Igniting Change Through Trends
Trends, of course, vary in size, scope and nature. Some may end up being a passing fad, while others endure over the long-term. Just how do insights professionals relate to such dynamics?
“We in consumer research and insights seem to love trends. We like learning about all the ways the world is constantly changing,” says Griffith.
Companies need insights to monitor and interpret trends, but as Griffith points out in her session, constantly pivoting results in chaos and confused brand impressions. Outlining a clear strategy is imperative.
“I started thinking about how some big trends can actually be forces of stability that guide over time, instead of driving a shift,” she says. “When I looked at the trends that Clorox built its 2019 IGNITE strategy on, I realized they were examples of this. IGNITE outlined four mega trends—the increasing focus on Health & Wellness, the impact of Multicultural Millennials on culture and markets, the push toward Personalization & Customization, and the importance of brand Responsibility and the consumer’s desire to be responsible global citizens.”
These trends were impacted at the time by the global pandemic and the volatility that followed in societies, supply chains and economies. Yet, these trends also remained major forces that drive our world and a strong foundation for Clorox. These trends have evolved over time, notes Griffith, and they remain as guideposts but also required an evolution of sorts to sustain them.
Identifying the Transformation of Core Trends
In her presentation at TMRE, Griffith looked at three of these core trends from the perspective of how they might impact insights professionals, how they change or influence how we do what we do, or by serving as a framework for stabilizing the understanding of the consumer mindset.
- Personalization & Customization, for example, has matured beyond media and ecommerce to fundamentally alter how people buy and engage with brands, creating new data opportunities but also new challenges. This trend could be now viewed as Digitally Transformed Engagement, Griffith says, as the desire for convenience combined with technology advancement (think social commerce and AI-driven shopping assistants) is driving the next phase of this mega trend. Ultimately, the insights team and Clorox were able to pinpoint all the new ways available to engage with consumers—and the need to use data to build seamless experiences across digital and physical touchpoints, and the potential for social media and new platforms to serve as all-in-one entertainment, discovery, and commerce tools. “For those of us in insights it highlights the need to thoroughly measure and understand the complete consumer experience across these digital platforms, and increasingly to use the engagement metrics as our primary data source, rather than continuing to rely on surveys or stated, recall behavior,” notes Griffith.
- Health & Wellness goals are increasingly specific. “We are no longer satisfied with vague promises and want help in specific areas like sleep, emotional health, or fitness performance,” she says. This is being further accelerated by the entrance of popular prescription drugs like Ozempic, which have the potential to upend whole industries, and the worsening mental health epidemic. This trend is quickly becoming the New Wave Wellness. The insights team was able to pinpoint specific trends impacting this new wave, such as personalization and performance (with goals increasingly related to performance, sleep, and emotional health); weight loss drugs and their impact across the market; and issues related to the mental health crisis and the growing focus on mental health. The effect on insights professionals, Griffith says, is signaled by the advent of more biometric monitors, for example, which creates the potential for more data that helps us understand behavior but also emphasizes the ethical use of that data.
- Meanwhile, Griffith notes, worldwide inflation and the housing crisis in the U.S. are squeezing wallets at the same time as people are rethinking the American Dream, Multicultural Millennials and Gen Z in particular. Economic pressures and cultural shifts are driving significant changes to household makeups, leading to fundamental changes in what we want from a home. Home Life Redefined is the transformation of this mega trend, and Griffth observes that the insights team at Clorox were able to delve into specific sub-trends such as the need for smaller households, the balance of relaxation and productivity, and the development of smaller and less ideal spaces. “We are using our homes in a different way than we once did—different activities, different emotions, a different relationship to home,” she says. This in turn can lead to better insights for Clorox as it examines the impact on both home life and buying behavior, and how it impacts functions such as marketing, packaging and product development.
The Interdependency of Trends
So, what does the future hold? For one thing, there is an interdependency of trends which shouldn’t be overlooked. “When thinking about trends it is always important to think about how they might feed on or counteract each other,” says Griffith.
For example, with Home Life Redefined, smaller households are increasing the numbers of adults living alone. If this grows, it will likely exacerbate the loneliness epidemic that is part of New Wave Wellness. Likewise, as more consumers use AI to create personalized performance goals there is more opportunity for personalized brand engagement, creating more data opportunities for insights teams for personalized messaging and AI recommendations.
Ultimately, for a consumer goods company like Clorox it is about balancing the changes taking place with mega trends while at the same time identifying and capitalizing on those trends.
Griffith concludes, “We have the power to help build positive feedback loops between these trends and limit negative ones by illuminating the connections between the forces we see—that is our unique calling as insights professionals. As these trends influence consumers, it’s important for insights professionals to track these changes, and thereby identify new pathways to growth, creating stability in strategic initiatives.”
For Kristen Griffith’s full presentation and more sessions from TMRE 2024, visit our platform on Streamly.
