LaBarge+Partners

The Rise of the Mommy Bloggers

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

Look around. Fourteen percent of all American moms blog. Fourteen percent.

And if you think 14 percent is high, imagine the number you’d see if we measured the reach of those 14 percent to other mothers – more precisely, other buyers.

Research shows that American women make most household decisions – and, by default, household purchases. So, what’s the importance of the mommy bloggers?

Their brand suggestions, their experiences, their advice is key to a brand. So, with the help of the mommy bloggers, brands that resonate with mommy bloggers have a leg up on brands that pay them no attention.

They’ve already made it to the White House. Brands are taking notice – are you?

Tags: bloggers, consumers, influence
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Who Exactly are the Millennials?

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

The Baby Boomers are pretty well-known. They’re the large amount of babies born after World War II ended.

But after that, it gets sort of fuzzy. Who’s included in Generation X? And what about Generation Y?

Those who make up Generation Y are sometimes referred to as the Millennials – but also Generation Next, Net Generation and the Echo Boomers. Whatever they’re called, they were born sometime between the mid-1970s and the early 2000s – and one thing’s for sure: they’re crucial to today’s market.

To clear things up, this infographic depicts the demographics of the Millennials, as well as the breakdown of how Millennials receive technology. Shocker: Millennials still prefer television to the Internet when getting their news.

Tags: consumers, research, shopper marketing
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Retailers vs. Showrooming

Friday, April 13th, 2012

Showrooming: Shoppers look at products in stores, but buy online at lower prices

The problem? Retailers can’t keep up with online stores, primarily Amazon.com, which offer lower prices on the same products, coupled with cheaper and faster shipping than an online counterpart of a big box store can offer.

Because of its low labor costs and fees it charges others to sell on its website, Amazon.com is able to offer lower prices than traditional big box stores selling the same products – and consumers have caught on.

Showrooming has escalated with smart phone apps specifically designed to scan a product and compare with competitors’ prices, such as RedLaser, Google Shopper and even Amazon’s very own Amazon Price Check.

In an effort to compete with online stores, big box store Best Buy is shutting down stores and making future stores smaller, as a way to offer fewer products in-store and compete with the online stores on their own stomping grounds.

Target has asked its suppliers to offer “special products” that aren’t available online, setting it apart from competitors and shielding it from the price comparisons of showroomers.

The rise of e-commerse has contributed to the fall of brick and mortar stores, giving them little option but to lower prices to try to compete with online prices. Retailer-specific models may be the current answer to retailers’ problems, but what’s the next step?

Fewer stores? Less competition? No choices? Regardless of who’s got the cheaper price today, this retail war does not bode well for the consumer.

Tags: consumers, products, retail, shopper marketing
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Walk of Shame or Stride of Pride

Monday, December 12th, 2011

‘Tis the season! Holiday parties, eggnog, champagne and, for some, the morning after walk-of-shame.

As the Christmas party season gets into full swing, upmarket British department store Harvey Nichols reminds consumers of the dangers of an ill-chosen outfit in a new spot, “Walk of Shame.”

The film (by DDB) aims to show how women can avoid the embarrassing walk home after by shopping at Harvey Nichols.

So will Valentino or Nina Ricci save you from the embarrassment of neighbor run-ins or 7 AM barefoot hustles home?

Probably not…but every girl (and sometimes, guy) wishes it would.

(side note: if you’re shopping @ HN you can probably afford a cab home but that’s neither here nor there)

The viral is designed to show the retailer, “has everything you need to walk home with your glamorous head held high”.

Julia Bowe, group marketing director at Harvey Nichols, said: “We always like to take something true to life and have fun with it, and see how Harvey Nichols can make things better. A fabulous dress teamed with a great pair of shoes will atone for a multitude of sins in our eyes.”

It’s a bit of a stretch but this faux PSA has us laughing (and writing) so the spot does it job.

The clip is being hosted on the brand’s YouTube channel. Viewers are also being encouraged to share their “walk-of-shame” stories by sharing them on Twitter via the #walkofshame hashtag.

Tags: advertising, consumers, shopper marketing, women
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See It Through

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Samsung is developing a new technology that may give Apple a run for its money.

It’s called “flexible display technology” and early predictions are estimating a late 2012 launch.

A newly released concept ad gives us a glimpse of how flex display technology could transform our lives.

Flexible displays have been hyped as the future of cell phones and mobile technology for the past several years. But it wasn’t until now that we can see the potential flex display technologies may hold – fully transparent flexible screens on our smartphone-tablet hybrids.

A sense of augmented reality…that’s real.

Practical? Not sure.

Cool? Absolutely.

Tags: consumers, influence, products
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Cutting Losses

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

Once upon a time there was a company that was successful.

They owned their category, made huge profits and had a clear growth plan for the future.
Then the category landscape started to shift…

And instead of thinking thoroughly and clearly about how to move forward – and how to communicate that path to their customers – they screwed everything up.

But this isn’t a story about the demise of a company (yet…) – this is a story about the importance of communication.

On Monday, the Netflix reported that their video subscription service lost 805,000 customers in the third quarter – biggest exodus in the company’s history.

Netflix lost its luster among consumers and investors by raising prices as much as 60 percent in the U.S. and bungling an attempt to spin off its DVD-by-mail rental service. The shift in business was something the company felt they needed to do to compete with the changing category – between doing nothing and doing something dramatic, the dramatic change seemed to be the lesser of two evils.

