what will our customers want in the future
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W!"# w$%% &'r (')#&*+r) w",# $, #!+ -#'r+?Jemima Gibbons AAB Engage
@JemimaG
RARE Forum, London 3 November 2011
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 1: TITLE SLIDEI can’t talk about one specific sector so I’m going to be looking at consumers as a wholeThis talk is more about what people in general want in future but I’ll stick to the essay title!I”ve got six trends I’d like to talk to you about. All stuff that’s happening now but set to get biggerBear with me during the talk, and think about how your company can start adapting
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 2: VISIONARIES WHO’VE BEEN INSPIRING ME
1. Stowe Boyd - eco-friendly, social-savvy, futurist2. Tessy Britton - author of Handmade: learning/ sharing/ making3. Douglas Rushkoff - coined terms like ‘viral media’ and ‘social currency’4. Josephine Green - Gave Philipps their new focus on health + wellness5. JP Rangaswami - Confused of Calcutta6. Rachel Botsman - Collaborative Consumption7. Clay Shirky - every organisation is a media org8. Umair Haque - ethical capitalism9. David Cushman - the power of the network
RespectTr+,. 1
Thursday, 10 November 11
Photo: Takver
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 4: ARAB SPRING
- Anti-Mubarak protestors in Egypt earlier this year.- What’s now known as the Arab Spring started with protests in Tunisia in December 2010. And has so far resulted in revolutions in three countries: Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Protests are still taking place in
Bahrain, Yemen and Syria.- Youth unemployment, satellite TV and social networks have been credited for spreading the unrest. At the time of Mubarak’s resignation in Feb, banners saying thank you Facebook- So, what does all this mean for consumers back in the UK?
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 5: SOCIAL MEDIA V THE NEWS OF THE WORLD
- Funnily enough, when people on started reacting on Twitter to the NOTW hacking scandal back in July, it wasn’t long before American journalists were talking about the “British Spring” as us poor downtrodden Brits also rose up in unison against our oppressors.
- On Monday 4 July, a campaign was started on Twitter and Facebook to dissuade advertisers from using the NOTW - Amazingly, this gathered so much momentum that on 7 July, the following Thursday, it was announced that that Sunday’s NOTW would be the last ever.
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 6: THE DRAMA UNFOLDS
- And as we know, that was just the start.- More revelations followed, and high profile resignations including those of News International CEO Rebekah Brooks, Metropolitan Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson. Former NOTW Editor Andy Coulson
and Rebekah Brooks were arrested, and Rupert Murdoch and his son James were summoned to give evidence before a parliamentary media committee. - consumers were demanding respect through social media. The fact that the UK’s best-selling - and 168 year old - newspaper could be closed down in a matter of days is astounding.- Five years ago, this simply would not have been possible.- Businesses who ignore this new surge of people power do so at their peril.
- In the future, our customers will expect to be listened to.
Eco-friendly businessTr+,. 2
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“The ethical movement has crossed into the mainstream and become a central issue for everyone from politicians to retailers.”
Lucy Siegle, Observer
Photo: Abby Lanes
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 8: LUCY SIEGLE QUOTE
- This quote is from Lucy Siegle, the Observer’s Environmental Correspondent- In the 1970s, concepts like recycling and alternative energy were the preserve of tree hugging hippies - now they are something we all need to think about.
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 9:
- Unsurprisingly, companies are falling over themselves to in an effort to show their green credentials. It’s a kind of CSR on steroids.- Cause-related marketing has become big business.- PRODUCT RED is an example of one the largest cause-related marketing campaigns ever. - Created to support The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.- Includes companies such as The Gap and Apple among its participants.- Last year, Procter + Gamble teamed up with Salma Hayek and UNICEF to fund tetanus vaccinations for babies through sales of Pampers nappies. - And businesses are innovating in ethical ways:- In January, instead of spending money on Superbowl ads, PepsiCo launched the Pepsi Refresh Project: doing good by spending more than $20m on crowdsourced community projects.- M&S have launched Plan A: 180 commitments to help it become the world’s most sustainable major retailer by 2015- Chase Bank’s Community Giving project gives grants to S/M charities ($3m this year)- Google launched Google for Good; Ebay set up World of Good; Microsoft profits fuel the Bill & Mel Gates foundation- And so on...
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 10: THE GREEN GAP
- of course, we’ve a way to go before consumers will really start putting their money where their mouths and by boycotting environmentally unfriendly goods altogether. Currently around, 22% say they will pay more for eco-friendly products
- But the trend is that customers are increasingly considering long-term value over price.
“It’s not just conducting a tree-planting event once a year...you actually have to make your products greener.”
Archie Rastorguev, MMD
Photo: freefotouk
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 11: TREE PLANTING QUOTE
- This consumer trend is backed up by business trend: as social tools and technologies enable businesses to become more customer, more people-centric, issues which currently matter to us, such as sustainability and ethical living, inevitably move centre-stage.
- The panopticon effect of social media means that there’s no point in simply “astro-turfing” - posing as someone who believes in grassroots causes, you’ve actually got to BE that person.- As my friend Archie at MMD in Moscow puts it.
- In the future, our customers will look for more eco-friendly approaches.
