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.
When JWT conducted its first AnxietyIndex study in Argentina, in January, the country registered as No. 4 in the world in terms of anxiety. The two key drivers of anxiety here are the state of the economy and the cost of living. With the tagline “Vamos a reirnos mas” (“We’re going to laugh more”), the Cadbury gum brand Beldent is adopting a hope-fueled approach to this mind-set, a strategy we advocated in our Recession Handbook.
In a recent commercial, we’re told the population is growing; and as we see footage of a huge, festive parade, the spot lists some ways this is a good thing—more men who hoist you up on their shoulders at concerts, more blondes on roller skates, etc. Beldent is trying to build an ideology for the brand around empowering people to have fun and take the good things from life. In an anxious country, this is a good example of the idea that brands are better served by feeding optimism than resentment.
The latest installment of AnxietyIndex found that Colombia registers among the least anxious nations JWT has surveyed, with only 58 percent of respondents reporting feelings of nervousness or anxiety.
Our January 2010 survey of 1,253 Colombians aged 25-plus revealed that the primary drivers of anxiety in Colombia are crime, corruption, the state of the economy and the impact of global warming. With high rates of urban violence and theft, it’s not surprising that two-thirds report concern about crime in their neighborhood. And nearly 80 percent feel Colombian politicians are out of touch with how the global economic downturn is affecting the average person; about three-quarters fear the downturn is widening the economic gap between the rich and the poor in Colombia.
Still, Colombians are slightly more optimistic than the global average about near-term prospects of positive change, and most think Colombia has fared about the same or better in the recession than other Latin American countries. Almost six in 10 say Colombia has been less affected than “wealthier” countries.
For more on the drivers and levels of anxiety in Colombia, click here to download the report from our Trends and Research page.
With 79 percent of respondents saying they are nervous and anxious, according to JWT’s latest AnxietyIndex survey, Argentina is among the most anxious of the 16 countries we’ve surveyed over the past year. The poll of 328 Argentineans aged 18-59, conducted in January, found that two key drivers of anxiety are the state of the economy and the cost of living.
Argentineans are accustomed to economic turmoil—they’ve lived with various forms of economic crisis for decades. And Argentina, which is not experiencing the same recession as most of the world, has been grappling with permanent price fluctuation under the ghost of inflation since the 1970s. So consumers are adaptable, expanding and shrinking their spending in accordance with the times. But the concept of saving money has lost credibility—people don’t believe it’s possible to save much. As a consequence, they feel that a happy life with friends and family is more important than focusing on money and materialism.
The opportunity for brands is to offer optimistic messages and a positive brand experience, standing out by counteracting the negativity dominating Argentinean society. For example, communicating from a positive point of view, Walmart’s proposal “Save money. Live better” tells customers that by saving, they can actually have a more enjoyable life. Click here to download the full Argentina AnxietyIndex report from the Trends and Research page.
On World Water Day last month, the largest beverage company in Brazil, AmBev, launched Movimento Cyan (“Movement Cyan”) to communicate its sustainability platform. With the concept “When you see water, you see value,” AmBev took an innovative approach, “painting” in blue newspaper front pages, website homepages and important blogs; creating a “bottle magazine” (information about sustainability and the movement in a waterproof magazine attached to a bottle that was distributed on local airlines); and sponsoring public art installations by Guto Lacaz, a well-known artist. This was the first time a company had conducted this type of campaign, and it got huge press coverage.
As part of the initiative, AmBev committed to establish a “water footprint,” an indicator of both direct and indirect water consumption created by the Dutch group Water Footprint Network. Latin Americans are concerned about global warming—recent JWT AnxietyIndex research found their anxiety is higher than the global average—and of the four Latin American countries we’ve surveyed so far, Brazilians are significantly more anxious than their regional peers. AmBev’s move is a smart way to make Brazilians more conscious of water consumption issues and respond to the anxiety of those who are already aware.
Many Brazilians once classified as poor are improving their economic situation, and today their main anxiety is maintaining the comfort they’ve recently achieved. Class C (the new Brazilian middle class) grew from 45 percent to 49 percent of the population in 2009, according to Observador Brasil 2010, recently released research conducted by Cetelem/Ipsos. Correspondingly, class D/E (the Brazilian lower class) shrunk from 40 percent to 35 percent. Although they’re consuming products they’ve never had before, most of class C still lives in poor neighborhoods and is concerned about violence.
