Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 9/23/22 - 9/29/22 to stay ahead of the curve:
As we creep closer and closer to the demise—or at least diminishment—of the third-party cookie, publishers are feeling compelled to adopt virtually every emerging ID solution. But this excess of IDs has also brought fresh fears around how all the new code will impact page-load speeds and search rankings.
'Tis the season to be deal-hunting: According to new research from Gartner, brands won’t see the same volume of holiday shopping around dates like Black Friday and Cyber Week this year. With last year’s supply chain issues fresh in their minds, consumers will shop earlier, with one-third planning to nab their gifts before October.
Speaking of the holidays, as we inch closer to the most wonderful time of the year, Walmart is aiming to change its image among Gen Z by launching two Roblox experiences. The interactive spaces are part of a series of experiments by the world's largest retailer that leverage emergent digital channels to nudge young consumers closer to commerce.
Market factors like high interest rates, rising inflation, and plunging stock prices are plaguing the economy. With brands are pulling back budgets, advertisers are stuck wondering: what do we do next? This webinar breaks down how marketers can approach and overcome the complexities of this continued economic downturn.
Too early for 2023 trends? Never! Here, four industry leaders outline some of the biggest e-commerce marketing challenges for the year ahead, whether that’s establishing meaningful full-funnel relationships, getting more focused on customer value, or meeting audiences with the right message in the right moment.
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Cultural change is happening faster than ever—and Gen Z and millennials are at the forefront, together reshaping the world and driving seismic shifts in consumer behavior, working norms, and technology adoption.
This disruption is perhaps no more keenly felt than in the financial services industry, where the collective characteristics of the younger demographics are pushing brands into pivotal and profound tactical evolution. Advertisers in this space know they cannot simply market to Gen Z and millennials in the same way they did (and do) to Gen X and baby boomers who have altogether different financial goals and consumption behaviors. The young consumers of today are digital-first, technologically savvy, TikTok obsessed, streaming everywhere, and relate to financial institutions with a high degree of pragmatism. In other words: they require a standalone marketing strategy.
Gen Z and millennials are also openly embracing a wide variety of emerging FinTech tools designed to democratize personal finance and help users manage money more effectively. These providers have set their advertising sights squarely on younger cohorts, executing campaigns and simplifying messaging in a way that breaks down the complexities of navigating the financial landscape. Thanks in no small part to those efforts, 51% of consumers aged 18-24 and 49% aged 25-34 name a FinTech company as their most trusted financial brand, while only 23% and 26%, respectively, name a more “traditional” national bank.
Legacy financial institutions won’t be conceding market share easily, though—not with $30 trillion inheritance on the line. The big banks may be behind the curve when it comes to targeting Gen Z and millennials, but they’re beginning to catch up, either by striking partnerships with emerging tech or establishing their own brand of modern products (à la Marcus by Goldman Sachs).
In short, the fight to engage and resonate with younger generations is on, and coming out victorious will require understanding those consumers’ preferences and needs. And that isn’t just about digitizing current experiences—it’s about omnichannel connections, education, convenience, and marketing with authenticity.
To understand the financial attitudes of young consumers today is to understand the economic instability they endured across the formative years of their adult lives. Millennials were kneecapped by the Great Recession. Gen Z similarly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Living through these periods of turbulence and intense financial hardship has made these generations anxious about their finances—they’ve adopted a cautious approach to saving, they’re highly risk averse, and they’re eschewing conspicuous consumption.
But there is more at play here. That is, compounding everyday financial pressures.
Gen Z and millennials have some serious economic baggage that they won’t be shaking off any time soon: soaring student loan debt, stagnant wages, skyrocketing house prices and, most recently, staggeringly high inflation. As of right now, almost half of zoomers (46%) and millennials (47%) live paycheck to paycheck and worry they won’t be able to cover their expenses. Indeed, for both these demographics, the cost of living is their number one concern.
Against this reality, young people are looking for clear actions they can take to ease their financial distress. That’s where financial brands have great opportunity. They can step in to help young consumers feel more in control—they can assuage fears with connective, relatable messaging that demonstrates how various financial vehicles work and how they can be utilized to secure both short- and long-term financial stability.
In many regards, Gen Z and millennials demand more from brands, but there are certain strategies financial advertisers can adopt to reach them effectively. Here are four:
Young consumers continue to look to friends and family most often for financial advice, but they are also digesting financial content from an ever-expanding list of digital avenues—a trend that is opening the door for challenger brands to garner the attention of information-gathering consumers.
Social media platforms are, predictably, the most popular of these sources—around four in ten zoomers and millennials are gravitating toward them to learn about personal finance, shares that massively exceed those for Gen X and baby boomers. The increasing influence of TikTok is likely playing a huge role here. The financial TikTok space (dubbed FinTok) is global and growing, and it’s engaging young people who may not otherwise have an interest in personal finance. A significant 41% of zoomers are turning to TikTok for investment information, a percentage that beats out both financial advisors (21%) and personal finance websites (also 21%).
