It’s interesting how we, as consumers, keep changing our habits, preferences, and opinions on what matters to us. And this affects our buying decisions. For example, it’s commonly known how white bread became so popular in 1930s. Homemakers wanted to have something pre-sliced and bigger in size for the growing family. Supply is created to meet demand.
Brands have long since tried to understand what consumers’ changing sentiments are and geared their products or services to mirror them. This is exactly what influences marketing trends as well.
What are some of the most common trends that you see or hear around you, today? I bet you’ve come across these two in particular – The Green Pressure (sustainability) and The Burnout (Pressure of modern life). It’s real! We want to do our part, wherever possible, towards saving the planet. Be it as simple as getting rid of straws or reducing the use of plastics. At the same time, we want the brands to offer relevance and ease of use as part of their product. Sometimes it may even feel as though these sentiments are at odds. So all we can do is do our best.
During my recent travel to the U.K., I noticed these two trends everywhere. Everything from the airlines’ messaging to food and hotels, brands are intentionally shifting their messaging to promote doing good for Planet Earth and making consumers’ lives easier.
For e.g. Transit apps have made it so simple to plan your journey and buy tickets on your mobile so that you can reach your destination with ease, and comfortably. Another thing that stood out to me is how much restaurants are spending to market themselves as doing good for the user and the environment. Of course, there are always gray areas knowing that the bottom-line business goal is to make money. But there is definitely an effort to adopt good, sustainable practices.
This change of messaging in marketing is happening because consumers are motivated now, more than ever, to find out how their purchase decisions impact the world around them. It’s time for all businesses to consider investing in things that can speak to similar values – this is becoming imperative to stay afloat as the world becomes greener and demands easier.
What can you do to align with this shift?
- Assess how your products or services make your customer’s life easier. Brainstorm effective ways to bring this to the forefront of your marketing.
- Explore a cause you are passionate about. How can you and your team contribute to the cause and make a difference? How can you align this with your messaging?
Change is driven by collective action. I am encouraged and inspired every time I see brands considering the greater good in their messaging. Big or small, let’s do whatever we can now. Our actions will carry us into the next era of mindful buying, which will keep us in alignment with our consumers and set us up for positive, authentic growth.
What are your thoughts? I would love to hear from you.
