COMMUNICATING TO LOW END CONSUMERS
COMMUNICATING TO LOW END CONSUMERS
Monday, 28 September 2009 10:56
Marketers traditionally find it easier to target their brands to middle and upper end consumers. This is a natural occurrence considering that most marketers live a middle to upper class life, causing them to have little or unclear information on lower class consumers.
When an economy goes into recession the social class that tends to get affected the most is the middle class. This is because in a thriving economy they tend to be the majority of the population and a large number of them are self employed. Prolonged recession leads to a gradual erosion of the middle class as their earning capacity reduces and they slip down into the lower class. This leads to increased inequalities of income with the population gravitating to either rich or poor, with very few people in between. The middle class individuals who have moved down to the lower income class are sometimes referred to as the “new poor”.
This new sub group find themselves in a position where they can no longer consume the brands of their middle class life, they must adapt to their new environment by rationalizing their shopping habits and reviewing their relationship with various brands. This does not mean that they are abandoning their favourite brands permanently; their intention is simply to adjust for the short term. Furthermore they are not happy about their change of status and will therefore not be too keen to openly show their “lowered” consumption habits.
With the shift in the population patterns marketers of mass market brands are compelled to change their strategies so as to follow their consumers. They may either overhaul their existing brands to fit with the new consumers or introduce new product offerings that are in line with this new segment. In doing so the challenge at hand is that the new lower segment no longer consists primarily of unemployed or uneducated people. This means that if the revamped or new product offering is seen to be for poor people, it will most likely be rejected by the consumer.
A brand can attain a good level of loyalty in the lower end if its benefits are communicated clearly and positively, such that consumers are not ashamed to be seen with it. Price is very important for this segment; however it is important to note that they have not completely given up on quality. If they find a good product costing less they will buy it. If not they will keep looking for a good deal or promotion. Due to this habit the lower end consumer tends to have a wider repertoire of brands per category than the upper end consumer.
The writer is the Chief Executive Officer of Interbrand Sampson East Africa, a strategic brand consultancy firm.
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