This is a fascinating statistic, but it’s also a potentially hazardous situation for young consumers. TikTok, like any social platform, can be a breeding ground of unvetted content, and reports are surfacing that detail the scale of the widespread misinformation it harbors. As such, financial brands have a chance here to cut through the clutter. They can establish a trusted presence on what is a massively Gen Z and millennial-skewed platform and offer up thoughtful, caring content that comes from a place of authority. Winning on this channel (and, indeed, all social channels) may then also have a multiplicative effect, as young consumers often seek the opinions of their friends. How’s that for a bit of #symmetry!
From building emergency funds, to paying off credit card balances, to saving for new homes, to opening investment accounts, Gen Z and millennials are juggling a lot of financial goals.
This ambition has the potential to get overwhelming pretty quickly, so by breaking down financial planning in simple terms, FinServ brands can start to combat financial illiteracy and build brand trust that helps sow the seeds of long-term brand loyalty. Across both Gen Z and millennials, a top priority is putting money aside to cover any number of unforeseen financial situations, signaling this might be a good place to start for financial advertisers—creating snappy content that provides tips and tricks for building a financial firewall and laying out a plan of action.
Another forward-thinking goal for financial brands to draw on is investing, with 24% of Gen Z and 28% of millennials saying they are interested in opening an investment account. When it comes to marketing, online trading platforms have led the way in this space—their easy-to-use apps are educational and fun all at once and they serve to demystify, and even gamify, investing while removing brokerage intermediaries and making it straightforward to get started with only small amounts of money. And that’s ultimately what reaching young prospective FinServ clients is all about: this notion of breaking through inertia and simplifying industry jargon to help make the sometimes-daunting world of finance a more accessible place.
Just a short time ago, back in 2018, only 39% of consumers said it was important that they were able to do all their banking using a mobile device. Fast forward to 2022, and that figure has soared to 65%. Broken down generationally, that number increases again to 84% for Gen Z and 82% for millennials, indicating app-based mobile banking is now a concrete expectation among young consumers.
With such widespread adoption and high expectations, it’s essential that brands optimize their app experience. Around six in 10 zoomers and millennials even said they would switch financial services providers for a better mobile app experience (talk about unforgiving!)
While perhaps a bit daunting for app developers, this appetite for mobile banking actually represents a great opportunity for marketers. As the cookieless future edges closer and advertisers search for reliable ways to uncover consumer behavior, a great app ecosystem can help financial brands seamlessly collect and piece together valuable first-party data. The benefits of this are fairly clear (if not guaranteed): a deeper understanding of customer journeys, optimized targeting, more consumer-centricity, more personalized advertising (something else younger generations love, by the way) and, ultimately, smarter campaigns.
And side note: a mobile app enables advertisers to connect with users on a deeper, individual level through push notifications that simultaneously avoid the crowded marketplace of email and the somewhat invasive nature of SMS.
Trust is an extremely valuable commodity. Without it, the whole premise of successful relationships breaks down. No, you didn’t accidentally click away to a marriage advice column. We’re talking about just how important trust is between a consumer and their financial services providers.
For traditional institutions, in particular, this is a major problem area. They have a reputation issue—especially with younger consumers. Among teens, 42% think banks don’t care about their financial futures and 25% believe they aren’t seen as valuable customers because they don’t make enough money. For most, however, the skepticism goes far beyond simply feeling misunderstood: young consumers also worry financial institutions will take advantage of them in some capacity, be it through unpredictable interest charges, hidden fees, or other predatory practices.
After the Great Recession, many have come to view large financial institutions as exploitative and are looking to disestablish the status quo. In one famous example, young investors who were part of a Reddit community used FinTech investment platforms to drive up the share prices of meme stocks such as GameStop and AMC to manipulate the markets and prevent larger “establishment” hedge funds from cashing in.
This innate distrust of the big players is a driving force behind the rise of non-bank entities and other FinTech brands that are more comfortable engaging with digital natives. Gen Z and millennials respond more favorably to communications from organizations they believe are honest, authentic, and transparent, and that actively acknowledge their barriers in life. If these cohorts sense that brands are not truly working to help them reach their financial goals, they won’t hesitate to go elsewhere.
The takeaway here: be truthful and authentic, always!
Gen Z and millennial consumers are steadily reshaping the financial services industry. Although there are generational differences both in terms of financial literacy and financial priorities, it’s clear that educational experiences and relatable advertising are top priorities for reaching these two cohorts. Appealing to them involves truly understanding their pain points and then presenting them with easy-to-use, non-complicated solutions in the channels and places they want them.
Looking for more financial advertising tips and tricks? Check out Basis Technologies’ dedicated financial services resource center.
Pandemic, inflation, economic instability, supply chain challenges—oh my! To say the landscape for consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers is complicated feels insufficient. This year (and the year before…and the year before that…) has been a wild ride. And though no industry has escaped unscathed, CPG has been especially hard-hit.
If you’re still reeling from the changes, we’re here to give you the 411. Below, catch up on all of today’s CPG advertising “need-to-knows:” the challenges imposed by the last few years’ instability, the broader trends and shifts shaping the industry, and the interplay between these trends and today’s economic landscape. Settle in, grab your favorite packaged snack (Doritos for us!) and let’s get this party started!
Before we explore the latest trends, let’s set the stage for CPG advertising today. Here are just a few of the (many) factors at play:
Talk about whiplash, eh? Now, onto some of the larger trends we’re seeing in the CPG advertising space and how they’re being shaped by the complexities of today.
