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December 13th, 2022

Shopper Insight: Valued Over Value

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Clients and brands are scrambling to address the cost of living crisis. With consumers facing more uncertainty and challenging times during the winter months, they have little confidence to spend. People are making tough financial choices between heating & eating. A sad reality I know!

In our world of retail, the word VALUE has always been over-used, cheap, cheerful and 2 for 1. We can debate the use of yellow packaging and basics and yes it matters to consumers. But…

Value is more than just price value. Feeling valued is worth more.

Offering something beneficial, unique, & special, can swing the decision of purchase.

As marketers we should reflect the wants and needs with empathy, not just responding by painting it yellow. Our job as creatives is to be more inventive and emotive with our activations and promotion ideas, so we can stand out.

McDonalds have launched adult happy meals with a toy this month. It’s no coincidence that launched now. McDonalds wants grown-ups to feel a spark of joy in tough times. So they can cherish what made them feel good as a kid.

Aldi didn’t get where it is JUST by being the cheapest. They’ve made consumers feel positive and smart about choosing them.

From uncompromising designer dupes with limited runs, to ‘TikTok made me buy this’ special buys. Consumers feel valued first. Like they’ve discovered some best kept secret or must have hack. They make their value range not yellow but like the other leading brands – sometimes too much so!

The stigma of seeking value has now gone. It’s a huge social currency where we literally have gamified discount hunting as a skill.

ASDA recently launched it’s new reward card claiming ‘Pounds not Points’. What makes this loyalty programme especially interesting is the ‘mission’ gamification to increase your cash pot with milestone achievements – making it fun to earn. Consumers feel smarter and happier because they’re not made to feel they have little choice. They think, more fool you!

So, when we consider the word VALUE in any promotion or campaign, let’s make folk FEEL VALUED FIRST.