Tag Archives: trends

The Truth Doesn’t Hurt, It Sells.

so-true

Studies indicate that 66% of consumers, regardless of age, will purchase from a brand they feel is sustainable and trustworthy. The numbers are even higher once the Millennial cohort is isolated; at 73%. When companies and brands tailor their advertising with trustworthy information for their target customer, conversion rates are boosted 30%.

Demographics Are Everything
Baby Boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1960, were once considered the largest generation to ever live. This generation, for decades, has been the foremost influence driving business’s marketing efforts and product lines. But, all that’s about to change.

In the next few decades, the largest transfer of wealth, over 30 trillion dollars, will take place—from Boomers to the Millennial generation and their little brothers and sisters; Generation Z. Demographics are everything, and the aging of the Boomers and the rise of Millennials and Gen Z is going to severely change the marketing and business landscape.

Millennials and their younger counterparts look at companies, brands, and businesses through an entirely different lens than Baby Boomers, and brands are starting to feel the pinch of their critical gaze.

The Millennial generation is far more risk-averse than their Boomer elders. Millennials are more likely to value experiences over things, and will spend their money accordingly. They are not investing in real estate, and are far less likely to buy a car new and on loan, or even own a car at all. Furthermore, this generation is more skeptical of brands than their predecessors.

Trust Is Visceral
While trust has always been an important metric and component driving customer buying decisions, with Millennials, trust is now a key component, not a peripheral, nebulous concept. For them, trust is visceral, and necessary. Despite their young age, this generation and the one behind it are jaded toward the business and advertising worlds.

It’s hardly surprising. While Boomers came of age during the post-war boom, when housing prices, relative to income, were still affordable across socio-economic status, for Millennials this is not the case. Furthermore, this generation witnessed and experienced the massive fallout of the housing crisis of 2008. Since then, this generation’s trust in institutions and brands and businesses was severely crippled and eroded. To earn Millennials coveted trust in the business world, brands are required to operate in a trustworthy, and sustainable fashion. And, brands who are perceived as civically responsible will be more likely to obtain those depreciating Millennial dollars in the coming years.

So, how can a brand appear trustworthy to younger consumers?

  • History: By sharing the company history or brand’s personal story, offering social proof
  • Accountability, i.e.: ‘money-back guarantees’ or offering free trials
  • Affiliations: Proving authority through affiliation with other trustworthy brands in the sphere
  • Relatability: Approaching from a sympathetic angle by understanding the customer’s pain points. Telling stories in an informal, casual tone
  • Subtlety: Offer value first without requiring anything in return

Businesses will have to compete in this new generational ethos. Boomers will not be the largest holders of disposable income soon, and in order to stay competitive in the new market, brands that build trust with their customers will reign supreme.

Are Millennials Still Hot Stuff? Understanding Emerging Consumer Audiences

Are Millennials Still Hot Stuff_ Understanding Emerging Consumer Audiences .docx

Marketing companies have been competing for the minds of millennials fiercely over the last few years – and for good reason.

Millennials represent about a quarter of the entire US population, and have over $200 billion in annual buying power. Though they have less discretionary income than Baby Boomers and older generations, they have a lot of influence – and are hard to reach with traditional marketing methods.

But are millennials still the hottest consumers out there? Or should we be focusing our efforts on a new generation of consumers? Here’s the scoop.

Millennials Are Still The Most Important Consumer Generation – For Now

Millennials are defined as individuals who were between 18-34 in 2015 by the Pew Research Center. They are just now entering the prime of their lives as consumers.

As millennials age, their income continues to grow as a generation. Most millennials are now out of college and working in professional careers, and millennials are the most educated generation to date.

This means that the buying power of millennials is only going to grow in future years, as they begin to start families and earn more discretionary income.

However, millennials will not stay at the top of the heap forever. As time goes on, Generation Z continues to grow – and a new generation of consumer is born.

Gen Z – The Largest Consumer Generation In History

Generation Z is defined as the “post-millennial” generation. While most definitions vary, it’s agreed that most Gen Z individuals were born around the year 2000 or later. This generation already makes up 25% of the population, and is forecasted to continue to grow.

As Gen Z becomes older, and younger people begin to enter the consumer market, they are likely to become the most highly sought-after consumer generation, just as millennials were before them.

Focus On Millennials In Marketing Efforts – But Don’t Forget About Gen Z!

How should brands market their products? Luckily, millennials and Gen Z both share a few common attributes. Consumers from both generations are tech-savvy and have quite a bit of influence on the market – and both Gen Z and millennial consumers do not respond well to traditional advertising methods.

While millennials should be the focus on most marketing efforts, Gen Z should not be overlooked. Brands should be using social media platforms like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter to reach a younger audience, and should always be on the lookout for hot trends that could appeal to Gen Z consumers.

Conclusion

As time goes on, millennials will become less important as a consumer audience, and the importance of Gen Z will grow. So focus on millennials for now, but don’t forget about the younger generation.

Are Controversial Ads Worth It?

tugofWar

The battle for attention in the advertising world is intense. Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to differentiate themselves from the competition. What is a company to do when the good ideas are either: taken, over-used, or cliché. How do they breakthrough, without breaking?

The growing trend to enter the consumer’s mind is to use controversy to excite, whether it means using humor or anger to grab attention. Controversial campaigns are high risk, high reward, so caution should be used when employing such tactics.

The recent viral advertisement campaign by Kmart, dubbed the #shipmypants ad, uses word play to promote Kmart’s shipping service. The responses have been between calling this ad, a smart, hilarious campaign, to sophomoric and cheap. Regardless, the numbers don’t lie, people are talking. Whether it’s good or bad, is still up for discussion.