Though some consumers are wavering on brand loyalty because of inflation, that doesn’t mean their expectations for go-to products and brands have gone out the window. With a multitude of products at consumers’ fingertips (thanks, internet!) and competition at an all-time high, the pressure is on for CPG brands to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.
And the two factors that are differentiators for many consumers today? Convenience and value.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce soared, increasing by 43% in 2020. And though in-store shopping has returned, consumers have grown accustomed to a certain level of convenience. To accommodate for this demand, brands are optimizing their shopping experiences across e-commerce platforms, utilizing advertisements that allow integrated purchasing options, and balancing supply and demand (to avoid the dreaded “out-of-stock” that frustrates so many consumers).
In the context of today’s record-high inflation, brands need to clearly communicate the value of their product for consumers. As mentioned earlier, reports show inflation has started to catch up with purchasing trends, and more and more people are buying less and showing price sensitivity. One way brands can highlight their value is through seeking to understand their consumers and crafting personalized customer experiences that emphasize how their product fits customers’ distinct needs.
Some brands have opted for an even bolder approach to communicating their value amidst inflation, by speaking openly with consumers about price increases and their justifications for these changes. For example, Mélanie Masarin, the founder of nonalcoholic aperitif company Ghia, said they made the choice to send a price-increase email when they had “waited to increase prices until [they] absolutely couldn’t anymore.” Though she was anxious about how the email would be received, she found the response to be overwhelmingly positive, and noted that many customers thanked the brand for its transparency.
Can you remember a time when you made decisions about what to buy without using the internet?
If not, then shoot: looks like we’ve dated ourselves.
And if so—ah, weren’t those simpler times? Did your dad also spend hours at the local Ace Hardware comparing different models of drills, consulting staff, and inevitably buying the one he originally planned to? No? Okay, we’ll get back on topic.
In today’s increasingly-online world, utilizing an omnichannel digital strategy is a must for CPG advertisers.
The digital explosion of the past two decades has changed the way consumers shop. More and more people are shopping online, and even die-hard in-store shoppers are researching products on the internet before purchasing. Couple that with the fact that consumers’ attention spans are reducing year after year, and the takeaway for marketers is clear: people need to see your product at the right time(s), on the right channel(s), and with the right message.
This is where having an omnichannel strategy is critical for CPG marketers. Given how short attention spans are and the sheer volume of content people consume each day, consumers need to be exposed to your product multiple times and through varying channels.
And the best way to reach them? Where they’re spending the most time. Want to take a gander at where the average US adult spent approximately 8 hours and 5 minutes every day in 2021? With digital media.
As such, an effective omnichannel strategy should involve multiple touchpoints with consumers across different digital media channels. And with the exceptional cross-device targeting capabilities available today, reaching customers at the right time and on the right device has never been more seamless.
Imagine this: you and your team work together to create an intentional, personalized, omnichannel experience for your target consumer. They first encounter your product through a video ad as they watch the newest season of The Handmaid’s Tale on their connected TV, and are then re-targeted via mobile search and social media. When they see the ad on Instagram, they click “shop now,” are taken to the online retailer that has your product in-stock…annnnnd end up clicking to a similar product that pops up alongside yours as “recommended.” It’s “add to cart” for your competitor, and a sad day for you.
This is a prime example of the growing importance of balancing supply and product presence not just in physical stores, but also on digital shelves. Today, thanks to the internet, when the average consumer goes to shop, they have a whole host of options available to them at every stage of the process. And with 10% of total US CPG sales happening online this year, establishing your brand and product’s digital shelf (in conjunction with a strong digital advertising strategy) is important.
Winning digitally looks very different from in-store: space is not finite, and online shopping offers endless “aisles” for consumers to browse. With this comes a notable increase in competition, as even more brands can compete within a given category. On top of that, many online retailers have features where products can be compared with just the click of a button, and retail media networks allow brands to advertise in the digital spaces where consumers shop.
Instead of vying for a great location on an endcap or at eye-level on the physical shelf, brands must now use branding and product descriptions strategically and optimize their offerings for both paid and organic search. These same features must also speak to consumers once they click on a product, since alternatives will almost certainly be displayed simultaneously. The same copy and design on your product’s physical label cannot just be plopped online and expected to drive sales without being adjusted to better suit the digital shelf space and entice shoppers viewing your product on desktops, mobile phones, or other devices.
Establishing a strong digital shelf presence goes hand in hand with digital advertising for your product: as explored in our example above, you don’t want a consumer to follow an ad for your product, only to choose one of the competitors that will, inevitably, be displayed right alongside it.
By remaining flexible and agile amidst the present uncertainties, as well as adapting to consumer demands, enhancing digital presence, and utilizing omnichannel advertising capabilities, CPG marketers can effectively reach their target consumers. But, as explored here, the current landscape and broader trends are ever-evolving in the advertising world—both in CPG and beyond.
We know that staying in-the-know on the latest and greatest in adtech and marketing can take a lot of time. As much as we might want to spend hours perusing the news and doing deep dives on current trends in the industry, we also know that likely isn’t a high priority when SHTF.
