Surviving consumers' shift to thrift

Belts have tightened, but while it may take a little more to wrest those hard-earned dollars from consumers' hands, it isn't impossible. You just have to know what they're looking for.

1. Image up your retail.

The tents are up and the prices are down, but what makes your BOGO better than the next guy's? We're not suggesting you sacrifice the price points. But consumers won't care about the difference between you and Brand X if you start ignoring the brand you've built. Spice up your messaging by hitting the benefit beyond 'saving you money.' People can save a lot of money by not buying anything.

Let them know how your product/service will help them be a hero to their kids though things are tight, make them smarter than their neighbors, give them an edge over their colleagues or simply provide for a surprise-free summer vacation. Go local with sponsorships or just go all ABA with your promotions and let consumers escape in the fun. After all, the tents are up; you might as well have a (branded) circus.

2. Make it OK to indulge.

Consumers want to consume. And while they are being very good about trying to stay within their means, they need to reward themselves for being so good. Or cheat on their dollar diet. Either way, you need to be there to enable. Whether you have mini versions of your signature offering or that lagniappe to lure people to take a bigger bite, help consumers feel good about being a little bad about their new savings regimen.

3. Tell your best-kept secret.

As consumers become more discerning, they are digging for those services and items that give them more bang for their buck. But what if you've already been providing some bang. Rather than leap headfirst into a bidding war for customers, make sure people know all the reasons they should have been with you in the first place.

Example: A writer here was going to save a lot of money by switching to Geico (ok, Progressive). But by calling his current agent just to be sure, he comes to find that his policy just needed a bit of review via a quick survey. Turns out he saved a lot of money by staying put, more so than if he had switched. Maybe the 'high-end' issuer should tell its customers to call them first before they just up and switch. Or better yet send them the survey to fill out for the reassessment.

4. Publish or perish.

From blogs to tweets to bookmarking to recommending, there is a world of free spaces out there where you can get the word out about your product. And with advances coming rapidly in technologies incorporating consumer goods and online content, you need to start building that web cred now because that will be what the next-generation of technologies will be drawing upon for information.

And it's coming up faster than you think. In fact, simple, cheap and highly measurable technologies like QR are already out there. It's only a matter of (a short) time before these are incorporated into or rely on the info from social media platforms.

5. Don't overshoot yourself in the foot.

While corporate budgets are being slashed, R&D piggy banks have been spared the rod for now. But if your innovation focus is limited to simply improving existing products you run the risk of improving products beyond what most customers really need and are willing to pay for. When you focus on continually tweaking your bread and butter, you end up missing out on the rest of the feast, probably while ultimately tearing the toast in the process.

Innovation consultant Scott Anthony calls this 'overshooting' and it's why your refrigerator could've probably beaten Bobby Fischer in a game of chess. He says, "Too much focus on the corporate equivalent of comfort food — close-in innovation opportunities — will leave companies stuffed with empty calories and out of shape for the battles still to come." Like we said, too much bread and butter. (anyone else hungry?)

If your company was built on innovation, now is not the time to rest on your laurels. Flaunt your new endeavors and let consumers know what you've done for them lately.