Mediaboss Marketing

Majority of Brits say Pride-focused brand activity is for PR purposes

Consumers have a negative view of the sincerity of brands efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community during Pride month.

YouGov data shows 75% of the 6,000 people surveyed believe brands activity around Pride month is solely for PR purposes rather than a sincere desire to show support for the LGBTQ+ community, a figure which rise to 79% when LGB+ consumers are asked.

Those who believe that brands do have a sincere desire to support the queer community is less than a tenth of the sample (7%) and although the figure rises slightly for those in the LGB+ community (12%), it is despairingly low for brands investing in a Pride marketing campaign.

There are some generational differences at play with younger consumers (18 to 24) nearly three times more likely than those aged 65+ to believe brands are being sincere in their Pride communications (11% versus 4%), however, two-thirds of 18 to 24-year-olds are equally as cynical about the intentions of brands and believe it to be for PR purposes.

The data indicates most UK consumers believe brands are engaging in rainbow-washing where positive messages about the LGBTQ+ community are put out with the expectation of very little in the way of action to support them beyond kind words.

Source: YouGov

Grocery inflation has fallen to the lowest level so far this year, dropping to 16.5% in the four weeks to 11 June 2023.

Despite this being the lowest level of inflation in 2023 so far, it is the sixth-highest monthly rate of inflation recorded since 2008.

The proportion of households stating they are either extremely or very worried about the rising cost of food and drink has risen to 70%. This has increased from just over two-thirds stating the same in January this year.

The Kantar figures also show the discounters have again grown the fastest out of the major UK supermarkets. Aldi grew at 24.6% in the four weeks to 11 June to reach a new record market share of 10.2%. Lidl grew almost as fast at 23.2%, giving it 7.7% of the market.

Morrisons value range, Morrisons Savers, is the fastest growing in the UK, with its sales almost double versus last year. Morrisons grew modestly by 0.8% during the period. This is the fourth consecutive period of growth for the supermarket, and comes after a time of decline.

Source: Kantar

Consumers are taking it upon themselves to ease the effects of inflation with more than 60% of customers now actively looking for the lowest price when shopping.

The survey of 3,000 adults from IPA TouchPoints across the UK shows 60.9% of shoppers now look for the lowest price and best deals when shopping (up 11% on 2020) and that 41.6% search for money-off vouchers (up by 31% since 2020) to lower the cost of their shop.

Financial difficulties have also made consumers significantly less loyal to their preferred brand, the data shows, with half of consumers (52.9%) saying they will gladly switch brands to make use of a coupon (up by 13%).

Meanwhile, 42.7% use a range of supermarkets and shops for their weekly groceries in order to get the best prices, up 14% from 37.5% in 2020.

Supermarkets continue to attract the greatest weekly reach of all shopping outlets at 63.6% (although this itself is down 7% since 2020). But the number of shoppers on the high street has fallen by 17% (from 40.5% to 33.6%) since 2020; shopping centre reach has fallen 8% (from 21.0% to 19.3%) and out-of-town retail parks have fallen 3% (from 14.7% to 14.2%). Meanwhile, online shopping has increased slightly since 2020, up by 3% from 49.4% to 50.7%.

TouchPoints also reveals consumers are spending an hour longer at home than they did in pre-lockdown 2020 with the mean hours spent inside now at 18 hours and 43 minutes a day, up from the 17 hours and 37 minutes a day consumers were at home before.

Source: IPA TouchPoints

Consumer confidence is edging up despite stubborn inflation and the Bank of England raising interest rates to a 15-year high of 5% last week.

The inflation rate was 8.7% in May as it was in April stopping the downward trend from its peak of 11.1% last year, with the Office for National Statistics suggesting rising prices for air travel, recreational and cultural goods and services are keeping it high.

But despite this consumers are becoming slightly more positive in their outlook, according to the latest Consumer Confidence Barometer from GfK.

The overall index score improved by three points in June, taking it up to -24, which although still in negative territory is a marked improvement on the -41 recorded in June 2022.

