In 2009, Consumers Will Say “Yes, We Can”
Yes, we can. What was it about that phrase that so engaged and inspired voters this past fall? And, will that attitude be something they bring to their consuming habits in 2009?
Andrea Gardner interviewed me recently on this topic for public radio’s Marketplace Morning Report, and it got me thinking…
What Americans responded to in the Obama campaign was a whole new feeling that the average person might have some influence over larger issues. Wow! There is something about a sense of one’s own responsibility and the self-empowerment, along with the expectation that others will share in more consciously shaping their own destinies, that can build a mass public movement in a positive country-wide direction. Oh yes… we can.
And, as with political campaigns, so go ad campaigns. In the immediate future, fear will no longer drive consumer purchases. Responsibility and self-empowerment will. Even and especially in an economic downturn, the 180 degree switch from anxiety to forward self-propulsion has significant implications for how consumers will see and respond to advertising in 2009.
It won’t be about how your product or service can save the day, or how, with the help of your gadget or gizmo, consumers won’t have to worry their pretty little heads. Instead, we will see more of the “You can do it. We can help.” (Home Depot) type of message. Or, the tone might follow the pass it along/take responsibility lead of a recent Liberty Mutual Insurance campaign. And, finally, with a little humor, even the financial industry will find a way to express a “Yes, We Can” tone – as per ING Direct’s current theme -”We, The Savers.”
The voting public was primed for a leadership that sought their collective participation in the larger process. (When was the last time anyone trusted the general public enough to ask for their help?) And, that attitude will be shared by the same people as they consume, so much more carefully, in the New Year.
When you think about it fear, a certainly valid emotion, can still be easily leveraged in a very top down/heirarchical way. Human beings respond by giving away their power or using all their might to keep to their comfort zone. Responsibility and self-empowerment, on the other hand, are based on a relational, “we are all in this together,” shared sense of possibility. You can almost feel the shoulders drop and full breath of humanity return. Given the opening for it, most people engage with and thrive in the latter.
What is both more enjoyable and productive for society holds true for today’s marketplace. If brands want to succeed in these tough times, they need to participate in and serve the naturally positive propensity of mankind toward a common good. That means emphasizing the WE in Yes, We Can.
