The secret behind why ‘new & different’ products are taking over ‘tried & true’
Written by Dr. Adrian Massey, C’go Drinks: The speed of change in the world is rapidly increasing, it is almost incomprehensible. It took 75 years for the telephone to connect 50 million people, then 38 years for radio, 13 years for TV, 4 years for internet, 35 days for angry birds and now just a few days for a new Apple app.
It’s not just the rate of change of adoption of new technologies that is accelerating, but also the way we live our lives. We are now trying to cram in over 43 hours activities into a 24-hour day[1] as we juggle work, commuting, keeping up with all forms of media, family & friends etc…
All of these demands have resulted in massive shifts in our lifestyles as we try adapt to the challenges of everyday life and the continual changes in the world around us. The impact of which is having huge effects on the loyalty towards well established brands as consumers seek out genuine innovation in an attempt to make their lives easier.
If this wasn’t enough a secret has been uncovered, which reveals why these ‘tried and true’ brands are now falling victim to ‘new and different’ ones. This is that small cultural evolutions over the years, have now accumulated into a huge cultural shift, as reported in a Forbes article[2]. In the 20th century established brands were rewarded with consistent purchases week after week, month after month and year after year. In the article[2], it cites how the historical social value of loyalty, which hinged on the desire for long term connection and mutual trust, is no longer valid in the modern day, due to the following shifts in attitude:
- Employment – A job for life has turned into much more frequent job changes and a rise in self-employment
- Religion – With beliefs becoming more fluid and a rise in indifference towards different faiths
- Romance – The celebration of big wedding anniversaries to more frequent marriage breakdowns or child upbringing in which parents were not married at all
- Corporations – With growing distrust for governments, financial institutions and other large corporations
- ‘The way we think’ – With constant simulation due to electronic multi-tasking we now replicate this frequent and rapid change in thinking offline by no longer sticking to what we know
It is not difficult to understand why these attitude shifts are favouring ‘new & different’ products over ‘tried and true’ ones.
This, of course, is also compounded by the consumers’ intense desire to seek out products that will make their lives easier as they continue to cope with the demands of everyday living. In particular, those products that can match their preferences towards food and drink in a way that fits easily within their busy lifestyles.
It is for this very reason that C’go was developed, to complement a breakfast time favourite, a bowl of cereal, in a way that effectively meets the demands of the consumers’ busy lifestyles. The UK consumes more breakfast cereal, per person, than any other country in the world[3] but it doesn’t exist in a convenient format.
C’go is a great example of ‘new & different’ – taking the humble bowl of cereal into an exciting innovation that is literally just ‘grab and go’.
Written by Dr. Adrian Massey, C’go Drinks. Exhibiting at lunch! 2017 on stand SU-9.
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Notes
[1] Eating the Big Fish – How challenger brands compete against brand leaders. 2nd edition. Adam Morgan. 2009, p14.
[2] Kathleen Kusek. “The Death Of Brand Loyalty: Cultural Shifts Mean It’s Gone Forever”. www.forbes.com. N.p., 25 July 2016. 12 August 2017.
[3] Euromonitor International (via General Mills Annual Report).