The biggest improvement was seen in peoples view of their personal financial situation over the coming year, which increased by seven points to -1. This marks the third consecutive month of improvement and means it is just shy of returning to a positive position, something not seen since December 2021. It is also a 27-point increase compared to June last year.

Consumers feelings about their own finances over the past 2 months has also improved, up five points to -15.

Looking at the wider economy, there has been a five-point increase in peoples outlook for it next year, taking it to -25. Again this is a significant uptick compared to 2022 when the figure stood at -57. Peoples view of the economy over the past 12 months remains static at -54.

Source: GfK

European social media use fell by four minutes in Q1 2023 compared to the same period last year.

The average time spent on social media platforms now stands at two hours and 1 minute per day for European users with new research from GWI showing all regions (except North America) had a drop as usage starts to level off after a pandemic high.

In the UK, use of social media dropped to one hour and 46 minutes from the one hour and 52 minutes recorded in 2018.

Theres good news for individual apps, however, as TikTok continues to grow in popularity with it now being 9% of social media users favourite app (a jump of 100% to the same time in 2021. WhatsApp and Instagram continue to be the worlds favourite platforms with both sitting on 21% and Facebook sits in third as 20% of users favourite platform (albeit a sharp drop of 14% from the same time in 2021).

The report of 970,000 consumers also finds that keeping in touch with friends and family is the most popular reason for using social media (54%), with many consumers also using social platforms to catch up on news headlines (27%). In fact the number of Western TikTok users using the platform to keep up-to-date with the news has jumped by 41% in two years.

Consumers are also leaning on social media platforms to discover whats trending/being talked about (22%), with the number of consumers turning to TikTok for information about products and brands rising by 52%.

Source: GWI

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Grocery inflation, Pride, social use: 5 interesting stats to start your ... - Marketing Week

June 23, 2023

Dr. Joshua Wilson

Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski

financial advisors

modern marketing

+more

The landscape of marketing has evolved drastically over the past few years, largely fueled by technological advancements and the constant quest for relevance. A discussion about this evolution is timely as we witness the convergence of marketing trends and the wealth management industry. Additionally, attracting younger investors today undoubtedly requires the use of social media. Theres even a renewed emphasis on staying ahead in marketing, particularly in the financial advisor world. Today, with almost 92 percent of financial advisors using social media for business, according to Putnams Social Advisor Survey, the stakes are higher than ever.

The core question that emerges from this shift is: How can financial advisors stay relevant and successful in an environment where marketing trends evolve so quickly?

On this episode of Untamed Ethos, host Dr. Joshua Wilson and founder of United Ethos Wealth Partners, interviewed Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski. Their conversation explored the changing trends in marketing, the challenges faced by financial advisors in staying relevant, and the strategies needed to thrive in this fast-paced world.

During the episode, Dr. Wilson and Dr. Kuzmeski centered around these three main points:

Dr. Maribeth Kuzmeski is an accomplished consultant in the wealth management space. Having worked with various types of financial advisors for over 20 years, she boasts an illustrious career trajectory that spans both practical and academic realms. A fervent advocate for forward-thinking marketing, Dr. Kuzmeskis rich academic background includes a PhD in Marketing from Oklahoma State University. She continually pushes boundaries, guiding industry professionals to remain agile and responsive to emerging trends.

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Modern Marketing in Wealth Management Requires Prioritizing ... - MarketScale

Are you using generative AI tools in your day-to-day process?

The hype function of the moment, generative AI can create complex visual and text outputs, based on simple prompts but those outputs are often distorted, frayed at the edges, or just downright incorrect, which can make it risky to rely on such, especially in a professional context.

But they can be very helpful, in a range of ways. And, according to our latest LinkedIn poll, a lot of people are already making use of them in their work life.

As you can see, based on almost 1,300 responses on LinkedIn, 67% of people indicated that they are indeed now using generative AI tools in their day-to-day work.

The data here isnt specific, in that we didnt ask what types of things people are using generative AI for. But it is interesting to consider the results in the context of the Social Media Today audience in the app, which is primarily marketing and communications leaders based in the US.

