Recession Marketing #1: How social media helps understand consumer attitude and behavior

We've been having many discusisons inside Ogilvy about how to market successfully in a recession. One of the first things that I noticed was how helpful it is to tap into our listening post methodology to "hear" what is going on with other consumers. A brief conversation with Lisa Stone from BlogHer revealed a couple of her own insights from interacting with that community:

1. While everyone is being pinched, squeezed or downright flattened by the economy, many women are not just limiting spending but when they do have to spend, they need to get the most for their money. This "value" may not be a simple price issue. It includes the value that comes with a meaningful brand. Or it could be additonal promotional value like coupons or partner product.

2. Many of the BlogHer women seem focused on playing a part in "fixing the world". They are also ready to stand up and take on a personal leadership position in their household. Both of these attitudes are strengthened by the Obama win. They reflect an optimism and sense of personal responsibility that usually is absent in a recession.

3. Not surprisingly, families are staying in more and cooking more. As we try to save money, that is only natural. True benefits are coming to those who cook at home over many nights not just one night here or there. That way the cook can make use of leftovers in a highly efficient way.

4. People are turned off by overindulgence. There is a certain sense that individuals are culpable in the current economic crisis not an abstract economic force. Our own personal attitudes might make us all a little responsible, too. Certainly many institutions are taking a big credibility hit (i.e. how much do you trust your bank or your investor right now), but they may be softened slightly by the sense that our own appetite for more and better got the best of us. I have to wonder what this means for the upper third of the luxury market. Those products that were supported by upward striving middle-classers may be in for a significant hit. The blog Financial Armageddon not only has the coolest name, they also have some supporting points:

“The overwhelming reaction is to pare down, to simplify”-- an intensification of BrainReserve's “cashing out” cultural trend, says Popcorn. “Price increases have a straight-line impact on spending, and we're treading in lethal waters as the costs of basics jump 10, 15 or 20 percent. There's very little that's safe in commerce today, beyond value channels and value brands in staple categories.”...

...Other findings include: 42 percent gave up some of their favorite brands between last December and this May; 50 percent buy more private-label products, and 24 percent now purchase private-label brands virtually every time they shop (compared to 19 percent in 2007 and 17 percent in 2006)

This type of quick feedback from the Blogher community is priceless. Certianly, big professional surveys and research projects from GFK Roper, Faith Popcorn and others have their place. But social media - specifically communities and social networks like Blogher, Gather, Eons and many more - are great live panels to dip into and get information from immediately. You can do it by posing questions to the community. You can also do it by just listening to blog posts and message board threads.

Our new, "social" world moves too quick for quarterly surveys. Having a listening post or a regular routine of seeing what people are saying in their online universes can help you find insight for a quick and impactful budiness decison today.

Take a look at a few clever and intriguing views of Blogher from Wordle. The first is the pattern formed by their core RSS feed. Without scrutinizing the technology, it seems clear that Blogher continues to bubble with discussions and commentaries around the new President. Compare that with the url Wordle feed from their partner iVillage and you can quickly see that lifetsyle topics dominate today. I can't testify to the "solidness" of Wordle as a topic tool. I am feeding it invisible feeds. Still, I think these two views are probably indicative of those two communities/sources and explains why there is only about 30% overlap in their users (which makes the combo a smart ad buy!)

This next one is the Wordle formed from the blog post segments on the Blogher food and drink page:

This last one is from the core page of iVillage. Interesting comparison with Blogher.

Comments

[jacob morgan]

Hey John,

of course listening is probably one of the most important social media pillars. it's amazing how much information you can find when you begin listening. using tools like twitter search, google alerts, backtype, serph, and in person interactions can return a world of information about a product, company, idea, etc. the beauty of social media is the immediate information that you can get when you ask a community, twitter is a prime example.

thanks for the post john. just followed you on twitter as well.

Jacob

[jacob morgan]

Hey John,

of course listening is probably one of the most important social media pillars. it's amazing how much information you can find when you begin listening. using tools like twitter search, google alerts, backtype, serph, and in person interactions can return a world of information about a product, company, idea, etc. the beauty of social media is the immediate information that you can get when you ask a community, twitter is a prime example.

thanks for the post john. just followed you on twitter as well.

Jacob

[John Bell]

Thanks for the comment, Jacob.
I am not suggesting any insight that 'listening is key' to social media. We and others have been using active listening posts for years. What I am suggesting is that in a tough economy, if you want to have great understanding - in near real time - about what your customers care about (and what will cause them to purchase or not), listening to their conversations (or provoking them) in social media - blogs, social nets, message boards - is highly efficient (big return for the effort/$)

[JDMorton]

I agree... Listening is key.

PeopleInTheUSA.com is a great place to get resources for starting a business.
Go There!

JDMorton
PeopleInTheUSA.com

[Will Zweigart]

Great points John. Our peers in the media are more closely tuned in to shifts in consumer perceptions and priorities as well (partly because editors now have two-way feedback available via online comments, their own blogs, etc.), so this type of listening is essential for anyone working to pitch timely/relevant story ideas.