Pretty much everything in life is about choices. And the decisions we make impact the direction we take. Sometimes it’s small decisions, other times more significant.
Sometimes we’re faced with choices and it’s impossible to choose – we want both. We don’t want to compromise. We want to have our cake and eat it.
Rather than abiding by fixed rules there is a desire for flexibility.
The age of the flexitarian is here! And we’re not just talking about people’s preferences for plant-based, fish or meat dishes.
If we look at the media headlines and the cost-of-living crisis then we may assume that all consumers are switching to own label, or shopping exclusively at Aldi and Lidl. Yet this is not the case. There is still a desire to treat. For some it may be a high end lipstick. For others, it may be paying a premium to have their preferred ketchup brand - their ability to hold on to normality.
It’s not black and white.
It’s not a case of own label being in and premium being out.
Attitudes and behaviours are shifting. Boundaries are blurring.
We no longer have to choose one thing over another.
The drinks category is a great example of this. Only a few years ago you either drank alcohol or you didn’t. Now you can have a foot in both camps, choosing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks depending on the occasion, or even within the same occasion.
The same is true of healthcare. There is no reason why people might not combine natural or home remedies with OTC products.
Banking has experienced this for many years with customers wanting to manage their account on-line, on the phone and in person – with all channels blending seamlessly.
And back to our flexitarian, you may choose to eat vegan some days, and fish or meat on others. And that is now accepted.
This blurring of lines clearly adds complexity. It’s not as neat as if we’re able to put people into neatly labeled boxes. Budget shoppers. Full time vegans. Teetotalers.
And this means that both the audience and the competitive set for brands is much broader than it has been before.
For continued success, brands need to rethink how they frame the category that they’re operating in.
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