That suggests that the business world is moving quickly to integrate these new tools, and build them into their processes - which underlines the need for marketers to, at the least, have a solid understanding of what you can use these tools for, and how they provide benefit for an organization.

Personally, Im not as bullish on generative AI tools as some others. In my experience, theyre handy supplementary tools, which can provide you with additional angles and elements to consider, but theyre not wholesale replacements for real people, or expertise as such. You still need to know whether the outputs are correct, and/or how to refine them. Basically, you cant rely on what these tools give you in itself, which is why you need the additional knowledge and skill base to make best use of them.

But they can be handy, and they can help you maximize your processes, if you take the time to understand their limits, and where they fit.

And based on these numbers, a lot of people are doing exactly that.

If youre looking to learn more about generative AI tools, LinkedIn already has a range of LinkedIn Learning courses on the subject.

Originally posted here:
Research Shows that the Majority of Marketing Professionals are ... - Social Media Today

When you use TikTok for good and youre shaping the beauty industry for the good of all, it really has a meaningful impact on society, said Michelle Crossan-Matos, CMO of Ulta Beauty.

Crossan-Matos and Sofia Hernandez, TikToks global head of business marketing, sat down at the Variety Studios at Cannes Lions, presented by Canva, to discuss the value of social media for brand outreach.

What Im hearing about is the importance of the community, which maybe isnt a new conversation, but now a deeper one, said Hernandez. To clarify, Hernandez considers the community to be users of social media, but also the population at large that defines culture.

When we talk about community at Ulta Beauty, were talking about fans, the beauty enthusiasts, people who just want to play and learn, so it can be defined in many ways, said Crossan-Matos. Ulta has over 40 million loyalty members, the Ultra CMO explains, which she believes is more than any other company in the U.S. Hernandez said that TikTok has over a billion users, so when the two come together, the possibilities for outreach become nearly infinite.

Everyone wants to be surrounded by realness and authenticity, said Hernandez. And this is a community that really started to lean into imperfection from a beauty standpoint. And so, a lot of the work that Ulta has done on TikTok is embracing that.

Younger generations gravitate towards fellow social media members for recommendations rather than brands themselves, which is something beauty brands like Ulta are trying to cash in on. Both Hernandez and Crossan-Matos believe that community members online are a valuable asset in brand marketing, especially when they come across as honest and authentic.

We tell brands a lot to think like marketers but act like creators, said Hernandez. She hopes brands can learn how to better utilize TikTok to help get products out there.

Read more:
Ulta CEO and TikTok Head of Marketing Talk Brands on Social Media - Variety

San Francisco is a dystopian hellscape overrun by armed criminals and fentanyl addicts, its streets teeming with human waste, its buildings crumbling before our eyes.

Thats the situation according to recent stories in major media outlets from CNN to Good Morning America, from the Financial Times to Newsweek, along with legions of posters on TikTok, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, and perennial S.F. haters like Fox News, the New York Post and, of course, Elon Musk. Presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also chimed in last week.

Theyre making up stuff, said Rodney Fong, CEO of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. It is absolutely unfair.

Civic and business leaders, as well as marketing experts, readily acknowledge that San Francisco faces major social problems amid a sluggish pandemic recovery. But the overwrought narrative that the city is in zombie apocalypse territory can only hurt it, they say.

It is misrepresenting the city badly, said longtime press agent Lee Housekeeper. I get calls every day from people I know across the country, especially after Good Morning America, asking me, Are you OK? Are you in danger?

In GMAs segment about Westfield giving up its namesake mall, a correspondent broadcasting live said it was simply too dangerous for him to be in Union Square or outside the mall at that hour, although, in fact, he was standing on a city sidewalk in the predawn darkness.

The skewed stories can have some real-life consequences.

Its definitely making prospective tenants think, said Kazuko Morgan, vice chair of real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. The due diligence is taking longer than ever before. This whole thing is just so blown out of proportion. They make it seem like its Armageddon.