Despite the 60% price increase, Netflix notified shareholders that the impact of the price increase would be limited and the company would finish the Q3 with 25 million total subscribers.

In reality, the company finished its third quarter with 23.79 million U.S. subscribers.

Customers were not happy about the 60% price increase.
Investors were not happy about the loss in subscribers.
Netflix was not happy about the increased media attention.
It seemed that everyone was loosing.

But buried in that report was something interesting – despite the loss in subscibers, Netflix earnings rose 65 percent. Netflix reported $822 million in revenues for the quarter and earnings per share of $1.16, which beat estimates of $811.79 million and earnings per share of 96 cents, respectively.

So while the subscription loss was significant, a 60% increase in price and 4% loss in customers amounts to a revenue increase of approx 53.6%.

From a financial standpoint (a short term one at least), all is not lost.

Which makes me wonder why the apology letters to investors, the media interviews and the article headlines all read catastrophe when they could have framed strategy and future opportunity.

Netflix is a case study in communication. What are you doing and how are you going to talk about it? Will we phase the price increase? Will we frame the pricing changes in the context of improved, streamlined service? Will we ask the customers what the want and even – dare we ask – what they are willing to pay for?

A study in communication and a hard lesson for Netflix to learn.
But a lesson learned…we hope.

“It’s not just what you say that stirs people. It’s the way that you say it.” – B Bernbach

Tags: consumers, identity, influence, Insights, LaBarge Partners
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Let There Be Light

Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Alarm clocks.

Ringing. Beeping. Vibrating. Chirping…

There has to be a better way.

This consumer wants a product that offers me a new solution.

Philips listened. Introducing the “Wake-Up” light – a sunshine simulating clock that slowly wakes consumers up in the morning.

Testing for the product began last year in the northernmost settlement in the world – a Norwegian town with a population of 2000.

Every year, Longyearbyen is plunged into complete darkness for about four months a year. Philips gave the town’s residents its “Wake-up Light” to simulate natural sunlight -

Listening to a consumer need and offering a legitimate, meaningful and relevant solution.

A novel idea.

And one that is heading right for the bank.

Tags: consumers, Insights, labarge+partners, research
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Vending Belief

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Problem with product believability?

The traditional solution is product sampling.

But where have traditional tactics gotten us lately?

Exactly. We have to be smarter than traditional.

Case in point – the beyond sampling efforts of PepsiCo for their Lays brand.

Consumers are skeptic of the Lays brand and PepsiCo knows it. As a of a bigger effort underway to emphasize that Lay’s is made entirely of real potatoes, with a little oil and salt, Lays bags have been redesigned to show real potatoes on the back panel. Ads on billboards and delivery trucks also communicate the “only potatoes” claim.

But seeing (and tasting) is believing…and PepsiCo knows that too.

Instead of traditional product sampling, PepsiCo developed something new and interesting — PepsiCo has created an unusual vending machine that appears to manufacture Lay’s potato chips before consumers eyes after a real potato, rather than coins, is dropped in a slot.

The Lay’s machine, which will make its first appearance in a Buenos Aires supermarket this fall, features an intricate system of tubes, flames and boiling water as the potato is seen going through six distinct steps: washing, peeling, cutting, cooking, salting and finally packaging, ending with a bag of Lay’s potato chips popping out of the machine.

Connecting the sampling / brand interaction dot, Lays promoters will hand shoppers real potatoes with stickers inviting them to take the potato and insert it in the Lay’s machine.

The process, which looks incredibly real, is actually a video that appears to show the inner workings of potato chip manufacturing.

Follow the link the watch the Lays Machine in action

http://adage.com/article/global-news/argentina-lay-s-vending-machine-turns-potatoes-chips/229828/

Tags: consumers, CPG, influence, sampling, shopper marketing
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Back to the Start

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

I think of Chipotle as “just another fast food chain” but Chipotle seems bound and determined to prove me wrong.

Last week Chipotle announced the creation of the “Chipotle Cultivate Foundation,” a new foundation aimed at supporting people, organizations and institutions that are committed to making a better, more sustainable future.

In a WSJ article, Chipotle founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, Steve Ells, said “For more than a decade, we have been working to improve the nation’s food supply by finding more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients we use in our restaurants. By creating the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, we are extending our reach beyond our restaurants and will be supporting organizations and people that are working to improve individual family farms, animals and the environment, and youth and education programs.”

Are we to believe that an enormous food chain is trying (let alone afford) to end factory farming?

Short answer – yes.

Chipotle buys more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant company in the country.

And in the summer of 2011, Chipotle committed to using more than 10 million pounds of local produce in their restaurants.

And let’s not miss this adorable PSA

Both the film and the soundtrack were commissioned by Chipotle to emphasize the importance of developing a sustainable food system.

Chipotle plans to show the video in 5,700 movie theaters around the country. And when you purchase the Willie Nelson cover on iTunes, $.60 of your $.99 goes to the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which supports sustainable farming.

Consumers choose where they shop, eat and spend their time. When companies take a real (and I mean real) interest in bettering our lives, consumers slowly (but surely) take notice.

This consumer did.

Tags: consumers, influence, Insights
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Posts Tagged ‘consumers’