For many of the nation’s foremost experts on consumer marketing, it’s back to the drawing board.
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, advertising agents and their corporate clients are finding much of what they thought they knew about the American mind-set has changed dramatically–perhaps more abruptly than ever before.
From shopping patterns and career choices to the emphasis given to family life, the shifts could not have been predicted before Sept. 11. And there appears to be little basis for comparing this new era in modern American history to previous ones.
Those millions of dollars spent on consumer research in recent years by companies eager to target their product offerings? In many sectors, it’s out the window, marketing executives are saying today.
So jolting are the changes in the national mood that it may be months before companies get a grip on what amounts to “normal” behavior and find the right way to pitch their customers.
So far, it appears that the tenor of the times will likely push the edgiest marketers to a newly earnest approach.
“The age of cynism is dead,” said Julie Danis, director of mind and mood at Chicago ad agency Foote, Cone & Belding. “You’ll still find humor in advertising. It won’t be so negative. It will be more clever. But there is an age of new humility.”
Although many companies faced difficult and emotional questions about advertising in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, they now are confronted with issues that are far more complex: How have American consumers really changed their attitudes and behavior since Sept. 11; which changes will be lasting, and how do they craft appropriate–and successful–messages in such uncertain times?
In many cases, marketers and their consultants disagree on how long the “new normal” period will last, and on how dramatic the effect will be on the messages companies use.
Experts say consumers can expect to see more ads with themes of family and community, nostalgia, subtle humor and compassion, and fewer with shots at competitors or with people’s pain as the butt of the joke.
The first telling signs of any changes are likely to show up in the next few weeks, when retailers begin their barrage of holiday advertising. Subsequent changes in the tone of advertising, if any, may follow on Super Bowl Sunday, the industry’s annual showcase.
The new realities were underscored in an exhaustive study to assess the American psyche after the Sept. 11 attacks from Foote Cone’s Brand Insights unit. The poll of 3,000 adult Americans across the socio-economic spectrum found that while most Americans have coped by “getting back to the routine” of everyday life, a sizable portion of the population has been so affected by Sept. 11 that some of the traditional ways people buy goods appears to have changed. And this may not be a short-term phenomenon, marketing executives say.
An added complication for marketing executives assessing the current climate: The economy, already in a slump, was made worse by the Sept. 11 attacks. Separating consumers’ pullback as job losses mounted from a fundamental change in behavior is problematic at best.
A case in point is Ellen Jabsheh, a general accounting manager for Kraft Foods’ Nabisco unit. The southwest suburban resident said she has tabled extra trips to the mall.
“I’m not in the mood to do it,” she says.
Worse, she’s worried about the slumping economy, made worse by the Sept. 11 attacks. Her husband is a chef at the Ritz-Carlton, which, like most hotels, has seen vacancy rates climb. Already, he has had to take some vacation without pay.
“We just purchased a new home. Some projects we need to do, we’re not doing right now,” she said.
Sales at discount stores in October benefited from consumers’ new frugality, although they had been outperforming their department store brethren for months already.
But some of consumers’ post-Sept. 11 changes are more subtle.
Women, who overall are more likely than men to indulge in casual shopping, or shopping as an experience, said in the FCB poll that they are adopting more of the get-in-and-get-out approach typically associated with men.
Women also appear to be more cautious than men about spending in the aftermath of the attacks; more than 1 in 4 women said they plan to cut down on holiday spending for family and close friends, compared with about 1 in 5 men.
More revealing in the research, however, may be how men and women coped with the attacks and how that may change behavior in the coming years. While women “multi-coped” with the tragedies by talking through their feelings with friends, or through religion, the study found, men tended to “task cope,” focusing their energies on one thing at a time. They worked more hours and exercised more frequently.
“People wanted to clean their houses,” said Paula Ausick, director of brand equities at FCB, who along with Danis oversaw the study, which FCB is making available to its clients.
Those in their 20s spent more time talking to friends at bars. And more career stability seemed to be top of mind.
“They are not the dot-com generation anymore,” Danis said. “They are looking at jobs that will be more safe and secure.”
For companies, the new realities suggested by the study mean that most will have a tough time launching new products, because consumers are appearing to gravitate toward familiar brands.
Companies that are icons for their stability and endurance may also emerge as winners. “People want them to succeed,” Ausick said.
But with that will come a greater scrutiny on corporate behavior. The study found people are expecting companies to be more diligent in investigating the types of firms they do business with, and, at a time when companies are laying off workers, high CEO salaries are not sitting well with consumers.
For advertisers and marketers, the changing, and unsteady, terrain means walking a fine line. Creative is good, as always, but edginess may not be. Ignoring consumers’ changing attitudes may be fatal, experts warn, but so could be trying to pander to them.
Most marketing experts agree that a more sober tone is coming in advertising, but companies will still rely on humor to sell.
Robert Lachky, vice president brand management and worldwide creative director at Anheuser-Busch, one of the nation’s biggest advertisers, said the beer giant is being careful with its use of humor, but not backing away from it.
Lachky also said it is important for brands not to overreact in trying to guess the mood of the consumer.
“The mood changes every day,” he said. “You’re almost better off being what you’ve been to consumers than doing anything that’s stupid.”
For some, risky comeback marketing strategies were better than doing nothing.
“We knew we were walking a fine line there,” said Terry Sullivan, General Motors’ director of communications for corporate sales and marketing, about the carmaker’s controversial “Keep America Rolling” campaign for its zero-percent financing offer. “At the time, had the companies retrenched, the impact on the economy would have been significantly different.”
The challenge for agency creative directors is deciding what work seems appropriate with consumers. Most hope that there is not a prolonged chilling effect on the creative process as a result.
“Certainly there are things that feel wrong … the more snide humor, or things that are at the expense of people,” said Jonathan Hoffman, executive creative director at Leo Burnett, which is also conducting studies to gauge consumers. “I hope it isn’t a shift to any one thing. The country is rebounding. We’re a pretty resilient bunch. But the world has changed. That genie isn’t going back into the bottle.”
