visited restaurants regularly pre-outbreak, 41% now plan on doing this less, and 31% say they’ll order in more. Among this group, the gap between eating out less and ordering in more is 10 percentage points, over double what it is for their fast food counterparts.

Restaurant-goers are 23% more likely than those who lean toward fast food to say they’ll spend more time cooking post-outbreak.

On the other hand, only a third of fast food regulars plan on reducing their trips to fast food outlets in future.

While both groups remain concerned about safety, those with a preference for restaurants will take more persuading if they’re to return to these spaces anytime soon.

For example, of a list of 9 safety-related factors concerning public places, restaurant regulars take the lead in prioritizing 8. Excluding the mandatory usage of gloves, which fast food enthusiasts rank higher, restaurant regulars expect more from public services in general.

Compared to the general internet population, they over-index most for wanting longer operation hours (30% more likely), self-service payment options (27% more likely) and restrictions on how many people can enter a site at any given time (20% more likely).

Restaurants should remember that their customers are less confident than other diners, and that safety operations will need to be more diverse and detailed as a result; especially given that social interaction and relaxation have been intrinsic to the restaurant dining experience up until now.

What these shifts mean for brands

Food and drink brands ultimately need to remain mindful of an evolving consumer mindset, one that has grown accustomed to numerical health data and values certain nutrient indicators more than ever before.

Staying informative and transparent is an important way of addressing heightened consumer awareness. Companies should therefore aim to make nutritional content and information about origin easily accessible to customers – by using scannable QR codes, for example.

While convenience will remain key when accounting for food decisions in the future, many will have had time to reflect on their nutrition, and have perhaps discovered preferred ways of living and maintaining their health as a result.

Our relationship with food is always subject to change, and it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of these developments.

But by breaking them down, we can see that this relationship isn’t as complex as it might first look, and is likely to forever revolve around some green vegetable or other – whether it be spinach or kale.

This post was published in June 2020. For more statistics, browse our reports.

GWI USA: Helping businesses keep up with the ‘new America’

Carrie Seifer

This is no ordinary time. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is still being felt across the world, and with global action calling for radical reform, there’s change happening that no individual – or brand – can afford to ignore.

America has seen change before. But facing this political and economic revolution, we’re moving through a very significant time in history – and for many, it feels as though a new America is being born.

So what will this new America look like?

How will consumer behaviors and lifestyles evolve? What will matter more to them? And how should brands be addressing their changing customer needs?

We’re launching GWI USA to offer businesses the answers they can’t find elsewhere. Here’s why it’s needed.

Keeping up with your consumers is more challenging than ever.

Lockdown restrictions are lifting across the U.S., but despite this hint of normality, our latest research shows consumers are still changing.

In fact, across all four waves of our dedicated research into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic so far, we’ve seen behaviors and attitudes fluctuate hugely.

What we know now is while 85% of consumers in the U.S. want businesses to get back to normal, just 1 in 4 intend to return to large indoor venues immediately, and less than half say they’ll return to shops quickly. This points to some uncertainty around what moves to make next.

And health concerns are still paramount, but this isn’t the only thing on their minds. Sustainability is taking on new importance in the lives of many, for example, and that’s just scratching the surface.

Like society at large, consumers are unsure where to look or what to do, which means they’re changing faster.

This is a crucial time to stay as close to your consumers as possible to know what that change looks like, why it’s happening, and how to address it.

Brands need to know how to respond to the issues that matter.

Of course, the pandemic isn’t the only issue of major importance taking hold of America. The national uprising that’s ensued following the tragic death of George Floyd has sent a clear message: we all have a duty to listen, to learn (or unlearn), and to take action.

Businesses need to know how to respond to important political matters that impact peoples’ lives. They can no longer shy away from the conversation about race.

Do you continue advertising as normal? Do you change your strategy? How do you pledge your support?

In these times of crisis and radical change, understanding what your consumers want from you is everything. That means finding out what your consumers actually care about now – and meeting them where they are.

It’s time to ask new questions.

Now is the time to redefine your targeting by placing a much deeper focus on understanding the whole consumer; what defines them, what drives them, what makes them tick.

Most U.S. data sets have so far fallen short in painting this complete picture because they can’t move fast enough, they’re not representative enough, or they’re not asking the right questions.

GWI USA was built specifically to meet that need; asking the questions not typically asked around new and emerging trends – from new forms of entertainment and green living to the gig economy.

This study also explores the hopes and fears that govern us, and digs much deeper into the role that race and ethnicity plays in peoples’ lives.

We’re launching GWI USA now because it’s a time for more relevant answers for these extremely important times.

And with a sample representing over 240 million diverse Americans, these are answers to help you get everything from product development to marketing to D&I initiatives right.

How to engage consumers now: insights for skincare brands

Stefani Lanteri

For a long time, selling skincare products has largely revolved around providing interactive experiences for customers in store.

‘Try before you buy’ was a crucial aspect of most purchase journeys – before COVID-19 hit, sales in store accounted for up to 85% of beauty product purchases in most major beauty industry markets, superseding the appeal of shopping online.

Today, with the enforced closure of retail stores globally, traditional brick-and-mortar skincare players will be feeling the effects for months to come.

Unlike trends that can be forecasted, anticipated, and planned for, COVID-19 has forcibly taken center stage at a macro level.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift to online for a much broader cross-section of consumers.

So in this ‘new normal’, how can skincare brands pivot to capitalize on a radically changed market and consumers?

Through the lens of what matters to skincare buyers¹ we offer analysis into the current state of the skincare market.

Knowing where to turn: the big insights

2 in 5 skincare buyers say they won’t visit shops for some or a long time after lockdown.

In a pre-coronavirus world, maintaining footfall in store was arguably more important than growing your presence online.

But the balance has shifted. While lockdowns and restrictions are beginning to ease, we won’t see a rapid return to the way things were.

Only 14% of skincare buyers surveyed in our latest research wave plan to visit shops immediately after they reopen. While 40% plan to visit shops quite or very quickly, the same amount also say they’ll wait for some or quite a long time before visiting shops again.

Meanwhile, a further 6% aren’t currently sure when they’ll go back.

So while there’s appetite to return to stores for some, there’s also clear signs of caution among consumers that need to be addressed.

Consumer concerns about safety are a key driver for avoiding physical stores;across a range of questions we asked, planned behaviors largely center around minimizing personal risk.

And crucially,, 52% of skincare buyers say they’ll buy things online more frequently after the pandemic.

With consumer attention gravitating towards online stores at a faster rate than ever, it’d be a missed opportunity for any brand not to invest more heavily in providing a standout experience for customers in the digital space.

Online shopping should see a long-term boost.

Our latest multi-market findings reveal:

49% of all pre-existing ecommerce purchasers say they plan to shop online more frequently after the outbreak.
32% of those who weren’t purchasing online regularly prior to the outbreak plan to spend more time shopping online after the outbreak.

While the biggest potential boost is likely to be among those already shopping online regularly, increased intent among newer converts is still sizable.

It pays to keep your finger on the pulse – especially in the skincare realm. From our research conducted at the end of April, of those skincare buyers who said they’d purchase items online more frequently, 51% say they’re more likely to order cosmetics or beauty products in particular.

So it’s skincare players most attuned to how their customers have evolved throughout the pandemic who’ll be first in line to recoup any lost profits.

More than half of all skincare buyers are based in APAC.

To make the most of opportunities at present, skincare brands need to focus more on the fastest-growing segments.

APAC, for example, is home to a disproportionate amount of skincare buyers:

Our global research shows more than half of all skincare buyers (57%) reside in the APAC region.

In contrast, 17% are based in Europe, 13% in Latam, 9% based in North America and 5% in MEA.

In the past month, 80% of skincare buyers in APAC purchased an item online, while fifty percent of the world’s online transactions across all categories take place in China.

Before the pandemic, brick-and-mortar retailers in China faced an unpredictable future; shopping malls had battled three consecutive years of revenue decline from 2016 to 2019.

Online retailers, on the other hand, have become increasingly competitive.

But, while consumers in China have plenty of choice in online shopping, global brands are presented with the challenge of finding the ecommerce platform that’s best for them.

Those that are new to China’s online marketplace should opt for digital sales channels with built-in infrastructures that allow them to jump in quickly and easily. Following that, brands should put the work into upgrading and enhancing their own website to strengthen their ecommerce presence even further.

Beauty brands including Huda Beauty recently launched official stores on Tmall –China’s most visited B2C retail website and leading customer engagement platform, home to over 10 million sellers.

Christina Fontana, director of fashion and luxury at Alibaba Europe says Tmall Global can be used as a testing ground for brands to understand how products might be received in the Chinese market. With an already impressive list of brands, the platform’s recent foray into livestreaming capabilities makes it an ideal partner for many international companies that have audiences invested in watching brands’ video content.

According to Fontana, “Once a brand is on board, it has the tools to target any consumer, whether it’s a Gen Zer or an urban silver shopper. Each user has different touchpoints, all targetable through our platform.”

Thinking of ROI at a time when budgets have been cut and some frozen it may make sense for some skincare brands to direct more spend towards the Asian market.

Inside the mind of a skincare buyer: key things to know

Skincare buyers are highly engaged with brands – over half have visited a brand’s website and 1 in 3 have watched a video made by a brand in the past month.

But what does the new journey look like, and how should brands respond?

How they discover brands

Using our latest global research, we can see Dove (32%), Nivea (30%), L’Oréal (27%), are skincare buyers’ most frequently used brands weekly.

In spite of 52% having visited a brand’s website in the past month, skincare buyers say they’re more likely to discover new brands via search engines (36%), recommendations from family and friends (29%) through ads on social media (28%) and ads on websites (25%).

Key social media touchpoints

On a daily basis, 63% of skincare buyers visit YouTube, followed by Facebook (56%) and Instagram (49%).

Their top reasons for using social media are to stay up-to-date with news or current events (43%) with 36% using it for brand research.

Roughly 1 in 5 have asked a question to a brand on a social network, and it’s also around 1 in 5 who’ve clicked on a promoted or sponsored post on a social network.