True storiesTr+,. 3
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Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 13: DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF
- Douglas Rushkoff author and theorist- His first book on cyberculture, Cyberia, due to be published in 1992 but cancelled because the publisher was scared internet would be ‘over‘ by 1993. - Douglas talks about difference between C20th mass advertising + the social internet now- Brand images like Colonel Saunders and Ronald McDonald became more powerful than images/ stories of the craftspeople down the road- Now, thanks to the social web, we’re reconnecting with real people again.- If we make/ care about something - that’s what we should be sharing with our customers.- For Kentucky Fried Chicken, it’s not about Colonel Saunders, it’s all about the chicken crust!
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 14: BRACKENBURY VILLAGE
- London is filled with villages like this: with a deli / butcher/ ironmonger- The wierd thing is, this local village is doing okay, despite the downturn.- Why? Because the people who live here don’t go to supermarkets any more. They get everything delivered. And then pop round the corner to top up.- They don’t mind paying extra because they love the theatrics/ DIY advice/ gossip- And the devotion these guys have to what they do.
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 15: CAKES
- This is the counter in Brackenbury’s deli- All these cakes are organic and homemade.- But customers don’t care paying extra because they’re paying for quality and a little bit of love- Funnily enough, it’s these sorts of local shops and services that do just brilliantly on social media- Because they’re passionate about what they do, they’ve got plenty to talk about.
- In the future our customers will want to see the whites of the eyes of the real people behind the corporate facade.
CommunityTr+,. 4
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Photo: Clicksy
“Gen Y has grown up sharing - files, video games, knowledge - it’s second nature. We, the Millennials, are foot soldiers, moving us from a culture of me, to a culture of we.”
Rachel Botsman
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 17: RACHEL BOTSMAN QUOTE
- This is a great quote from Rachel Botsman, author of “What’s mine is yours: the rise of Collaborative Consumption”.- Q: When you’re using a social network, how do you assess people? [SHARE vs OWN]
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 18: COLLABORATIVE EXAMPLES
- Rachel’s Collaborative consumption website lists a whole load of start-ups that put community and sharing at the heart of what they do. The internet is enabling trust between strangers.- Kickstarter: crowdsources funding for creative projects- Lucy in Disguise: rents out vintage clothing- Fashionstake: a groupon for desirable designer clothing- Taskrabbit: outsource your every day chores to a community of time-rich helpers- Couchsurfing: puts people with spare beds/ sofas in touch with people who are travelling- Air BNB: private individuals renting out their houses, apartments or rooms- The Make Lounge: join other people to knit, sew and create stuff together- Streetcar: ditch your car and join a car club- Threadless: crowdsourced T-shirt designs- The reason this trend is so powerful is because when you share the same platform as your customer, you need a more inclusive strategy.- The internet is enabling trust between strangers.
- In the future, our customers will become even more networked, and even more used to collaborating, especially when social problems are being solved as a by-product of them having fun!
Humility and honestyTr+,. 5
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Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 20: CEOs SAY SORRY
- I’m not sure which CEO originated the YouTube apology: David Neeleman of JetBlue?- Valentines Day 2007: JetBlue passengers stranded for 8 hours on a runway- As they blogged/ tweeted about their ordeal, Neeleman took to YouTube to apologise- Jan 2010: Akio Toyoda: Toyota recalls 7m vehicles due to clutch and engine problems: - Sep 2011: Reed Hastings of Netflix posted a public apology on his blog after changes resulted in an up to 60% price increase for some customers - Last month: RIM’s CEO Mike Lazaridis aplogised for Blackberry outages.
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 21: BP GLOBAL PR
- For today’s C-level executives, being a part of the conversation around your brand is essential- Just look at what happened to BP in the vacuum was created by its lack of engagement.- Remember, if you don’t apologise - there’s always a chance someone else might do it for you!
We seek a bleach free teeth-whitening formula We are interested in
technologies that deliver cleaning with shine and gloss on hard surfacesWe are looking for a
method/ device to remove hairs from the root without pain
Photo: metamerist
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 22: P+G CONNECT
- Humility is one thing. What about honesty?- We’re also seeing a trend in open innovation - where companies share information about the problems they are having in the hope that they can procure a solution.- These quotes are all actual requirements on P+G’s connect and develop website.- What is interesting is the problems they reveal.- We can presume, for example, that P+G currently use bleach in all their teeth-whitening products and that all their hair removal treatments are painful.- Okay, so we may know this, but the fact that this is being publically admitted?- It’s light years away from the controlled advertising messages of the past.
Photo: SeaworldSA
Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 23: SECURITY GUARDS
- The security measures and defenses traditionally put up by business seem in some ways to be becoming less relevant.- The walls of the corporation are certainly becoming more permeable. Everything is hackable.- In the future, our customers will demand transparency.
An easy lifeTr+,. 6
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Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 25: THINGS THAT MAKE US GO ‘OOH’
- In the future, it’s said that we wont’t even notice how we connect with each other + things- The semantic web will interpret our desires; interfaces will be almost imperceptible; sharing will be truly “frictionless”.- In some ways, things will become easier.- And that’s what I wanted to focus on for the final trend.- Many best innovations of recent years have been time-saving, effort-saving devices- In the future, our customers will want to do more with less.
1. Respect2. Eco-friendly business 3. True stories4. Community5. Humility and honesty6. An easy life
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Thursday, 10 November 11SLIDE 26:
- Final word: don’t become *too* fixated on the customer. - Remember how Steve Jobs loved to quote that famous saying by Henry Ford, inventor of the Model T: If I asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse- Don’t forget to trust your own drive and intuition!