Enter: Basis Scout. Each week, our team puts together a list of the most important news and trends we’ve seen; and every month, we do a roundup newsletter with all the hottest happenings. Interested? Subscribe here, and get ready for all the best news, tips, and insights from the industry to land straight in your inbox.
Agency and brand leaders, we’re about to give you a jump scare. One disclaimer: We’re not liable for the hives you may soon break out in, nor can we be expensed for any rush-scheduled therapy appointments.
Here we go:
Billing!
(...Did we scare you?)
OK, we’re being just a tad facetious, but you get the point. Billing is often a stressful part of the advertising campaign lifecycle, a point of frustration for agencies and brands alike, and a snag in otherwise satisfying agency-brand relationships. It makes sense: Finances of any kind come with high stakes, even in times that aren’t marked by talent shortages and economic upheaval. But with the right tools in place, billing doesn’t have to be such a headache.
Read on to learn about automated billing, a resource that streamlines financial reconciliations and creates transparency and trust between agencies and clients.
What does the billing process look like for most agency billing departments? In theory, it’s deceptively simple: Teams must gather billing materials, download billing reports, actualize those bills and, finally, charge clients for the final amounts.
In reality, billing staff are burdened by the consequences of a complex and fragmented media landscape and an industry that’s been slow to adopt processes and tools to address that complexity and fragmentation. Parsing out billing for intricate media packages means that finance teams are stuck compiling and reconciling data between numerous disparate programs and Excel sheets. A report from the 4A’s found that teams waste spend three hours per day cutting and pasting in order to reconcile finances across many different vendors, channels, and programs. The impact on agencies as a whole, as you might expect, is massive.
To move beyond Excel sheet purgatory, marketing organizations can embrace technologies that streamline the consolidation and delivery of these billing materials. That’s where automated billing comes in.
With automated billing, all media data from a campaign—regardless of its source—is combined and exported to an agency’s accounting or ERP platform. Lo and behold, the workday is once again made up of eight hours—rather than five, plus three of copy and paste torture.
The benefits of automating your billing are far-reaching. Let’s discuss two of the big ones: time savings and increased confidence.
We’ve already mentioned how finance teams waste three hours per day on manual billing consolidation and reconciliation tasks. And since we’re talking finance, allow us to throw a few more numbers at you. In a recent survey, Basis Technologies users said that automated billing capabilities brought them:
The consequences of these benefits are significant. Not only are agencies that adopt automated billing able to realize value and ROI sooner, they’re also better equipped to retain staff members who, understandably, would rather do the high value work they were trained for instead of spending hours troubleshooting discrepancies and correcting inaccurate invoices.
Billing automation also boosts data quality and transparency and, as a result, fosters confidence on the agency side and trust on the client side. Automated billing technology was designed to transmit and consolidate data without error, so in today’s competitive digital landscape, leveraging technology to run the numbers is a no brainer. By contrast, humans were not designed to copy and paste crucial financial data from program to program for prolonged periods of time (if our calculations are correct, at least…oh, wait! That’s just common sense!)
All in all? Transparency into financial reconciliations + better-organized, better quality delivery data + clearer reports = more confident agencies + happier clients. QED.
Our heartfelt apologies for that jump scare at the beginning of this post—we had to get your attention somehow! We hope that understanding the power of automation has relieved at least a bit of the stress associated with the word “billing.”
And billing isn’t the only part of the campaign lifecycle that can see powerful benefits from automation. Automated reporting, automated bidding, workflow automation, and more are each poised to revolutionize what it means to plan and buy media. Check out our guide to advertising automation to learn all about it.
What’s new in the realms of paid search and social media? Basis’ Senior Vice President of Paid Search and Social compiles all the latest news, trends, and resources each month for easy access.
This report from eMarketer shows search ad spend increasing in 2023 to more than $111.80 billion—almost twice what was spent in 2019. Search will account for 28.6% of total media spend this year, with Google capturing the dominant percentage. Amazon and other e-commerce-focused search ads continue to see steadily increased spend as well.
Shown at the top of search results in Bing, Windows 11, and Microsoft Start, Microsoft's new ad formats are infographic-inspired. The collages of videos and images (reminiscent of Instant Experience ads on Facebook) can expand into fuller screen, interactive units. This article contains more details, best practices, and a link to Microsoft-supplied case studies.
With a large number of Facebook buyers shopping on Marketplace, the platform has exceeded Instagram and TikTok in the number of users who have completed at least one purchase in the last year through their network. The disproportionately high number of consumer-to-consumer sales accounting for their annual sales figure, however, makes it hard to know how successful Facebook is at achieving actual business-to-consumer social sales.
Snap partnered with Ipsos to survey over 25,000 people with the goal of better understanding what consumers and brands really think about augmented reality (AR). Their research revealed that while the majority of brands feel AR is primarily used for fun, consumer interest is around learning in immersive ways, traveling and exploring the world, and more. Plus, 70% of those surveyed believe that AR helps make the shopping experience easier and more enjoyable.
A recent Creator Insider sneak peak video revealed some new analytics coming to Creator Studio. The new features will provide greater insight into what audiences are interested in based on their search behavior and engagement on YouTube. They can also help with planning by giving a deeper look at what people are watching and how they move from video to video based on recommendations from the platform.