But social media is also a place to seek enjoyment while passing the time, with 41% visiting social networks to find funny or entertaining content. And providing uplifting and light-hearted content is more important than you might think:

80% of skincare buyers approve of brands providing funny/light-hearted content during the outbreak.

Interests, values and purchase drivers

In terms of what ingredients they want to see in a skincare formulation, the appeal of ‘clean’ products continue to rise in popularity, with 67% of skincare buyers saying they try to buy natural / organic products.

Globally, skincare buyers are holding brands to account more than ever before, with 51% saying they want brands to be eco-friendly, closely followed by 48% who want brands to operate in a socially responsible way.

Their attitudes are backed by these consumers’ willingness to follow through with their convictions – 64% would pay more for sustainable / eco friendly products.

When it comes to their biggest online purchase driver, 55% of skincare buyers say it’s free delivery.

Other factors that score relatively highly are coupons and discounts, and reviews from other customers – 44% and 39% say this respectively.

In conjunction, skincare buyers also cite music (62%) films / cinema (60%) and cooking (58%) as some of their top interests.

Blending where they spend their time (YouTube) with what they do there (watch cooking videos, for example) and what content they consume (1 in 3 watched a branded video in the past month) brands can better pinpoint ways to reach this audience.

This might prompt the idea to place an entertaining video ad on YouTube, featured on their favorite cooking show, for example.

Brand advocacy drivers

The majority (53%) say high quality products would be their number one reason for advocating a brand.

Skincare brands can also increase their likelihood of being advocated by offering rewards such as discounts, free gifts etc (46% say this) and offering great customer service (40% say this).

Discounts both encourage skincare buyers to make a purchase, and encourages word-of-mouth recommendations to others as well. And from our latest coronavirus research, close to half of skincare buyers say they’ll wait for products to be on promotion/sale before purchasing.

In light of the economic uncertainty, consumers might be more cautious when spending. Brands will need to work even harder to make their products an essential, rather than a nice-to-have.

Along with products which meet their expectations, this audience highly values communication and support offered by brands. Skincare buyers want to be heard: 48% say they want brands to listen to customer feedback.

Since there are new rules about consumers physically testing products in person, great customer service provided online can therefore be a powerful substitute.

Brand spotlight: L’Oréal

Understanding the beauty buyer persona is invaluable when it comes to knowing where and how to pivot. The key to guiding decisions with even more clarity is getting to know the buyers of your brand specifically.

Take L’Oréal, for example.

Using our coronavirus research spanning 17 countries from March 31 to May 26, what are key things to know about customers who’ve purchased L’Oréal branded products in the past month? How has their sentiment changed throughout the pandemic?

Coronavirus levels of concern: the number of L’Oréal buyers who say they are very or extremely concerned about the situation globally has decreased over time, from 78% to 69%.

News consumption: earlier in the pandemic, 72% said they were watching more news as a result of the outbreak, compared to 63% in our most recent research wave.

Social media usage: 55% cited using social media more because of the outbreak. Increased time on social media remains fairly stable over time, hovering at 52% in our most recent wave.

Approval of normal advertising: approval is increasing, with 80% approving or being indifferent to brands running normal advertising, compared to 86% approval/indifference in our most recent research wave.

Appeal of promotions, offers and perks: 81% somewhat or strongly approved of brands running promotions/offers/loyalty perks, this has since risen to 91%.

Key takeaway: this shows just how much behaviors and attitudes have fluctuated in less than two months – proving the need to stay close to your consumers. With concern decreasing, high approval for brands running promotions, and levels of increased social media usage fairly stable, any skincare promotion advertised by L’Oréal on social media now stands to resonate in the eyes of the majority of their audience.

Online vs. offline: a more balanced future?

Despite physical stores reopening, the challenge for retailers is just beginning.

Our data shows there’s a clear demand for more online focus from brands.

Ecommerce has been a notable winner emerging from the pandemic, creating a broader rethink of existing business models, to which the skincare industry is no exception.

With consumers placing more value on shopping online and planning to continue in that vein when things return to normal, it’s crucial for brands to remain competitive in this space – especially given an increase in sales online can help offset a decline in in store sales.

The past few months, brands have taken cues from customers’ lives, positioning their skincare products as part of a soothing ritual that can offer respite from the stresses of a pandemic. With self-care at the forefront of beauty marketing, there’s been an emphasis on highlighting products that can help consumers feel rejuvenated.

Whether to shape messaging, placement or formats, brands need to hold up a mirror to the times to ensure they’re fully in tune with consumers’ latest reality as various stages of restrictions are lifted.

For an industry that undergoes continuous R&D to produce high-quality products, this same philosophy should be applied to each touchpoint along the skincare buyer’s online journey.

¹Skincare buyers include those who’ve purchased skincare products, moisturizer or exfoliating products the last month.

The new era of online shopping: how can retail brands stay top of mind?

Stefani Lanteri

Lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease in various parts of the world, a welcome move viewed by many as a sign of hope.

Consumers hope a semblance of normality will return to their everyday lives. For brands struggling to make sales, hope is akin to survival: the chance to move forward, win back customers and gradually recoup lost income.

We’ve been tracking how consumers’ mindsets, behaviors, and motivations throughout this period have changed. As with all our COVID-19 dedicated research the data and reports are free and ungated for everyone to access.

While shining a lens on the online shopping space in particular, it’s becoming clearer which trends will continue to gain momentum.

Our research shows 62% of consumers approve of brands continuing to sell non-essential products via their websites.

But in this new era of online shopping, whether or not consumers choose to buy from brands online is a different story.

Extracting key insights from the most recent coronavirus study we fielded in 17 markets around the world, we get to the heart of what retail brands should do to create a compelling online shopping experience that sees results.

Retail sectors stand to benefit from increased online shopping and a broadening ecommerce audience.

There are strong indications online shopping should see a long-term boost, hence, those who invest in it will see the biggest return.

40% of respondents in our 17-market study say they’ll buy more things online for home delivery after the pandemic, with global figures consistent by gender income and age.

If we break this down by audience segment:

45% of pre-exisiting ecommerce purchasers say they plan to spend more shopping online after the outbreak.
33% of those who weren’t purchasing online regularly prior to the outbreak plan to spend more time shopping online after the outbreak.

Though the biggest potential boost is for those accustomed to shopping online regularly, the increased intent among newer converts is still sizable.

Consumers are seeing the benefits of online shopping.

In contrast, only 9% of consumers say they’ll start visiting shops ‘immediately’ once they reopen, with almost half saying they won’t visit at least for some or a long time.

A wide range of categories can be expected to benefit from this increase in online shopping; groceries, household essentials, clothes, and personal care products, are set to see the greatest demand. For each of these categories, around 3 in 10 say they are now more likely to order these online for home delivery or in-store pickup.

Cosmetics, personal electronics, and smartphones could also benefit significantly (all scoring over 20%).

While some consumers might have been driven to this behavior through necessity or boredom initially, we’re seeing a broadening of the ecommerce audience and a diversification of items being browsed and purchased.

What’s more, about a quarter want to spend more time browsing online in advance of visiting a store, suggesting that “webrooming” will see an increase at least in the short-term (with a consequent decrease in “showrooming”, whereby consumers browse in-store before looking for the best price online).

By implementing the biggest consumer drivers, brands can elevate their online appeal.

In a pre-coronavirus world, footfall in physical stores may have meant more to brands than strengthening their presence in the ecommerce space.

But, with consumers placing more value on shopping online and planning to continue in that vein when things return to normal, it’s crucial for brands to remain competitive – regardless if consumers’ attention migrates from physical to virtual stores.

Staying ahead of the competition means knowing what consumers respond to when it comes to retail.

This means not only having an online offering to match your offline one, but investing heavily in the things consumers appreciate.

For instance, in research undertaken in the U.S./UK in early April, it was found that millennials display a much stronger reliance on using online channels to make food purchases than other generations; whether that’s takeout deliveries (36%), grocery shops (35%) or meal subscription services (10%). What’s more, they’re also influenced by personalization in product recommendations – more than any other cohort.

But what else matters to consumers?

Reliable delivery has risen in importance.

Compared to before the outbreak, 51% of consumers cite reliable delivery as having become more important to them. In fact, reliability considerably out-ranks speed; consumers would rather have certainty than instant delivery.

Consumers clearly favor the option to have goods delivered to them.

For those planning to increase their online shopping, home delivery is around twice as popular as in-store collection. What’s more, 51% of all consumers say free delivery will become even more important to them after the outbreak.

Convenience will be a big driver to this, but as we’ve seen elsewhere, safety is paramount too: significant minorities want to reduce the time they spend inside stores as well as visit stores less frequently.

The appeal of promotions and discounts is strong.

The outbreak has had an effect on many consumers’ ability to regularly earn money. In consequence:

8 in 10 consumers plan to delay big purchases.
71% of consumers approve of brands producing lower-cost versions of their products.
Almost a third of consumers say they’ll wait for products to be on promotion or on sale.

While intent to start purchasing again differs among individuals, a significant portion are waiting for financial support from brands in order to feel comfortable doing so.

It’s a similar story for the luxury items we track (e.g. designer clothes, shoes, fragrances). Those who’ve delayed such a purchase are more likely to wait for a promotion than take any of the other actions we asked about.

The attractiveness of brands offering promotions transcends age, income, and gender. This shows value-for-money in the post-covid landscape will be front of mind for consumers, and acting on this knowledge can be used to galvanize loyalty and encourage spending.

Regional data is key: country-by-country variations shouldn’t be overlooked.

In Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand, for example, there’s particular support for local or independent businesses.

While in Germany, we see a much higher than average figure for supporting businesses that a consumer has bought from previously. For these reasons, local nuances should be taken into account when crafting a strategy which aims to entice consumers to buy online.

Brand messaging that acknowledges brands’ understanding of its consumers at a local level will set brands apart from others.

There’s a green light for advertising, but brands should focus on offering value.

In times of uncertainty, often the safest reaction is to come to a halt.

And while there are obvious reasons to freeze or shift advertising spend, many brands made the decision to do so based on sentiment – because it didn’t feel ‘right’ to carry on as normal.

