Crack the Crunch with the Crunch Breaker
Crediit Crunch Solutions Posts
Another post recession trend; Monday to Friday lodgers.
December 20th, 2009
It started when a friend told me down the pub about a great way to earn some extra income without a big hassle. She had taken on a lodger.
So, what’s so different about that, you may ask?
This is a ‘Monday to Friday’ lodger, who only stays with you during the working week. So the weekends revert back to normal.
My interest was tweaked.
Monday to Friday (www.mondaytofriday.com) have been going for a while, but have come into their own during this recession. And it makes sense all round.
Many professionals work in London from other parts of the UK and beyond but can’t afford (or don’t want) to rent a flat for the full month. Plus there are many employees who have to pay for expensive hotels each week for consultants to work in the capital.
Monday to Friday theoretically makes sense.
So I took the plunge.
We now have a Monday to Friday lodger who’s from Dublin but has to be in London each week. She spends 3 nights a week with us – her company are ‘over the moon’ because we are much cheaper than a hotel and our lodger has her own room and bathroom and tells us it’s ‘home from home’.
Monday to Friday are on a growth surge and so they should. Like ZipCar, it’s a simple idea that makes sense.
Another successful post recession trend.
Half of Brits feel no worse off one year into the recession. And London leads the way.
September 16th, 2009
Almost half of British consumers think they are financially no worse off than this time last year, according to a recent study.
45% of the 5000 consumers surveyed say that their financial situation is the same or better than it was 12 months ago. Despite the national and international gloom and despondency, a surprising 15% actually believed they were better off.
London leads the way too – despite a cull of jobs across the City (the financial district), London tops the league table with almost a fifth (19%) claiming they are a lot or a little better off than this time last year.
Men are generally doing better than women, and younger groups faring the best – only 1% of 55-64 year olds said they were feeling better off during the recession.
The research, from TNS, also sees a significant proportion of the population who see the recession as an opportunity rather than simply as a threat, with many resolutely determined to fight the challenge head on. These people are likely to see the current climate as an opportunity to profit from the situation – buy property at knock-down prices, take advantage of low interest rates to borrow more or look for great for the best discounts to find the best bargains out there.
There is a significant group out there who are in employment, who have seen their mortgage repayments drop due to lower interest rates, who are bombarded with the latest discounts and special offers from retailers and restaurants; even some major car brands are offering unbelievable deals.
Everywhere you look there’s a special deal to be had. If there isn’t – just ask! (I tried this last week, asking if I could have any more discount if I paid cash. There result was a 25% discount!).
From the ‘Credit Crunch Lunch’ to the ‘2 for 1’ specials on offer in almost every category. Such as Orange, my mobile phone provider, who offer me a ‘2 for 1′ at my local cinema AND a ‘2 for 1′ at the adjacent pizza restaurant each Wednesday night. It’s now even called ‘Orange Wednesday’.
I even subscribed to vouchercodes.co.uk and now get a weekly email telling me where the best deals are to be found.
Will we be able to stop doing this after the recession? My guess is that we will expect more of the same.
What brands need to do: Fighting the Recession
August 29th, 2009
The principles of marketing in a recession are very different to those that work in better times.
And they aren’t all about discounting.
In recessions, consumers are confused, unhappy and very worried.
Brands that recognise this can prosper:
1. Offer certainty.
In uncertain times, consumers cling to certainty. Most brands struggle to project this as they tend to take their eye off their customer in tough times and focus on internal procedures like cost cutting. Brands that are a bit blurred around the edges then get blanked by consumers searching for confidence as they shop.
Review your brand proposition to ensure it promises the certainty that confused and desperate consumers crave.
2. Offer VALUE, not low prices.
But a cut price business doesn’t save anyone from recessions. Every second rate brand heads for this space at exactly the same time.
And in food, consumers don’t automatically switch to discount food brands in a recession – they move to supermarket private label. Only this week the CEO of ALDI UK was fired as they had failed to gain substantial market share during the recession. Whereas Waitrose, the bastion of middle class food shopping (and one of the most expensive) saw a 15% increase it it’s new ‘Essentials’ own label offer.
Don’t discount what made your brand great.
