5 trends of 2012

27th January 2012, by Cassandra Holland

2011 was a year of enormous upheaval, both economically and politically. The Arab Spring, UK riots, public sector strikes, further economic hardship from the Eurozone crisis and the threat of the break-up of the currency zone all loomed large. It’s important to look back, as all of these events define the tapestry of the 2012 landscape and the mindset of the 2012 consumer.  

Whilst the economic environment remains fraught, there are some positive signs on the horizon (phew...!). The Bank of England has forecast that inflation will fall during 2012, easing the squeeze on consumers’ purchasing power - which, in recent months, has been weakened by rising unemployment and high inflation.  

Further, a survey by IPA Bellwether indicates that companies are not cutting their marketing spend in this challenging economic environment, as marketing budgets look set to rise relative to 2011 actual spend and brands look to protect their market share.   

Therefore, it’s not all doom and gloom, and in the spirit of looking forward, we have checked out trendwatching.com’s top trends of 2012 to see what consumers will be drawn to, will avoid, or maybe even desire in the upcoming year.

1. Uncensored and Transparent

Consumers are increasingly empowered, as they capitalise on the information on the internet to dictate their purchasing decisions as well as to voice their complaints, views and queries on products, services and price. Indeed, Deborah Womack, of Experian Integrated Marketing, states that brand loyalty is a thing of the past, due to the sheer breadth of information available at the customer’s fingertips.

When, in the past, a customer complaint may be voiced to 10 friends it can now be broadcast to thousands of consumers, as the effect of word of mouth is multiplied. This trend has been building for a few years now and, in 2012, brands can no longer afford to not react to this changing environment.  

Brands are going to have to respond to online conversations about their products and service both publicly and quickly. I have seen many examples of brands failing to achieve these two things - a common example is responding to customer complaints on Facebook by requesting they forward the complaint to a direct email address. As well as causing the individual who made the complaint to feel frustrated (I have experience of this and I promise you it is annoying!), other customers who read this comment are hardly going to feel reassured.  

Here are a few examples of brands getting it right…

Four Seasons Hotel

Starwood Hotels

2. Right Here, Right Now

This trend refers to the consumer’s constant connectivity through GPS-enabled smartphones, which - again - has been building for a while.

What this means for brands is consumers who want real-time and relevant information, offers, products and experiences. For brands, the brilliant benefit of this technology is the ability to target customers at the right time, as well as enabling them to encourage a behavioural change in their customers’ purchasing habits - such as encouraging them to visit your restaurant/pub/store on days when they typically wouldn’t (for more, see Michael Nutley’s article).  

This can mean offers that ping to your customers as they enter an area in which your brand has a presence. 2011 saw mobile discount vouchers explode, with one in two adults regularly using vouchers and almost one in five consumers saying they would stop visiting if they could not get a discount (Allegra Strategies, July 2011). Therefore, if brands are not present on these voucher sites and apps, there is a fear that they could be losing their market share to those that are.

One of ClickZ.com’s social media predictions for 2012 is that brands will move away from offering individual offers and deals - as consumers increasingly suffer from deal fatigue - and instead develop social media programmes that find and reward their advocates for sharing content, information and offers to friends, whether through Twitter, Facebook or blogs.   

Who’s doing it right?

Windows Phone UK 

3. Human Brand

trendwatching.com predicts that, in 2012, brands that contribute positively to society, stand for something or just have a bit of personality will be embraced more than ever by consumers.

This trend is linked to the erosion in public trust of big businesses, as consumers become increasingly drawn to brands that convey their helpful, reasonable and flexible approach.

trendwatching.com has identified 7 traits that make a brand ‘human’, including empathy (understanding not just what your consumer wants but how you make them feel), generosity (giving back), humility (letting consumers talk about you - linked to increased transparency), honesty (brands being open about their flaws) and humour. With nine of the ten best advertisements in Nielsen’s survey of the UK's most popular television ads of 2011 (based on likeability and recall) being humorous, the ability to engage customers through comedy is vital.

One of the best platforms for a brand to convey their personality is through social media, with recent research revealing that 26% of consumers prefer business tweets that show some personality and brand perspective (AYTM Market Research).  

4. Community

In 2012, brands will need to convey the positive contribution they make to their customers’ local communities, as consumers more and more look to support their local area and people. To this effect, Konstantin Pinaev argues that the increased desire to be part of a community is a counter-trend to globalisation. 

Again, social media will play a key role in the ability of a brand to do this. A pub with multiple outlets can empower individual managers to engage with their community through social media, enabling them to build the relationships and loyalty that can be achieved effectively by individuals the consumer can know and identify with, as opposed to a faceless corporation. This could mean sharing local content, concerns and campaigning for local needs. ClickZ.com found that localised content creates 7-10 times higher engagement levels than non-locally relevant content.

5. City Lights

Again, a trend that has been building for a while: urban dwellers are increasingly identifying with their resident cities. Brands that can tailor campaigns and products to reference these cities can capitalise on this urban pride. An example is Umbro - a Manchester heritage brand - that developed the Umbro Industries campaign, in which they donate up to £10,000 in funding to help Manchester’s entrepreneurs launch an idea, whether it’s an exhibition, club night or band.

If you’ve a view on any of these trends, or you’ve seen any others, feel free to chat to me about it. Just email cassie.holland@waa.co.uk.