Are you a marketer? Then nobody is currently envying your job. Why? No matter what and how you do it – you currently cannot please anyone. Some expect you to finally (!) Give your employer a little purpose. In any case, it must have something to do with sustainability, preferably in the direction of “fair”, “regional” and “organic” anyway. And of course it has to be innovative – but maybe not that big …
And then you do exactly that – and you and your team actually succeed in a great lighthouse project. Sounds good. If you work at H&M, you’ve got an initial test of an in-store recycling system on the way. And are also experimenting with a new textile fiber called cirulose. Wow. If you work at Adidas on campus, then you may have developed a shoe that doesn’t have to be thrown away. And at Ikea you have successfully tried a new type of mushroom – this time not for your own restaurant, but as a replacement for styrofoam and other packaging materials.
But instead of unconditional recognition for what you have achieved, this one sentence is sure to strike you more and more often:
HOPEFULLY IT’S NOT JUST MARKETING.
Now you want to scream: Yes, that’s exactly it. Marketing. And that’s good!
But it is also true that a real sustainability boom has emerged in the last few weeks. A firework of innovations – admittedly, apart from the examples mentioned, often rather small will-o’-the-wisps, trying to somehow benefit from the hype.
This is dangerous and may boomerang for some businesses. I can understand that in view of the studies published by our industry and even more by other known and unknown consulting agencies, the impression could arise that the future – the new normal – is only “green”. And the people out there are refined and waiting in line to finally be able to maintain a sustainable lifestyle. Believe me, it won’t turn out like that. We humans are creatures of habit, it takes more than “just” a pandemic to change our behavior. It is true that these topics are becoming more important for consumption in many areas – even before Corona. At the same time, however, a recently observed consumer hedonism, as well as the precarious situation of many households, are increasing. Wherever money is scarce – felt or real, people will continue to (have to) opt for the cheaper price more often. The old and new hard discount in particular will benefit from this. And that’s a good thing too.
Please don’t like the lemmings!
Our society is polarizing – we are increasingly overlooking this in our own echo chamber of (still) well-paid marketing experts. Uptrading, which has been accelerated in recent years and also currently, will have at least one opponent.
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Consumer behavior will continue to fragment. It is all the more important that we do not all chase after this one big topic like the lemmings. And often without meaning or understanding. It’s worth taking a closer look. What moves people How are my target groups now dealing with the effects of the pandemic? We have to research more deeply, in a mix with new and proven methods, in order to understand better. And above all, to start at the right pain points.
This is exactly where we are in demand again – the market researchers. We must and can paint a differentiated picture. This is the only way for companies to orientate themselves in the right topics and search fields. Between “price” and “sustainability”, social responsibility can also be reflected in other areas. Edeka has the great idea for a nutrition podcast, which should give people orientation and sparring in an increasingly confusing nutrition landscape. Dr. With “Gugelhupf & Du”, Oetker gives us a café and a place to slow down with pudding and cake. These examples show how important it is for companies to be at peace with themselves and their brands and products. In essence, it does not always have to be politically correct to correspond to the current mainstream. An exciting time. We are happy to help.
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About the author
Jens Krüger has been CEO of Bonsai Research since 2019. The consumer expert was previously managing director at Kantar / TNS Infratest for over ten years. The studied sociologist and social psychologist is involved in several advisory boards (including the Future Forum and the VKE Cosmetics Association), is speaker and author of numerous publications on the topics of social change, consumer trends, nutrition and trade of the future.
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