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.
In a post-recession environment, it’s not just the usual car, home and holiday that is worrying the upwardly mobile, urban Indian. It’s also the latest buzz word: terrorism. After the mid-February blast in Pune—a comparatively smaller city with a large student population—terrorism is suddenly back and very close to home. The bombing was a reminder that terrorism could happen on the flight my husband takes, the hotel I stay on a business trip and the bakery where my daughter hangs out. Violence, fear and terror have caught up with a social stratum that until now believed it was untouchable, and the general feeling is that no place is too safe—yet one cannot stop living life.
Reflecting this new unease are the status lines of many Facebookers after the blast:
“I can’t believe it, really … considering we used to travel down that road pretty much all the time.”
“I can’t believe anything like this could happen … not in Pune … I guess I was wrong …”
At a time when consumers are coping with the idea that they have little control over their safety, do brands have a role to play? It seems that brands can help by doing what they do best—helping to buoy spirits by offering optimism and empowering consumers to feel they are back in charge of their destiny. Financial products and health care brands especially have an opportunity to create an environment of security, concern and care that will resonate in today’s anxious times.
Le Meridien, India - Metal detectors outside major hotels, restaurants and malls are now common.
My Name Is Khan is a big Bollywood production that’s trying to leverage Indians’ anxiety and religious sentiments to get attention and ticket sales. The movie, which comes out today, features Indian megastar Shah Rukh Khan as Rizwan Khan, a Muslim with Asperger syndrome. Some of the challenges he faces are related to his being Muslim, especially post-9/11, when Khan is living in the U.S. In fact, one of the lines heavily used in the movie’s promotion is “I am Rizwan Khan, and I’m not a terrorist.”
Islam and terrorism is a subject that dominates the news as well as the hearts of every Indian. And most of us believe that the entire community cannot be damned by a few evil men who are trying to destroy humanity. So seeing the film’s protagonist being discriminated against is something we can’t stand—we want to see him succeed in his fight to get justice. The movie is a great example of leveraging our emotions on this sensitive issue.
A growing number of people are finally finding the time to “write that book” after losing their jobs during the recession—enter what has been coined “layoff lit.” The New York Times’ Motoko Rich recently wrote about current layoff lit titles such as Slow Love: How I Got Kicked Off the Fast Track, Put My Pajamas on for a Year & Found Happiness, from former House & Garden editor Dominique Browning, and The Bag Lady Papers: The Priceless Experience of Losing It All, by former Self magazine editor Alexandra Penney.
The theme here seems to be finding the silver lining of starting over. As Matt Buchanan points out in The Sydney Morning Herald, George Clooney’s character in Up in the Air follows a similar narrative, reminding a distraught man he’s laying off about his love of cooking—“his sacking is an opportunity to reset his priorities, to choose to do what he loves to do—to cook again.”
The idea that there’s an upside to the downturn is certainly appealing, and brands such as Allstate are doing well to tap into it.
Though well-intentioned, a recent TV commercial from leading Singapore bank OCBC has put a spotlight on the promises that brands make to customers. The spot—which is intended to support the bank’s recently launched Sunday Banking service—tells the story of a customer who visits the bank on her birthday, which happens to fall on a Sunday. In a show of the bank’s commitment to delighting its customers even on Sundays, its staff brings out a birthday cake, much to the surprise of the customer. The story was told so convincingly that some people believed the bank gave out birthday cakes on customers’ birthdays. Two days later, a blogger posted an account of what happened when she went to a OCBC branch on her birthday and was not offered a cake. The scathing entry has generated over 500 comments and created a controversy over the ad that was picked up by The Straits Timesnewspaper.
While one can dismiss the blogger as being overly literal—and probably a bit of a smart ass—what’s interesting about this reaction to the ad is how consumers could expect a real payoff. In our 10 Trends for 2010, we said people are Reading the Fine Print to get the best value and determine whether a company’s claims are sincere. I suspect that in a less wary time, consumers would let OCBC simply slide. But after a reality check in the form of an economic slowdown where people have lost jobs, defaulted on financial obligations or sold their belongings to get by, empty promises such as this are not welcome. For brands, this means being more conscious about how their advertising is perceived. Is the company giving customers the impression they will receive a benefit from that company? If so, is the message something the company can make good on? If not, perhaps the message needs to be tweaked. After all, in these times when customer satisfaction is utmost, no one wants an angry customer, especially one with a blog.
In late 2008, we wrote in our “10 Trends for 2009” report that “The reality or the risk of money running short is a real incentive for consumers to find new ways of enjoying what they have and what they can afford. Rather than splurging on extravagant treats and ‘retail therapy,’ consumers will be cultivating simple pleasures as a more suitable and satisfying way to feel good.”
Allstate has been leveraging the theme of small pleasures for a year now (we wrote about a back-to-basics-themed spot last February). In a recent commercial, the insurer addresses this silver lining of the recession—a reassessing of priorities—in a poetic way. “In the last year we’ve learned a lot of lessons,” actor Dennis Haysbert intones. “We learned that meat loaf and Jenga can be more fun than reservations and box seats. And we learned that who’s around your TV is more important than how big it is. That cars aren’t for showing us how far we’ve come, but for taking us where we want to go.”
