Feel for Your Customer—In a Recession, Try Empathetic Marketing Ideas

The recession is standing marketplaces on their ear. BrainReserve’s recently completed Recession Survey of 1,011 Americans found that from Dec. 2007 to May 2008, 42% of consumers gave up their favorite brand while 50% bought more private label products over the same period.

I’d have thought this kind of brand defection would have marketers scrambling to find ways to connect their brands to a rapidly dwindling base of consumers. And, it seems obvious that an overall approach to addressing the current consumer reality would have been a fairly old, and historically well-trod, tool of the advertiser—empathy.

Simply stated, by definition empathy is “more than feeling compassion or sympathy for another person, empathy puts you in their shoes to feel with them or as one with them.”

Indeed, with all the contemporary conversation about co-ownership and co-creation of brands, I would have expected to see an absolute torrent of brands trying to walk a mile in their customer’s shoes.

The paucity of such programs is both a surprise and puzzlement. The only ones I’ve seen even alluding to today’s financial realities come from the fast food category. It’s no accident that this segment continues to post revenue increases, even as the out-of-home eating category was among the first to show weakening, and is among the hardest hit classes of trade.

McDonald’s touts it’s dollar menu with the acknowledgement of “now more than ever…” Burger King is slightly more ironic (as becomes the brand’s character), with it’s King “reverse pick-pocketing” users, putting money back into their pockets with their version of value pricing.

Then, of course, there is Wal-Mart, another positive performer against the overall downcycle in retailing. It makes a very direct and unambiguous claim, “Save money, live better.” And of late, it’s taken to a live ticker on Wal Mart showing the aggregate amount of money that Wal-Mart has saved American families since the first of the year.

Here are a few off the top product ideas:

We’ve all heard of stain-proof, where’s the recession-proof laundry product?

Where is the recession line of meats and meals? With food budgets shrinking, what major meat and vegetable companies will join together to provide a well-rounded meal for less? Recessionary Meals in a Pot?

What shoe company will let me trade in my old shoes for a discount on a new pair and then donate my old shoes to charity? Especially when kids outgrow their shoes every six months and they are hardly worn?

Why hasn’t a food and beverage company come out with an inexpensive adult non-fast food lunch for my brown bag?

Can’t a cosmetic company develop a palette of colors that will be beautiful all year long and not be driven by the season?

I’ll be watching with great interest to see when and whether the marketplace awakens to the new consumer reality, whether via messaging, loyalty schemes, or a yet to be invented trigger that demonstrates to a beleaguered consumer that someone is “with them or as one with them.”

Faith Popcorn is founder of BrainReserve.