{"id":603219,"date":"2023-01-30T23:01:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T05:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/30\/marketing-briefing-with-younger-consumers-questioning-brands-trustworthiness-marketers-turn-to-scenario-planning\/"},"modified":"2023-01-30T23:01:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-31T05:01:00","slug":"marketing-briefing-with-younger-consumers-questioning-brands-trustworthiness-marketers-turn-to-scenario-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/01\/30\/marketing-briefing-with-younger-consumers-questioning-brands-trustworthiness-marketers-turn-to-scenario-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Briefing: With younger consumers questioning brands\u2019 trustworthiness, marketers turn to scenario planning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, M&M\u2019s released a statement that they were retiring their famed spokescandies citing backlash to their push to be more inclusive. Just a couple days later, after much speculation on the internet about the news, the company revealed the move is all part of their Super Bowl advertising plan leaving some to question the value of stunt marketing<\/a> at a time when brand trust is low, especially with younger demos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to see M&M\u2019s \u201cnews,\u201d the response to the \u201cnews\u201d and the need for a seemingly rushed reveal to quell that response as a microcosm of the pressures marketers face today. Indeed, rolling out anything requires more scenario planning \u2014 i.e. figuring out what would happen if different responses occurred and planning how the brand would respond \u2014 in order to be much more certain that it\u2019s a fit for that brand, according to agency execs and brand consultants.<\/p>\n

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\u201cConversations need to be about not only how you plan but also how you react [when something goes awry],\u201d said Matt Babazadeh, group strategy director at creative shop Zambezi. \u201cIt used to be, What is our message? What do we want to say? How do we what to connect with our audience? Now, we\u2019re asking, Is this something we would say? How it it going to be perceived? It\u2019s a lot of if this, then that scenario planning.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Megha Parikh, head of strategy at Wunderman Thompson, echoed that sentiment, adding that marketers have to plan for \u201cwhat Tucker Carlson and NPR will say.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, consumers have even become increasingly skeptical of what influencers say about the brands they work with; look no further than the mascara incident<\/a> last week where a beauty influencer, Mikayla Nogueira, posted a TikTok reviewing a L\u2019Oreal mascara, only to have it raise questions about the use of false lashes as well as the tags needed for sponsored content. <\/p>\n

One shift in recent years has been agencies asking brand clients for proof points to backup their product claims, said Parikh who noted younger motivated consumers are \u201cinternet sleuths\u201d who will spend time figuring out what\u2019s true and what\u2019s not, especially if what a brand says seems in any way inauthentic or false. <\/p>\n

And in a worst case scenario, marketers are facing a shift in culture where people are spending time creating actual \u201cconspiracy theories\u201d around advertising, said Kate Carter, group creative director at Mojo Supermarket, who noted marketers need to recognize what that means and how to manage should an issue arise. \u201cWe\u2019re always in the worst-case scenario planning as creatives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cif brands choose to involve themselves in that conversation, they better be able to back up that stand and not back track on it,\u201d\u00a0said Lynsey Fox, director of brand strategy at Pereira O\u2019Dell.<\/p>\n

As for the profile of their purpose marketing in the murky waters of the internet today band exec need finding stories and creative that are tightly in sync with the core brand position.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMany brands are misguidedly chasing purpose in the abstract where they lack authenticity,\u201d said Lachlan Badenoch, chief strategy officer at Carmichael Lynch. \u201cThis leaves them vulnerable. Brands need to keep asking these questions: Meaningful purpose starts with who are you and what do you do? Where is your brand relevance to participate in culture, through what you do or who you are? If it\u2019s big, bold but coming from left-field, it\u2019s probably a bad idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

3 Questions with Shalanna Clark, head of marketing at Code3, a performance marketing agency<\/h2>\n

With all of the changes in performance marketing, how has your job as head of marketing been impacted?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was very unpredictable. But in this position, anyone who\u2019s been doing it for any amount of time, understands that flexibility is key. We started the year with a certain set of priorities and then life happened, the economy happened, the market happened, and we had to make a lot of adjustments on the fly. But our core priorities didn\u2019t change. We\u2019re still focused on creating premium content and experiences for our target market, which happens to be other CMOs. Even though we had to get smarter and more creative about how we were doing it, that did not change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

How do those changes impact client work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It caused clients to come to us and really ask us to do what we have been doing for a long time, and that\u2019s proving that the dollars they\u2019re giving to us are returning dollars back to them. As a performance marketing agency, we\u2019ve always had to do that. So it wasn\u2019t a big lift for us because we\u2019re used to tying back to ROI, and having insights [and providing] those insights on the regular.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the predictions for performance marketing in light of economic uncertainty?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been doing research into uncertain economic situations, and the most efficient ways to tap into your audience during those times. We\u2019re all feeling that uncertainty, and trying to get even smarter and more efficient with the resources that are being handed to us. We\u2019re really focused on how we can tap into our audience better and help relate to the problems they have, and how we help solve them.\u00a0\u2014 Kimeko McCoy<\/em><\/p>\n

By the numbers<\/h2>\n

Between economic uncertainty and an increasingly fragmented media landscape, the industry and brand marketers are feeling a lot of unrest. A new report from the CMO Council<\/a>\u00a0reveals given the current market, some feel uncertain about their current marketing plans and want to find ways to be more confident as they recognize its importance. Find more details from the report below:<\/p>\n