A great example of the contradictions in behavior is with food.  Look at the landscape in recent, food headlines and news bytes (no pun intended).  And then take a peek at what’s tantalizing our pallets as trends and recent intros.  The juxtaposition not only demonstrates consumers’ contradictions in choices, but at its core, it reveals consumers’ desire to be surprised, delighted, and to just walk away feeling happy. Check out this “salty and sweet mash-up” of sorts…

Headline: “Food Safety Leaders:  Kraft, Subway, Starbucks to Cut Salt.” Both restaurants and packaged food companies are signing up for the challenge of reducing sodium in their products by 20% over the next five years.

But then there’s:  Bacon cupcakes.  Bacon lip balm.  Bacon marmalade. Bacon vodka. Bacon ice cream.  Bacon bacon.  It’s one of the top food and flavor trends cited for 2010 and if you don’t believe us, just check how two ‘Bacontrepreneurs’ from Bacon Salt grew an enterprise in three years with a $5,000 loan from a 3-year old.

Headline: “For Corn Syrup, the Sweet Talk Gets Harder.”
What started as a narrow movement by proponents of natural and organic foods has morphed into a swell of mainstream opposition.

But then there’s:  The recently revealed, million-dollar winning recipe in this year’s Pillsbury bakeoff:  the Mini Ice-Cream Cookie Cup, which included pre-made refrigerated sugar cookie dough, ice cream, melted chocolate, and raspberry jam.  It won because it was simple and it just tasted good.

Headline:  “Santa Clara Bans Happy Meal Toys.” This proposal is believed to be the first of this type, and would ban the inclusion of a toy in any kids meal with more than 485 calories, 600 mg of salt, or high amounts of sugar or fat.

But then there’s:  KFC’s new Double Down Sandwich.  Two fried chicken filets, two kinds of cheese, and (yes) bacon.  (Apparently, adult consent = OK)

All rational reasons that are making headlines—yet consumers’ emotional sides being fulfilled in trends and new food choices.

As marketers of food and non-food brands we realize that the new normal in spending is driven by careful consideration and prioritization:
•    88% of consumers have taken steps in 2010 to reduce spending overall
•    93% say that their spending has become more strategic

But at the same time, 90% of consumers are seeking small treats for themselves, as well as others, in what they buy.   Why?  Because small treats feel good.  And it’s that “small treats” insight that points us to the emotional connections a brand can bring to the table.  Whether it’s added value, or undeniable proof that only your product can do the job, or a free sample, or stellar customer service, or just a great online experience.   Delivering small treats that satisfy is like a consumer magnet!

Turkey bacon.  I think that’s a good way to visualize the happy medium tempering the rational needs with the emotional wants.  It’ll be our ongoing challenge to find a turkey bacon like balance in every marketing recommendation.

(Source: Coming of Age in the Great Recession: A Grounded Consumer Followup, Carton Donofrio Partners, Context-Based Research Group)

Why is it then, that we fail to act when we think—sometimes even know— that our brand is in disrepair? Well, whether it’s an abandoned Buick on the side of the road, or a brand new Prius with a sticky accelerator, there are identifiable indicators that it’s time to make a visit to “the brand shop”. The following are a few things that may light up your brand’s dashboard:

1.  Your market environment has changed. Your customers’ expectations of how a brand in your space looks, means, and behaves has altered. Are you keeping up with it? What your brand offers is still relevant to your customers, but how they think of you (and talk about you) needs to change to allow you to be more competitive.

2.  Your organization is transforming. You may have identified a new line of business, or adopted a new model, new markets may have emerged—your brand has to evolve with these changes, right down to its fundamentals. While you are not remotely a start-up, in many respects you need to act like one. You must carefully identify the perfect positioning, employ the right strategies and develop new messages and digital properties that are in sync with your transformation.

3.  Your competition is more aggressively managing its brand to better connect with your customers and prospects. If someone in your category is creating a lot of buzz, inspiring messaging and visual expression. You need to react before it’s too late. They say in the next five years there will be more change than there were in the last fifty. If your brand foundation and products are sound, you should be able to adapt and manage any change.

4.  Your communications—print, video and digital—just don’t reflect your brand position. If you’re on top of your offerings and operations, but find yourself apologizing for every brochure and URL you hand out, then it’s time to take a new look at how you express yourself visually. There have never been more tools available to you to refresh your brand.

5.  You took a wrong direction. A lot of things can lead us down the wrong path: Misinterpreted research, aggressive purchasing, even a shift in the market. Or maybe you just took a gamble.  At any rate, your brand is currently out of sync with the direction your industry is taking—or more importantly what your customers are wanting. A brand course correction is needed.

6.  Your brand has changed, but the perception hasn’t. Your products/services are in the forefront – you offer great innovations, higher quality and greater value to your customers. But they’re just not getting it. You need to eliminate this lag and allow your company to move forward. The good news is that you have the vision, model and value to fuel new messages, a new visual expression and a brand that will advance your evolved organization.

