Mele’s Musings

Sorry, But the Consumer Has NOT Changed Permanently

Faith Popcorn is full of it.

This blog is supposed to be mostly about media and media consumption. So, on its surface, it seems a bit off topic to be taking exception to people like Faith Popcorn and her opinions about consumer purchase habits. But I think there is a connection to be made between opinions on the consumer’s buying habits and the consumer’s media consumption habits.

First, let’s start with Popcorn’s assessment in a recent article from Women’s Wear Daily where she asserts that frugality in shoppers is here to stay:” [Popcorn's] view that the economy won’t be returning to its previous levels anytime soon. ‘It’s not going to happen. Not ever. It’s permanent and we’re getting used to it ‘. . .”

Now, it’s very trendy to say that the consumer has changed, and changed permanently. It seems really smart to say that the austerity that we have seen over the past year and half due to the Great Recession is a permanent and everlasting. But it’s also b.s. in my humble opinion.

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The fact is the consumer is not stupid. When times get tough, they know they have to pull back and change some habits. But when the economy comes back, so will the debt-driven buying. People are not dumb, but they also have short memories. I agree more with Craig Leavitt in the same article that quotes Popcorn: “I don’t think there is a new consumer . . . Some of the habits are a bit exaggerated now. She’s more careful and probably spending a little less. But as long as you continue to excite the customer, she’s still happy to buy. She was more open before, but it’s a requirement now to get her excited about what she’s buying.”

The consumer is simply altering the way they have always consumed. People have not stopped consuming, they have just become more careful in how much they pay for certain items or where they buy them. But it is human nature that when things get better, and people are more optimistic, they will go back to bad habits. So, for anyone to say that changes in the way people consume are permanently altered is just silly.

What they have done is taken advantage of choice. When times get tough, they have many, many more places to shop, to find information, and to purchase now than they ever did before. The economy is on the rise, not on the decline - no matter how small the percentage may be. But this time around, when things got tough, the consumer had lots of other places to go - including the web, Wal-Mart, and Craigslist.

What has changed is the environment - the marketplace. New players have entered, old players have died. And as technology and the entrepreneurial spirit continue to make things evolve, consumers have adapted. But they have not changed fundamentally. They just have more options.

With options come challenges to those tied to the old, tried and true ways of doing things. Retailers who were slow to adjust got hammered. Those who created new opportunities for themselves in the economy were rewarded. Those who are left behind or who don’t get the change want to blame the change on people. The blame is in not keeping up with the world.

Such is the case with media. I am tired of hearing people say that the consumer is hard to find, that somehow consumers are more disconnected and fragmented than ever. B.S. There are 500 million people on Facebook - was there EVER a TV network that had 500 million viewers? I would hardly call that fragmented or disconnected.

What has changed is that the consumer is not confined to a few choices or options. TV is not dead. Not by a long shot. In fact, TV consumption - time spent watching TV - is up. What is true, rather, is that consumers have more choices. So, they may not be watching NBC primetime, but they are watching. They’re watching on the big networks, on cable, On Demand, and on Hulu. They’re watching - they’re just choosing to watch in lots of different places and lots of different ways.

Like other aspects of the economy, consumers simply have tons of choices when it comes to media consumption. Technology has changed. New businesses have sprung up that did not exist before. How and where to reach them has changed. Some companies and agencies are more able to adjust to that change and take advantage of it than others. Others want to say that the consumer is fragmented, difficult, or “in control.”

Consumers have not changed - they still want to consume entertainment and information. And they will always want that. They are just quick to adapt and adjust.

But, as an industry, we have just not kept our eyes on the ball. Overall, the media industry is using outdated measurements (like GRPs), outmoded tools (like planning tools that are heavily biased toward TV), and outdated formats (like static :30 commercials) to try and drive strategy and execution in an increasingly digital and interactive world.

We can blame the consumer for being difficult and for changing on us. Or we can accept the fact that it is media technology and sources that have changed, and we have to catch up.

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