“The Soul of the New Consumer:Authenticity—What We Buy and Why in the New Economy,” by David Lewis and Darren Bridger, Nicholas Brealey Publishing (www.nbrealey-books.com). Available in both hard- and soft-cover editions.
As a marketer, do you understand the soul of the New Consumer? In their book, David Lewis and Darren Bridger note: In a hypercompetitive world of fragmented markets and independently minded, well-informed individuals, companies that fail to understand and attend to the needs of New Consumers are doomed to extinction.
Lewis and Bridger, researchers specializing in the study of international consumers, define New Consumers as follows: New, because their style of consumption is so distinctive, and Consumers, rather than customers, because these differences of approach influence every aspect of their purchasing decisions: from choosing which brand of baked beans to pluck from a supermarket shelf to whether to accept social changes, government policies, spiritual beliefs and political ideologies.
The authors believe the important difference between these two groups is that while Old Consumers were largely motivated by a need for convenience, New Consumers are driven by a quest for authenticity. And just how are companies to invest their products with this imprimatur of authenticity? The authors outline four routes:
1. Locate your product in place, that is, an association with credible locations. Examples: Scottish malt whiskey, Dutch cheese, Thai silk.
2. Locate your product in time or the association with various time periods (1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s). Examples: Restoration Hardware’s retro/nostalgic products.
3. Make your product credible, e.g., authentic sources of information. Example: Anita Roddick’s travels to remote jungles for Body Shop.
4. Make your product original, especially in design and manufacturing creativity. Example: Swatch’s colorful fashion watches.
Next, Lewis and Bridger suggest you “get fascinating.” We take it for granted that quality matters. We have quality-control teams and quality measures. But are we aiming high enough? Do we have quality that fascinates? To help explain what attracts this New Consumer, the authors compare the Leica camera to the Nikon: Both Nikon and Leica produce excellent, top-of-the-range cameras used by both professional and serious amateur photographers around the world. Yet while Nikons are generally regarded as a commodity, the Leica has achieved an aura of authenticity that allows it to appreciate in value over time. In part, the perceived ‘authenticity’ of the Leica in relation to other models may lie in the fact that it is used by internationally celebrated photographers. ... Mainly however, it resides in the camera’s exceptionally high engineering and quality of construction.
The authors believe quality that fascinates is the standard that all those in the New Economy must strive to achieve in order to endow their brands with authenticity. For it is only by doing so that they can expect to capture the attention and win the trust of demanding New Consumers.
With the New Consumers’ scarcities of time, attention and trust, it’s important to communicate to them authentically, as well.
Cynical New Consumers who pay little attention to expensively created hype are strongly influenced by street-level gossip or buzz. Once persuaded by buzz, however, New Consumers are far more receptive to and willing to be persuaded by hype.
Lewis and Bridger challenge us all: Understand New Consumers, how they buy and what they buy—or lose them.
Andrea Syverson is president of IER Partners, a creative marketing and merchandising consultancy in Colorado. She can be reached via e-mail at asyverson@ierpartners.com.
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