Do you believe that any press is good press?

If you intend to use controversy to jumpstart a campaign here are some questions for you to answer. Since controversy evokes strong emotions:

1.Are you being controversial just to be controversial, or does it have a specific link to your brands purpose?
2.Does the dialog relate to your brand message and positioning, or is just a quick hit to highlight something new?
3. Have you prepared for the backlash and unexpected consequences?

When controversial marketing campaigns work, they usually have a high initial response rate but die off as quickly as they rise. So to sum this all up, are controversial ads worth it? In the short run, maybe, in the long run, no, unless you have a plan to continue the conversation. And if you’re going to go this route, do it sparingly as you cannot reliably gauge the response.

At the end of the day, if you are having trouble breaking through the white noise, what will you do? Play it safe or go for it?

Translate Any Text Using Your Phone’s Camera

camdictionary-476551-1319696805We’ve all been stuck at least once in our life in a totally unfamiliar language environment. At these times, even our smartest-smart phones are rendered useless, unable to type the word we needed to translate because we did not have the local language characters on our keyboard, leaving us feeling lost. Since we love to share useful apps, we found CamDictionary by IntSig Information Co.,Ltd, a snap translator on the go, and an indispensable travel tool. Believe it or not, your phone’s camera can translate. In few words, CamDictionary is a professional instant translator application for Android and iOS devises. It supports 36 languages that the app can translate on the fly instantly. All you need to do is snap a picture of the text you want to translate and the app will do the rest in real time and you even have the option to hear the pronunciation. Isn’t that magical?

What Sparks Our Fire: an ingenious app that makes our life easy by enabling us to quickly and easily translate languages.

Are you ready to never get lost in translation with CamDictionary? Let us know your thoughts on this app.

Get Ready To Gift Unique Items This Season

It’s that time of year again, it’s that special season when you realize you’ve been so focused working late every night to avoid having to schedule conference calls over the holidays, that you’ve forgotten to purchase gifts for at least a third of your significant others extended family. Don’t worry, we’ve come up with a list of five great gifts ideas, that your loved ones never knew they wanted.

1. Shoe Shine Boy

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 4.52.13 PMShoe Shine Boy is perfect to make shoes and bags shine like never before. This small gadget set has all the goodies one needs for a thorough gleam on calfskin pieces to extend their life. All you need to do is insert two AA batteries into your device, attach the microfiber pad, apply shoe polish to the pad and turn on polisher. Shoe Shine Boy works at 420 rotations per minute and can be used on a wide range of leather products including car seats, shoes and leather bags. If new, the batteries can last up to 70 uses. Think it might be the perfect gift for someone you know? Don’t hesitate to purchase it here. 

What Sparks Our Fire: A gadget that can keep our leather goods looking good with  minimum fuss.

2. Lensbaby

Lensbaby-Sweet-Spot-LensLensbaby is a mobile lens more fun than a barrel of filters. Thin enough that it won’t interfere with most cases or other lens attachments. With the lensbaby, you get an effect that’s very similar to the one you get when zooming a lens while shooting, with a depth-of-field blur. A gadget highly recommended for people looking to enliven their camera photography but still merit a #nofilter. So if you want to gift someone who is really into photography, we recommend getting your hands on this. Where to buy? Simply click here.

What Sparks Our Fire: A gadget that can make us have professional camera effect with just our mobile phone.

3. Fujifilm’s Intax Printer

image128Another gadget for photography lovers. With apps like Instagram and its many filters, quite often, one wish to have its pictures printed. With this Fujifilm’s Instax Printer, anyone can have their phone pictures printed like a Polaroid. Now, that’s cool, right. What is fun about this is that there is no need for a separate supply of ink so you don’t have to worry about running out of ink and don’t have to load cartridges. The gadget actually uses the same cartridges as Fujifilm Instax instant cameras. The camera simply uses LEDs lights along with a liquid crystal shutter to expose the film inside the printer. It is fun and you can watch the image develop over the next several minutes. Fancy this? Get it here.

What Sparks Our Fire:  A portable photo printer, because in 2015 millennials will appreciate pictures in print more than the ones on their instagram feed (maybe).

4. Hoodie pillow

Screen Shot 2014-12-15 at 5.00.14 PMAnd yes this exists. Simple as the tittle, it’s a hood with a pillow. This hooded pillowcase can provide ultimate “ Cocoonification™”, helping you tuck away the stresses of your day. Useful for long flights trip or simply for curling up with a good book, dozing on the couch, watching TV. This is the perfect accessory to enhance your lounging experience. The HoodiePillow Hooded Pillowcase fits all standard bed pillows and measures. There is alsoi the C shape version. Sometimes, pictures speak louder than words. Get one here and why not for yourself as well.

 What Sparks Our Fire: a gadget that every holiday season traveler wants, but is too embarassed to purchase for themselves.

5. Slimger

1048029_1526493884264679_3972367664762119302_oWe all suffer from short life batteries whether we have an iPhone or an Android. For some reasons phone makers have not tackled the issue yet. So, in the meantime while they get it all together, we have this suggestion that could be the gift of the year. It is called Slimger: a charger so thin and small it can fit in your wallet. This is the result of a project on indiegogo that received more than six time its initial pledge of $10,000. Thank you to all backers, we can now all benefit from the magic. If you need to purchase a devise. Here is the link

What Sparks our Fire: a useful devise that is easy to carry around and a life/phone save

We hope you found this list useful. What did you pick? Let us know.