GLBT consumers will switch to pro-GLBT companies
According to a national survey by Harris Interactive, Rochester, N.Y., approximately one in four (24 percent) gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) adults say they have switched products or service providers because they found a competing company that supports causes that benefit the GLBT community in the past 12 months, assuming that other factors such as price, quality and convenience were not considerations. This includes fully one-third (32 percent) of gay men who say they have switched products or services within the last 12 months because they found a competing company that supports GLBT causes.
These are a few highlights taken from a nationwide survey of 2,868 U.S. adults (ages 18 and over), of whom 350 self-identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. The study was conducted online between August 7 and 13, 2007, by Harris Interactive in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications Inc., a Washington, D.C., public relations and marketing communications firm.
The survey also found that a high proportion of gay men and lesbians (70 percent) had switched products or service providers because they learned the company engaged in actions that are perceived as harmful to the GLBT community.
In terms of their brand loyalty behavior, about two-thirds (66 percent) of all GLBT adults reported that they would be very or somewhat likely to remain loyal to a brand they believed to be very friendly and supportive to the gay, lesbian and transgender community - even when less-friendly companies may offer lower prices or be more convenient. Three out of four (75 percent) gay men and lesbians also said they would remain loyal to the gay-friendlier brand.
“For nearly a decade, we have tested customer loyalty benchmarks, to better understand the connection between GLBT consumers and brand reputations. Consistently, no matter how we frame the questions, we find GLBT consumers place a high value on brands that earn and grow respect within the community,” says Wes Combs, president of Witeck-Combs Communications. “They remain loyal to companies that support causes that are important to them and are highly motivated to learn about corporate social responsibility in all its forms. They are among consumers most motivated to vote with their dollars.” For more information visit www.harrisinteractive.com or www.witeckcombs.com.
Market to men as dads, not just as men
More than 80 percent of fathers report being solely responsible for or sharing in the family purchase decisions in categories ranging from fast-food dining to DVDs to toys and games. However, few marketers are talking to this growing segment, according to a new study released by Smarty Pants, a New York research firm.
“The landscape of fatherhood has radically changed. Today’s fathers are taking an active role in parenting - and shopping for - their children ages 0-12. This ‘new American dad’ is involved, committed and he’s a shopper,” says Wynne Tyree, president of Smarty Pants. “It suggests that a family marketing paradigm shift is upon us. Reaching 21st century families is not just about connecting with moms and kids and fulfilling their needs; it’s about reaching dads as well.”
The spring 2007 study revealed that nearly two-thirds of dads spend more time with their kids than their fathers did with them. And 90 percent say they feel that they are doing as good or better job parenting than their own fathers. Fathers report spending over five hours per weekday with their children and more than 6.5 hours on weekends, up considerably from the 2.5 hours per day dads spent with their children in the 1960s. The new together-time is devoted primarily to co-viewing TV, reading, listening to music, and horseplay, but the new American dad is also spending time playing video games, e-mailing and surfing the Web with his children.
“The quality time that fathers spend with their children presents considerable opportunities for marketers, because much of it involves technology, media and recreation,” says Tyree. “Not only are fathers hungry to be recognized and marketed to, but they are plugged into the right marketing channels. Unfortunately, most marketers are either ignoring them or talking to them as men only, which is different than speaking to them as fathers.”
The study finds that a handful of marketers are reaching out to the new American dad. Fathers interviewed for the study recall the 2006 Cheerios ad from General Mills that featured a father using Cheerios to teach his infant football strategy and good health. Fathers speak of AstraZeneca’s campaign for Nexium, featuring a dad as the sole caregiver, as another example of advertising that resonates with them. Ford’s Bold Moves campaign struck a chord as it featured a divorced father getting dropped off after a weekend with the kids. These ads spotlight dads sharing quality time with their children and using the brand to facilitate parent-child connectedness. But these ads are not the norm; few fathers are able to recall communications that speak to them as dads, recognizing their dedication and unique needs.
