2010/2011 trends: What’s new about loved brands?

3- PROTECTING, CARING
 

The crisis has made consumers grow up.

Now they make decisions after checking out other people’s experiences on social networks or looking at price comparison websites … they test out manufacturers’ claims using applications such as the Good Guide.

The experiences of those who have lost their homes and jobs in the United States and the threats to their pensions and social security systems mean that consumers have woken up to the importance of making long term choices. Long-term benefits or security are becoming a reason to choose or buy a product.

This is particularly important in the area of health. The green market is still of modest size, but sustainable development continues to be the mark of a product which is good for the health.                                                                 
 For example, in the area of beauty, it is felt more and more that the ingredients of a skin cream should be just as pure as those of a pot of yogurt.

Faced with an increase in defensive reactions, brands have taken two main approaches.                                                                                                         
  *The first of these is to move towards the consumer, engaging reputation and giving consumers the tools they need for protection and verification.            
  *The second approach is to deal with problems from a financial perspective, doing nothing and accepting that part of the budget must be allocated to pay legal costs. Over the last few years the fragile airlines – along with the banks of course – have tended to walk a tightrope, risking their long-term reputation. How does this fit in with the profusion of services they pay for in an attempt to prop up their image?

The 2010 trend Take Care is now aspired to and boosted by Womanity. This can be seen in the generous freebies given out by the brands and distributors: thousands of internet and mobile applications for free download, car-sharing or free transport, various events, the possibility to exchange or get full refunds, street marketing/citizens’ action events and strong commitments such as Vauxhall’s lifetime guarantee.

This is why we stand by our description of 2010:

Reassure the consumer.
The consumer of simple brands as of loved brands has a 360° view when it comes to protecting his health and safety.

He measures interactions among behavior, consumer habits, preserving natural resources. His/her “social” – even humanistic - vision is affirming itself (with capitalism adrift).

Hence, an unlimited need for transparency, ethics and guarantees on the “invisible” contents of the food we eat, our beauty creams, cell phone radiations, etc…in the USA, even though the “anti-obesity” message was heard, consumer buying and habits have not followed suite.

Thus, behind the façade of collective interest, marketing should work on immediate personal benefits, which are developed in the 2010/2011 trends report.

Treasure the consumer.
This implies “giving more” for the same price and that “the product alone is no longer enough”.
The product with a CD on training, services, advantages and privileges, a practical and interesting design, a subscription, access codes, free gift, customized solutions, small tokens and little details, etc…

What does the brand for me being in 2010/2011 trends the measure of my recognition for loved brands, do much more for me alone.
“Break away” from the idea of massification by creating a new sense of rarity, i.e., with limited edition products or products for special events.
Personalize the product via the design/ decoration.
Customize product usage experience through health diagnosis, planned re-appropriation…
Find the solutions and examples in the Annual Report.