JWT’s AnxietyIndex is designed as a place to discuss how brands and consumers are responding to the global recession. With daily content updates, AnxietyIndex.com includes contributions from around JWT’s network, offering a truly global perspective.
The downturn brought a wave of populist fury, stirred up by the good guys/bad guys notion of Wall Street vs. Main Street. But while that fury is now set at simmer, big business remains woefully unpopular—and so in a new commercial, Office Depot harnesses some populist zeal for itself and casts its lot with the little guy.
But Office Depot is a Wall Street-traded big box chain, right? Not so fast. A recent TV spot features Dan, a small-town barber, whose shop is threatened when a large chain moves in across the street offering $6 cuts. So Dan heads to Office Depot for a banner that reads “We fix $6 haircuts.” The banner really sticks it to “Nitro Cutz,” which papers its windows five months later, a satisfying reversal of fortune for Dan.
By casting itself as a Main Street ally, Office Depot slyly gets viewers to forget that it’s a large multinational chain whose low, low prices have put independent stores out of business. Now that’s a reversal.
Folks calming their recession-wracked nerves with a smooth shot of bourbon might find their bottle’s run dry, at least if they drink Knob Creek. Last month, the bourbon maker ran ads in American weekend papers, apologizing for running out of stock until November. Ad copy that read “Thanks for nothing” was paired with a near empty bottle. The line was a delightful twist on the morbid feeling shared by homeowners, stockholders and small-business owners alike these days.
If the tongue-in-cheek thank you note sounds like cold comfort to thirsty customers, think again. Knob Creek has managed to do what most other brands haven’t—pin a silver lining on a stormy cloud. Sure, the bourbon’s stores have run out, but at least someone’s doing well. According to a report inThe Guardian, the company is growing by double-digit percentages, and the American consumer is to thank.
Thank you, Knob Creek, for putting the consumer back in the driver’s seat and reminding us that it’s always driest before the dawn. Perhaps by the time Knob Creek’s Christmas batch hits shelves, we’ll be toasting our recovery instead of drowning our fiscal woes.
For a long time, bigger was better. Now, we’re backing off of big. Drivers around the world are embracing small-class cars, developers are downsizing their blueprints, and big businesses are revising their game plans. We’re calling it The Small Movement.
Why is small having its big moment? A global recession that’s forcing us to live with less makes frugal seem fashionable. An environmental crisis makes smaller houses, cars and carbon footprints look more responsible. Booming population growth has turned smaller, more streamlined products into space savers—a key quality in a crowded world.
Small Movement success stories plug into one or all of these themes. Concentrated laundry detergents allow for smaller containers, taking up less space in cluttered home and giving consumers the sense that they’re helping to save the world. Smart cars are eye-catching, gas-friendly and easy to park in crowded cities. Stand-alone kiosks are now big business with big retailers, allowing them entry into new venues—like Blockbuster kiosks in malls and pharmacies.
These are tricky waters for businesses that have relied on selling bigger, shinier doodads for decades. But this new culture of restraint is far from bad news for brands. The Small Movement isn’t necessarily about living with less; it’s about getting the most out of life—your home, your budget, your electronics—without contributing to the world’s ills. Smart marketers will show consumers how to do just that.
Our latest trend report explores these themes and more—download it here.
Pre-recession, luxury was big, bold and blingy. Now, the sector is shrinking—worldwide, the luxury sector saw a 20 percent year-over-year decline in sales revenue during the second quarter, shrinking from $220 billion in 2008 to $198 billion, according to Bain & Company. Bain estimates an overall net decline of 10 percent for 2009.
This is occurring not only because consumers can’t afford the luxe life but because attitudes toward conspicuous consumption have shifted dramatically, especially in developed markets where consumers are experimenting with “brown bag” luxury. Corporate misdeeds have cast the new rich as the new villains, and their luxury lifestyles are no longer an aspirational fantasy.
Luxury manufacturers are rethinking their strategies, shifting away from fast fashion and masstige. They’re returning to their roots—producing the ultimate that money can buy—and they’re responding to new definitions of what luxury is, emphasizing green credentials or playing up health and wellness benefits.
While the appetite for luxury goods is waning in the developed world, however, emerging markets are just getting started. In fast-growing countries like China, India and Brazil, the new meritocracy want to show off their success, and they’re doing so by embracing Western luxury brands.
Our latest trend report explores these themes and more—you can download the report from our Trends and Research page.
Folks calming their recession-wracked nerves with a smooth shot of bourbon might find their bottle’s run dry, at least if they drink Knob Creek. Last month, the bourbon maker ran ads in American weekend papers, apologizing for running out of stock until November. Ad copy that read “Thanks for nothing” was paired with a near empty bottle. The line was a delightful twist on the morbid feeling shared by homeowners, stockholders and small-business owners alike these days.