The New American Dad study was completed in May 2007 and included a 20-minute online survey of more than 750 fathers of 0-12-year-olds as well as individual and small-group interviews with fathers of kids in the same age range. The sample includes a nationally-representative mix of fathers based on their income, race/ethnicity, marital status, work status and region and their children’s ages, genders and living arrangements. For more information visit www.asksmartypants.com.
Perception of good value drives grocery store choice
Good value is the most important factor in determining where global consumers spend their grocery dollars, according to a study by the Nielsen Company, Schaumburg, Ill. Sixty percent of U.S. consumers rank “good value for money” as the most important consideration when choosing a grocery store; 85 percent of global consumers agree.
Nielsen’s research shows that after “good value,” 28 percent of U.S. consumers choose grocery stores based on the selection of high-quality brands and products while 23 percent choose the grocery store that is closest. Fourteen percent of U.S. consumers choose the most convenient store with easy parking and 9 percent choose a store based on its use of recyclable bags and packaging.
In contrast to the habits of U.S. shoppers, Nielsen finds that Malaysian shoppers prefer supermarkets which offer the most convenient/easy parking; South Koreans, Indonesians and Germans like to shop at the supermarket closest to them; Russians and Indians seek out supermarkets offering a better selection of high-quality brands and products, while Filipinos and Singaporean shoppers top global rankings for placing the most importance on getting good value for money.
The second-most important attribute for U.S. shoppers, as well as shoppers around the world, is a supermarket that offers a better selection of high-quality brands and products.
“This is a perfect example of today’s conflicted shopper,” says Todd Hale, senior vice president of consumer and shopping insights, Nielsen Consumer Panel Services. “Demanding shoppers expect the best of both worlds from retailers today. On one hand, we’re all natural bargain hunters and insist on good value for our grocery dollar, and on the other hand, we expect retailers to stock a wide selection of high quality brands and products so we can indulge in our favorite premium treats. Consumers want the ‘cheapest of the cheap’ in some categories and the ‘best of the best’ in others.”
The economies in which the highest numbers of consumers cite choosing a supermarket because it offers a better selection of high-quality brands and products are Russia (93 percent), India (79 percent) and China (78 percent) as well as the emerging Baltic countries of Latvia (78 percent) and Lithuania (77 percent) - sending a clear message to retailers operating in or entering those markets and a sharp contrast with the 28 percent of U.S. shoppers who select stores on that basis.
“In fast-growing, emerging markets, there are large numbers of consumers with growing disposable incomes and newly acquired, discerning tastes,” says Hale. “These consumers want premium international grocery products in their shopping baskets and seek out supermarkets with a better offering of high-quality, branded products.”
For consumers citing “good value” as their most important consideration, Nielsen found that price, promotions and perceptions are most influential in helping consumers define value.
Eighty percent of U.S. shoppers consider it very important or somewhat important for supermarkets to feature frequent promotions and price discounts, while 72 percent believe a store’s reputation for delivering low prices - even if, in reality, this is not the case - is very or somewhat important. Ranking third are prices published in the stores’ leaflets (71 percent) and everyday low prices (70 percent). Slightly less important to U.S. consumers are discounts for store card holders (63 percent), price comparison across retailers (59 percent), private-label offerings (53 percent) and friends’ recommendations (43 percent).
“Our research shows that the importance of good value and low prices resonates much more with lower-income households in the U.S.” says Hale. “More affluent households regard quality of fresh produce, meat and seafood and selection above good value. That said, the success of warehouse club retailers speaks loudly to the importance affluent American consumers place on value.”
According to the research, three in four consumers around the world consider it very or somewhat important that supermarkets feature frequent promotions and regular price discounts, and 70 percent vote it very or somewhat important that the store have a reputation for being cheaper than competitors. In third place are prices published in the stores’ leaflets (62 percent), followed by research and price comparisons across retailers (60 percent), price reductions offered through loyalty/store cards (57 percent) and stores that promised to have everyday low prices (57 percent).
Interestingly, some consumers are not attracted to promotions and regular price discounts. One in four (22 percent) Finnish shoppers do not consider price promotions and discounts to be important, and the emerging European economies of Russia, Hungary and Estonia share this view.