In reality, our data paints a very different picture from what is largely assumed by the marketing industry. Our research shows almost no consumer concern about brands advertising at this time.

85% of consumers either approve of, or are impartial to, carrying on as normal – just 10% somewhat disapprove and 5% strongly disapprove.

In particular, financially-oriented advertising activity – geared around providing increased value for money – is where brands really stand to win in the eyes of their customers.

81% of consumers strongly or somewhat approve of brands running promotions, offers, or loyalty perks for customers.

It’s also emerged in our research that brands who’ve demonstrated they’ve helped people during the outbreak could have a leg up in terms of their ability to resonate with consumers in future.

We’ve charted the type of behavior consumers expect from brands amid the pandemic with great interest.

With consumers holding brands to account more than ever before, brands should proceed mindfully as far as advertising is concerned. It is, after all, a highly sensitive market. But switching advertising off completely, with arguably the most engaged audience in history, is a short-sighted decision that could erode decades of hard-won brand equity.

Meeting consumers’ needs trumps all.

Increased engagement with ecommerce during the pandemic has demonstrated to people that online shopping is a feasible and convenient option for a wider selection of products.

But with the market not what it once was, every retail brand looking to boost its online earnings needs to walk in its customers’ shoes first, then act.

Staying close to consumers will be a critical differentiator, and a key selling point:

56% of consumers say those brands that best meet their needs will influence the businesses they buy from after the outbreak.

Customers who can will spend money, but it’s brands that prioritize their commitment to their audience who’ll stand out the most.

Though certain purchases could be delayed for some time, brands need to remember their ability to create a compelling offering online and inspire consumers to make a purchase further down the line is still in their power.

As consumers have eluded to, there is a road to recovery.

With retail brands hinging on future online revenue, those most in tune with what their customers want – not before COVID-19, not at its peak, but now, in this ‘new normal’ – will be first in line to rebuild profits and prove their worth in more ways than one.

Driving brand loyalty in a crisis: what CPG brands should know

Sofie Lundberg

Any brand worth its salt has a carefully considered and configured strategy to land and retain loyal customers. But in these unprecedented times, a conventional strategy may fall short of hitting consumers where it counts.

Certain sectors may be in for a bumpy ride, but for the likes of CPG, there are endless opportunities to create and maintain brand loyalty right now – something that’s more important than ever during a crisis.

By the end of March, an estimated one third of the global population was under lockdown.

So what’s the key to not only surviving, but thriving, in a post-corona world? Here’s why it will pay to pinpoint the specific elements of importance for your target audience.

What do consumers expect from CPG brands in a crisis?

Our latest research reveals key insights into how COVID-19 has disrupted the brand-consumer relationship, and uncovers fact-based guidance on how CPG brands can adapt to the pandemic.

Keep advertising – but do it mindfully.

Key findings:

85% either approve of, or are impartial to, carrying on as normal.
85% want brands to provide practical information/tips to help them deal with the current situation.
83% want to see brands pledging money / aid / supplies to help people.
75% want to see brands offering funny / light-hearted content to keep them entertained.

Despite many brands calling a halt to their advertising in response to the crisis, our latest multinational research shows there’s almost no consumer concern about brands advertising at this time. In fact, 85% either approve of, or are impartial to, carrying on as normal. Just 10% somewhat disapprove and 5% strongly disapprove.

The message is clear: stay away from false purpose and ‘woke-washing’, but continue advertising in the way consumers are asking.

Brands must be sensitive to the challenges their target audiences face right now, and the worst thing to do is to ignore them.

Instead, focus on how your brand can support your customers through this. After all, why should they be loyal to your brand if you’re not loyal to them during difficult times?

Ensure a top-notch online shopping experience.

Key findings:

Around 3 in 10 plan to shop online more for groceries, household essentials and personal care products.
Over 40% say they will shop online more frequently after the outbreak.
71% spend more time on their smartphone since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

With in-person shopping being relegated to stores offering essential goods for now, brick-and-mortar retail locations may see reverberations for a long time.

And with nearly half of our respondents across 17 markets saying they’ll shop online more even after the pandemic, there’s a clear need for brands in this space to be at the top of their game. This means not only having an online offering to match your offline one, but investing heavily in the things consumers appreciate – starting with convenience.

Be adaptable and reactive.

Key findings:

Half strongly approve of brands pledging money, aid or supplies to help people.
Around a third will be using their savings, reducing their regular financial commitments (e.g. subscriptions), or waiting for products to be on promotion or sale.

It should come as no surprise that shopping habits have changed. And with these changes, brands need to adapt.

Rather than focusing on driving sales, this is a time for increased investment into brand awareness and equity. Consumers are keen to see their favorite brands lend a helping hand to society, and are bound to remember those that did during this crisis when shopping habits start to normalize.

Reach the consumer directly.

With the switch to ecommerce channels accelerating and consumers looking for secure, authentic supply, digital experience and generally more content from brands, the role of direct-to-consumer marketing takes on new salience.

The core benefits of a DTC strategy align perfectly with the many challenges coronavirus brings to the CPG industry. By being direct, you can:

Meet consumers’ expectations.
Collect more data.
Have full control of the purchase journey and supply chain.
Build and own consumer relationships.
Take charge of your customer service.
Cut down on costs.

The biggest prize is, of course, the granular data into your own consumers. A direct relationship harnesses knowledge of their why’s and what’s – something that’s crucial to build reliable brand loyalty.

Keep convenience and promotions in mind for a post-COVID world.

Key finding:

81% want brands to run offers/promotions/loyalty perks for customers.

For those planning to increase their online shopping, home delivery is around twice as popular as in-store collection.

Compared to before the outbreak, free delivery (51%) and reliable delivery (51%) have become more important to people.

While for the wider retail industry, outlet closures and changing consumer attitudes are creating a need for enhanced promotional strategies to cut through the noise, CPG brands may be experiencing the opposite end of the spectrum. For them, it’s all about keeping momentum.

With many consumers stockpiling everyday essentials, supply can be sparse. This challenges CPG brands to ensure consumers see their products on the shelves to keep their loyalty switched on.

With the increased demand, it may not be possible for consumers to stick to their tried-and-tested brands. This lack of availability offers opportunities to switch brands, categories and channels, and creates a need to recapture consumers once the pandemic eases.

This is where offers and promotions come in.

Running promotions is a key consideration for consumers during the pandemic (up by 6 points) – suggesting many people are preparing to start purchasing again, and are looking for financial support from brands.

The appeal of promotions transcends age, income and gender but the higher income group is 5 points ahead of the lower income one. Clearly, the appetite for value-for-money in the post-covid landscape will be widespread.

For CPG brands struggling to know where to look once we firmly reach the ‘new normal’, bringing these convenient solutions forth and giving them more attention across your marketing is a good place to start.

Stay on top of the latest shifts.

Things change fast during a pandemic, and it’s crucial to stay on top of dynamic consumer habits and expectations. What’s tasteful one week may be tonedeaf the next.

This makes insight into your target audience more important than ever before. Findings like the ones above give a solid foundation for CPG brands that are having to do things differently, maybe for the first time.

The CPG brands doing it right

Making a difference while staying on brand: BrewDog

In a stroke of agile marketing (and humanitarian) genius, UK beer distillery BrewDog has started using its facilities to manufacture hand sanitizer.

Its website proclaims: “These are unprecedented times we are living in and we are determined to do all we can to help those in need.

“We started making hand sanitiser at our distillery in Aberdeen in response to the national shortage and since then, production has been running round the clock.”

Hand sanitiser is selling out everywhere. So we have started using our distillery to make Punk Sanitiser. We want to do all we can to help everyone get through this difficult time. pic.twitter.com/mDCQLCyPX6
— James Watt (@BrewDogJames) March 18, 2020

The brand, known for its irreverent marketing, took a more serious than usual approach and began collaborating with the NHS and local charities, working around the clock to provide hand sanitizer to those in need.

So far, 5,000 bottles have been donated to the NHS and a further 100,000 have gone to local charities. It’s a move that’s bound to remain in the mind of customers once they’re back in the pub.

Adapting to changed circumstances: Trojan Condoms

When is one of the worst times to be selling condoms? During a lockdown where your target audience is urged to keep away from each other.

But that didn’t stop Trojan Condoms from seeing opportunities where many would only see obstacles.

Adapting to a situation where the likes of New York City’s Health Department implored people not to partake in casual sex until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended, the brand worked with its agency, 72andSunny New York, to create an on-brand, helpful and slightly cheeky campaign.

https://twitter.com/TrojanCondoms/status/1247524601430601729

Bruce Weiss, VP of Marketing for Trojan Brand Condoms, says, “Trojan Brand Condoms stands for trust and protection, so we worked with our creative agencies and partners to quickly get out messaging that encourages safety and pleasure at home, but in a way that’s relevant to them.”

Encouraging lonely singles to ‘sext us instead’, the campaign is simple but effective: slide into Trojan’s DMs with an eggplant emoji for a chance to be sent free vibrators and lube.

By knowing its consumers’ wants, needs and habits, Trojan Condoms is able to tweak its strategy to not only keep customers switched on to the brand itself, but to the guidelines set during the pandemic too. It’s a masterclass in adaptive marketing.

Being human with a side of (appropriate) fun: IKEA

Facing closures of its stores, global flatpack-furniture giant IKEA discovered a way to engage with its audience while remaining true to its brand identity.

It took to Twitter to release the recipe for its famous meatballs, cleverly presented as a quintessential manual for IKEA furniture assembly.

Missing your IKEA meatball fix? We’ve created a recipe for you to recreate this delicious dish in the comfort of your own home #IKEAmeatballs pic.twitter.com/d89lRsJxH7
— IKEA UK (@IKEAUK) April 20, 2020

Lauren Lourido, Country Food Manager of IKEA United Kingdom and Ireland, says, “We know that some people might be missing our meatballs, which is why we’ve released an at-home alternative which, using easily accessible ingredients, will help those looking for some inspiration in the kitchen.

“Staying at home can be hard, but we want to help make everyone’s lives that little bit easier and more enjoyable.”

Keenly aware of the affection loyal IKEA customers have for its meatballs, the brand has kept front-of-mind despite a lack of retail, and shows empathy for people in difficult times without being insincere.