As previously promised, TikTok has increased the data available through their Insights tool to provide new filters and cards marketers can download for use in presentations. Trends can be analyzed across different demographic audiences, industries, seasonal time periods, and regions.
With a wide variety of ways for users to consume video across the Facebook ecosystem (Reels, Stories, Live, In-feed, Watch), Meta shared some details on how their algorithm determines what to show users, and where. This article explains the signals that have the greatest influence on video distribution: originality, ability to capture and retain attention, people returning to view more videos, and other types of engagement.
Four new features from Google are coming just in time for the holiday season. This summary (which is also full of general tips and best practices on how to reach consumers across Google’s network) details the new offerings, which include "product-specific insights," the ability to include estimated delivery dates and return policies in shopping ads, content API updates to seamless sales and promotion management, and more.
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Welcome to Scout! Each week, our team tracks down the best digital marketing articles, POVs, and reports—so you don't have to. Here’s what to read from the week of 9/16/22 - 9/22/22 to stay ahead of the curve:
Watch out, TikTok: there's a new creator fund in town. In response to increased competition from the home of the Nyquil Chicken Challenge (please, please don’t try it), YouTube is rolling out Shorts—a new feature that looks an awful lot like TikTok’s offering.
It makes sense that the DTC MVP would encroach upon the territory of social platforms like YouTube and Instagram...but Google, too?! According to the New York Times, many Gen Z TikTokers are now using TikTok as their primary search engine—and that may be kind of a red flag, given that one-fifth of the platform’s search results have been found to contain misinformation.
Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s announcement that all company shares will be donated to charitable causes sets a new standard for brand authenticity. And the brand’s decision isn’t just a win for the planet—it's also in lock step with the 94% of consumers who report they want to live a sustainable lifestyle.
The news from Patagonia is a great example of how the brand playbook is evolving in today’s uncertain times. With a variety of economic and geopolitical factors challenging brands and agencies, this piece offers advice on how marketers can reframe those challenges as opportunities, and explores strategies all companies can use to weather the storm.
The Advertising Research Foundation’s fifth annual Privacy Study found that most consumers find it “somewhat acceptable” for brands to collect certain personal data in order to serve more relevant ads. So first- and second-party data for the win, but the third-party cookiepocalypse continues to loom (although, who’s taking bets on another pushback?)
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“Change is the only constant.”
It’s a phrase we’re all familiar with, first said by Greek philosopher Heraclitus over 2,000 years ago. Over the past few years, his point keeps hitting home. After the world was rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the fallout continued through 2021, many expected 2022 to be a year of recovery. Despite our expectations, 2022 has saddled us with even more challenges.
While the average consumer may no longer be tethered to their homes like most were a couple of years ago, new economic complexities are impacting their daily lives and again shifting their behaviors. From interest rate hikes, to an impending recession, to supply chain shortages, there are numerous factors at play. And when consumer behaviors change because of what’s happening in the world, so too must marketers.
Advertisers who quickly lean into an altered marketplace set themselves apart from those who see themselves as victims of unmanageable change. To that end, let’s take some time to evaluate the ever-changing economic landscape, its implications for marketers, and tactics that can be used to adapt to its complexity.
There are many factors shaping the marketing landscape today. Here are some of the biggest:
Here are a few stats to know on the current economic situation in the US:
The global supply chain was first rocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disruption has since been exacerbated by fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here’s what marketers should know:
With uncertainty surrounding the conflict in Ukraine, supply chain challenges will likely remain a reality for brands and marketers to grapple with for the foreseeable future.
Beyond these economic and geopolitical circumstances, there are other significant issues impacting consumers and marketers in the US:
Taken together, these varied factors result in substantial instability for consumers—which puts the pressure on brands to adapt.
Marketers may want to wait until these proverbial storms clear, but there’s no knowing when additional challenges will follow. Instead of surviving the crises of the present, marketers can engage in cognitive reframing to adapt and think flexibly.
For those new to the concept, cognitive reframing is the process of identifying your current perspective, naming the challenges or shortcomings of that viewpoint, and then shifting to a new way of thinking. At its core, reframing “encourage[s] us to look at situations from different perspectives in search of unique and improved solutions.”
A few examples: A difficult conversation with a colleague could be reframed as a chance to problem-solve collaboratively; a quarter in which earnings are missed could be reframed as an opportunity to test new sales strategies; a team losing yet another member due to the Great Resignation reframed as a moment to take an honest look at company culture.
Through reframing, brands can approach today’s moments of adversity as opportunities for reflection and change. Leaders looking to make reframing an organizational habit can benefit from asking the following questions:
So far, we’ve explored the complexity of today’s landscape and how reframing can serve as a beneficial tool. Now, let’s dive into the marketing strategies teams can use to adapt. While there’s no silver bullet for advertising during times like these, there are methods brands and agencies can use to remain flexible and agile:
During economic downturns, it’s tempting for brands to pause or cut back on advertising budgets. There are signs of some taking that approach today, as July 2022 was the worst month for ad spending in two years, with a contraction of 12.7% YoY.
However, there are many reasons to maintain advertising levels through tough times—and preserving brand recognition is perhaps the most significant one. If you want your brand to remain at the forefront of consumers’ minds, it needs to be visible. This is especially crucial for smaller brands or those with less name recognition—just a few months out of the spotlight could result in significant damages and losses.
