There’s been much talk in the industry recently about habit forming. In this recession, consumer and media consumption patterns change, sometimes out of fear, but more often than not out of necessity. Naturally, people are looking for bargains and best possible value during this time.
The media industry should use this time to understand and embrace these new consumer habits, as we must assume that many of the patterns formed during the recession will become the norm when the economy bounces back.
So what are consumers doing? As I’ve mentioned a few times before, they’re using the web to compare prices, they’re searching for discounts and vouchers in their droves and their researching online before purchasing offline.
But media consumption patterns are also changing rapidly. People are watching more videos online than ever before, through user generated sites and through sites like Hulu and iPlayer, they’re simultaneously watching TV whilst surfing the web on their laptops, they’re listening to radio through the web and choosing their own playlists through platforms like Spotify and Last FM and mobile devices with location-based services are becoming increasingly popular.
As a result, companies need to be consumer centric – brands should be led by consumers and allow consumers to develop the brand. And there are now simply no excuses to not find out and understand what consumers are saying about your company. Search trends, Twitter feeds and Facebook groups give us real time insights from the world’s largest focus group – the internet population.
Brands now need to prove their value to consumers constantly and if the recession has taught us anything, it is that it is so easy to switch brands.
New habits and behaviours may well be formed in the recession, but it gives the media a great excuse to ditch any bad habits we’ve gotten into – let’s ditch anything that doesn’t give absolute measurement to advertisers and agencies, or best value advice and advertising to the consumer.