Getting to insurance, he goes on to say: “We learned that the best things in life don’t cost much. And at Allstate they don’t cost much to protect. So protect them, put them in good hands.”
Allstate continues to make its subtle “Good Hands” pitch (protecting these small things) seem genuine.
Looking back on a year of AnxietyIndex posts, the thing that jumps out is that the best bits on the blog touched on the persistence of the human spirit. It’s really surprisingly boundless in scope—and anxious times are when we realize just how high and how deep it is.
A slew of the commercials posted on AnxietyIndex were especially sensitive and sensitized to this idea. For instance, the Coca-Cola spot from China in which Liu Xiang’s father encourages his son (the hurdle-jumping champion beset by injury) to face momentary failure as, well, just another hurdle. There are many more in that vein.
The ultimate takeaway? We all must rise before we can shine, a notion that marketers around the world have tapped into to inspire and buck up consumers’ spirits.
In the past year, younger generations (including myself) have had their first experience of a recession. In Australia, AnxietyIndex.com research revealed that for Gen Y, levels of anxiety have been disproportionate to the downturn’s actual impact—clearly, a generation pessimistic about the future and fearing the unknown.
Economic and environment instability are among the big-picture trends that will shape and define Gen Y in the long term. In the near term, I’m concerned about the negative impact on our local music, film, and software industries. Online piracy is certainly nothing new to Gen Y, the first “digital natives.” But a recent study from Nielsen reveals that almost two-thirds of respondents say they are more tempted to obtain pirated products in tough financial times. Accordingly, this year has seen significant increases in visits to BitTorrent and peer-to-peer Web sites.
In response, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton has said the Internet has “created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time … and if you don’t give it to them for free, they’ll steal it.”
This has certainly come to the fore during the recession, and the impact is interesting to think about as we watch digital natives form their lifelong consumption habits.
In projecting Recessionary Living as a 2009 trend, we noted that out-of-home entertainment would suffer as homes became more important entertainment centers. One manifestation of this trend in the Czech Republic can be seen inThe Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival’s decision to transmit films directly to households.
The festival, held in late October, had fewer sponsors this year and could secure only three cinema screens, versus six in previous years. To increase audience capacity, organizers negotiated with households willing to host viewers in their living rooms (attendees had to text a code to the festival to get address details); the screening included video of the films’ creators, who speak at the festival. The small viewing groups then discussed the documentary in a homey atmosphere, which in some cases even included home-cooked food.
In the future, such events could serve as a platform for brands to spread word of mouth during a recession.
This recession has created a lot of guilt around spending money on things we may want but don’t necessarily need. In her upcoming book Bitches on a Budget, Rosalyn Hoffman, a former fashion buyer and marketing executive, argues that living on a budget need not mean abandoning the fabulous life. “Living well is one trend that will never go out of style, and it doesn’t take oodles of moola to make it happen,” reads promotional copy. Targeting affluent women who now find themselves on a budget, the book (due out Dec. 29) and its accompanying blog offers tips ranging from where to find the most affordable organic honey to a homemade solution for getting stains out of carpet. One tip recommends Shop It to Me, a service that regularly searches the Web for sales on items that match a user’s size and preferred brands.
Bitches on a Budget illustrates how the habits of affluent shoppers are shifting as they figure out how to align their new budgets with their old ways. These consumers are coming up with creative ways to get around budget barriers in maintaining aspects of their pre-recession lifestyles. Brands that represent the luxury lifestyle that consumers miss must work to maintain their status as “worth saving up for,” giving affluent shoppers reason to save on other items in order to make room for an ultimate-goal purchase.
The OTC pain-relief category in China has been very competitive due to low product differentiation. So successful brands such as GlaxoSmithKline’s Fenbid try to differentiate on emotional territories. Since as early as 1995, Fenbid has consistently worked to own “empathy” and “care” with touching copy. Fenbid’s latest campaign for headache relief caught my attention because it shows how anxiety can be turned to brand’s advantage if handled skillfully.
The TV commercial features a real-life conscientious lawyer who helps poor people protect their civil rights. Her monologue has the audience empathizing with the pressures and anxieties she must have weathered over the years in dealing with numerous difficult cases. The product comes into the scene as she starts to talk about how anxiety-induced headaches can render her mind blank—but that thanks to Fenbid, she can continue to work for the people.
Looking back on a year of AnxietyIndex posts, the thing that jumps out is that the best bits on the blog touched on the persistence of the human spirit. It’s really surprisingly boundless in scope—and anxious times are when we realize just how high and how deep it is.
In the past year, younger generations (including myself) have had their first experience of a recession. In Australia, AnxietyIndex.com research revealed that for Gen Y, levels of anxiety have been disproportionate to the downturn’s actual impact—clearly, a generation pessimistic about the future and fearing the unknown.
This recession has created a lot of guilt around spending money on things we may want but don’t necessarily need. In her upcoming book Bitches on a Budget, Rosalyn Hoffman, a former fashion buyer and marketing executive, argues that living on a budget need not mean abandoning the fabulous life. “Living well is one trend that will never go out of style, and it doesn’t take oodles of moola to make it happen,” reads promotional copy. Targeting affluent women who now find themselves on a budget, the book (due out Dec. 29) and its accompanying 