Another reason to keep marketing levels consistent is to build brand loyalty. For younger generations in particular, consumers want brands to share their values and take part in important cultural conversations. Especially in today’s competitive landscape, brands have a lot to lose by slashing marketing budgets.
Another approach brands and agencies should embrace is to prioritize the changing needs of customers. Though every economic downturn is different, the Harvard Business Review’s analysis of how brands survived the 2008 recession still rings true today. They claimed that one of the most critical steps advertisers took was “to track how customers reassess priorities, reallocate funds, switch brands, and redefine value.” Put simply, when consumers change, advertisers should too.
When unexpected market factors arise, it is especially important to understand how these factors influence consumers and their behavior. In today’s economic landscape, this might look like embracing messaging that approaches inflation and high prices with empathy. It could also mean considering the impact of both cost and value for today’s consumer, and adapting messaging to better connect with target audiences.
By focusing on consumers and how they change in response to different situations, brands and agencies can embrace messaging that “feels right” to consumers in the moment. Rather than being reactive when a challenge arises, advertisers can pause, reflect, and think: what does this mean for our target consumers? Then, they can craft responsive messaging that is grounded in common sense.
A final tactic brands and agencies can use to maintain agility and flexibility amidst uncertainty is to analyze digital consumption trends and adapt advertising strategies based on their findings. Once brands have identified their ideal consumers, they should lean into available data to determine where those consumers are spending their time. This could mean ramping up CTV advertising to adapt to elevated viewership levels, or exploring a new social platform based on user trends. By analyzing and exploring the data, marketers can make strategic adjustments to meet consumers where they are.
For advertisers who find success in times of uncertainty, agility enables their resilience. They assess the ever-changing marketing landscape and reframe their thinking when challenges hit. They respond to consumer needs in a way that meets the moment, use data to make informed and strategic decisions, and utilize available tools and technologies that empower them to do their most impactful work.
As the marketing landscape continues to change, I’m committed to rolling with change and finding opportunities in the chaos.
My team and I dive into this—and more—in our webinar: Advertising Through Uncertainty: How Marketers Can Navigate Economic Downturn. Check it out to better understand the complexities of today’s advertising landscape, key shifts in consumer behavior due to economic instability, and best practices for marketers and advertisers in an unpredictable marketplace.
Being a food and beverage brand is a bit of a blessing and a curse.
The blessing? Everyone’s gotta eat and drink, so to a certain extent, demand will never diminish. Food and beverage retail sales will reach an estimated $1.23 trillion in 2022, and that figure is expected to grow to $1.37 trillion by 2026.
The curse? Well, it just might be a four-curse meal:
To keep your brand in the conversation, it’s more important than ever to stay up to date on all the latest food and beverage marketing trends.
Hungry for more? Here are four trends to watch as you shape the advertising strategy for your food and beverage brand(s).
According to the Institute of Food Technologists, inflation is driving Gen Z and millennial consumers back to the kitchen—six in 10 people age 25-34 are cooking more dinners at home than last year—and they want their meals easy and economical, healthy, at times plant-based, and sometimes saucy and spicy (perhaps experimenting with recipes to replicate the dining-out experience). Now, each of those could be a fully baked trend in and of itself (and we’ll slice into the “healthy” aspect more shortly), but the big takeaway here is that higher-priced food and restaurant staffing shortages have made cooking at home more attractive. Online research behaviors reflect this, too: searches for “air fryers” have remained above pre-pandemic levels, and interest in “meal kits” and related phrases continues to trend.
And as we gather more often in each other’s homes, charcuterie boards are taking center stage. From how-to searches to visual inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram, folks are showing more online interest in the self-serve party trays and the bites they host, to the point where global grocer Aldi has created a Charcuterie Board (yes, those were capital letters—we’re talking about a board of directors made up of seven gourmet food and wine enthusiasts) to track food and beverage grazing trends.
To appeal to the at-home chef, food marketers can benefit from showing how easy it is to cook with their ingredients (and maybe even offer some 30-minute quick-prep recipes), how cost-effective their options are, and how yummy the plated product appears on the dinner table.
The trend of cooking at home requires food from the grocery store, but many consumers are opting to buy their groceries from the comfort of their own homes: e-commerce will make up more than 10% of grocery sales in 2023, lifting Instacart’s reputation and Walmart’s digital revenue, and “click-and-collect” grocery sales are forecasted to rise steadily as a share of that e-commerce. And for those who want to skip cooking altogether, intermediary delivery services (think GrubHub or DoorDash) are poised to grow in the next half-decade, too.
Even Prime Day in July 2022 saw food and grocery purchases grow 12% year over year, the third highest category growth of the year for the annual online megasale.
Meal kits also fit into this category, and although the post-pandemic near-term saw users drop their subscriptions, the market outlook sees meal kits growing from a $6.9 billion industry in 2021 to more than $10 billion in 2024, with one forward-thinking service working with dietitians to develop meal plans aimed at helping patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease manage their health.