Indeed, crime is Brazilians’ No. 1 anxiety, as JWT’s AnxietyIndex research found. Attentive to this, Bradesco recently launched a life insurance policy for accidental death that covers stray bullets. People living in two favelas (slums), Heliopolis in São Paulo and Rocinha in Rio, can buy the insurance for US$2 a month. In case of death, the payoff is around US$10,000.
The product is part of a pilot project for the new middle class that mixes micro-insurance—low-premium insurance designed for people who don’t normally have access to insurance—and social assistance. Brazil is still regulating micro-insurance; if approved, as many as 100 million low-income people could benefit from it. Within the next few months, we will probably see a new market emerging in Brazil that revolves around diminishing violence-related anxiety.
A recent survey conducted by the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority discovered a skeptical mood among Czech consumers: The percentage of consumers who believe that data on foodstuffs is truthful has dropped from 77 percent in 2005 to 56 percent. Overall, the number of people who don’t pay attention to food packaging data is increasing. In 2005, 49 percent did not read the packaging; now it’s 56 percent. This is driven by lack of faith in brand claims as well as unreadable fonts on packaging.
These results indicate that messages and attitudes communicated by brands here are not authentic and relevant enough. It also shows that the price-oriented communication strategies that many Czech marketers have been using might be weakening their brands’ credibility.
After a tumultuous year in which consumer faith in many institutions was shaken to the core, trust in business is rising year-over-year, notably in the U.S., according to the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer. In the U.S., trust in business jumped as much as 18 points, to 54 percent. But Edelman warns that this gain is tenuous—70 percent of consumers say business and financial companies will revert to old habits when the financial crisis is over.
Interestingly, while participation in social networks and platforms like Facebook and Twitter has zoomed, trust in peers has declined. According to Advertising Age, “The number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company dropped by almost half, from 45% to 25%, since 2008.”
“When you’re seeing so much noise, it’s very easy to dismiss a lot of it, and that’s a problem marketing messages have had for a while now,” 360i’s David Berkowitz told Ad Age, adding that “it can be overwhelming.”
Brands can play a clear role here by acting as a legitimate source of information, as long as it’s transparent and doesn’t come across as overly self-serving. This will also make the rise in trust less tenuous. For example, last year we cited a T-Mobile campaign that claimed “eight out of 10 people are unknowingly overpaying for their wireless service”; the wireless service provider directed Americans to a third-party Web site (BillShrink.com) that evaluates a person’s calling needs against every national wireless plan.
JWT’s AnxietyIndex research in India found that apparel is the primary category where consumers intend to cut down their purchases. One way apparel brands are already reacting is with a barrage of mobile messaging on sales. The usual suspects when it comes to promotional text messages are insurance brands, cellular operators and telephone services. It’s unusual to be getting texts from fashion brands, but in the past month I’ve been receiving sales alerts with a frequency and a ferocity not seen before. For instance:
• Satya Paul (a designer brand): sale up to 60% last 2 days.
• Wills Lifestyle invites you to the end of season sale, enjoy discounts up to 60% off. Hurry offer valid till stocks last! conditions apply
• Chemistry end of season sale just got better, now up to 70% off on tops, tunics, dresses. Valid at all chemistry outlets from the 17th of July 2009
While women generally welcome news of sales, fashion retailers must be careful not to weaken their brands with a slew of “buy now” bargain-basement messages. The trick is to convert discounts into sales while keeping the brands’ aspirational integrity. Perhaps one way to do this would be to limit the number of people who get these text alerts (perhaps sending them only to frequent shoppers), so that recipients feel they’re in on an exclusive deal.
JWT’s study on “The Recession and Its Impact on the Environment” found that people are conflicted when asked to weigh a theoretical tradeoff between environmentally friendly and lower price: While Australians accept that greener products may come at a higher cost, most are prepared to trade off on green for a reduced cost.
What does this mean for brands? Green brands that cost more should clearly explain to customers what incremental environmental benefit they are getting. OMO laundry detergent, for example, is clearly quantifying the green benefits of its new packaging. Above the typical value/efficacy story, OMO claims the product “uses half the packaging and half the trucks. Mighty results for the environment.”
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.
