march 3, consumer behavior report
What you’ll learn:
-Can we start dreaming about (and gently marketing) travel again? Even though we don’t know when we’ll be traveling freely again, consumers are making plans. 61% of travel enthusiasts are hopeful they’ll be on the road or in the air this year.
- Plot twist: 2020 forced some really great leadership strategies on us. What should you continue and what can you ditch?
- We all know that several outdoor segments had record sales in the heat of the pandemic. Some sat back and watched inventory fly out the door. Others pivoted their marketing at the right time and with the right tone to actively engage with a whole new audience. Check out how the latter strategy increased sales and is fostering more outdoor enthusiasts for the future.
Verde Consumer Behavior Report - march 3, 2021
“Think small” is some of the most powerful advice you can receive. We’ll always celebrate “big idea” enthusiasm. But how do those big ideas become reality? A bunch of small steps, right?
Thinking small is the opposite of limited. It’s about being attentive to the incremental efforts that create big change. It’s about honoring the details that deliver the most influential results. It’s about recognizing that your executive team experiences your brand in a vastly different way than your entry level team. And more often than not, your customers’ experience is far more aligned with your front-line employees’ experience than with yours.
So this week, our theme is small. What small changes have had--and will have--the biggest positive impacts on your organization this year?People are ready to step off the constant onslaught of crazy news from the past year and find some solid footing in a world where we may be able to make plans again. So this week, we contemplate what’s ahead.
Travel on the rebound?
Travel is one of THE most anticipated comebacks of the post-pandemic world. Perhaps we could all deduce this anecdotally, but Scott’s Cheap Flights has just issued a more formal accounting in its second annual “State of Cheap Flights” report.
The survey questioned 5,800 people about their 2020 travel experiences (spoiler alert: not great), and asked about attitudes and plans for travel in 2021 (very hopeful). Note that all of the survey respondents are Scott’s Cheap Flights subscribers, which skews the results to the views of enthusiastic travelers, rather than a statistical cross-section of all Americans. Even so, the numbers are telling.
61% of respondents are hopeful about travel in 2021
17% are nervous
14% are doubtful 2021 travel plans will materialize
Among those hopeful about travel in 2021 (i.e. the 61%):
83% are planning at least two domestic trips
44% are planning at least two international trips
In terms of safety protocols:
35% consider face mask requirements the most important
34% consider free flight changes part of a safety protocol
Respondents are planning their own safety precautions, too:
82% will wear a face mask
68% are looking to avoid crowds
54% will test for COVID before leaving
52% will prioritize outdoor activities
Where do people want to go?
Domestically, the West is calling. California and the Pacific Northwest are the top destinations (52%), followed by the Mountain West (40%), and the Southwest (37%)
Internationally, Europe takes the top billing (68%), if the borders open to Americans. Europe is followed by Asia (30%), the Caribbean (28%), and Mexico (25%).
It’s a wait-and-see approach. Though people are formulating travel plans for 2021 (63% planning to stay in-country and 78% imagining international itineraries), not many (15% domestic; 10% international)have actually purchased tickets.
54% say they saved at least $2,000 by not traveling in 2020. 66% of those with the “extra” pocket money say they’re allocating it to travel in 2021.
Our Take: Last year, consumers didn’t want to be hit over the head with all the places and experiences they couldn’t have. This year, they’re allowing themselves some hope. Though we don’t recommend going full-on aspirational at this stage, it’s a good time to thoughtfully re-incorporate some travel-related marketing. Consumers are still prioritizing safety above all else, so let that be your guide. But it seems like after keeping travel dreams at bay in 2020, people are ready for a bit of inspiration.
Transition from improv to experimentation
No one is arguing that we’re dancing on terra firma yet. But growing vaccination rates, among other things, are hinting at a renewed sense of stability for consumers and business leaders.
With that glimmer of “normalcy” or “new normalcy,” the team at Strategy+Business, a Pricewaterhouse Cooper (PwC) magazine, advocates for a readjustment of your leadership mindset. Here four ways tough lessons from 2020 can evolve into consumer-focused leadership tactics for future success.
Stop improvising and start experimenting — to learn what to keep and what to scrap.
“Last year was a time of desperate improvisation, as companies tried anything and everything to survive. Now is the time to take stock and decide which of these actions are worth keeping and scaling up, and which are no longer necessary.”
Manage costs and improve customer experience at the same time.
You’ve heard it before: break down the silos. This is an example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Hopefully, each internal team spent last year devising solutions to keep costs in check and improve CX for their own department. Moving forward, bring all the departments together to learn from one another, to collaborate, and to coordinate efforts that will serve comprehensive brand goals.
Work harder for your ecosystem and make it work harder for you.
The entities that influence your success (or lack thereof) extend beyond your supply chain and distribution network. Invest resources (time, attention or money) in your broader industry ecosystem and leverage the tools within.
Connect your employee feedback and your customer feedback.
“By connecting customer and employee feedback, you’ll learn about problems faster, capture frontline employees’ ideas on how to solve them, and improve experience and efficiency at the same time.”
Our Take: Without a doubt, lots of brilliant ideas were spawned from the “panic-react” cycle of 2020. But we don’t want our teams and businesses to fire on the constant cortisol influx that defined last year. As “panic” evolves into planning, and “react” evolves into responsiveness, the strongest, most resilient businesses will pull positive lessons from a tough year.
Embrace agility, learn from failures and move quickly away from them. Break down the silos in your organization with words, policies and actions. We say it takes a village to raise a child. Well it takes an ecosystem for a business to thrive. This isn’t just the physical aspects of operations, this includes your community and investing in your talent development channel and DEI initiatives.
And lastly, don’t wait for another crisis to empower everyone on your team to share ideas, concerns and solutions. Your most entry-level employee experiences your brand differently than you do. And in all likelihood, their experience is far closer to your customers’ experience than to yours. Invite contribution in a productive way. Then: listen, prioritize, and take action.
Minor marketing pivots helped build resilience and (fingers crossed) a bullish future for outdoor
While many retailers scraped through 2020, more than a few outdoor segments saw huge growth: bike, camp gear, SUP, and walking shoes (yes...walking shoes) to name a few! Most of that growth is attributed to the consumers’ need to get outside and to feel safe away from crowds.
A recent article in Retail Dive also highlights how outdoor brands shifted marketing strategies to expand and connect with a new outdoor consumer base. A few examples:
Fjällräven backed away from travel and back-to-school imagery of their popular backpacks to focus on apparel and brand awareness campaigns in North America.
Lifestyle brand, Faherty, transitioned its sun-drenched, outdoor-oriented branding toward the comfort factor of its home-focused loungewear in April and May. Later in the summer, as lockdowns eased, the visual messaging returned outside to open vistas and lots of beach time.
In only six weeks, Merrill launched the “Hike Your Turf” campaign, to encourage people to explore their own neighborhoods and local, outdoor spaces.
"Isn't that exciting for an industry that maybe has felt exclusive, or like this special thing that only a certain portion of people can experience? This has shown that that's not necessarily the case." - Garrett McGuire, Director of Retail Experience at Merrell
Our take: The examples may seem like minor pivots, but the results are anything but. Consumers who did not identify as “outdoorsy” suddenly saw themselves represented. They saw their experiences, concerns and preferences validated.
They were introduced to new brands and new outdoor experiences in ways that incorporated their lives, instead of visuals that were incompatible with their daily existence. By understanding the concerns of potential customers and responding in thoughtful, appropriate ways, these marketers expanded their consumer base in the middle of a pandemic. And we think they also helped to inspire many new outdoor enthusiasts for the long term.
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