Investing in your digital presence can help your brand(s) stand out—or, at least, keep up—in this increasingly competitive space. The flexibility and nimble nature of programmatic advertising can help you navigate today’s unpredictable market, and it can put your most valuable messages in front of your most valuable customers in their true moment of need. And as consumers spend more of their food and beverage budget via digital channels, combined with the fragmented and complex nature of the digital space, brands can also benefit from investing in digital advertising automation tools to streamline processes, keep up with the industry’s ad spend trajectory, and navigate today’s unpredictable market.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic got many of us to pay more attention to our health. This has a significant impact on food and beverage brands, as consumers are thinking about how to take better care of themselves via their diets.
There are myriad bite-sized trends inside the larger “health” trajectory, including:
All in all, the industry has plenty of lanes to swim in to meet consumers’ health demands!
Marketers in food and beverage can take this opportunity to toot their own horns (the buzzword here is “transparency”) in their advertising and product packaging. Maintaining presence, relevance, and helpfulness in a conscious consumer’s journey is key, and following up with advertising to close the sales loop can help put your healthiest options in their fridges and pantries.
The perception of “scarcity” is one of those trusty marketing tactics that generates sales because it plays into people’s fear of missing out—or, as we’ve come to know it, FOMO. From hybrid foods to celebrity-curated meals, limited-time offers (or LTOs) are re-energizing brands and causing curious consumers to spend before the chance slips through their fingers.
The combo of limited-time menu items and influencer marketing has been on display on fast-food menus for a while now: McDonald’s Travis Scott combo boosted declining US sales at the Golden Arches in 2020 and inspired more partnerships like Justin Bieber and Tim Hortons, Megan Thee Stallion and Popeye’s, and Charli D’Amelio and Dunkin’. These quick-service restaurants see their marketing amplified by social media word of mouth, and they benefit when customers download mobile apps that make ordering and paying faster and in-app communications possible.
Other examples of limited-time offers include merging flavors or even food items (how did it take this long to invent pretzel beer?!), experiential events, social media challenges (bet you can eat just #OneChip), and exclusive partnerships (C-store/pizza chain Casey’s partnered with Busch Light on a beer cheese pizza and Mountain Dew on an exclusive fruity flavor mix).
Even if these ambitious moves aren’t in your meal plan, food and bev brands have plenty of ways to generate excitement and/or curiosity—or even coordinate with product teams to create and introduce a limited-edition shock flavor—for a fun and buzzworthy way to showcase your brand and boost sales.
(And in a world where actual scarcity brought about by supply chain issues is very real and ongoing, maintaining advertising levels can help you stay top of mind, expand your reach, show off a bit, and maybe recruit from the talent pool created by the Great Resignation.)
In the bigger context of supply chain issues, product shortages, and inflation, reaching your target audience where they are is more critical than ever. And as food and beverage advertisers face the deprecation of third-party cookies, the challenge of doing so is about to increase dramatically.
Check out our guide, Beyond Third-Party Cookies: Your Guide to Overcoming the Identity Crisis, to get the latest on the next generation of identity solutions in digital advertising.
Is there anyone who finds inflation convenient? Perhaps some overly enthusiastic high school math teacher who seizes the opportunity to create a particularly perplexing prompt? We can imagine how it might unfold:
If Billy bought 320 watermelons for his end-of-summer bash last year for $1387, and 47 packs of hot dogs for $100, how much should he budget for this year, accounting for the July 2022 inflation rate of 8.5%? And what if he had thrown his party the month before, and instead faced an increase of 9.1%?
Yikes. Jokes aside, inflation truly is everywhere, and people are feeling the impacts. Some Americans are not only cutting back on discretionary spending, but also changing their shopping habits around essentials. From buying smaller quantities, to switching to cheaper alternatives, to hunting more rigorously for bargains, many are leaving behind brands they’ve been loyal to in the past as they search for better prices.
Brand marketers are likely wondering: How do I approach inflation in my campaigns? Ignore it? Make jokes?? Approach with the utmost seriousness??? Maybe being back in high school doing those word problems wouldn’t be so terrible…
Though delving into the possibilities of time travel is tempting, we’ll instead focus today’s post on something a bit more actionable: how brands are addressing inflation in sensitive and effective ways. There’s certainly no silver bullet when it comes to advertising during times like these. However, we’ve dug up five ads that address the “I” word in a way that stands out, and we think there’s something to be learned from them. Let’s dive in.
Everlane launched their anti-inflation sale in early August. It was a timely campaign, seeing as it closely followed reports that inflation had hit its 40-year high of 9.1%.
“Priced Like It’s 2019”—what a genius line! We were immediately transported to those glorious, pre-COVID, pre-invasion of Ukraine, pre-this-round-of-economic-uncertainty days, and clicked through the sale prices with nostalgic musings on simpler times.
Everlane’s intentionality is what made this campaign shine: they spoke to the moment by running the campaign when news around inflation was exploding, and they relayed a message that set off memories of a time when shopping was far more pleasant, thus disrupting the near-immediate negative feelings many have when they think about spending money in today’s economy.
Our key takeaway: This campaign shows just how impactful it can be when brands adjust their messaging to meet the complexity of the current moment. By pairing thoughtful, timely messaging with other strategies—such as retargeting key audiences across channels—brands can ensure that consumers are getting the right message, in the right way, at the right time.
