On-Trend' Innovation & Marketing Concepts: The Individualism Mega-Trend

Published by: Datamonitor

Published: May. 21, 2008 - 22 Pages

Table of Contents

DATAMONITOR VIEW

CATALYST

SUMMARY

ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION: Using trend frameworks develops the means to boost the quality and frequency of insight generation and new product planning

There is a funnel approach to identifying the manifestation of trends

TREND: Innovation is a major driver of growth but is a challenging process

A number of internal problems can lead to ineffective approaches to innovation

Four different types of innovation strategy exist

One of the major hurdles to successful innovation appears to be capturing consumers' imagination

TREND: Individualism reflects the value that consumers place on self-expressive and more personalized goods and services

The rise of individualistic values and attitudes is visible in consumer behavior and society at large

The market maturity that characterizes more developed consumer societies also drives individualism

There are a number of personal motivations/benefits associated with customization opportunities

TREND: Offering customization possibilities has been one of the most profound areas of packaged goods' marketing and innovation

INSIGHT: Occasion and body part specific products are being used as a way of helping consumers to maximize enjoyment while creating a 'just-for-the-moment' positioning

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Occasion specificity is a potentially compelling draw, but there are limitations

INSIGHT: Consumers are empowered by additional choice and the new possibilities to adjust and adapt the benefits offered by a broad range of product formats

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Empowering consumers, especially the younger 'Generation C', with customization possibilities is likely to be an important marketing tactic in the coming years

INSIGHT: Gender customization is an increasingly important route to satisfying specific consumer needs

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Formulating and positioning products to specifically appeal to males and females is 'on-trend', but not without limitations

INSIGHT: Age customization reflects the more overt formulation and positioning of products to meet the needs of specific ages

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Age is still an important market segmentation tool

INSIGHT: Nutrigenomics/'personalized nutrition' is an emerging scientific discipline which is expected to have a growing impact on the CPG industry in the coming years

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Nutrigenomics is an area of research that the food and beverage industry will be hearing a lot more about in the next 25 years as the idea of 'personal wellness' resonates

INSIGHT: Situational and personally adaptive beauty solutions are an emerging area in personal care

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: The desire to customize, and to be seen as an individual, will have an increasingly big impact on the personal care industry

TREND: Self-expressive consumers increasingly value adaptable, participative goods and services

Trends in entertainment and media consumption reflect the participation era

INSIGHT: Manufacturers are giving consumers the ability to customize and express themselves through branded products via packaging and basic aesthetic modifications

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Even the most minor of customization possibilities can help to separate brands from mass market rivals

INSIGHT: Many brands now invite consumers to share ideas, concepts, flavors, recipes and so forth, often via competitions with attractive prizes

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Allowing consumers to participate in brand building will become a well-established part of marketing, especially for high-passion/high involvement brands

INSIGHT: A proliferation of product and service concepts now allow consumers complete autonomy to develop products to meet their own needs and desires

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Losing control of brand development does heighten risk, but consumers increasingly want to interact with brands on their own terms

INSIGHT: Interactive advertising is a way of empowering individuals through marketing communications

DATAMONITOR VERDICT: Innovative brands can now create truly interactive advertising campaigns

APPENDIX

Definitions

Methodology

Further reading and references

Ask the analyst

Datamonitor consulting

Disclaimer

List of Figures

Figure 1: Datamonitor's mega-trends are having a long-term and substantive impact on the marketing landscape and can be grouped into two categories

Figure 2: Consumer behavior and the innovations targeting it inevitably fit into a 'trend hierarchy'

Figure 3: There are four different approaches to innovation and six kinds of innovativeness rating

Figure 4: Attitudes towards innovation vary markedly and influence the inability of new products to capture the imagination of CPG shoppers

Figure 5: Individualism is driven by self expressive consumers seeking to make their own mark on the world

Figure 6: Four key personal benefits as well as the additional ease of customizing have driven the trend toward more personalized consumer packaged goods

Figure 7: Occasion specificity is an approach to marketing that helps to personalize a product, with particular prevalence in soft drinks

Figure 8: Customized vending and adjustable packaging are two ways industry players have empowered consumers, helping them to personalize benefits in the most relevant manner

Figure 9: Categories traditionally perceived to be 'gender neutral', or even exclusionary on the basis of gender appeal (e.g. beer), are changing as manufacturers offer gender specific lines and reformulate products to make them appeal to a specific gender

Figure 10: Products formulated and marketed for age specific ailments and problems remain an important way of communicating product relevance and thus tapping into the individualism mega-trend

Figure 11: Situational and personally adaptive beauty solutions is an emerging area in personal care

Figure 12: Dermalogica's 'body mapping' offers a personalized service for personal care customers

Figure 13: Consumers' media orientations are changing, with participative and engaging social media becoming more important

Figure 14: Manufacturers are giving consumers the ability to customize and express themselves through branded products via packaging and basic aesthetic modifications

Figure 15: Häagen-Dazs, Hershey, Wendy's and Kraft have all sought to involve consumers in the product development process

Figure 16: There are a number of products and services offering consumers close to complete autonomy

Figure 17: Interactive advertising is a way of empowering individuals through marketing communications

Abstract

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