📓The Creativ Brief: Consumer Habits

+ Post-pandemic work norms. ESPN troubles. Ad market improves. Brand habits. Brand reality, a cartoon.

Aug 04, 2023

Free will is overrated.

Despite the illusion of self-determined independence, most of our lives are routine.

Your coffee spot, exercise regime, the apps you use, people you engage with, groups you interact with, restaurants you frequent, what you drink, buy at the grocery store, and hobbies you pursue are all products of habits.

The most successful brands integrate themselves into consumers' daily lives by influencing their habits.

Social media, Microsoft Office, productivity programs, toothpaste, entertainment, home goods, drugs, and more all form our daily routines.

Campaigns should be thought of as attempts to insert your brand into the target consumer’s routine. What sort of messages, collateral, or creative does this best for your brand?

Thanks for reading this email…weekly on Friday mornings.

3 Stories Dominating Media and Tech Headlines

Post-pandemic economics reflect new worker priorities. The WSJ reports some interesting statistics that show that workers are prioritizing ‘life’ over ‘work’ more and more.

Employers have largely given up trying to get employees back into the office. Paid vacation has risen from 61% to 70%. Employees prefer more flexibility rather than higher salaries.

Why it Matters: The pandemic has solidified new worker preferences and habits. It appears impossible that we’ll be going back to the old office. Nearly 40% of employees now telework from home. Employers need to take note.

ESPN, Disney’s golden child, has begun to flag. ESPN continues to collect billions from cable subscribers and advertising. However, cord cutting and unreliable streaming revenue has stymied growth prospects for the network.

Why it matters: 100 million households had cable in 2013. By 2027, only 50 million will. That decline will cut ESPN’s and other major network revenue in half. Media executives are scrambling to figure out how to stop the bleeding.

The ad market looks to improves in 2023. Consumer spending growth slowed to 1.6% but business investment popped by 7.7%. Business investment is a good indicator of ad spending increases as companies invest in marketing and brand campaigns. The global ad market is expected to grow by 6% this year.

Why it Matters: The gains are not felt equally. Performance media like search, social, and affiliate rebounded faster than brand advertising. In addition, industry sectors like Auto, CPG, health, and wellness increased while tech, telecom, and media decreased. That means more money for entrenched ad tech like Google and Meta, and less for publishers.

Client Spotlight - THE DRUM

THE FIFTH’s managing director, Charles Ifegwu, talked to THE DRUM on how marketing leaders can make genuine progress in building diverse teams. They key? People, community, and output. Read it here.

Stat of the Week - Brand Habits

What people consume says a lot about them. Above, we’ve graphed the most self-reported, important brands from consumers.

Items like smartphones, cars, clothes, and entertainment carry the most self-ascribed weight for consumers because they represent self.

However, brands consumed in the home like CPG, food, appliances, and cosmetics matter just as much. A study by the USDA found that consumers, whether high or low income, tend to shop at the same grocery stores week after week.

Those same consumers tend to buy the same groceries week after week. The big takeaway, get into your consumers habits.

One Fun Thing - Stop overthinking

Consumers don’t care as much about your product as you do.

Make it simple. Win on price, quality, or familiarity. Appeal to consumer habits.