Eggs that cost a bajillion dollars. Gas that costs $5,333.90 per gallon. Used cars starting near a million dollars. These are just a few of the outlandish images seen at the start of Del Taco’s video ad highlighting their “20 Under $2” menu.
And though the ad first ran when inflation was only 7% (ah, what a time), the takeaways for marketers are as relevant today as they were then.
This ad is a great example of a brand using humor effectively in a complex situation. It’s successful because of the level of exaggeration: the claims in the video are so extreme that they create a welcome sense of distance and separation from reality.
What Del Taco doesn’t do? Make jokes in a way that minimizes the struggles that consumers are facing. When you consider the fact that 84% of Americans plan to cut back on spending due to current economic conditions, it’s clear that inflation is seriously impacting peoples’ lives—and that’s nothing to take lightly. Del Taco walks the line by laughing with us, not at us. And, the ad goes an extra step to position Del Taco as supportive and understanding by following their jokes with the phrase “We get it, and we got you.”
Our key takeaway: Humor is best served with a side of empathy, especially when joking about things that have serious implications for peoples’ lives. At a time where brand loyalty is faltering, brands need to be especially mindful that their ads don’t alienate customers or leave them with feelings of distrust. This video ad reflects a deep understanding of the current consumer and seeks connection with them in a way that’s relevant. Del Taco isn’t afraid to use humor to get their point across, but they do it in a way that shows they “get” their customers.
Over the last few months, inflation has had an outsized impact on goods, as compared to services. Case in point: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of durable goods have risen by 14 percent over the past year, compared to the 5.4 percent increase in cost of services. Coupled with the fact that data shows consumers are spending less on things and more on experiences, companies that provide services—such as travel brands—are well positioned to engage with customers.
In their recent campaign, Expedia used these factors to their advantage. Their ad “Stuff: Made to Travel” is all about how most people don’t look back thinking about the stuff they bought, but rather the experiences they had. They don’t explicitly talk about inflation in their video ad; instead, they imply its impact by concluding with a clip of a family running on a beach alongside the words “Save more on the things that matter.”
Our key takeaway: Paying attention to current trends is always critical in advertising, but even more so during times of economic instability and uncertainty. By understanding the factors impacting and driving consumers, and thinking creatively about the opportunities they present, brands will be well-positioned to convey their value within a specific moment.
Okay, we know services and travel brands might have it a bit easier right now, but hear us out! This ad from Outdoorsy offers takeaways for brands of all industries.
Unlike Expedia’s ad that addressed inflation in a highly nuanced way, Outdoorsy’s names it up-front. Not only that—they take it a step further and offer potential consumers an escape. In this video, they show stunning images of people exploring nature, each with accompanying words that say something along the lines of “no inflation here.” As an RV-booking company, they then highlight their unique offering and how it’s relevant to the present moment: skip the expensive, flashy travel, and book an RV instead.
Brands across all industries can employ a similar advertising approach by considering questions like:
Our key takeaway: Highlight your brand’s key differentiators in the current landscape. For Outdoorsy, this meant not only talking about travel, but also about their offerings as an RV-booking company, which allows customers to forego pricey hotels and flights during a time when they are especially expensive. By leaning into what makes their brand unique, they crafted messaging that not only meets the moment but also elevates their brand within the moment.
As we mentioned earlier, goods have been hit harder by inflation than services, and grocery stores are a prime example. To gather anecdotal data on where people have hit their “inflation breaking points,” one Vox reporter asked her Twitter following—and found that the most common response was “at the grocery store.” What can brands do when the places they sell their goods inherently elicit stress?
One winning example is Fresh Thyme Market’s video ad, “Immerse Yourself.” The video explores the connection between the goods we buy and where they come from, with imagery designed to generate bliss and contentment. It opens with images of a fisherman at sea, fresh peaches being brought in from an orchard, and a woman walking through a sun-kissed field of lavender; then shifts to images of people shopping at Fresh Thyme Market for these specific products.
By juxtaposing goods’ pastoral origins with their moments of purchase, the ad reminds consumers of the enjoyment and contentment that can be found in food. Like Outdoorsy’s ad, it leans into the experiences offered by their products, emphasizing the specific value of the fresh and local food sold at Fresh Thyme.
The ad concludes with a quick mention of affordability: “real healthy food, at real affordable prices.” This further drives home the point that, amidst inflation, Fresh Thyme offers customers something valuable.
Our key takeaway: Consumers need to know what value your product or brand provides, especially within today’s economic context. Even if you don’t want to explicitly discuss or name inflation in your marketing, it’s important to convey your brand’s differentiators in a compelling way.
There is no “one way” to advertise during times of economic uncertainty. But knowing your consumer, understanding the moment, and approaching challenges with a balance of humor and empathy can go a long way.
To really understand where customers are coming from, it’s important to stay up-to-date on all the complex factors shaping today’s marketing landscape. But researching and finding what’s most relevant can be time-consuming (And you’re busy! We get it!)
Here’s where we can help. We put together a monthly newsletter, Basis Scout, where we round up all the hottest intel in ad tech and digital marketing. For digital advertising professionals trying to keep a pulse on what’s happening, it’s a no brainer.
