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Recession brands 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.
Innovation of the year! Is this a post recession trend?
August 24th, 2009
It all started when I was handed a flyer when rushing for the Tube (subway, metro) near to where I live in West London. Some guys were strategically standing in my path (the same way as ‘chuggers’ do) giving out flyers. My first reaction was, as always, to avoid them and (in a very London way) to keep my eyes down, avoid any eye contact whatsover and get to the Tube by the shortest possible route.
I could’t avoid the flyer though and just pushed it in my pocket. I short while later, when looking for something else, I found the (offending) flyer. Zipcar.
Hmmm.
Later that evening I rushed past the same guys still handing out flyers, again doing my best at avoiding them and making eye contact. On my walk home I passed a smart VW Golf with a small sign next to it which said simply ‘ZipCars live here’.
My interest was tweaked, so I got online to find out more.
Well, the net result is that I no longer have my gleaming Beamer but have chosen to use ZipCar instead. It’s brilliant. And I am sure that this recession will lead to a lot more people doing the same as me. I save a fortune AND I become a carbon footprint saint….
Just think – you find a car very near to where you live using the Zipcar website, access the car using a credit card type devise, find the key, use it by the hour, day or longer and just return it to where you left it. No insurance, no lease, no congestion charge to pay, no tax disc or residents permit. No searching for a parking space late at night. AND just think of the environment!
So when I realised how much I was paying for NOT using my car, ZipCar made complete sense.
I think it’s a great innovation that can only be a winner – in fact everyone seems to win. Obviously it’s of no use to someone living out in the country or miles from anywhere, but for city dweller it’s perfect.
I see this as a very real post recession trend. I wonder if it’s taking off elsewhere. It deserves to.
When times are tough, take big risks…!
May 12th, 2009
This may sound counterintuitive, but it’s what great brands do.
For them, a recession is the best time to launch something new. Look at the last three downturns.
In 1984, Apple launched the Mac, and Virgin launched Virgin Atlantic.
In 1992, Nokia launched its first GSM mobile, the Nokia 1011.
And in 2001, Toyota launched the Prius globally, and Apple launched its iPod.
All went on to create new demand, generate big revenues, and in some way change the world.
Each responded to, and helped shape, the spirit of the age.
At the beginning of the era of deregulation, the Apple Mac and Virgin Atlantic both aimed to free people from the tired old establishment.
At the start of the liberating age of the mobile and the internet, Nokia was a completely fresh brand from social-democratic Scandinavia.
And as blatant consumerism started to wane, the Prius and the iPod were both understated, highly designed ways of showing off.
What does all this tell us? Recessions are a time when entry costs are often lower. But they’re also times when people rethink things, when they’re open to something new – in fact, when they most need something new.
Right now, the best brands should be lining up new things that build their brands, and that shape a new world – things that give individuals new powers, that cross public-private ownership, that are ethically unimpeachable, that aren’t too western, that demand collaboration rather than consumption, that in some way fix the world.
As Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary said in the London Sunday Times (29 March), ‘There’s never been more opportunity… Now we can start again and do things properly’.