Recovery is still some ways down the road, Cross–Industry Research Report

TrendsSpotting.com finding says, consumer’s confidence still low, consumers taking extra caution before buying into media and political reports.

TrendsSpotting has captured the consumers’ shopping behavior indications for 2009: Food & Drinks Media & Automobiles Education Communications Recession Trends

1.     

1. Food Consumption of consumers eat dinner at home more often 56% than before the downturn & nearly the same percentage are eating dinner less often at restaurants. More than one-third (37%) of consumers surveyed report going to bars or clubs less often.
2. Buying Habits • A greater tendency to buy larger package sizes (42%) • Buying more U.S. products (28%) • Purchasing more locally made products (25%) • Known products (23%) versus experimenting with new ones • Private label food (7.4% increase in sales).
3. Restaurant Traffic 2.6% Decline in total US restaurant industry traffic for 09 spring quarter versus the same quarter last year
4. Restaurant Traffic Household with kids, cut back their visits to all segments of restaurants • Over 50% of industry’s decline traced to fewer supper visits from parties with kids. • Traffic was down 2% at quick service restaurants. • Casual dining declined 4% and midscale was down 6%.
5. Coffee Purchase 83% of American consumers drink coffee more at home ( up 5 points from a year ago). Coffee consumption pattern did not change as 54% drink coffee daily.
6. Alcohol 50% of American consumers are actively seeking out best deals. 24% of wine consumers choose less expensive drinks. One third of beer, wine and spirits consumers order fewer drinks.
7. Pet Foods And Veterinary Services 22% of American put a high priority on pets compared to Canadians (17%), French (15%) and Italians (12%). The pet industry is expected to generate $51.6 billion this year - 1.3% more than in 2008.
8. Home Broadband home broadband adoption, is up from 55% in 2008. 63% 34% of home broadband users said they subscribed to a service that gave them faster access speeds, an increase from 29% in 2008. A growing share of broadband subscribers pay for premium service that gives them faster speeds. . They are also paying more for the extra speed than they did a year ago .
9. Cell Phone Services of cell phone users (19% of all adults) report that in 22% the past year they have cancelled or cut back cell phone service. Cell phone users are economizing on service plans.85% of adults report to have cell phone service, up from 77% at the end of 2007.
10. Smart phone ownership continues to rise, with 37% of respondents now reporting they own a smart phone. 14.4% say they plan on buying a smart phone in the next 90 days, the highest percentage ever recorded in a ChangeWave survey.
11. Cable TV Services 22% of US adults have cancelled or cut back cable TV service in the last year. More than a quarter of consumers plan to reduce or cancel their satellite or cable TV subscriptions, according to the research, up from 15% six months ago.
12.  Video Games Drop to $863 million in video games sales were registered in May from the same period a year ago. 23% Sales of hardware (consoles and hand-held devices) dropped 30% while sales of software fell 17%, to $449 million. In June - domestic retail sales of hardware and software fell 31% - the largest monthly drop since September 2000.
13. Americans' dependence on the 20% family car remains strong (88% rate an automobile as a necessity) - 2009 auto sales are expected to decline by 20.5 percent, or 10.5 million vehicles.
14. Hybrid Cars On February 2009, only 15,144 hybrids sold nationwide, down almost two-thirds from April 08, when the segment's sales peaked and gas averaged $3.57 a gallon.
15.  Education Planning of high school guidance counselors saw an increase 71% in the number of students who this year chose less- expensive colleges over their "dream school."
16. About the report: Food & Drinks Media & Automobiles Education Communications 50 pages detailed report across 8 industries Over 50 consumer studies and web metric trends analyses

Conclusions: TrendsSpotting finds that contrary to some optimistic public statements, for the majority of industries, recovery is still some ways down the road. After initially cutting back across the board, consumers have reassessed their personal situation and begun to employ a new set of priorities. They are checking out private labels and, if found satisfying, they will become loyal to them. Consumers aren’t sacrificing electronics, but are reconsidering their options. Recovery will bring a new age of consumers, much more aware of their expenses and their priorities. Consumers will not revert to their previous habits as those were proven to be unsound. Recovery will come from markets matching consumers’ new priorities.


John Gerzema says there's an upside to the recent financial crisis -- the opportunity for positive change. Speaking at TEDxKC, he identifies four major cultural shifts driving new consumer behavior and shows how businesses are evolving to connect with thoughtful spending.