What the future holds

You’ve heard it from the consumers themselves – driving loyalty is all about zeroing in on their fast-changing attitudes and experiences of these extraordinary times.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a dynamic, fast-paced environment full of unknowns, and it’s understandable for CPG brands to worry whether their customers will still be switched on to their messages and products.

As the virus slowly subsides, so too will these fears – if you’ve stayed proactive in engaging with your target audience, consistently and authentically. After all, brand loyalty has to be earned.

The ‘new normal’ II: will changing behaviors continue?

Jason Mander

What will the ‘new normal’ look like? This is a question we’ve been attempting to answer using our ongoing research into the consumer impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In this two-part series, we leverage the three waves of the multi-market research we carried out in recent weeks. In part one, we focused on the role of convenience and safety in boosting sustainable behaviors, and the public’s attitude towards returning to out-of-home leisure activities.

Here, we’re taking a closer look at how ecommerce and online shopping is set to continue, and how media consumption is diversifying.

1. Consumers are craving more reliability and convenience.

In the second wave of our research in late March / early April, over 50% of those making regular ecommerce purchases prior to the outbreak said they were spending more time shopping online.

Crucially, we saw the same from over a third of those who weren’t making regular ecommerce purchases before the pandemic.

While some consumers might have been driven to this through necessity or boredom rather than choice, we’ve seen a broadening of the ecommerce audience and a diversification of items being browsed / purchased.

Indeed, while essentials like groceries, household products and personal care items were at top of the list of things consumers were spending more time shopping for, over 10% of those who weren’t previously purchasing online said they were looking for more discretionary items like clothing and cosmetics.

By wave 3 of our research in mid-late April, the numbers who said they planned to spend more time shopping online after the outbreak stood at 45% among pre-existing ecommerce purchasers and 33% among those who weren’t purchasing online regularly prior to the outbreak.

So, the biggest potential boost is for those already doing it, but the increase among the new converts is still sizable.

By country, we see the smallest gap between the two groups in China (50% and 45%).

This tells us that already one of the global leaders in ecommerce will see even more advances.

Expectations around online shopping are remarkably consistent across both audiences. Regardless of whether or not someone was purchasing items online regularly prior to coronavirus, there’s a strong demand for deliveries which are free and reliable.

In fact, reliability considerably out-ranks speed; consumers would rather have certainty than instant delivery.

Chart showing online shopping influencers

2. Enthusiasm for online shopping is growing.

With safety weighing so heavily on the consumer’s mind, we might of course wonder whether at least some of the enthusiasm for online shopping is because it offers a way to minimize time spent inside physical retail locations.

Our research would support this to a degree. About a quarter want to spend more time browsing online in advance of visiting a store, suggesting that “webrooming” will see an increase at least in the short-term (with a consequent decrease in “showrooming”, whereby consumers browse in-store before looking for the best price online).

Similarly, while a third across the 17 markets say they want to spend less time inside stores or want to visit stores less frequently, the figures rise to around 40% among those who want to buy more items for home delivery or in-store collection. Safety is certainly a contributing factor, then, but it’s not the driving force.

Instead, we might conclude that increased engagement with ecommerce during the pandemic has demonstrated to people that online shopping is a feasible option for a wider selection of products – a trend which would therefore endure beyond the recovery phase.

When we asked people which items they would be more likely to order online for home delivery or in-store pickup, the obvious contenders top the list (e.g. groceries, clothes) but we still see strong figures for products like personal electronics and smartphones – the latter in particular being a purchase that consumers typically like to test and evaluate in person, given the high financial and emotional commitment involved.

With more online shopping taking place, and for a wider variety of products than previously, there will be new opportunities to capture customers. For ecommerce specifically, we’ve already noted the importance of free and reliable delivery within this.

But we can also examine the more general factors which people expect to influence their decisions over which brands to support after the outbreak.

Despite the consumer’s obvious financial challenges, it’s interesting that cheap prices are a relatively low priority for all three groups.

This factor does peak at 40% among those who want to spend more time browsing / researching online before visiting stores, indicating that very distinct approaches to shopping could be in evidence. Here though, it’s the only option where the figures don’t vary across the three audiences in our chart.

Instead, consumers expect to prioritize brands that meet their needs and have sufficient product availability. This resonates with the requirements we’ve already seen around reliable deliveries, indicating that there will be few places to hide for online retailers who get the basics wrong.

3. Media consumption is growing among older generations.

As stay-at-home orders were issued across the world, national populations suddenly found themselves spending large, unplanned periods of additional time in their homes.

One immediate result was a boom in media consumption, with people turning to traditional and digital media to help pass the time. In some cases, this involved people spending more time on activities they already engaged with prior to the outbreak. In others, it was people trying new things for which they hadn’t previously had the time or inclination.

Since then, a key question has been whether these behavioral shifts will endure into the recovery phase and beyond.

To help answer this, it’s key to understand how media consumption behaviors have played out during the outbreak itself.

To ensure a like-for-like comparison, we’ve limited analysis to the 13 countries that were in all three waves (Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, UK, USA). We’ve also looked only at the 18 in-home / media consumption activities that were asked in all three surveys (covering things such as watching more news, reading more magazines, spending more time on music or TV/film streaming services, listening to more podcasts, etc).

The results show some interesting generational differences. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gen Z and millennials are engaging with the most behaviors – with both generations spending more time on at least 7 different activities. That compares to about 6 for Gen X, and 4-5 for boomers.

Yet, while Gen Z and millennials are ahead, we’re no longer seeing increases in the number of activities with which they’re engaging; figures for millennials are flat, while Gen Z have actually seen a very small decrease.

Simultaneously, the figures for Gen X and boomers have been increasing. The growth rate for these two older generations is certainly not rapid, but it does give evidence that – as the crisis continues – the media portfolios of these two groups are continuing to diversify.

We see a similar picture via other metrics. Across the 18 different activities under consideration, average engagement levels among Gen Z have dropped from 43% in wave 1 to 37% in wave 3. Conversely, the figures among boomers have increased from 23% to 26%.

If we look at particular activities, you can begin to see this in a more nuanced fashion.

Chart showing changing media consumption behaviors

Activities that are perhaps most closely associated with younger generations such as social and streaming have typically stayed flat or seen decreases among Gen Z and millennials. Conversely, they have seen rises – sometimes considerable ones – among the older groups. It’s almost as if Gen Z media portfolios were broadest at the outset and have subsequently shrunk, whereas boomer ones started from a low base but have continued to grow and diversify.

It’s certainly revealing that, between waves 1 and 3, the boomer figures for activities such as broadcast TV, newspapers and watching news coverage dipped, whereas there were increases for almost all of the more digitally-oriented behaviors (most notably for streaming and social media).

The longer the restrictions on movement continue, the more we might expect to see this pattern solidify.

4. Music streaming may see lasting boosts among Gen Z.

Despite this, the question of whether activities will continue to see boosts in the long term remains a complex one. On expressed sentiment alone, it’s clear that all 18 activities should see some uplift. But in many cases, this will be from pre-existing users / engagers.

If we take music streaming as an example, in wave 3 of our research (April 22-27) it was 15% who said they expected to carry on using them more heavily.

But if we break this down, we find it’s 20% among those who were already using them prior to the outbreak, versus just 4% among those who weren’t already users before coronavirus. That’s still a potential segment of new, long-term customers, but not the transformative figure it might first seem.

Nevertheless, the generational splits are once again interesting here. If expressed intentions translate into actual behaviors, then music streaming will see the biggest boost from pre-existing users among Gen Z. But among new users who started engaging during the crisis, Gen Z, millennials, and Gen X all return figures around the same mark.

Chart showing music streaming by generation

With a similar pattern in evidence for several other activities too, it suggests that growth among new users might be more age-balanced than expected, and that the overall media portfolios of the older generations will continue to become more diverse.

While we would not expect transformative, overnight shifts in audience profiles, it does seem increasingly likely that the coronavirus outbreak will accelerate the diversification of digital audiences that would in normal circumstances have taken much longer. And that creates numerous opportunities for any brand with a presence on those platforms.

Customer perception: knowing and measuring how your consumers think

Lorna Keane

No matter how great a brand believes itself to be, the real verdict lies in the hands of the public.

Truly consumer-centric brands work hard to stay up-to-date with how their market is feeling to help them stay relevant, anticipate risks, and maximize the rewards of their marketing efforts.

It’s obvious that a brand that activates positive associations from its audience will have more favorable outcomes to one that doesn’t. What’s not so obvious is how brands can retrieve information on customer perceptions, and action their findings.

Here we discuss the ins and outs of customer perceptions, why they’re relevant now, and how to measure them.

What are customer perceptions?

Put simply, this is about what your customers (and potential customers) think.

But not every thought is of value to a brand, so to effectively analyze customer perceptions, it helps to break this down into two categories:

Opinions towards your brand and its competitors.
Opinions towards aspects of wider life and themselves that could influence purchasing behaviors.

These thoughts and feelings will affect your brand’s capacity to attract new customers and maintain positive relationships with current customers.

Why do they matter?

Customer perceptions are shaped by the world we live in.

And with the global population facing substantial changes to daily work and living routines, and with new purchasing behaviors emerging in parallel, now’s the time to really tune into how your customers are feeling.

As Kanika Bali, Digital Strategist at a leading marketing and advertising agency, told us:

“The customer will decide which brands are remembered and which are forgotten after this time. So be there for them.”

And what does the data say?

Consumers globally are looking towards brands at this time to elicit a positive response – more so than the government in many cases.

Our research also shows that, right now, consumers are making a ‘positive mindset’ their main priority for the next month (59%). Following that is ensuring that they have necessary items (52%), and then maintaining relationships with friends and family (48%).

Paying attention to overarching trends like these and then delving into what matters most to your specific audiences is the best policy for ensuring you build and maintain positive customer perceptions towards your brand, and know what to tap into in uncertain times.

Doing this means consumers are well disposed towards your brand, more likely to seek it out and choose you over competitors.

Conversely, negative perceptions towards your brand will not only make people more likely to turn to rival brands, but encourage them to share unfavorable opinions with others, fueling further negative sentiment.

