Supercharge Me
Control is central to our lives these days. We control our spend, our careers, our family ambitions and perhaps most of all, our reputations. The information available to us and the technology that helps us map and manufacture our lives means that there’s simply no room for error. No space to feel anything less than in control at all times. And if we consumers are now operating our very own control tower, with all the signals we need to amplify ourselves to our very best advantage – then there’s surely no need to relinquish any of our needs to helpful brands?
On the contrary. It is the clever brand who lets a consumer feel like he/she is in control at all times. And brands who are potentially prepared to open up to partner brands – possibly losing some of their own control of the consumer relationship in the process – who will win the controlling hearts and minds of tomorrow’s consumer.
So what can your brand do to gain control of tomorrow?
Life partner
Advice remains an underexploited area, largely because it is often difficult to impart without falling foul of a legal catch somewhere. A significant minority however would welcome this. For instance 39% are attracted to “A service that offered me advice on how to improve my daily life based on an understanding of my current personal lifestyle habits (e.g. my spending, eating, or sleeping habits)”. Marketing aspiration and selling control could be one very profitable ticket.
Appearance is everything
Forget reality for just a second. Only 16% of the population feel it is important to ‘present an image true to oneself’ on social media. Barely 1 in 3 of us thinks it matters that we admit our failings. No prizes for spotting the huge contradiction on this versus what we expect of brands. A huge 77% agree ““I try to appear in control of my life at all times”. The intention to edit as often as necessary, even be elastic with the truth when required, couldn’t be more explicit. Brands will be expected to support, rather than claim credit, for our efforts here.
Seamless stories
If we can join the dots of people’s lives through a series of partnered moments, then we may just unlock a serious chunk of consumer love. Pantene’s ‘haircast’ campaign is a beautifully executed example of this. Their latest release of new products was particularly designed to help the US female adjust her hair routine in line with challenging weather moments. To deliver an end to end solution for their customers they partnered with The Weather Channel and Walgreens who provided a discount voucher for the personally relevant, mobile targeted, locally available product. A compelling level of control for a female’s start to the day but one where Pantene & Walgreens would have to divide her attention. Frankly though, when it comes to controlling success – less is often more for brands.
Future of control?
The future could get a little uncomfortable for consumers as brands’ ability to control ever more aspects of the shopping experience, thanks to big data, is firmly on the up. It will even take us past the ability to feel in control to potentially a world where brands control our very feelings, thanks to Biometrics. But ultimately the issue remains the same – no self-respecting, social capital seeking consumer is ever going to take an uncalculated chance when it comes to their reputations. In a world where we increasingly only ever post updates about the positive aspects of our lives (already the case for 51% of 25-34s currently), personal PR matters more than just about every other life aspiration we possess.
In short, consumers are going to gravitate towards brands who know when to be subtle in control. They’re increasingly going to be asking, “Which brand is going to supercharge me?”
Statistical source: Future Foundation research 2014, Base 1,000 – 5,000 respondents per country, 28 markets.