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.
Austin and Brian Chu were tired of hearing statistics about Americans losing their jobs and homes from politicians and reporters. The brothers, ages 26 and 23, decided to make the hard numbers more human by traveling across 50 states to interview Americans heavily affected by the recession. They talked to single mothers, seniors, Amish people, house squatters, students and others who have shown leadership in their communities but whose stories had slipped under the radar.
One of their brand-related findings was the sizable shift in opinions they heard about Wal-Mart. While some consumers had once demonized the superstore as a killer of mom and pop shops, many now said they’d grown to be grateful for Wal-Mart, seeing it as a haven for the budget-strapped.
Caffeine and nicotine … when there’s a lot of stress and anxiety in the air, you can expect more of these drugs to be flowing through the collective bloodstream. So it’s not a surprise that Coca-Cola has come up with a clever (some might say devious) marketing partnership to take advantage of Japan’s anxiety.
Coca-Cola’s Georgia canned coffee, the top seller in the market and basically positioned as the working man’s brand, has been appearing on shelves in combo packages with a pack or two of cigarettes. First it was Georgia and Phillip Morris brands in the AM PM chain of convenience stores. And now, with British American Tobacco, even the package color and design schemes match, enhancing the co-branded feel.
It’s too early to tell whether this effort is a success and something that will be around for a while, but it looks like a win-win for both Georgia and the cigarette brand partner. Georgia strengthens its working man image among a consumer segment that probably has the highest proportion of smokers. And the ever-assailed cigarette brand finds a new sales channel, and in a combination that’s as logical for most smokers as peanut butter and jelly.
TV viewing at home is the experience of the recession. That’s because participation in alternatives has dropped: Family coffee dates—late-night trips to coffee shops with the whole family, a weekly/fortnightly tradition in Indian metros—are down, as are visits to restaurants. Shopping trips for fancy stuff have been reduced. So people are spending more time sitting down to watch TV or films at home, and weekend viewing has become more prevalent than normal.
People are now making the home theater experience a little special—often the whole family will sit together with steaming cups of coffee or homemade dessert. And folks don’t mind splurging on little treats to enjoy while they watch: chips, colas, coffee, special teas, etc. So this is a great time for beverage, snack and biscuit brands to align themselves with this cocooning trend and promote in-home consumption as a way to make TV watching a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. (In India, snacking is usually done out of home in street cafes, college canteens, etc.) A new commercial from popcorn brand ACTII, for example, says TV was invented for taking a break and enjoying popcorn.
Meanwhile, Britons seem to have adapted well to their new, more straitened circumstances, quickly grasping that a few simple lifestyle changes can go a long way toward balancing the household budget. Lots of us have adopted a raft of coping mechanisms: avoiding waste, minimizing our purchases and making them go further, shopping around (particularly online), carefully planning or postponing major purchases, and stoically resisting temptation. Having returned to the days of “make do and mend,” Brits will likely settle into a long-term pattern of prudence.
Brands must now adapt to the new age of frugality to stay relevant: They need to work harder, offer more value and give the consumer a crystal clear reason to buy, because nowadays competition is everywhere: a couple of cocktails or a new pair of sandals? A new foundation or that Lost box set?
Brands should acknowledge consumer caution and encourage spending by offering lifestyle solutions, tangible value, trust and reassurance. And in these austere times, perhaps a bit of escapism might not go amiss either.
Marks & Spencer are doing a grand job of giving us a shoulder to lean on with their “Dine in for £10” offer, Wise Buys economy range, £2 lunchtime meal deals and a swaggering heritage campaign—it seems they have their bases covered.
Who doesn’t love to pop bubble wrap? There’s something about the sound and sensation of this simple act that’s innately pleasurable and a great way to reduce stress. At least, that’s the idea behind the Mugen (Infinite/Endless) Trend line of stress-reliever novelties from Japanese toy maker Bandai. The items (usually in the form of keychains) simulate similar appealing acts, allowing anxious Japanese to pop, zip and squeeze their daily worries away. The range includes Mugen Puci Puchi, or endless bubble wrap; Mugen Peri Peri, which approximates the feeling of pulling a cardboard tear strip to open a pack of cookies; and even Mugen Edamame, an endless version of the feeling of popping soybeans out of their steamed pods.
Now, the company has taken it to the next level with Mugen Beer Can. You know the feeling of grabbing an ice-cold beer from the fridge and cracking the tab … phssssssst? Even before the golden elixir hits your lips, the action of pulling the tab and that unmistakable sound already have the long day melting away from you. For Yen 819 (about US$8.75), stressed-out Japanese can re-create that moment again and again.
Recently published manga: Grass-Eating Man’s Love Study
In Japan, there’s been a lot of buzz recently around soshoku-kei danshi, which translates as herbivorous or “grass eating” men. Political correctness aside, this term refers to the growing number of men age 20 to 34 who display less “masculine” traits than the “meat eaters” dominating the preceding generation. But before you start envisioning an overdue triumph of feminism in Japan, the reasons for—and results of—this shift in gender attitudes are not particularly positive.
Soshoku-kei danshi are generally considered to have a combination of the following attributes (based on research conducted last year by Tokyo-based market research firm Infinity): lack of ambition at work, preferring to avoid competition; limited life aspirations; low interest or even a negative attitude toward love, sex, dating and marriage; extremely tight with money (saving for the future is a high priority); and sensitivity and concern about their appearance, from fashion to hair and personal care.