In short, customer perceptions are inextricably linked to a company’s bottom line in times of crisis.

Measuring customer perceptions

There are a number of ways to access the data needed to gage how consumers perceive both your brand and themselves.

1. Look into their attitudes and lifestyles.

To successfully shift consumer perceptions, brands first need to understand how and why their target consumers might identify with their offering.

Psychographic data offers insights into the lives of your target audience, from self-perceptions and interests to their professional lives. Let them know that you understand what drives them, and deliver what they need.

Only then can they set about shifting perceptions in the desired direction, using insights to guide the way.

2. Unravel emotional brand connections with brand data.

Deep consumer data can measure the rational response to your brand, but also the more difficult-to-measure instinctive responses.

Instinctive responses are a key indicator of your brand’s reputation. They’re a driver in decision-making and the more automatic the response to your brand is, the greater the emotional bond.

3. Fill in the gaps with custom surveys.

Custom surveys allow you to ask the questions you need answers to, and disentangle the impact of individual touchpoints on the brand experience.

If you’re identifying key sentiments amongst your target market, or perceptions towards your brand, survey data cuts through the noise, so you can ask consumers what they think of your brand directly.

Combining a custom survey with wider data sets on consumer trends helps contextualize these findings provides more scope for detailed analysis.

4. Monitor social media.

Conversations about brands increasingly occur on social media platforms. Track what’s being said about your brand and competitor brands, identify trends, and engage in the conversation.

5. Read online reviews.

Understanding how people are rating your company and its products is a valuable source of detailed insight. Use your marketing to address any common misconceptions or capitalize on recurring positives and feed this intelligence back to the product team.

Case study: BuzzFeed

A recognized leader in viral content for younger internet users (18-34), BuzzFeed wanted to challenge common perceptions around the brand, proving its appeal to far more than just millennials, opening up new advertising opportunities.

The challenge

“One thing we wanted to change with our international markets in particular was how brands viewed us as an advertising partner, beating down some common misconceptions”, says Jackie Lundblad, Head of International Insights at BuzzFeed.

In order to shift these perceptions, they needed to gather local insights.

The action

Using data gathered from the GWI platform, BuzzFeed could analyze their wider audience in depth, which led to them uncovering key insights that challenged misconceptions in certain markets.

Focusing first on their Australian market, the in-house teams created a number of targeted newsletters showcasing some of their most impactful findings that proved their mass appeal.

“For the first of these newsletters, we decided to focus on Australian moms as this is obviously an audience we have, but it’s one that’s often overlooked,” says Jackie.

The result

By positioning themselves as experts on their consumers while proving their appeal to far more than just millennials, BuzzFeed was able to:

Successfully shift perceptions by proving their appeal across demographics.
Earn client trust with consumer insight unavailable elsewhere.
Boost interest in advertising across emerging markets.

“Using GlobalWebIndex, we were able to tell a story centered around our readers’ financial situations and life events. That provided us with the fuel we needed to shift those perceptions and build that level of trust,” says Jackie.

It’s about building empathy through solid research

Brands that harness today’s wealth of data to find out exactly who their customers are, what motivates them, how they feel about the brand and how they relate to its products and services, will emerge from this crisis.

Collecting detailed information around how your customers are feeling towards your brand and beyond is the basis for delivering impactful messaging and a well conceived, genuine brand purpose.

Why? By staying in touch with what matters most to them, you can build the level of empathy that’s needed to drive truly meaningful relationships.

3 myths financial services shouldn’t bank on

Shauna Moran

Marketing banks and financial services has tended to revolve around values of practicality and security, with customer experience tending to get less of a look-in.

But the drive to digitize customer service offerings has been accelerated by recent events.

With so much technological upheaval in the last few years, it’s little wonder that various myths have surfaced about digital services and how best to market them.

Our latest report on the world of modern banking clarifies a number of these common misconceptions and sheds light on how expectations are adapting, as consumers of all ages increasingly engage with online solutions.

Myth 1: Online banking is an activity reserved for young, tech-savvy bankers.

RBS recently killed its digital-only service Bó, just months after its launch. Though the bank was careful not to describe it as a failure, this experiment raises the question of who new digital products should focus on.

We’re used to thinking about millennials as pioneers of digital banking and the natural target market for such products. But this short-sighted assumption overlooks just how widespread online banking has become.

It’s sometimes assumed that baby boomers are distrustful of online banking; whereas our data shows that nearly as many 55-64-year-old internet users (67%) bank online each month as 25-34s (72%).

While this does drop for mobile banking (49%), the former age group isn’t far behind 16-24s (53%) in terms of how heavily this device features in their monthly banking routine.

This suggests that a lack of engagement with digital banks might be explained by other factors, such as fintech start-ups spending 500% more on marketing to millennials than any other demographic group. In reality, there may be a bigger potential market here than some marketing campaigns suggest.

Individual attitudes can ultimately be a better predictor of consumer expectations than age.

For example, 45% of those who say that having the latest technological products is important to them prioritize well-designed apps and mobile features; and this figure remains relatively high (38%) among 55-64s.

So while segmenting by age can give a rough view of banking preferences, there are still differences within age groups. Particularly with something as personal as a bank account, differing attitudes in the market have to be recognized.

Though the myth that online banking is reserved only for young, tech-savvy internet users is easily debunked, we can take this a step further and suggest that digital banks (as well as traditional banks marketing new digital offerings) begin casting their nets beyond their prior target market.

Myth 2: Challenger banks stand to benefit most from the current situation.

It’s common knowledge that traditional banks are facing a rising wave of digital challengers entering the industry.

But at a time of crisis, “traditional” banks have the chance to trade on their historical branding. What’s more, our research suggests that consumers are yet to fully commit to digital banks as their main provider.

Digital banks have been gaining in popularity, largely thanks to their unique offering of innovative features that help customers track and manage their everyday spending.

However, digital bankers remain reluctant to pass responsibility for all their banking requirements onto challenger banks.

Differences between traditional and digital banking

While those with a digital bank account are just as comfortable using this service to pay for bills and transfer money, there’s a significant drop when we look at receiving salary and managing investments: 57% of bankers use their traditional account to receive their salary, which falls to 31% for digital bank accounts.

If the current situation has made anything clear, it’s that the biggest incumbents often benefit from a sense of trust that their younger competitors have yet to fully realize.

The crisis has drawn attention to the digital shortcomings of traditional banks, but also afforded them the opportunity to highlight their main advantages over challenger banks.

Though many expected digital banks to flourish in the current climate, Europe’s top challenger banks recently witnessed a drop in digital downloads.

Despite industry newcomers having the edge when it comes to online banking, it could be that “spending” accounts become less relevant as customer concerns about the security of their money intensify and bankers need to access loans or savings.

Yet, this trend is likely to reverse as economic confidence starts to pick up, and as younger bankers begin to play a greater role in shaping this space.

Age is ultimately a key determinant of trust in digital banks, with younger bankers often demonstrating less skepticism toward them: 41% of digital bankers aged 45-54 say they don’t feel assured their money is secure in a digital bank account, compared to 12% of those aged 25-34.

By the same token, though 16-24s currently represent the smallest proportion of online bankers, they’re already leading the mobile banking revolution. Their need to financially plan is set to grow in coming years, which will surely enhance their contribution to the banking sector.

As trust becomes less of an issue, customer service is also well-positioned to steal some of the limelight.

The failure to offer convenient, digitally-pleasing experiences could therefore lead traditional brands to gradually become less relevant; especially if current rates of digital spending receive the red flag from skeptical shareholders, or banks feel pressured to cut spending on technology post-crisis to reduce costs.

While the biggest players seem to be benefiting for the moment, losing sight of the new, digital-first consumer experience could see this advantage evaporate.

Well-established institutions will need to continue investing in fintech and tailoring new digital banking solutions if they want to remain on top.

Myth 3: Banking is a means to an end, it’s not meant to be an experience.

If challenger banks could offer one lesson, it would be the need to put customers front and center in an industry that has previously built its success on prioritizing other areas.

Without a digital trump card, traditional banks must rely on their monetary offerings or face the brunt of consumer dissatisfaction upon failing to meet the standards expected of them.

Past examples demonstrate how quickly consumers can jump ship, with thousands of UK bankers switching from Halifax in the space of three months over higher overdraft interest rates.

It’s for these reasons that traditional institutions should take steps to identify the consumers most likely to switch and understand the reasons behind their intentions.

Early adopters (who say they’re usually the first to know about new technology and aim to have the latest products) are more likely to be fickle where banks are concerned: 57% of this group believe they’re likely to switch banks in the next 3-6 months, compared to 23% of those who don’t make having state-of-the-art technology a personal priority.

Though making an appearance across all age groups, early adopters are concentrated among younger bankers: 56% of 25-34s fall into this category, compared to 29% of 55-64s.

Unsurprisingly then, this group of likely switchers expect more from banks in terms of the overall experience.

They’re more likely to show excitement in the face of all of the banking features included in our chart, with the exception of monetary rewards – indicating that, for this group, style is just as important as substance.

Support for sustainable and eco-friendly businesses takes the spotlight among those intending to switch, suggesting the need for banks to start looking beyond financial security and make ethical commitments part of their branding strategy.

Tackling issues that harm the global community and environment is one way of communicating these values, and doing so will hold banks in good stead among likely switchers.

Our research also shows that digital bankers are more likely than their traditional counterparts to want additional and innovative features from banking services. When it comes to 24/7 service via banking chatbots and round-up features, for example, there’s at least a 10-percentage-point difference between digital and traditional bankers.

Given their list of expectations, digital bankers are unlikely to forgo a sophisticated banking experience for an altogether traditional one.

1 in 5 bankers in the U.S. and UK ultimately say they’re likely to switch in the next 3-6 months, which represents a significant opportunity. Financial entities wanting to gain or retain these customers should therefore aim to create standout banking experiences able to deeply immerse consumers in their financial lives.

With smart investment comes high returns

Our third wave of coronavirus research shows that public perception surrounding how banks have responded to the coronavirus outbreak is generally positive: 64% of internet users across 17 markets approve of how they’ve handled the situation so far.

