We looked at some of the macro consumer trends that will shape the buying behaviour in the times to come in my article – (Macro Consumer Trends – What consumers now prefer!). There were four key trends identified. Consumers are more value conscious now than ever and the gap between entry level brands and next level brands are reducing as far as buying is considered. Consumers are constantly upgrading to the next level and owning multiple products in a single household is now a practical necessity. And impulse purchases are on the rise.
As a marketer, how do you go about addressing these changes? Lets take a look:
- Marketers need to shift from volume or quantity based strategies to more value or quality based strategies. Consumer’s are willing to pay for value, have multi products and are also keen on upgrading. These are the ingredients for marketers to look forward to while devising value based marketing strategies.
- It is more important to retain your customer than actually acquiring a customer. With consumers switching brands big time, retention strategies must be the order of the day rather than acquisition related strategies. So all your loyalty discounts, programmes, deals come into the picture.
- Setting consumer standards need to be a highly concentrated effort. This is a level up from having strategies to meeting consumer expectations. Once you’ve set your standards, there is a higher probability that your customers will keep coming back to you.
- Manoeuvre your communication to shape consumer perceptions. This will enable you to tackle the changing consumer behaviors. If Cadbury wants to position itself in the gifting category, all it needs to do is bring out a series of ads where people share chocolates instead of sweets for festivals. And they can boldly manage the changing consumer trends!
Today is the day of the bold consumer, looking for value, products that will hit the right chord in terms of desire . Marketers need to take serious note of this and revamp strategies. Only the ones that look ahead of times will prosper. It will be interesting to find out who will prosper and who won’t!
