The marketing opportunities of the season

I had told my children they were not receiving Christmas presents at the last Christmas celebration – my reason being that it was necessary to cut down on expenses due to the recession. In my view, I could use this situation to teach them a thing or two about cutting down on excesses and how to do without some perceived benefits. Since I dropped the bombshell, one of my sons had persisted in convincing me on the reason to get their presents even if it will be delayed; as it seemed unthinkable that there will be Christmas without presents; as far as he’s concerned a late gift is still better than none!

This got me thinking about the concept of “pester power”. Pester power”is basically the influence that children wield in making their parents to purchase what they ordinarily may not want to purchase – they achieve this through persistence and nagging. Though I didn’t bulge from my position, I realized that Christmas is not a period you can ignore as it was truly in the air! This festive period is when everyone feels the need to be joyful and giving; it’s a time of reciprocal giving and receiving and a time when the propensity to buy is higher. Christmas is emotionally stimulating and can drive certain behaviours in buyers.

For many brand, this is a period when they can drive higher engagement and increased purchase of their products. This opportunity is not the exclusive preserve of some brands; every brand wants to take advantage of this period; The festive period has many implication for the buyer/consumers – it is characterized by heavy media buying and flighting, they are bombarded with diverse promotions and offers in the retail outlets, there are several email marketing going into their inboxes and generally the noise level during the festivities is at an all-time high! You cannot ignore the fact that it is festive time and this feeling of festivities lasts longer beyond the Christmas day. The drive to get the attention of consumers cuts across many touchpoints and it takes exceptional connection and value for consumers to move in the direction of the brand they eventually choose to.

For a couple of weeks, I have seen a couple of campaigns with Christmas themes and branding and some product merchandizing in-trade. While this is expected and in line with the mood of the season, the question to ask is this – what would make one brand get picked off the shelf versus the other competing brand?

·Value: more than ever before, consumers are on the lookout for brands that offer them value. Value from the perspective of what the brand does for them and from the absolute price they must pay to acquire this. Considering the economic situation of the country, the quest for value is higher than ever before.

· Clear communication: Remember the clutter out there is quite dense. It is important to ensure that your messaging is cutting through the clutter in a way that you can be heard over and above the prevailing noise. Speak simply and clearly and ensure that consumer understands what you intend communicating to them.

·Consumer loyalty: Have you been engaging your consumers prior to now or are you just taking the opportunity presented by the season to engage them. Consumers these days are more discerning than ever before and would easily recognize when they are being exploited.

The opportunities available during the festivities are there for the taking; however in spite of the urge to drive sales, brands need to ensure that they are not sacrificing long term sustainability on the altar of short term gains!

Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi