Note to marketers: Don’t overlook male buying-power
No matter how you look at it, stereotypes about men being “out of it” when it comes to the decision-making process of small and big-ticket items are folly, according to a survey taken among 13,000+ listeners of rock, alternative, classic rock and sports radio stations by Southfield, Mich., radio consulting firm Jacobs Media.
While many advertisers share the misplaced belief that women are responsible for the lion’s share of household purchasing decisions, results from the survey show that men play a crucial role in purchasing decisions. Thus, companies that market and advertise products to a broad audience might need to rethink their long-held assumptions about the value of men. “We work with our radio clients every day to help them position their male audiences to advertisers and over the past few years, we’ve become frustrated,” says Paul Jacobs, vice president and general manager, Jacobs Media. “There has been a shortage of solid data to help educate marketers about the changing role of men in the purchasing process.”
The Jacobs Media study found that three out of 10 men are single and more than 80 percent of them make the sole or key big-ticket decisions in their households. This segment of the male population profiles equal to or better than women in their decision-making power and are a significant opportunity for growth. Even women agree that men should have major input on decisions about buying big-ticket items. In fact, 60 percent of women say that a recommendation from a spouse or partner is a deciding factor when making major purchases. Six in 10 men play a key role in the big-ticket item buying process: They either are the sole decision makers or play a key role in the purchase of items like homes, cars and major appliances.
Celeb followers a likely crowd for brand advocates
There’s no doubt that the right celebrity endorser can be a valuable asset to a brand. Advertisers are increasingly using social networking and celebrities to attract consumers. However, while celebrities can be valuable to advertisers so too can the people who follow them on social media Web sites.
According to New York researcher The Nielsen Company, 64 percent of adult U.S. Internet users who follow a celebrity also follow a brand - this means the celebrity follower is four times more likely to follow a brand than the average U.S. adult online. Additionally, such fans are also more likely to offer advice and opinions to fellow online consumers. This is particularly the case when it comes to entertainment topics, where 32 percent of celebrity fans online provide advice on movies (making them 44 percent more likely than the average online user to do so) and 28 percent provide guidance on music (56 percent more likely) and television programs (34 percent more likely).
Fans of celebrities are also valuable consumers in other areas of online - particularly when it comes to transactions or purchases. One-quarter also used the Web to conduct personal banking transactions and manage their credit card accounts.
Top online purchases among these online fans included clothing/shoes/accessories (18.2 percent), music (13.8 percent) and books (13.6 percent). Top online activities among fans of celebrities included e-mailing, paying bills and, of course, social networking. Of these top online activities, celebrity fans were significantly more likely than the average adult online to comment/post on social networking sites (86 percent more likely), view consumer-generated video (83 percent more likely), visit a social networking site (67 percent more likely) and play online games (45 percent more likely).
Tags let consumers track their red snapper supper
America has morphed into a nation of trackers - following everything from flight delays to USPS packages. Now there’s even the option to track your dinner. With growing concerns regarding ocean sustainability and healthy sea-life in the wake of the 2010 Deep Horizon oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance has launched Gulf Wild, a branding effort that will attach a unique tag to the gill of every fish its members catch. Chefs and consumers can then enter the code in a “Find my fish” feature on its Web site and see precisely where the fish was harvested - and a photo of the fisherman who caught it.
Red snapper from the region is currently on the “avoid” list of such environmental watchdogs as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, even though the program to resurrect the fish’s numbers ended in 2009. Red snapper has seen an increase of 40 percent in its allowable catch, as have red grouper and more than a dozen other grouper and tile fish species.