The New Necessities: What Consumers Can't Live Without
On a recent weekend, more than 4 million Americans -- that's just more than 1% of the country -- pledged between $1,700 and $2,600 to their various cell providers over the next two years. For this tithing, they get an iPhone 4S, which is a reasonable-but-not-groundbreaking upgrade from the previous model.
Jobless rates remain high, housing prices and demand remain low, and the world's financial markets are teetering. Yet when it comes to this sleek new phone, none of that matters. Consumers must have it. Now.
Brands in every category dream of this kind of loyalty, and Apple just dangled $60 million in front of its CMO because it recognizes the value of marketing in creating demand for new, often pricey, product categories.
It's an urgency felt by people like Liz, in Champaign County, who's part of Ad Age's American Consumer Project. Liz moved quickly from wanting to needing her iPod. For her and her college friends, when it was released it "changed completely how we lived our everyday lives. My freshman year I walked across campus with no music. By my junior year I thought I was going to just die if I had to walk five minutes between classes without listening to something."
But affording new products means making trade-offs. When the pool of income stagnates, every win for one market segment is a loss for another. The massive upheaval in the marketplace caused by demographic and economic changes is creating challenges and opportunities. Consumers are rethinking everything.
The biggest threat to an auto brand might be the monthly cable bill. The fast-food industry might get a boost from bad weather in Georgia, which causes the price of peanuts (and therefore peanut butter) to skyrocket. Laptop sales can be hurt when women of a certain life stage instead commit cash to garish bridesmaid dress after dress.
For marketers, the question becomes: How do you move your product from a "want" to a "need" and then keep it from slipping back into a "could live without"?
Consumer Reports Best Walking Shoes - News
Mark Mobius, executive chairman of Templeton Asset Management's Emerging Markets Group, said higher wages from the spread of manufacturing will help buoy inland consumer spending. Photographer: David Rochkind/ Guangzhou Constant Shoes Co. is
The percent of consumers who reported expenses on "Computer Information Services" -- which would include broadband and wireless internet services -- more than doubled in the last decades to 60% of households, according to unpublished data from the
FYI, Consumer Reports has declared the antenna shortcomings of the iPhone 4 to be resolved on the 4S and added the new model to its "recommended" list. CR is still ranking some Android phones higher, including the Samsung Galaxy S II, Motorola Droid
A: Those bulky rocker-sole shoes have become quite popular. Americans spent more than $1 billion last year on the specialty sneakers, according to Consumer Reports. The heavy, clunky shoes, marketed heavily to women, sell well because of claims that
Foot Locker Verses Crocs and Skechers: Which Shoes Should Investors Walk In? FL, CROX, SKX Footwear stocks Foot Locker, Crocs and Skechers are all well known consumer shoe brands. By John Udovich Foot Locker (NYSE: FL), Crocs (NASDAQ: CROX) and
Rockport Men's World Tour Classic Walking Shoe,Black,10.5 M - All ...
The RWT Classic men's casual shoe from Rockport® features a patented Walking Platform for rearfoot stability, forefoot flexibility and long-term comfort. The flexible EVA midsole incorporates a rubber outsole for traction. Padded tongues and collars, strobel construction, a steel shank and Aero 3 footbed help deliver comfort, support and stability.