DB CONFERENCE 2011: Keeping it real

Key values for today’s consumers include provenance, heritage and authenticity – and brands had better be telling the truth about themselves. Lucy Shaw reports.

The second panel of the morning looked at what brands need to do in order to reach, and more importantly, engage with, the so-called “new consumer’’. First to take the stage was Johnny Forsyth, senior drinks analyst for global consumer, product and market research company Mintel.

Johnny Forsyth

“Premiumisation remains key,” said Forsyth, who also touched on the importance of provenance – a much-used word during the conference. Forsyth outlined the current financial situation in the UK: “What began as a fear-led recession has turned into a reality. With inflation and unemployment on the rise, consumers have less money to spend on luxury items like fine wine and spirits.

"The ‘live for today’ mentality has been replaced with more moderate, long-term thinking. Consumers are less spontaneous than they used to be – they pontificate over their purchases more. Spending has become a serious business.”

According to Forsyth, people are also drinking less than they used to. A solution to this, Forsyth believes, is for brands to be more flexible about how they package their products, citing cans of wine or bag-in-box wine as possible alternatives to bottles, the latter’s advantage being that it will last a few weeks rather than a few days, which will appeal to consumers on a budget.

Returning to the subject of provenance, Forsyth spoke of the importance for brands to “prove” that they are what they say they are, as the new consumer is savvy at playing detective and spotting holes in a brand’s story. Transparency and the ability to back up your story is becoming more and more important.

Forsyth predicts that we will soon see more niche brands targeted at a very specific audience, such as premium Cognac brand Hennessy’s successful Hennessy Black brand, marketed at the hip-hop clubbing community.

Forsyth found that, while consumers don’t want to trade up, they also don’t want to sacrifice quality – with 64% of consumers preferring quality over quantity, and 78% saying they are able to taste the difference between high- and low-quality products.

Forsyth cited Smirnoff’s introduction of a 35cl bottle for its Smirnoff Red as an example of a company’s ability to retain quality by reducing quantity.

He also touched on the importance of a “consistent, coherent” quality message, as perfected by Jack Daniel’s which, with its simple, successful marketing campaign focusing heavily on the Tennessee whiskey’s history and provenance, is consequently viewed by consumers as a more premium product than Absolut vodka and Glenfiddich Scotch whisky.

Rounding off his presentation, Forsyth spoke of a new wave of patriotism sweeping through the UK, and of the nation’s new-found love for British products. “Consumers want to eat and drink local, both for environmental reasons – it reduces their carbon footprint – and economic reasons – they feel they’re helping to protect home grown businesses,” he said.

Authenticity, however, was cited as more important than Britishness, and flexibility seen as the key way for brands to survive in today’s fast-moving world.

Sam Galsworthy

Next to speak was Sam Galsworthy, co-founder of the Sipsmith micro-distillery in Hammersmith, West London, which, when it launched in 2009, was the first copper-pot distillery to open in the capital in 189 years.

Like Forsyth, Galsworthy spoke of the importance of authenticity, and how Sipsmith’s success lay in keeping things small and local.

Mirroring the popularity of the artisanal breweries he encountered during an eight-year stint in the States, Galsworthy found that West Londoners latched onto Sipsmith’s locality, and were almost evangelical in their support of it, becoming self-appointed brand ambassadors.

“Authenticity and tradition are more important than reinvention,” Galsworthy said. “With Sipsmith, we weren’t trying to break new ground, or invent new technology, but rather respect tradition and produce something authentic – a gin genuinely made in London.”

Rather than focusing on creating a brand, Galsworthy’s priority was the distillery, and having a brand with a home and a soul. “Today’s brands need a story, and the more genuine the better, as consumers want to feel a sense of history from the products they buy.”

Galsworthy touched on the importance of the two Ps: provenance and personality. “Provenance is more important than ever, and plays a big role in influencing consumer decisions. From farm shops to gastropubs, the ‘new’ consumer wants to know exactly where their food and drink has been sourced, down to the name of the pig they’re eating.”

Personality at Sipsmith comes in the form of Prudence, the distillery’s copper-pot still, which has become the brand’s mascot. Sipsmith succeeds, according to Galsworthy, by being able to answer the who, the what, the where, the why and the how.

“The new consumer is motivated by substance over style, and is seeking life enrichment, both from knowledge and shared experiences, so to succeed as a brand you need to tap into that desire and provide a solution.”

Jason Wills

The final speaker of the session was Jason Wills, senior brand manager for Tiger Beer. Wills began by offering a definition of the "new" consumer: “They are the same consumer as before. What is new is the way we are communicating with them, through different channels.”

He urged brands to embrace social media, but to jump in thoughtfully, creatively and with a campaignable idea, stressing the importance of taking age and gender into account when devising a marketing strategy.

With regard to websites, Wills name-checked the big five: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google and Flickr, urging brands to develop a communication platform that encompasses all five.

He said companies need to consider different devices, such as mobile phones and iPads, and how their marketing messages can best be relayed on each platform. “A brand’s communication platform needs to be ever-evolving, and the lines of communication open at all times,” he added.

Wills suggested offering prizes through Twitter and Facebook competitions as a good way of keeping consumers engaged and rewarding customer loyalty.

With 50% of the UK population now on Facebook, it’s a website brands can no longer afford to ignore, but Wills warned the audience to be prepared for negative comments on their Twitter and Facebook pages, citing how companies deal with the comments as the important issue.

His speech ended with a pertinent quote from Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business: “We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media – the question is how well we do it.”

Lucy Shaw, April 2011