Toshiba – No Matter What - (2009) :30 (Germany)

Don’t get angry, get Toshiba Oh and let this be a lesson to you kids, backpacks take up room behind your back. Please try and remember this folks, I'm tired of having your backpack smothering my face on the train.

Toshiba’s “No Matter What Guarantee” is worth getting excited about. Very excited. Because if you buy a Toshiba laptop you’re covered for just about anything. Accidents. Theft. Unemployment. No matter what. And your satisfaction is guaranteed. In addition, all Toshiba laptops come with the reliability and high quality you’ve come to expect. Find out more at nomatterwhatguarantee.com

Credits:

Agency: McCann Erickson Düsseldorf

Director: King Kahlil [Jens Junker & Simone Schirmer]
Production Company: Bakery Films Hamburg

Client: Toshiba Europe GmbH
Regional Marketing Manager: Goran Kurt
Marketing Coordinator: Deborah Scharnhoo

Starbucks are suffering from slower foot traffic and lower profits.

Those who can capture a sense of community and offer consumers a compelling experience will win in the long run, said Michelle Barry, senior vice president of the market-research firm Hartman Group in Bellevue.

"It's not about nostalgia per se, but more about telling a story and reappropriating some things from the past and re-imagining them in a new environment," she said.

Time of change

The ubiquitous coffee-shop giant is dropping the household name from its 15th Avenue East store on Capitol Hill, a shop that was slated to close at one point last year but is being remodeled in Starbucks' new rustic, eco-friendly style.

It will open next week, the first of at least three remodeled Seattle-area stores that will bear the names of their neighborhoods rather than the 16,000-store chain to which they belong.

Names and locations for the other two shops have not been finalized. If the pilot goes well in Seattle, it could move to other markets.

The new names are meant to give the stores "a community personality," said Tim Pfeiffer, senior vice president of global design. Starbucks' logo will be absent, with bags of the company's coffee and other products rebranded with the 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea name.

In the spirit of a traditional coffeehouse, it will serve wine and beer, host live music and poetry readings and sell espresso from a manual machine rather than the automated type found in most Starbucks stores.

The changes come at a time when retailers, including Starbucks, are suffering from slower foot traffic and lower profits.

Harvard's John Quelch: How to Market Luxury in a Downturn

One of the best-known academic minds in marketing talks about the two types of luxury consumers, and how to hang onto them in a recession.

Two types of luxury consumers

I divide the luxury market into “must-haves” and “wannabes.” Members of the first group have incorporated luxury into their lives and seek to retain that lifestyle in the face of recession. Very high net worth individuals occupy the top rung of the must-haves. They are largely inoculated from the downturn. Even if they’ve lost a lot of money in the recession, they are still ultrarich. On the other hand, those must-haves who have become financially strapped are now buying luxury items at lower price points or buying them less often, but never compromising on quality.

The luxury wannabes view luxury aspirationally, occasionally investing in luxury purchases in order to touch luxury without immersing themselves in it. They would never buy (or probably would never be able to buy) a Ralph Lauren suit. But they can afford a few lower-cost accessories such as a polo shirt with the logo.

Hold on to these customers in this economy?

You have to figure out how your customers’ behavior has shifted. Can you enable your more price-sensitive customers to continue to patronize you? It’s a balancing act, because you don’t want to taint the image of the brand.

This is more challenging at a time when cash-strapped companies are reducing spending on market research that could help them learn just how to reach those customers. Most large companies in the U.S. are cutting their research budgets by 10 percent to 20 percent. To adjust to this shift, I urge marketers to focus their research on the products, brand, and markets that are key to their strategy. Don’t waste resources on peripheral or potential consumers.

Discounting? is that always a bad idea for luxury brands?

Of course, discounts, if overdone, can detract from brand quality and the credibility of retail list prices. But modest, often unadvertised discounts on selected or discontinued items need not dilute brand quality. In fact, during a recession, even some luxury must-haves are hurting and need a helping hand in the form of a price cut from their favored brands.

“Simplifier.”a new kind of consumer

Simplifiers predated the recession, but the recession has accelerated the trend. These are people who trade down to a simpler lifestyle than they are able to afford. In particular, they seek to reduce the scope and scale of the stuff they own, because they simply find it too aggravating to maintain and less emotionally satisfying than they expected. Often, as they grow older, they place more value on — and invest more money in — experiences instead of possessions.

Savvy marketers will keep this new Simplifier in mind when creating an argument for their product or service.