Of course, its also encouraging some opportunistic buyers of commercial real estate, who see this as a chance to get good deals, Morgan said.

Negative news makes potential tenants unfamiliar with the market somewhat jittery about San Francisco, said Karin Flood, president of the Flood Building, the 1904 edifice at the foot of Powell Street, which formerly housed the Gaps flagship store. Its really disheartening to read so many negative articles. Enough is enough.

Stephen Kraus, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of San Francisco, said the downbeat stories may be scaring away some tourists, but they dont discourage people who want to move here, such as the graduate students he teaches.

For people like that, San Francisco is as attractive as ever, he said. A lot of young people from all over the country, all over the world, still want to come to San Francisco, between the physical beauty, all of the job opportunities. Rumors of San Franciscos death are greatly exaggerated.

Some stories cherry-pick information.

The fatal stabbing of tech executive Bob Lee in April ignited waves of breathless reports that lawlessness by unhoused people was soaring due to woke politics. And yet very few national outlets focused on the follow-up that the alleged perpetrator turned out to be a fellow tech entrepreneur.

However, data show that San Francisco actually has one of the lowest homicide rates of U.S. cities, while violent crime fell during the pandemic, a Chronicle analysis found. Still, polls show that San Franciscans feel crime is on the rise a perception that could be fueled by the drumbeat of negativity.

When you get news article after news article, it starts to make people scared, said Marisa Rodriguez, executive director of the Union Square Alliance, which works to enhance that central shopping district. Anyone thinking about: Is my next destination going to be a place I'm reading so many negative stories about, will probably think twice, and thats not OK. If you were going to open a business, sign a lease, but keep getting a barrage of negative news stories about the area, would you have cold feet or second thoughts? Of course, thats human nature.

She and others rue that little attention is paid to news about improvements: the money and energy the city is investing to address issues of crime, homelessness and other issues, the efforts to re-energize its streets.

Those stories arent being told. I havent seen this kind of energy (for revitalizing San Francisco) in a long time and its really hopeful, Rodriguez said.

Sriram Sundararajan, an adjunct lecturer of marketing at Santa Clara University, said city leaders should rally to counteract the gloom and doom and enlist residents as brand ambassadors.

This is the perfect opportunity for San Francisco to reframe itself and help build a narrative around safety and stability, he said.

San Francisco, like California, has always had a boom-and-bust trajectory.

It absolutely will turn around; hard times always create some innovation, said Kraus, from USF.

Rodriguez echoed that: San Francisco is known to come back and always stronger, she said.

City boosters hope that pendulum swing could inspire a new round of reports this time upbeat.

There will be a time when people will be equally as interested in San Francisco comeback stories, Housekeeper said. I will be leading the charge there.

In recent months theres been considerable national dialogue about San Franciscos purported demise. Here are ten of the most notable stories and viral social media moments about the citys perceived or potential doom.

With the 2022 recall of District Attorney Chesa Boudin as its peg, one-time Chronicle writer Nellie Bowles called San Francisco a cruel city in a mammoth, almost 8,000-word essay for The Atlantic magazine. Bowles wrote that it will take more than a couple of recall votes to save San Francisco from a pandemic-initiated decline characterized by boarded-up stores, a ghostly downtown and a housing crisis.

On CNNs The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, reporter Sarah Sidner listed headlines that describe San Francisco as decaying, a crime-ridden hell hole, and a failed city. In an interview, former Chronicle columnist Phil Matier said, You put homelessness, mentally ill and fentanyl together and its worse than the third world.

While broadcasting live about Westfield announcing its decision to give up its namesake mall in downtown San Francisco, Good Morning America chief national correspondent Matt Guttman said he was unable to report from Union Square or Westfield Mall early in the morning because its simply too dangerous. Guttman said the city could turn into a so-called zombie city and that its downtown is following a trend of decay caused by the fentanyl epidemic, pervasive homelessness and fleeing retailers.

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'They're making up stuff': How the narrative of S.F. as dystopian ... - San Francisco Chronicle