“The retail and media trade are both highly fragmented in Russia’s urban centers, and it’s difficult for consumers to receive and access information on price discounts and promotions,” says Hale. “The main reason Russian shoppers aren’t interested in promotions and regular price discounts is simply that they don’t know about them because advertising and promotional channels are still underdeveloped.”
Nielsen surveyed 26,486 Internet-using consumers in 47 markets in Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East on the factors that influenced their choice of grocery store. For more information visit www.nielsen.com.
Execs say marketing basics are most important
The Marketing Executives Networking Group (MENG), a Stamford, Conn.-based collection of marketers who are at a vice president level or above in their organizations, issued the results of its first annual survey of top marketing trends for 2008. The survey of MENG members, conducted by Anderson Analytics, focused on top marketing concepts, buzzwords, global areas of opportunity and targeted customer demographics, as well as the books that marketers look to for inspiration and growth opportunity.
While the marketers weighed in on many marketing concepts a few key areas emerged. Marketing basics (60 percent “very important”), which include specific concepts such as customer satisfaction, customer retention, segmentation, brand loyalty and ROI, were of greatest interest. Search engine optimization (42 percent) had relatively wide appeal, and cut across marketers in all fields. Green marketing (32 percent) was another important emerging concept and it was identified as the trendiest marketing buzzword.
China is viewed as the region with the best future opportunity (52 percent); India is a distant second (20 percent). Few marketers saw other regions such as Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, Brazil, Russia and Mexico as comparable opportunities. In terms of another important global issue, outsourcing/offshoring, the majority of marketers (77 percent) reported that their companies do not offshore any part of the marketing function. Half of senior marketers are not in favor of offshoring any part of the marketing function, while just under a quarter view it favorably.
When asked about the most important customer demographics, senior marketing executives rank Baby Boomers highest with 88 percent ranking them as either very important or somewhat important. What may be surprising is the fact that Gen X (86 percent), Hispanics (86 percent), women (85 percent) and Gen Y (84 percent) are catching up to Boomers as customer targets.
Senior-level marketing executives read avidly to stay abreast of information and gain insights for their business. The most popular books are not necessarily the most recently published, given that Good to Great, The World is Flat and Blink were the top three most recently read books. In terms of an all-time favorite business book ever read, three in five executives were eager to make a recommendation to their fellow marketers. Topping the list were: Good to Great, Positioning and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
The Marketing Trends Survey was fielded by Anderson Analytics among current MENG members between October 19 and November 20 of 2007. Anderson Analytics used text mining software to code open-ended/free-form text answers to questions to understand what issues were top-of-mind among the senior executives. The 607 responses yield overall statistics with a confidence interval of +/-3.98 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. For more information visit www.mengonline.com.
Social media work for life scientists
Life scientists are highly engaged users of a variety of social media, according to preliminary results of a worldwide study of more than 1,500 scientists released by BioInformatics LLC, an Arlington, Va., research firm. The survey, co-sponsored by BioInformatics LLC and PJA Advertising + Marketing, found that 77 percent of life scientists participate in some type of social media.
The leading reasons for this participation are to find application and troubleshooting tips, protocols and product reviews. In fact, company Web sites were identified as the most trusted source of product information, with 54 percent of respondents indicating that their purchasing decisions are influenced by social media.
Social media refers to blogs, podcasts, online communities, wikis and social networking sites that are increasingly being used by professionals to share experiences, opinions and advice. While scientists still consider their suppliers to be the most trusted source of product information, 45 percent of those surveyed find “access to objective feedback on products and services from multiple sources” to be the most valuable aspect of social media.
“Life scientists were among the first to use the Internet to communicate, collaborate and contribute to a common body of knowledge,” says Bill Kelly, president of BioInformatics LLC. “But a new generation of Web applications is making this process easier and faster, which presents both opportunities and challenges for our corporate clients attempting to influence life scientists’ purchasing behavior.”
Hugh Kennedy, executive vice president and partner at PJA concurred: “Scientists aren’t laggards to the IT crowd in social media - they’ve been right there all along. It’s only recently, however, that life science suppliers have begun to grasp social media’s potential as a way to bond with their customers in a way that really drives loyalty.” For more information visit www.gene2drug.com.