The most pressing question facing our consumer society and economy is the one we keep asking each other: What's going to happen? David Ogilvy famously told his clients, "The consumer is your wife," and, while editing it a bit for changes in the workplace and culture, his dictum still holds: "The consumer is you. The consumer is me. The consumer is the person down the street. The consumer is us." And we, the consumers, are unsure of what will happen next and how we're going to react to THAT next worrisome thing that heads our way. Take …
Experience
Really Great Advice for Helping the Beauty Industry Survive the Pandemic
Like the rest of us, I've been extremely busy this past few weeks trying to make sense of the New (Coronavirus) World Order. I've had days that have been rendered virtually useless because of anxiety, but then I've had others that have been much, much better. Those are the days when I've gotten out of my own muddled head, plunked myself in front of my computer monitor and attended one of the many excellent free webinars the beauty industry has recently been doling out like perfume samples. I've watched the founders of Glow Recipe, a …
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Consumers Lead Industry Transformation
Unprecedented business closures, an intermittent supply chain and unemployment reaching 26.5M as of April, have put the retail ecosystem at significant risk. Compared to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the extent and duration of today's situation is profound. There is a significant shift underway in how we shop for food and essential goods that will fundamentally change retail. Grocers, convenience stores and mass merchandisers who can react to consumers' needs, navigate environmental constraints and swiftly adjust their operations are …
Gen Z Has Been Prepping for Coronavirus All Their Lives
Funny thing about Generation Z/iGen consumers: they always shopped as if they were preparing for a cataclysmic global event. Gen Z grew up during the Great Recession and watched their parents and millennial siblings struggle to make ends meet with little to nothing put away in savings. Harsh inevitabilities about how global warming would play out during their lifetimes also made an impact on Gen Z's purchasing behavior, leading to the pursuit of sustainability over status (to the great dismay of many a legacy brand). Gen Z was often accused …
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Will Your Brand Survive COVID-19?
The world may be "closed" but that doesn't mean you can afford to close your eyes on the fundamentals. According to Erica Sweeney, reported in Marketing Dive, even back in 2019 (a lifetime ago), a Havas' Meaningful Brands report showed that 77 percent of brands could disappear, and no one would care. Let's not forget that messages and actions are being judged now by both employees and consumers and will determine your chances of survival. In the multitude of hard decisions that require immediate response, with an extremely foggy future, how …
With Neither a Bang nor a Whimper
It has taken a month or so for the new Covid-19 reality to do what two generations of business consultants, retail strategists and brand marketers have not been able to do: reinvigorate the center aisle of the grocery store. Take a walk through any food store in your new Covid protective mask. The once exciting peripheries chock-a-block with fresh kale of various heritages, artisanal cheeses and cage-free poultry parts are still robustly stocked. Move your cart into the once moribund middle corridors however, and you see how the zeitgeist has …
Real Money, Real Help: Beauty Steps Up to the Plate
In the dark, murky sea of literally 62,377 emails in my inbox, I almost skipped over one because it had the words "Hand Sanitizer" in the subject line. I'm not hardened and cynical. I'm just busy. And like so many other beauty journalists, I'm not exactly hurting for emails about hand sanitizer right now. Many, many companies - up and down the annual turnover ladder - have followed LVMH's lead in shifting production-line capabilities from creating miracle creams, blush and lipstick to the life-saving liquid gold that is hand sanitizer. This …
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Are You There, Retailers? It’s Me…A Millennial HENRY
Millennial HENRYs (High Earners Not Rich Yet) felt broke before the COVID outbreak. And even those that haven't been furloughed or lost their jobs during coronavirus shutdowns will be more cautious spenders on the other side. In 2016, NPD found that over a quarter (29 percent) of "affluent" millennials were still shopping at dollar stores. The headline shocked everyone except for the "affluent" millennials mentioned in the piece. Since then, there have been multiple studies dedicated to learning why millennial HENRYS-or millennials that make …
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