Having come under fire during the last global downturn, many are now viewing banks in a positive light.

However, positivity varies significantly by country and has altered over time.

Banks in South Africa and Australia, for example, have made the most impact in turning the tide of their approval ratings; where mortgage breaks have been offered, fixed savings liberated, and overdraft charges frozen in many cases.

At the other end of the spectrum, public opinion toward banks has deteriorated most among Spanish and Italian consumers; amid concerns about wider economic mismanagement and frustration over cautionary approaches to lending.

What our data and the above examples reinforce is the growing demand for quick policy changes that can ease current financial burdens, as well as the need for reassurance among consumers that their money is in safe hands.

While liquidity buffers may not be sufficient to meet consumer demands in all cases, our data suggests additional ways banks can differentiate themselves from their competitors, both during the crisis and going forward.

Traditional banks now have the opportunity to reconsider how integrating customer insight and digital transformation into their strategy can contribute to future growth.

Only time will tell whether current levels of digital disruption in the banking sector will outlast the pandemic. But decrypting these common banking myths presents a clear business case for why they should.

The ‘new normal’: how consumers are planning to adapt

Jason Mander

As some countries begin to ease their restrictions, there’s one inevitable question everyone’s asking: what does the ‘new normal’ look like?

We’re uniquely placed to look at how a diverse range of audiences have reacted, and how their pre- and post-outbreak behaviors are likely to compare.

In this two-part series, we leverage the three waves of dedicated multi-market research we carried out in recent weeks. In this part, we focus specifically on the role of convenience and safety in boosting sustainable behaviors, and the public’s attitude towards returning to out-of-home leisure activities.

In part two we focus on ecommerce and online shopping, and how media consumption is diversifying.

Key questions around behavior changes

After months of uncertainty and limitations, businesses globally are searching for answers to pertinent questions:

How will consumers behave once their market moves firmly into the recovery phase?
Will they start buying the purchases they’ve been delaying?
Will travel begin to get back to normal?
Will people return straight-away to the locations that had been closed straight away?

In short, what will return to previous patterns and what will be changed permanently?

The specifics of any ‘new normal’ will vary significantly between markets, regions, and demographics.

How a country or audience behaved before the outbreak will have an impact, and so too will the degree to which it was affected. We also need to factor in how long it took to recover, and what – if any – national measures are put in place in the post-outbreak landscape.

Above all, we need to be cautious of assuming any automatic continuation of behaviors which were acquired or boosted during an unprecedented crisis like this.

Consumers are in unchartered territory, often being required to do things out of necessity rather than choice.

We’ve analyzed what consumers intend to do once this ‘new normal’ comes into play, leveraging our research from March and April across 17 countries.

Here’s what we found.

Consumers plan to behave in more sustainable ways – but not for environmental reasons.

From sector to sector, one particularly striking finding from our research is consumers intend to behave in more sustainable ways.

Before the outbreak, it would be fair to say climate activists were gaining more traction and organizations, governments and companies were coming under sustained pressure to make increased environmental commitments.

But the intended move towards more sustainable behaviors that we’re now seeing doesn’t appear to be driven by this. It’s not just green or eco-conscious audiences expressing this sentiment – it’s a universal, cross-demographic trend.

Let’s look at travel as an example:

About 80% of consumers expect to change their travel behaviors in some way.

Around 3 in 10 will be taking more staycations, a similar proportion will take more domestic rather than foreign vacations, while around a quarter expect to take fewer vacations.

Certainly, “greener” consumers are at the forefront of more sustainable travel plans: those interested in environmental issues have a consistent lead over their counterparts who aren’t interested.

The gap is far from sizable, though – and that’s arguably the more important thing here.

Chart showing post-outbreak travel plans

We find a similar pattern elsewhere. For example, people interested in their local area are most likely to be planning staycations; but the difference vs those who are not interested in their local area is very small.

Elsewhere, regular domestic vacationers are not much ahead of infrequent ones when it comes to planning more staycations. Strikingly, a fifth of people who never had domestic vacations before the outbreak are now planning to take staycations.

Long-haul vacationers follow a similar trend. Almost 40% of those who take two long-haul vacations per year are planning more domestic trips or staycations.

If environmental concern is not the driving factor here, then what is?

Cost is certainly an influencer – and it’s worth noting that about a quarter say they plan to make more use of promotions or discounts when booking future travel.

Even so, the two least popular answers for post-outbreak travel plans are to do with cost: taking cheaper vacations (15%) and taking more budget airline flights (10%). And it’s likely that the desire for promotions taps into a wider theme we’ve observed where value for money is top of mind – with people of all income groups wanting to feel like they are getting a good deal.

Rather than financial or environmental concerns, then, this appears to be about safety and reassurance.

When asked what would give them the confidence to start booking trips again, by far the most popular answer was, “when I feel it’s safe to travel” (58%).

Vacationing in the local area or in one’s own country is very clearly part of the reaction to this. Those planning more domestic trips (68%) or staycations (65%) are the most likely to say it’s a feeling of safety that will prompt them to start booking again.

Generally, people constantly think their own country will cope better and recover more quickly than elsewhere. Domestic travel is also usually less disruptive and costly if it gets cancelled, as well as easier to resolve if an issue arises during a trip.

In short, this desire for safety and certainty is almost unconsciously driving consumers towards more sustainable travel choices.

While those who care most about the environment are still at the forefront, other consumers are now following more closely behind what we might once have expected.

Safety is top of mind as consumers plan to be more risk-averse.

In question after question, consumers express a desire to to minimize their exposure to risk.

When asked what they want from essential stores, for example, safety-oriented options topped the list (with ways to enter or exit locations as quickly as possible recording the highest score of all).

Safety concerns are also leading people to say they’ll make slow returns to locations once they reopen their doors. Almost 50% say they’ll not visit shops “for some time” or “for a long time”.

Almost 60% say the same about large outdoor venues such as stadia, approaching 65% for large indoor venues such as cinemas and concert halls.

Of course, whether it’s vacationing closer to home or visiting nearby locations less frequently, many consumers aren’t necessarily striving to reduce their mobility in order to decrease their carbon footprint.

Nevertheless, many of the changes that people intend to make as a result of the outbreak are less impactful on the environment.

And this trend is catalyzed further by those convenience-based changes in behavior which people want to make too – such as the 1 in 4 who plan to work from home more frequently, or the 4 in 10 who’ll do more of their shopping online.

The question of whether these behaviors will eventually start to revert is difficult to answer. In the long-term, we might expect convenience-driven shifts to strengthen further; after all, if the ‘new normal’ is better, why change back?

In contrast, safety-driven shifts – especially for travel – are likely to be more susceptible to reverting over time.

The challenge for domestic tourism players as well as environmental groups will be to highlight the financial, economic, sustainability and experiential benefits of the short-term shifts to the consumer, capitalizing on the ‘unconscious sustainables’ segment that will be at its largest and strongest over the coming months.

They’ll think twice about out-of-home leisure spending.

During the long weeks of enforced stay-at-home orders, consumers have had to go without their usual out-of-home leisure moments.

Once restrictions are lifted, though, it’s far from certain whether we will see an automatic return to pre-pandemic behaviors.

In the short-term, there will be two challenges to overcome. First, there are the safety concerns we highlighted above.

If we look at cinemas as an example, there will be some comfort for venues that regular movie-goers are the most likely to return immediately or very quickly.

Chart showing return to large indoor venues

This is a pattern we see elsewhere, too: ‘regular’ or ‘dedicated’ segments are the most enthusiastic about returning to normality.

Even so, with just over half of regular cinema-goers saying they will return to large indoor venues immediately, very quickly, or quite quickly, that still leaves a third of the core audience who don’t plan to return promptly, and a further 1 in 10 who aren’t sure.

So, while venues can rely on many of their most dedicated customers leading the return once they reopen, this segment is likely to be diminished in size unless they are convinced otherwise through careful messaging and reassurance.

The other short-term challenge to overcome is spending cuts: 4 in 10 consumers say they plan to cut back on the day-to-day things they buy and 1 in 3 will look to reduce their monthly financial commitments.

People who regularly drink alcohol, eat fast-food, eat out at restaurants, or visit the cinema are in line with general trends here.

But if we then look at specific leisure-related changes they might make, the ‘regular segments’ are often slightly ahead of average for planning reductions.

Across the 17 markets it’s 29% who say they plan to visit bars and pubs less often. But among regular alcohol drinkers, this rises to 33%.

For fast-food, 31% overall plan to eat at such outlets less frequently; among regulars, this ticks up to 35%.

In fact, if we take the fast-food and restaurant audiences as the examples, it’s the customers who were previously most loyal who are the most likely to plan a reduction.

Chart showing planned reduction in leisure behaviors

With many consumers looking to make financial savings, it’s understandable that the most dedicated segments for each activity are the most likely to be considering spend reductions.

But it’s a sign that people are open to finding reductions within their regular or favorite activities just as much – if not more than – the things they do less frequently.

When viewed in parallel with the hesitations over returning to public locations, we can see the scale of the short-term challenge facing out-of-home leisure providers. Reassuring consumers on two fronts – safety and value for money – will be key, and it’s probable that we will see the emergence of a highly promotion-oriented mindset.

Arguably, though, it’s the longer-term challenge which is more complex.

Financial or safety-based concerns can be tackled; it’s not so straight-forward addressing new or changed behaviors that people acquired during the lockdown period and intend to persist with afterwards.

As we noted earlier, in recent weeks, people have had to find alternatives to their usual out-of-home leisure moments.

Our research shows that 46% of regular fast-food eaters and 49% of regular restaurant-goers have been spending more time cooking.

It also reveals that 55% of regular cinema-goers have been watching more shows and films on streaming services. And that 44% of regular alcohol drinkers have been spending more time socializing as a family or household.

This pattern continues when we ask people which behaviors they expect to retain in the future.

Here we find that close to a quarter of restaurant and fast-food regulars plan to carry on spending more time cooking. A quarter of regular alcohol drinkers expect to spend more time socializing as a family or household, and almost a third of frequent cinema-goers plan to carry on using streaming services.