Once you have identified your ‘flashing sign’, understanding what course you need to take to transform your brand will go a long way towards ensuring the work you undertake will be necessary and effective.  A good full service ‘brand shop’ should help you better understand what’s wrong (diagnostic), what it will take to get you from here to there (planning), which experience will take you to your destination (creative), and how to continuously stay on the right track (stewardship/optimization).

So what’s grabbing consumers’ attention and share of wallet?

•    Known Equities – Line extensions and slight variations in products made consumers feel comfortable with their choices, for example, Campbell’s Select Harvest was #1, selling $201.8 million in better-for-you soup.

•    Feeling Good – Self care is on the rise, as consumers seek product solutions that help them avoid doctors and other professionals. And really, just stay happy!  Feel good new products helped meet this need, through healthy, functional foods such as Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers frozen veggies or Kellogg’s FiberPlus – which are granola bars with high fiber, multiple vitamins, and antioxidants.  Or just feel-good-fun from products like Dreyer’s/Edy’s Fun Flavors ice creams and sorbets like Double Fudge Brownie, Butter Pecan, and Cookie Dough…(yum!) or Bud Light Lime.

•    Better, Easier, Convenient, More Effective brought to you through Technology – Particularly among non-food, top performers, if a consumer could get and do more thanks to technology, they bought it.  From three-ply toilet paper (Quilted Northern Ultra Plush at #1 in non-foods, $134.8 million) to multi-tasking laundry detergent  (Tide TotalCare) to deodorant that releases as you move (Secret Flawless).

•    Value & Brand Experience – A common theme we’ve all heard again and again is how today’s consumers are seeking best values.  Not just in pricing, but as a total picture of what they’re getting for their money.  Successful new products delivered more than just a solution – they offered extras like recyclable packaging, professional grade formulas, in-home sensory experiences, and highly targeted benefits.

IRI’s entire white paper report is free to download and a worthwhile few minutes of your time.   It shares the lists of pacesetters mentioned and others, as well as rising star products, and trends to watch in 2010.

Whether you’re lucky enough to have a brand new product launch, or just need to infuse a little news into your existing brand, tapping into consumers’ hot buttons and what’s grabbing their basket rings are good places for a brief to begin!

Interruption-based mass marketing that simply shouts messages one way to customers is not only one of the most ineffective strategies for today’s landscape, it’s also a red flag when it comes to building your brand’s image, reputation and value. To us, the smartest brands are now listening to the conversations their customers are having, watching where they are taking place and engaging with them on an individual level to add value in real time. Even better, an increasing number of marketers are not only deploying programs specifically created for the social platforms, they’re strategically harnessing insights from the data and using them to help plan and develop stronger brand positioning and marketing programs in the future.

From a marketer’s standpoint (especially those that fall into the challenger brand status), last year was about how to make your business run harder and faster in a bid to stay competitive in a downturn. In 2010, we at Sigma believe it’s going to be about proving value through both your consumer conversation quotient and the product experience. Brand value will be influenced more and more by the consumer, making it more important than ever for brands to deploy programs that are authentic and conversation-worthy. For challenger brands, this is going to aid in brand differentiation and consumer engagement. Differentiation needs to be bigger than just a brand name. True differentiation will come from consumer engagement strategies and a brand’s willingness to involve customers. Visibility and opportunity await the brand that is best at engaging their customer as well as making the product experience richer and better than the rest.

Last year, we worked with clients in footwear, burn care, technology and professional services, helping them embrace new marketing approaches fueled by the changing landscape. Fostering brand advocates and evangelists is not just for brands in the consumer space. It’s everywhere, and it applies to both consumer and B2B brands alike. As the new year kicks off and while writing your marketing game plan, ask yourself: Are you equipped in 2010 for true differentiation?

During a roundtable at our Fuel for Thought event, we discussed on a topic we often get asked by clients.

How can marketers incorporate the consumer’s point-of-view as a regular part of strategy sessions, extending beyond consumer-generated content, consumer-created advertising, corporate blogs and focus groups?

Being able to monitor, measure and implement consumer’s point of view has never been more important as the web is constantly opening up new avenues of conversation and new ways for consumers to voice their opinions on your brand.  There are various resources and tools available in the market (more on this later).  However before employing strategies, plans and applications, the first step is to commit to a long term brand initiative.

Strategy + Consumer Participation ≠ Success

Commitment + Strategy + Consumer Participation = Success

In other words, getting your consumer participation into your marketing and business strategy is not the silver bullet.  It’s the commitment you make as an organization to an honest open discussions, marketing efforts, measurements and integration over time that will deliver success.  This involves finding the right partners, monitoring conversations, measuring your buzz level, integrating offline/online efforts, properly setting website usability and conversion metrics, preparing your customer service and commitment to improve your initiatives beyond the test and launch stage.  Our good friend Adam Broitman has an excellent point-of-view on this.

Just like any relationship, an organizational commitment to honesty and perseverance fosters brand trust.  Wouldn’t you like to hear consumers say the same things about your brand?