It’s estimated that roughly 60 percent of men 20 to 34 fit the bill. If that sounds exaggerated, note that in a survey of 500 single men in their 20s and 30s by Lifenet Seimei Insurance, three-quarters said they regard themselves as soshoku-kei danshi.
There’s much debate as to the roots of this trend, but a common theme is the link to anxiety. These men have bleak economic prospects—they grew up after Japan’s bubble economy burst in the late ’80s and have never known what it’s like to live in good economic times. With a huge opportunity and wage gap compared to men over 35, the defensive response has been greater caution and limiting of life aspirations. As I wrote in a previous post on the high levels of anxiety in Japan, when these young men look to the future, they don’t see much to be hopeful for. Continue reading ‘The rise of ‘herbivore man’ in Japan’
Filipino kids are taught not to be wasteful—our moms always reminded us to finish all the food on our plate, not keep the water running while bathing and turn on lights only when it got dark. And in these trying times, this Filipino value of thrift and resourcefulness is thriving, as we noted when we visited consumers’ homes recently. We met one woman who washed her hair using the small dipper pail (“tabo”) that Filipinos use in the bathroom and caught the rinse water in another pail for cleaning the bathroom floors. Some people invert their bottle of shampoo or lotion halfway through the bottle to ensure that every last drop is used and not left clinging to the side.
Another consumer practice is to go for the cheaper refill packs of fabric conditioner, pouring it into old bottles. Now Vaseline shampoo is responding with the first refill pack in the shampoo category, and adding 50 percent more to the product. Just one example of how, during difficult times, smart brands can use packaging to maximize their consumers’ experience of the product.
This spring, we partnered with ExpoTV, a video-based community, to discover more about how the recession is affecting consumers. We explored strategies people are using to cope with the recession, its direct impact on their lives, and the fear and uncertainty it has instilled. We created a video compilation of what was uploaded to us by real consumers sharing their personal stories. What we heard is that many Americans are coping not with the recession’s direct effects but rather with their fears of what it might bring.
This finding has been reinforced by our bloggers around the world. As a qualitative complement to our work with ExpoTV and our AnxietyIndex surveys, our bloggers asked people in their respective countries about the recession and its impact on their lives. Visit our Trends and Research page to read our takeaways from what American, Egyptian, Spanish, Singaporean, Thai, Argentinean and Mexican respondents, among others, told us.
I previously wrote about a trend in Japan toward homemade bento, the lunch boxes that can be picked up in stores or made at home. One interesting outgrowth of the trend is the “bento danshi” (“bento boys”) phenomenon—hip young, single salary men who are making their own lunch boxes.
It used to be a rare sight to see these men making bento for themselves—they preferred cheap and easy convenience store options or restaurant lunch specials. That’s all changing as they try to curtail their spending. Since they don’t want to cut back on their interests and hobbies, young men are finding other ways to save. Alcohol consumption is way down compared with men five or 10 years older, and dramatically fewer young men own cars (once a prerequisite for dating). And for the first time in Japan, these men are making their own lunch boxes.
Catering to them is a big opportunity. The latest craze in bento box design, for example, is the “Slim Bento,” which fits perfectly in a briefcase. And supermarkets are offering prepared foods in bento-ready portions, so a guy just needs to cook his own rice. Blogs that guys update with images of “today’s bento”are becoming popular—it seems that making one’s own is no longer a little “unmanly,” and men are starting to enjoy and take pride in it. Further evidence that economic shifts can bring about long-term values shifts.
In times of difficulty, consumers count their blessings—and count what’s in their closet. Somehow, that old thing can be made new again.
Mr. Quickie, the Philippines’ pioneer in shoe repair, is heavily advertising franchise ownership in commuter-friendly channels like the MRT train radio or PA system, touting the franchises as “recession proof.” And a growing number of small businesses in Manila are offering clothes repair and renewal. Carol, a consumer who is a heavy user of the Alterations Plus retailer, says that adding an updated collar or cool button to a beloved old jacket or dress “makes me feel I have bought a new wardrobe!”
It’s not only during a recession that repair brands here enjoy heavy business. Filipinos, being thrifty and resourceful, have natural times of the year when this mind-set peaks—graduation season in March and pre-holidays in November find long lines at these stores.
Caffeine and nicotine … when there’s a lot of stress and anxiety in the air, you can expect more of these drugs to be flowing through the collective bloodstream. So it’s not a surprise that Coca-Cola has come up with a clever (some might say devious) marketing partnership to take advantage of Japan’s anxiety.
TV viewing at home is the experience of the recession. That’s because participation in alternatives has dropped: Family coffee dates—late-night trips to coffee shops with the whole family, a weekly/fortnightly tradition in Indian metros—are down, as are visits to restaurants. Shopping trips for fancy stuff have been reduced. So people are spending more time sitting down to watch TV or films at home, and weekend viewing has become more prevalent than normal.
Official GDP figures released this month showed that 
Filipino kids are taught not to be wasteful—our moms always reminded us to finish all the food on our plate, not keep the water running while bathing and turn on lights only when it got dark. And in these trying times, this Filipino value of thrift and resourcefulness is thriving, as we noted when we visited consumers’ homes recently. We met one woman who washed her hair using the small dipper pail (“tabo”) that Filipinos use in the bathroom and caught the rinse water in another pail for cleaning the bathroom floors. Some people invert their bottle of shampoo or lotion halfway through the bottle to ensure that every last drop is used and not left clinging to the side.
I previously wrote about 
In times of difficulty, consumers count their blessings—and count what’s in their closet. Somehow, that old thing can be made new again.