This trend spreads to other out-of-home leisure moments too – sometimes dramatically, as with the 1 in 2 regular gym-goers who say they plan to spend more time exercising at home (with 15% going as far as planning to cancel a gym membership).

In many of these examples, the audiences in question are a little ahead of average. But in some places, we see significant leads:

Only 1 in 5 globally say they expect to carry on watching more content on streaming services.

This makes the 1 in 3 among regular cinema-goers particularly noticeable. Similarly, it’s 4 in 10 overall who plan to spend more time on in-home exercise; the jump to 1 in 2 among regular gym-goers is once again conspicuous.

It suggests that after leisure providers have addressed immediate concerns over safety and money, the longer-term challenge will be to demonstrate the benefits and exclusive perks and offers obtained through visiting their venues. These simply can’t be replicated at home or via other proxies.

Anticipate change, but don’t rely on predictions

We’re dealing with expressed sentiment captured during extraordinary times here. Not all of this will translate into reality, but the intent held by consumers at the moment is important in itself.

Otherwise, what started as a necessity during stay-at-home restrictions could become a preferred alternative in the ‘new normal’ landscape.

In part two of this series, we discuss the importance of reliability in ecommece, and the diversification of boomer and Gen X media consumption.

Tightening budgets: how to deliver results from your content strategy

Sam Ernest-Jones

In times of uncertainty, smart spending becomes all the more important for businesses.

With the downward pressure of economic disruption and heightened consumer expectations, brands are walking on a tightrope with budget cuts on one side, and ethical considerations on the other.

As a result, for marketers, the stakes are higher.

As our research into the consumer response to the coronavirus outbreak shows, consumption habits are changing, and content needs to move in tandem.

We asked Kanika Bali to share her thoughts on how to ensure content delivers, even when budgets are tight. Kanika is a digital strategist who’s worked across the spectrum of brands, from direct-to-consumer start-ups to large FMCGs.

Here’s how businesses can bake ROI into their content from the very beginning, using data to inform their campaign planning, adjustment and measurement.

Know who you’re creating content for and why.

Kanika’s research always starts in the same place: with the audience.

“I think now’s the time to really lean into consumer-driven content”.

“Building on existing consumer communities and showing them where you stand is key. The customer will decide which brands are remembered and which are forgotten after this time. So be there for them.”

With a vivid picture of who you’re targeting, knowing where to direct spend becomes clearer.

This means using the resources at your disposal to pinpoint the size of the market, define your audience, and analyze their media consumption habits.

So, where do you start?

1. Identify the market.

Your first step should be becoming an expert on the market you’re targeting – whether it’s an entire state, a specific region, or a particular city.

Using the resources at hand, such as reports, market snapshots, and consumer profiling data. GWI can help you accurately profile your audiences by demographics, behaviors, lifestyles, motivations and more.

With this, you can map the size of the market – specifically the actual number of your potential customers present there. This should guide your spend allocation and ROI estimates.

2. Sharpen your segments.

“I want to uncover who they are and how I can segment them”, Kanika explains. “Then I look at how and where they interact with the category and brands.”

“But I don’t stop there. I also conduct research into their needs and wider interests, as well as what stage of the purchase journey they fall into.”

Once you’ve identified your target audience and know there’s an adequate number, it’s time to refine your audience segments.

Revealing the nuances that make your audience unique is key to delivering content that resonates on a deeper level.

There are four areas to focus on here:

Who they are:

This includes gender, age, income, education, social class, religion and nationality.

Where they are:

This includes information on where they live, but can be subdivided by nation, state, town and so on.

What they do:

Think not just about their interactions with products and brands, but their hobbies and interests. This can include which platforms, channels and devices they spend their time on, which influencers they follow, and how they spend their free time.

How they think:

Look at their attitudes and interests. This can include personality traits, what role brands play in their lives, and how they perceive both themselves and the world around them.

3. Analyze their media consumption.

From your audience research and previous campaigns, you’ll likely have an understanding of where’s best to place your content for maximum impact.

But relying on the fact that ‘millennials use Facebook’, for example, isn’t enough to justify spend there.

Instead, you need to get to grips with a few other things:

What draws them to certain channels.

There are many reasons why people use certain channels. And often, each channel serves a number of primary purposes for different people at different times.

”TikTok is a prime example of this”, explains Kanika. “It’s growing as a channel because of people’s need for communication, participation and engaging in community during times of social distancing.”

So, if your content is to stand the best chance driving ROI, you need to know why your audience is there.

Perhaps they’re searching for information, news, entertainment, education, shopping, or something else entirely.

What formats they enjoy.

Each channel specializes in certain content formats, so find how best to translate the message in a way the user is expecting.

Video, audio, image, ads, reviews and blogs are just the tip of the iceberg. Know what your audience responds best to before developing your ideas.

Kanika tells us that new formats coming to the fore include immersive augmented reality, 15-30 second vertical videos and shoppable posts.

4. Look into their attitudes and interests.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of your audience research is your attitudinal insights. Especially when markets are unsteady, and customer opinions are polarized.

Combining attitudinal and behavioral data helps you fill in the gaps in your audience understanding. Ask key questions about your audience’s lifestyles, interests and perceptions to get the best answers.

Here’s a small sample of the thousands of questions you might ask:

Motivations:

What drives them in day-to-day life? Security? Family? Health? Philanthropy? Money?

Perceptions and self-perceptions:

Discover their point of view on anything, from what life looks like in lockdown to worldwide phenomenon, but also see how they would describe themselves. Are they optimistic, pessimistic, forward-thinking, organized or sociable?

Values:

Do they seek value for money? Or would they prefer to buy cheaper? Do they seek respect from their peers through product purchases? Do they seek pleasure over security?

Lifestyle choices and interests:

Do they drive a car? Eat fast food? Eat out regularly? Take frequent holidays abroad? Are they cosmopolitan?

The real value lies in connecting your data to go deeper into their attitudes, perceptions and interests, giving you a true view of who they are, and what drives them to act the way they do.

Set clear goals.

This might sound obvious, but when budgets are tight, there’s less resource to play around with, and less room for error.

That’s why it pays to be clear on what you want to achieve before launching into creating content. The best way of doing this is by setting clear, achievable goals at the very beginning.

As Kanika puts it: “With all content, it’s important to set the right goals, target the right people, and test your content and continually optimise to ensure results.”

Start by looking broadly at your own business objectives to narrow down your content goals.

These can range from building brand affinity to any other goal on the purchase journey, so first understand what your business wants to achieve, and build your content goals from there. As Kanika says:

“The aim is to uncover innovative content that fills the gaps identified in a consumer journey.

I cannot reiterate the adage enough: your customer always comes first.”

It helps to first think about which end of the funnel you want to concentrate on, or if you’re hoping to touch all bases.

Here are a few examples of the types of goals you might choose along your funnel:

Remember: it’s no use creating content simply for self-expression. You’re doing it to achieve a clear business goal, so your strategy is essentially the most crucial part.

Measure your brand’s perception in the market.

Gathering insights into the emotional connection your brand elicits is a particularly important task to undertake during challenging times like these.

It helps you monitor and respond to criticism on time, and in the right way.

Research from our multinational study into the consumer response to coronavirus proves the importance of making the ‘right calls’ for your brand:

Globally, about 50% of consumers say they approve of brands running “normal” advertising campaigns which aren’t linked to coronavirus.

“Most consumers are feeling uneasy now”, says Kanika. “They’re nervous and there is a lot of negative news around COVID-19. In these times, it’s important for brands to find a way to create positive connections with consumers and employees.

The goal here is not to sell, or to push your brand on customers. Right now is the time to show your brand values and personality. Be resolute in what you stand for and how you can help all your stakeholders get through this time. But above all, please be mindful.”

Something as fundamental as knowing whether your target audience believe your brand and sector should be advertising as normal could be instrumental in delivering the right message.

When brand sentiments are measured effectively and diligently, it’s an effective way of mitigating risk in a turbulent market.

Test, measure and optimize.

When the pressure is on to deliver on spend, having the capacity to test and tweak your content could spell the difference between ROI and right-off. But first you need to have your tracking in place to ensure your tests are accurate.

Combine data sources for greater context.

First-party data is possibly the most widely used data source for measuring content effectiveness, but it’s not the most detailed, or indeed the most reliable record.

Analytics alone gives you a basic, retrospective, somewhat blinkered picture of how your content is performing.

An effective way of adding validity and value to your insights is to combine your data with third-party data.

For Kanika, this is crucial to know what will resonate:

“We use GWI to improve our targeting and determine what demographic and interest groups to build out, as well as which locations the content would resonate best in.”

Using trustworthy survey data with a clear and robust methodology enables you to cross-check the insights you gather from analytics and form the full picture. It means not just looking at what they’re doing, but why and for what purpose.

Organic first, paid later.

In more certain times, marketers can test out new ideas more freely, but when tasked with stretching every dollar, you need to guarantee it’ll fly before investing.

Use your research to identify the channels worth focusing on, and place your efforts there organically, before committing spend to them.

For example, if you’re promoting the launch of a new product, consult your data to find out which social channel is most prevalent among your audience, create the content that fits, in the optimal format for that audience, and publish it there.

Only once you see it working should you assess the potential of placing spend behind it.

Key takeaways

When budgets are tight, it’s important to invest it in the right places.

To do this requires:

Solid goals for your content derived from consumer sentiment.
In-depth research into your audiences.
Understanding of the most valuable channels.
Accurate tracking and measurement.

Content that has a clear purpose and is tested, tweaked in flight, and tracked accurately will have the best chance of achieving the right results.

As Kanika puts it, now is the time to lean on consumer-driven content. So, injecting meaningful insight on your audiences’ behaviors, attitudes and motivations into your strategy and planning, and adapting fast to inevitable changes in the market means there’ll be no surprises.

Kanika’s opinions are solely her own and do not express the views or opinions of her employer. You can reach her for further questions or speaking engagements at kanikabali.14@gmail.com.

click to access our segmentation guide for marketers

Road to recovery: 4 things travel brands should know

Isaac Hopkins

The effect of COVID-19 on the travel industry is not only unprecedented, but will have a lasting impact. According to Roger Dow, President and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, the impact “is six or seven times greater than the 9/11 attacks.”