3. Don’t rely on habit
Habits get broken in recession. The consumers who bought your product last week may not necessarily buy it this week. They have woken up.
Ensure your brand is being bought for reasons other than habit.
4. Don’t be pointless.
In recessions, people don’t trade down. They just cut the pointless stuff out of their lives.
They cancel gym memberships they haven’t used since last Christmas. They cut out the ridiculously expensive bottle of wine. Or the pampering weekend break they thought they might take.
Make sure your brand is not a pointless purchase.
5. Beware of the Internet
As prices fall, consumers search out bargains. Watch out.
With price comparison sites, Goggle and eBay, consumers now have better bargain-hunting tools than ever before.
Watch your back.
6. Beware of ‘word of mouth’
In recessions, media budgets shrink and the chatter of brand’s users becomes even more important.
Bad word of mouth can kill a new film, music or software release within weeks. Bad reviews on Amazon, Expedia and other e-tail sites can do untold damage.
Make sure you monitor what’s going on.
7. Think in terms of price layers
People don’t automatically buy the cheapest thing in a recession. They are just more conscious of the value and price.
Alfred Sloan built General Motors during the Great Depression by segmenting the car market into six distinct price sectors and launching brands to match.
His ‘car for every pocket’ strategy allowed GM to seize leadership of the US car market during the 1930’s.
8. Promise better service
You get much nicer rooms in hotels in a recession. And better tables at restaurants. And more space on airlines.
Services can therefore promise customers better benefits in recessions.
If you run a restaurant, service is better because the staff have fewer customers to serve and more time to serve them. Staff are nicer to customers in a recession because they don’t want to lose their jobs.
Recessions are therefore the IDEAL time to ask people to try your service for the first time.
9. Do Flash Sales
If you are a retailer, do Flash Sales – sales lasting for 24 hours or less. They are much less expensive than a traditional sale because it only lasts 24 hours.
Or how about just setting up store for 24 hours? Flash Retailing has taken off in London in response to the recession, with Gucci, Mango, Apple and others taking the plunge.
Flash sales and retailing create a big buzz for your brand and the buzz lasts a lot longer than the 24 hours. Brands have found them highly effective in attracting consumer attention.
10. Look for opportunities
Google moved from being an unknown start up to being one of the world’s biggest companies during the tech-bust of 2000-2004.
Don’t assume that just because your brand is cutting innovation in a recession that your customers are. Watch out for big moves by strong competitors.
It isn’t recession that kills companies. Bankruptcies peak in the recovery period, when companies weakened by sales declines lose their compass.
Be ready to exploit the endgame.
11. Innovate and cut costs at the same time
It can be done.
Ryanair, the low cost Irish airline used sick bags on flights which doubled up as photo-processing envelopes.
Or Virgin Atlantic who used their sick bags to promote their virginpoker.com online betting site, with the memorable strapline ‘we don’t want you to chuck in your hands’…
In a recession you need to upgrade your communications to make up for a lower budget.
12. Recessions can be GOOD FOR YOU
Finally, marketers need to recognise that recessions can be an opportunity as well as a challenge.
Recessions clear the stage, and let new ideas be seen.
All you need are the ideas.
A real story – becoming a whore
July 15th, 2009
Here’s a real story. It’s happening in more places than you think.
This recession has many casualties.
‘The housing market was good to me in 2007, but it just dried up in 2008. By 2009 it was looking pretty dire’.
‘My job had gone and I had a £400,000 home with a mortgage of £350,000 to service. Well that’s the value I thought it was before things went pear-shaped’.
‘I had over £20,000 debt on my credit cards. I never imagined that things would grind to a halt’.
‘I was at my wit’s end’.
‘Then my friend Lucy told me about an evening job she’s been doing working as a table dancer.’
‘It was good money, she told me, and not hard work’.
‘So I started, dancing in my knickers in front of groups of drunken businessmen’.
‘I got paid £25 a dance and got to keep £15 of that each time’.
‘Life was good’.
‘But then I wanted more money’.
‘I changed jobs to a quieter club where I poledanced naked’.
‘And then, a few weeks later it happened. I accepted £400 from a businessman to go back to his hotel and do anything he wanted’.
‘I had turned from successful businesswoman and property owner to whore’.
Ethnographic research – Leaptomorrow