Emerging Consumers: Fact or Fiction?
As a futurist spending much of my time assessing emerging developments and their implications across an array of industry sectors, I am frequently asked for a view on ‘consumer trends’. Common questions are ‘what will consumers want in the future?’ ‘Does our product (service) have a place?’ ‘What is driving consumer behaviour?’ ‘How can we get ahead of the changing marketplace?’ and so on. But what if they’re the WRONG questions? For anyone who has seen me facilitate a public session, you’ll know that I play part court jester, part voice of conscience to provoke they way people think. So allow me a little provocation for you:
Consumers are NOT changing. Instead what we are seeing is the removal of the ‘blinkers’ most organisations are wearing that have hidden from view the hundreds or thousands of potential customers within their sights. Whilst methods of information gathering are shifting for consumers, that is just a tool, not a process. The intended outcome is very much the same – find out what I need to know.
Which means that even though technology is acceleraing the speed at which a consumer can gather information, it is Companies that are emerging out of the woodwork. It is as if the smog is clearing and businesses are finally seeing that there is (and in fact has ALWAYS been) a myriad of potential consumer dynamics in the marketplace. The most significant impact of this new awareness on behalf of companies, is the collapse of the validity of A-B-C consumers, of age based demographic targeting.
These approaches still have a role to play but they are not the be all and end all of marketing activity. Instead Companies are becoming increasingly aware that some consumers prefer fast paced snippets, some in depth commentary, and others prefer to go their own way. Some need to be guided, others prompted, some provoked. And this happens across age groups and across geographic locations and across income levels.
So are there Emerging Consumers? – kind of. And for the case of playing the Court Jester role, let me suggest that the emergence is on the part of Organisations who are at last, shaking off their delusion that you can ‘cookie cutter’ their marketing and branding. Sure tastes may change and for now Emerging Consumers are probably Faction than Fact
If an ‘Inconvenient Truth’ raised the profile of global warming to the general population, it appears that a willingness by political leaders to take appropriate action to mitigate the possible ramifications is still very much lacking. It is such a pity. No one who holds the Global Warming scenario close to heart wants to be…
Read More >Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber will join Tim Cox on 774 ABC as part of the conversation hour next week Tim is filling in for Jon Faine whilst he takes a well deserved break and Marcus will join him for the conversation hour kicking off at 11am on Thursday the 13th of December, where they’ll discuss…
Read More >At the AustForesight 2007 Conference, Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber and fellow Futurist Steve Tighe presented their take on what is required to enable futurists to be seen as more relevant to the Corporate world. Drawing on their shared experience as facilitator and client, they detailed the journey of foresight and futures across the past 50…
Read More >Futurists often get asked things like ‘Okay then – who’s going to win the ‘flag’ this year’. In Melbourne Cup time most of my friends ring me asking for a hot tip. Given my consistent poor form at selecting a winner, why they would ask me is anyone’s guess (unless they are working out who…
Read More >Does your organisation suffer what Futurists call ‘Operational Sleepwalking’? That most organisations (and people) willingly sleepwalk their way into their futures is not all that surprising. What is surprising about that however is that those people and those organisations are: * Surprised when something unexpected (and not to their liking) happens and, * Claim they…
Read More >Maree Conway, of ‘University Futures’ has joined the Australian Strategic Planning Institute as a lead facilitator for the Institute’s programs. Maree’s experience in policy development, planning and strategy initiatives provides additional weight to the sessions on offer. TASPI now have three key facilitators that cover critical steps in the Strategic Planning Process – Enhanced Awareness…
Read More >The latest edition of Fast Thinking has hit the streets and includes another tool for those seeking to develop innovation and strategy. Marcus Barber explains how to use, what he calls an ‘iiBubble’, a process that helps capture an idea to see if it has innovation ‘legs’. As one of the tools unique to Barber…
Read More >Looking Up Feeling Good would like to wish the very talented and focused futurist, Sophie Barber a happy birthday today. Sophie’s amazing talent at suggesting the possible future for a positive outcome is a true inspiration and we look forward to many more insights as the complexity of challenges continues to test our understanding, commitment…
Read More >The CoreNet Global Melbourne 2007 Summit incorporated a thought provoking Hypothetical panel discussion on the future of corporate real estate and the drivers for sustainability. With an economic futures framework provided by Melbourne University Professor of Economics Neville Norman who moderated the discussion, the panel included Aggie Aitken, Head of Workplace Development at ANZ; Strategic…
Read More >Among other great articles, the winter 2007 edition of Fast Thinking magazine highlights the ‘8 Factor’ model for effective employee engagement, created by strategic futurist Marcus Barber. Using the model he shows how organisations can develop greater flexibility when it comes to providing incentives as a means for improving productivity and ensuring longevity for staff.…
Read More >