Using our latest multi-market research, conducted in 17 countries between April 22nd and April 27th, we can draw insights into how consumer travel behavior has been affected by COVID-19 and what it will take for consumers to travel again.

The number of people delaying vacation bookings has increased by 27% since mid March.

Over half of global consumers have delayed booking a vacation. This number rises to 60% among consumers in China and Singapore, and to 62% among the world’s highest earners.

We’re seeing increases across almost every country since the first wave of our research. In France, for example, delays of vacation purchases have jumped from 28% in mid-March to 48% in mid-April.

Vacations are still front-of-mind for many consumers – but it’s not as simple as reopening borders and allowing travel again. Safety has become absolutely vital and is something airlines, airports, and the wider travel industry will have to carefully consider.

1. Vacations are the top-priority post-outbreak purchase.

The good news for travel providers is that consumers prioritize booking a vacation (23%) above other purchases such as buying clothes (17%) or a new smartphone (13%) once the outbreak ends.

Booking a vacation is the top priority for nearly all surveyed markets apart from India, where buying consumer goods such as clothes and personal electronics have a greater appeal, and South Africa where consumers are more than twice as likely to prioritize buying clothes than a vacation.

45% of vacation delayers will prioritize booking a vacation/trip after the pandemic ends.

There’s an age pattern at work too; the older the consumer, the more likely they are to prioritize booking a vacation. While 29% of baby boomers prioritize booking a vacation, this falls to just 18% of Gen Z – the latter are more inclined to focus on clothing (25%) and smartphones (20%).

This suggests older consumers will initially be key targets for travel providers. Recapturing Gen Z’s travel demand might take a different approach, which we’ll explore later.

2. Consumers are reluctant to fly.

Despite the appeal of booking a vacation once the outbreak is over, this isn’t necessarily good news for airlines.

While 23% of consumers will prioritize purchasing a vacation after the outbreak, just 8% say the same of booking a flight.

Consumers are excited to go on vacation again, just not by plane.

This is mostly due to safety concerns because it’s near impossible to social distance in airports and airplanes. Earlier this week, London Heathrow’s Chief Executive, John-Holland Kaye, warned social distancing in airports could require kilometer-long boarding queues.

There’s also a general assumption that one’s own country is outperforming the global average, which likely makes travelers feel safer staying within their country’s borders than booking a plane ticket abroad.

68% of consumers say they are extremely, very, or quite concerned about the coronavirus situation in their own country – but in terms of concern for the global situation, this rises to 87%.

This results in an increased demand for domestic vacations, which many travel components – such as accommodation, insurance, and car rental – could benefit from.

Unfortunately, airlines are set to take the biggest hit. Last week, Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway sold all its stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines because of the COVID-19 crisis.

3. There’s an increased demand for domestic travel – especially in China.

Only 18% of consumers say they don’t plan to make any changes to their vacation behaviors.

Interestingly, this falls to just 9% of Chinese consumers, making this the most likely country to change its travel behaviors. Ahead of its international counterparts in its COVID-19 journey, China’s travel concerns may be foreshadowing the extent to which other countries’ behaviors will change.

China has often been thought of as the market to watch in terms of their outbound spending. Our Q4 2019 global research found 65% of internet users in China holiday abroad at least once every 6 months, making them the second most likely country to do this.

But as their lockdown restrictions fall away, recent research from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences supports our findings; many Chinese consumers are turning to domestic vacations instead of international travel. According to the report, Wuhan – the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak in China – is at the top of wish lists for travelers, who said they want to contribute to the economic development in the region following the pandemic.

At 42% and 37% respectively, China is the most likely country to have more staycations and take more domestic vacations once the outbreak is over. Globally, these two options are the most popular ways in which travel behavior is set to change after the outbreak.

4. Safety is front-of-mind for consumers.

It’s not as straightforward as simply resuming flights and allowing international travel: safety is key.

For instance, just 28% of consumers say reopening borders will make them feel confident enough to travel again, likely because it doesn’t actually reassure them. Ahead of actionable changes such as these, they need to feel safe above anything else.

At 58%, a personal feeling of safety is by far the top confidence booster – this is most important to baby boomers (65%).

Safety is almost double that of the other options given, including the government lifting lockdown or stay-at-home restrictions, and travel advice being provided by the government.

Notably, while a personal feeling of safety was still more popular than government advice for Gen Z, they’re much more likely to trust the latter than their older counterparts.

Almost a third of Gen Z said the government giving travel advice or removing lockdown restrictions would give them confidence to travel again, compared to around a quarter of baby boomers.

Additionally, Gen Z are more likely to take fewer post-outbreak vacations than older generations – just 19% of boomers say they will do this compared to 28% of Gen Z. The reverse is true when it comes to making use of travel promotions, taking cheaper vacations, or taking more budget airline flights. 13% of Gen Z say they will do the latter, compared to just 5% of baby boomers.

It’s important for travel providers to take note of these demographic differences because they could play a role in recapturing demand after the outbreak.

How travel can bounce back

The travel industry has every opportunity to recover. As we’ve mentioned above, a number of travel components – such as accommodation, experiences, insurance, and car rental – should be able to benefit from domestic demand in the short-term.

Airlines may be more likely to struggle, but if they make safety a core component in everything they do, from strict hygiene measures to possibly providing face masks, it might help offer some reassurance for consumers. Similarly, airports will play a key role in encouraging travel again and should work alongside airlines in creating a safer travel experience.

Ultimately, all efforts should be made to first and foremost help the consumer feel safe. While other measures of consumer confidence such as government advice may be more tangible, they will not directly increase consumer travel demand in the same way. Safety is key.

It’s time for brands to spend on advertising

Tom Smith

Advertising plays a crucial role in our economy and wider society. It drives demand that sells products and services that create jobs. It builds brands that grow the intangible value of a business, driving higher profits and margins, enabling expansion and investment.

Crucially, especially right now, advertising revenues support our news industry and pay for the entertainment we enjoy every day.

In the current climate, these positive effects have never been more pressing. Job retention and creation, always important, today is critical.

We know from our ongoing research into the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic that 22% of people in the markets we surveyed have lost their job or been furloughed, and 24% have had their hours cut.

Unsurprisingly, demand for news has never been stronger, with 60% watching more.

Along with this, 40% are watching more broadcast TV while 52% are watching more shows via streaming services as our thirst for entertainment in lockdown soars.

Despite this, advertising revenues are dropping faster than ever recorded.

Warc and the Advertising Association have forecast TV advertising in the UK to drop an incredible 46% in Q2 and all forms of advertising to fall 19.7% across 2020, painting a picture that will be mirrored worldwide.

Sectors such as physical retail, travel and live events that drive large chunks of spend have disappeared. Product launches and sports events have been postponed. This is before we get to companies hoarding cash to shore up balance sheets. This is significantly worse than any of the GDP forecasts recently released, most of which indicate a drop of GDP up to 35% in Q2.

Overcoming concerns

For me, as a CEO with a customer base dominated by the marketing and advertising industry, I’m consistently fascinated by the insights we’re uncovering on consumer sentiment around advertising.

While there are obvious reasons to freeze or shift advertising spend – for example, if you’re experiencing wide-scale layoffs, or your sector has been shut down – however my feeling was the pulling of spend by large brand advertisers was driven in a large part by sentiment; it didn’t feel right to carry on as normal.

In times of uncertainty, often the safest reaction is to come to a halt.

I’ve found countless examples of advertisers pulling the breaks that seem to be sentiment-driven. One such example is Coca-Cola, which has slashed brand marketing. The move was announced with the following quote from the brand’s Chairman, which highlights that the motivation is based on a perception around consumer attitudes:

“We’re being … mindful about the right level of brand marketing and new product launches given the consumer mindset across markets.”

How consumers really feel about advertising since the outbreak

In reality, our data paints a very different picture from what is largely assumed by the marketing industry.

Our research shows almost no consumer concern about brands advertising at this time.

To quantify this, I have excluded detractors from my analysis (strongly disapprove / disapprove) because for me, this is the question that matters: will the action of investing in advertising create a negative perception among current and future customers?

We know that in normal times, a large chunk of people remain impartial to advertising, so removing them now would not make sense.

On this measure:

85% of consumers either approve of, or are impartial to, carrying on as normal. Just 10% somewhat disapprove and 5% strongly disapprove.

If we continue this approach and look at statements related to advertising approaches that reflect the current crisis, this aggregated number rises to 96% in favor of advertising that “provides practical information” and 94% in favor of those delivering “funny / light-hearted content”.

In all cases, there are almost no detractors.

While it may feel trivial to focus on making people laugh right now, clearly in the minds of those in lockdown, this is not the case.

There’s also very little variation across markets and core segments. The range between countries is just 81% (South Africa) at the bottom, with 92% (Spain) at the top.

With the exception of people who live with roommates (perhaps not the happiest people right now) across demographics worldwide, there is very little variation, all scoring 85% to 90%.

Advertising for good

As a CEO, I fully understand there is sometimes a need to pull advertising.

If the reasons are rooted in a concern for the negative perception it would create with your audience, this for me is unfounded.

From my perspective, if you’ve spent decades building a brand, switching it off now, with arguably the most engaged audience in history, is a short-sighted decision that could erode decades of hard-won brand equity.

Also, if we consider the fact that for many big-ticket items, sales cycles can last upwards of 12 months, cutting off advertising now could limit demand as things inevitably return to normal.

While many major purchase decisions are of course being delayed, our data shows this will start returning;

46% say they will make purchases again once the outbreak decreases. Top of the list are vacations, clothes and smartphones.

Connecting with this highly-engaged audience, supporting the marketing industry, and delivering the revenues that publishers need to survive, are wins for everyone.

Advertising is a vital component of a functioning economy, and “normal” is something we all need more of right now.

I stand by this for GWI. We’ve continued our marketing efforts as normal, but have endeavored to offer our audience more valuable, informative and supportive content.

As a business owner, I have a responsibility to my teams and customers to keep bringing in new customers, and despite the world we’re living in right now, it’s crucial to remember – this too shall pass.