Supporting a Good Cause can Increase Loyal Customers

Now more than ever, your customers are being bombarded with messages from your competitors demanding their attention and motivating them to open their wallets.

When consumers are presented with competing choices to your offerings that appear equal in price, benefits and quality, one sure way to stand out from your competition and gain customer loyalty is to support a charitable cause that your customers care about.

Boston-based Cone and Duke University completed a consumer behavior study in October 2008 indicating that consumers are more likely to purchase from socially minded companies that support important causes like education, job creation, health, hunger and the environment. They also are more likely to refer socially minded company’s products and services to their friends and family members to support causes important to them.

Transumerism: What Does It Mean For Your Business?

Are you in the business of selling handbags, electronics, books, furniture, clothes, or maybe even art? If your organization offers any of these types of products or nearly any other consumer good or service, an evolving trend known as “transumerism” may be making an impact on your industry and could affect the way you approach your market.

Originally transumerism was a term applied to the purchase habits of consumers in transition – in other words, travelers and their purchasing behaviors in airports, hotels, etc. However, over time, non-travelers have also begun adopting transumer tendencies as society continually becomes increasingly experience and pleasure driven. Individuals are more inclined to prefer to rent, lease, or perhaps even share ownership of products and services, finding that these temporary possessions impose fewer constraints and offer greater opportunities for extravagance.

Nice Chalkbot!

Cool post at SlipperyBrick.com! According to the blog, Cyclist Lance Armstrong has returned to the 2009 Tour de France to raise awareness of his Livestrong Campaign.

And to cheer him on, Livestrong and Nike teamed up with DeepLocal and StandardRobot to create this robot that paints messages on the Tour de France path.

The best part? You can send your own message of encouragement!

“Made in America” Finds Place in Consumers’ Hearts

The “Made in America” slogan is starting to make its way back into marketing campaigns and hopefully into consumer hearts.  Manufacturing for U.S. companies continues to be driven overseas, taking with it our jobs.  With unemployment on the rise and consumer confidence shaken, a shift in consumer awareness of and preference for American-made goods is on the rise.  And with that shift there are  predictions among marketing professionals and advertising watchers alike that we will see more campaigns featuring “Made in America.”

Bare Essential Message Strategy

Happy Thursday and here’s your latest Caliber Pulse kudos to a company that clearly understands how to get our attention. (You bunch of cheeky monkeys!)

Apparently Air New Zealand was a bit concerned that passengers weren’t paying attention to the safety demonstrations at the beginning of each domestic flight. So they hit on a novel way to grab, and maintain, passengers’ attention.