Research study shows as consumers tighten their spending, brand values and shopping ethically are still a top priority. Toluna’s Global Consumer Barometer Study shows that the rising cost of living continues to impact Australian consumers and is taking a toll on their health and well-being.…
Read more »
The power of understanding branding trends. As with all aspects of brand and marketing, consumers and businesses over time build firm associations between how a category of brands look and what that means for the way they associate the positioning of those businesses. As categories…
Read more »
The changing face of consumer behavior raises a red flag for retail brands. When I think back even just a decade ago, the demands of retail customers were not so different from the decades before. Essentially most retailers could add a functional web site and…
Read more »
The Microcation is officially a trend Being driven predominantly by millennials, the microcation is a short getaway that is gaining popularity fast. Research from the U.S. (The 2019 Vacation Confidence Index* released by Allianz Global Assistance) has shown that 72% of millennials, 69% of Gen…
Read more »
I was forwarded an fascinating talk by social and economic theorist Jeremy Rifkin where he set-out his vision for the ‘Third Industrial Revolution’ and what a compelling vision it is. I’m a little ashamed to say his talk was published by SBS Vice back in…
Read more »
The very clever guys over at Trendwatching.com have released an overview of the five most interesting consumer trends they’re seeing for the year ahead. This is part of a much deeper piece of thinking they produce each years for businesses across every category. You can…
Read more »
A glance into the future of retail. Global Retail real estate business CBRE has produced a forward-looking market research, perspectives and industry insights piece called The Future of Retail 2030, an interesting piece of futurist thinking with some well considered suppositions. The retail industry is…
Read more »
Today’s post is an article written by Brandhook, good friends of ours and the sharpest brand research and insights agency around. Two mornings in a row, I have been handed direct advertising materials at Richmond station. One for Uber Eats and another for Pet Circle;…
Read more »
The Ultra-Convenience Consumer Trend Disrupting… Everything. So much has been written about Amazon’s launch into the Australian retail market (we wrote about it ourselves recently) that it has created its own ecosystem of disruptive buzz. There’s no doubt a business the size of Amazon with…
Read more »
Did retail set itself-up for disruption? In Australia we’ve heard alot of talk over recent years of how tough life is for retail brands. There’s no doubt the category is under pressure as competition increases and consumer behavior and expectations shift. In a recent interview,…
Read more »
Are banking brands finally getting ahead of the consumer curve? Reading an article this week about Chase Bank in the US, I noted for the second time in a week a services brand seeking to be “the apple genius bar” for their category. Not surprisingly,…
Read more »
Is Gen Z the toughest consumer group to market to yet? The answer to that question depends on the brand, it’s product and mindset. With each new generation of consumers, established brands find themselves challenged to connect with a new collective mindset. However, there are…
Read more »
Intel’s global head of retail Jon Stine recently spoke with a group of Australian retail managers ahead of the National Retailers Federation’s annual expo in in NYC. Given Stine works with Intel, he has a pretty strong view on the future of online retail,…
Read more »
The world of retail has changed. Online shopping, online product and brand comparison, and the new shopping habits of consumers have significantly changed the retail landscape. Retailers, shopping strips and shopping centres have had to get agile in evolving the way they connect with and…
Read more »
When a high end fashion designer decided what he was doing was no longer meaningful he decided to create garments from factory scraps to create affordable, comfortable and on trend fashion. He wanted to tackle the wasteful fashion industry and create a zero waste product…
Read more »
The days of the casserole dish wedding gift are done. Global wedding registry site Zola has partnered-up with Airbnb to offer Airbnb gift cards as part of their offering. The move makes perfect sense to me. The experience economy shows no sign of weakening with the…
Read more »
It was interesting last week to see Coca-Cola get some local blowback from Woolworths on their new No Sugar Coke. Coke, a cornerstone in most supermarkets has been attacked over the years from many angles: constantly by perennial #2 Pepsi with the taste challenge; for…
Read more »
All Beer Brands Are Not Born Equal. Researching this new craft beer brand from the UK I came across an interesting stat. The fresh bread consumer trend that has swept the globe has led to more than 40% of the bread baked daily around the…
Read more »
Creating easy escapism for hipsters, Unyoked is all about easy disconnection in the wilderness. Unyoked is a simple yet smart brand story, built on some solid brand beliefs and brought to life with beautiful styled eco-cabins set in stunning semi-remote locations. The Unyoked brand philosophy…
Read more »
Feel like staying home this weekend? curling-up on the couch under a cozy rug in your PJs with candles burning, a glass of red from Vino Mofo, dinner from UberEats and a movie on Netflix? Turns-out you’re not alone, but part of the global consumer…
Read more »
Data is the new black – an interesting thought for the week. For the 20th century, oil was the most lucrative industry in the world spawning billionaires, creating wealthy nations from sand, and keeping antitrust regulators on their game. After fleetingly handing the mantle over…
Read more »
Has artificial intelligence come of age? Tech firm Vinclu has created the ultimate companion for a new generation of overworked Japanese. Her name is Azuma Hikari, and she’s the AI persona at the heart of Gatebox, a $2,500 product that acts as a home assistant…
Read more »
Linx brand connects with the 21st Century Man One of the most significant trends for any brand marketing to males under 30 is the blurring and fragmentation of what it means to be a man in the 21st Century. Long held stereotypes of muscular, masculine,…
Read more »
Moët & Chandon continues to flirt with their vending machines to extend the brand’s accessibility but does it cheapen the brand? The Moët vending machine has been making appearances in London bars and even Selfridges, now it’s popped up in a Vegas Hotel. You can now enjoy a Moët…
Read more »
Social Media has already transformed consumer expectations of brands There’s no denying the way people discover and buy things online has dramatically changed and continues to do-so. Only ten years ago we were talking about how online and Google were changing the way people buy.…
Read more »
Is the age of the Goliath brand over? Author Ben Zifkin’s book The Rise of the Craft Brand, set’s out a compelling case for why smaller, craft-focused brands are set to become a force in the changing world of commerce. The world of brands and…
Read more »
Today’s post is an article written by Brandhook, good friends of ours and the sharpest brand research and insights agency around. If you didn’t know what Augmented Reality (AR) was a couple of weeks ago, chances are you do now. After reading our blog last…
Read more »
Customer Evolution – The Important Numbers for the Future of Retail Brands Recently I attended a presentation on Global Trends in Retail put on by PWC. One of the speakers was Dr Violet Lazarevic from Monash Business Schools ‘Australian Consumer, Retail, and Services’ Research Unit…
Read more »
Influencer marketing is a powerful way to share your brand’s message with a targeted audience. One of the strongest marketing trends to emerge in recent times is influencer marketing, which involves recruiting influential social media people to promote you through their blogs, Youtube channels and…
Read more »
How Brand Focus can be the best Brand Strategy One of the most powerful truisms of branding is; ‘You can’t be all things to all people’. Yet when we think about the supermarket category, and even the innovations in this space of convenience stores, mini-supermarkets…
Read more »
Has the West has reached it’s peak of Consumerism? During a recent interview with NPR in the US, IKEA’s Global Chief Sustainability Officer, Steve Howard opined: “If you look at things like oil–well, actually, oil sales have peaked in the U.S. and Western Europe. Beef sales have pretty…
Read more »