Consumer Insight

CONTEXT CONSUMER INSIGHTS:

Connecting the dots, Considered

Connecting the Dots, Dove

Connecting the dots, Dannon

People are in a position today where they truly see, and more importantly recognize, their habits.

As they take time to examine their lives they are seeing not just the trees, but the forest as well. Within today’s fractured marketplace this realization means consumers are making complex connections between the products they buy, what they do for them, and how this impacts their overall lives. Basically, consumers are connecting the dots and maintaining a more holistic view on their lives than ever.

But are companies and brands helping consumers in their “connect the dot process”, or are companies, as Seinfeld says to Gates in the latest Microsoft ads, “a little out of it”? In today’s marketplace, companies that connect with real people will be the companies that know how to help real people connect their dots.

Nike is a company that began to take steps to connect the dots back in 2005 with their Considered product, a sustainable line of shoes. They launched the Considered Boot, this boot looked Considered, it was earthy and did not have the same look and feel of other Nike shoes. It was the first step in their Considered product innovation. Context conducted an ethnography in 2006 to understand what Considered meant in the lives of 18-24 year olds who ran on a regular basis and had some behaviors or feelings about helping the environment, their health or social causes. As a result of this and other research to connect with people, Nike has begun to integrate the Considered design and creation process into more of their shoes, specifically into their All Conditions Gear (ACG) group. Nike revealed two new designs in 2007 that look more like the typical active shoe, see image above. Nike’s ultimate goal is to design all shoes with the Considered approach – a real “connect the dots” approach.

From a communications standpoint, another company that has embraced approaching their product holistically is Dove. In their campaign for real beauty, Dove celebrates the real and natural beauty embodied by women of all ages, shapes, and sizes and the campaign inspires people to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves.

They have created self-esteem workshops for young girls and encourage parents to "talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does". The campaign helps women connect the dots-"I'm not a model but I'm still beautiful"-and becomes a partner in building women's self-confidence, by providing them with a holistic sense of beauty.

A company that Context sees closest to approaching their business from a holistic perspective is Dannon. Last year Dannon took the final step in ensuring that all their products are geared toward health and nutrition by selling their cookie portfolio and acquiring baby food.

As a company, they made a conscious decision to connect the dots for all their business lines, they didn't want to be selling fresh dairy products, bottled water as well as cookies. By taking this step, they help consumers know that when they buy a Dannon product, they are buying it from a holistically-minded and future oriented company. Dannon's connect the dots approach is well represented by their tagline -- Today for Tomorrow.

About Context Consumer Insights

Context Consumer Insights provides a lens into consumer behavior based on our ethnographic research. This year, we cover the Grounded Consumer. We will identify key pieces that comprise this insight, illustrate examples from the marketplace and offer recommendations on what to do with this information from a marketing and product development standpoint.

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