A recent report shows millennials are on the verge of surpassing baby boomers as the nation’s largest generation, and the change is already playing a critical role in the fate of the American economy. The home products category is beginning to realize the impact of the new generation’s consumer-first mindset as it catalyzes great change in the way people think and shop for their homes. Technology brands are entering the category at an astounding pace while direct-to-consumer businesses disrupt traditional retail models by cutting out the middlemen. Transformations like these have given rise to a new level of competition as brands old and new vie for a share of consumers’ minds and wallets.
It’s no secret: older homeowners are driving today’s home improvement market. A recent study by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University revealed that households 55 and older account for half of all current home improvement spending. And as this audience ages into their 70s and 80s, researchers expect their investments in home modifications to soar even higher as they look to enhance accessibility.
There has been a seismic shift in channel planning for the home products category. Channel planning once consisted of mapping media and messages to specific touchpoints on a linear buying journey. The marketer’s role was to guide the customer through each stage and channel.
A September Saturday in a college town has an undeniable energy. It’s hard to walk down a sidewalk without being greeted by the smell of cheeseburgers grilling at a tailgate party. Or the fight song signaling a touchdown.
Video games. They’ve been with us since the late 1950s, believe it or not, although the first video game to gain widespread popularity was the tennis game, Pong, in the 1970s. Flash forward to today and video games are a $109 billion industry with more than 2 billion gamers across the globe. To put that in perspective, the movie industry makes just over $36 billion in yearly revenues. Games are big. And they’re not just for teenage boys anymore, as anyone with a mother hooked on Candy Crush will tell you.
In the book (or movie if you prefer) Ready Player One, the protagonist, Wade, puts on a pair of virtual reality goggles and a sensory suit, steps onto an omnidirectional track pad, and he is instantly transformed into another person and transported to another world. That is the promise of VR. We’re a little way from a complete transformative experience, which is why the story is set several decades in the future, but what’s possible in the here and now with VR technology is pretty amazing stuff in its own right.
Video has often been thought of as a way to make a website come to life. Well, it’s also breathing life into content marketing, email marketing, SEO, social and more. Not just because it’s eye candy – it improves brand affinity, customer relations and, best of all, marketing and sales results.