INC Wraps up Another Webinar, This Time on Consumption Trends

Through changing times, understanding consumer behavior and trends and developing successful marketing campaigns have become more important than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has shifted many consumer habits and they are becoming a different type of audience for marketers.

The latest INC webinar addressed both of these points with respected panelists, Nuria Moreno, the Global Director of OOH and Usage Panels from Kantar, and Alfonso Marian, the President of Ogilvy Spain, and former Chief Creative Officer for Ogilvy USA. They were joined by INC Executive Committee Member and Chairman of the INC Ambassadors Committee, Pratap Nair.

Nuria kicked off the webinar with a 20-minute presentation on the latest research from Kantar, identifying 6 of the biggest trends that have been accelerated by the pandemic. She opened the presentation by explaining that the panels used by Kantar represent 2/3 of the world population and enable them to give accurate insights into consumers around the world.

The first trend shared by Nuria was the return of out-of-home consumption across the globe and how that relates to the overall recovery of the food and beverage industry. In general, the percentage of value coming from out-out-home is not where it was pre-pandemic, but Nuria highlighted that some of the more recent data from Europe indicates that the levels are returning close to pre-pandemic numbers. She also noted that the out-of-home recovery for salty snacks has been slower compared to other snacking categories.

Turning to the second trend, Nuria mentioned the growth of the e-commerce market during lockdowns, but this growth is not as noticeable as countries come out of lockdowns.The third trend identified was working from home. This has undoubtedly changed the eating habits of consumers, leading to increased snacking, and later-in-the-day meals. The fourth trend was the shift of snacking being related to health. In general, snacking is linked to enjoyment, but the pandemic has now linked snacking to health.

The growth of meal delivery has also been a trend Kantar has tracked, as it changes the moments and occasions for consumption. And finally, the last trend discussed was creating an advantage through sustainability. Many companies now are looking to take advantage of the consumers’ awareness and desire for sustainable products, especially within the food industry, an area where nuts and dried fruits can capitalize.

The second half of the webinar was presented by Alfonso. As a creative and marketing expert, he was able to share some of the key aspects of a successful marketing campaign. His presentation began with an overview of 3 important considerations to have when designing a campaign: e-commerce, engagement, and product. To make the presentation more insightful, Alfonso shared various case studies and videos, highlighting various marketing campaigns by companies around the world.

Looking first at the rise and power of e-commerce, he talked about the importance of people shopping from home, depending on delivery, and the importance of brands in this regard. The first video shared was from Mastercard and their development of an app that allows local farmers to connect to the market. Mastercard partnered with navigation company, Waze, to allow local farmers to put their shops on the Waze app, giving them more visibility and allowing them to actively partake in the market which is oftentimes dominated by massive conglomerates.

The second e-commerce example was a retail company from the UK that develop applications allowing customers to create their own personalized “Bootiques” and shop from wherever they are. Discussing engagement, Alfonso highlighted the consumer behavior of “back to home” and “streaming & gaming”. One of the examples of engagement was from the US company, Verizon. For the 2021 Super Bowl, Verizon replicated the stadium and partnered with the popular video game Fortnite to encourage players to game and play inside of the digital Super Bowl Stadium. It ended up turning out to be one of the most engaged Super Bowls in history. Verizon was able to capitalize on this growing trend of gaming.

The final point of Alfonso’s presentation was product, and how price and quality are not the only two factors that drive sales. The experience, the company’s values and or commitment can also be a determining factors. A campaign example of this was Colgate. They designed an application that was kid-friendly and enjoyable to encourage longer times for brushing teeth. With the experience being so highly regarded, it was a major success among kids and their parents! The presentation shared many other examples of how building a marketing strategy that meets consumer behavior will likely result in a successful outcome!

In a market where consumer habits change so often, putting together market research and building a marketing campaign aligned with the latest trends and behaviors can put your company in the best position to create a competitive advantage and reap the benefits of change.