“Stop Shouting At Consumers And Innovate”: Edelman’s Michelle Hutton
Australians are the most difficult, cynical people on the planet and are sick of being dictated to by brands says Edelman’s global chair of consumer marketing, Michelle Hutton.
“People feel like brands are shouting at them,” Hutton told B&T, “and what came through strongly is that ‘new’ is just not good enough any more. We’re really letting down consumers, despite the fact businesses are innovating.”
Edelman recently released results from a study that was conducted in 10 countries over 70 months around consumer attitudes and concerns around brand innovation, the power of peer conversations to shape those attitudes, and the behaviours of successful brand innovators.
“What we found really interesting,” she added, “was that in Australia, 67 per cent of the people we spoke to said, ‘actually we’re actually really bored and frustrated and constantly being told to, upgrade, upgrade’. That 67 per cent of Australians was much higher than the global average.”
She then laughed, “and as an Australian I can say this, but Australians tend to be the most difficult and cynical people on the planet. They’re saying, ‘stop yelling and shouting at me about upgrading – you’ve really got to work harder to inspire me’.
“And, almost from a marketing and communication standpoint, ‘give me more of the emotional reasoning behind what you’re doing as a brand. Why innovating? Why is this innovation important? How is it going to make my mind better as opposed to telling me about the upgrade, and what is it’? We found that people really believe in the promise of innovation.”
Hutton said the findings show that confused consumers don’t know what to believe anymore, with two out of three saying brands aren’t communicating innovation efficiently.
And due to photo manipulation in ads and online, the overwhelming message from consumers is “is what we’re seeing real?”
However, it was discovered that brands win if they really power through peer conversation, so they carried out the study through the lens of disruptive innovators like Airbnb and Uber.
“We really wanted to delve into why is that those brands are being so successful in changing people’s behaviour around certain categories,” revealed Hutton. “Most importantly, how that brand overcome people’s concerns around privacy, security in particular. Because if you think about it, the data that people now make available freely offline to those brands is extraordinary.
“So we really delved into this whole peer to peer conversation piece. We’ve always known the importance of peer to peer innovation and conversation. Now through the lens of this innovational disruptive innovation, where we went and talked to people, they were saying ‘well, actually, I’m more trusting of what my peers are saying’. There’s a great quote that we got out of some qualitative work we did, which was, ‘other people’s experience is now my evidence’. That came through really, really, strong.”
Hutton claims the other thing that came through that came through around brand behaviour and gaining consumer trust was around making your mark and having a purpose.
“Consumers are saying, ‘we want to be inspired by innovation’,” she added. “They expect innovation to come from businesses today and, actually, expect businesses outside of technology and mobile. Have a purpose. They said, ‘reassure me about my societal concerns’.”
Hutton, who currently lives in London, said the brands at risk of tanking are those that don’t make their peer reviews readily available, refusing to share the good, the bad and the ugly.
“Consumers are sceptical about those brands,” she added. “If you think of, TripAdvisor, for example. The way that now properties, airlines, etc are quite openly transparent on that side about their reviews.
“If you think about those properties that respond to challenging or negative comments in a constructive way often are the ones that are viewed as having more authenticity, that are behaving in a conversation. They’re the brands that are being trusted more.”
Latest News
The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]
‘It’s The Lesser Of Two Evils’ – NRL Eyes US Betting Market As Aussie Regulators Circle
US betting firms will be delighted by the circa 50,000 Americans who could soon watch the NRL on their favourite app.
A-League In Deep Discussions With New Partner To Keep Games On TV After Production Company Enters Administration
The A-League's insatiable appetite for scoring own goals continues.
TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]
Is The Australian Music Industry In Trouble? Inquiry Launched Following Splendour Cancellation
Earlier this week, an inquiry was launched into the challenges and opportunities currently facing the Australian live music industry in the wake of multiple festival cancellations. On 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee on Communications and the Arts to inquire into and report on the […]
Liana Dubois, Leandro Perez, Aimee Buchanan & More Gather For Inaugural Compadres Leadership Event
Didn't get the invite? Perhaps you're not as important as you thought.
Cathay Captures The Unforgettable Thrill Of Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Via Publicis
Nobody does rugby like Hong Kong, apparently. Certainly nobody does it as badly as Australia.
Cocogun Nabs Christine Watts, Kirsty Reynolds & Shev Tan Bolstering Management & Creative Teams
Cocogun bolsters its team with new hires. Committed to purchasing a bigger sofa, too.
The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley & Sam Cousins Take The Plunge With Pro-Bono Work For Cure Cancer
B&T chats with The Media Store bosses about their great pro-bono work and sponsored swim.
Hawke’s Brewing Co. Taps Rocket Comms For PR Agency Following Competitive Pitch
We're expecting Rocket Comms productivity to crash in spectacular fashion following this win.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Patties Serves Up A Taste Of Home For Olympians & South Sydney Rabbitohs Recommit To Gambling Reform
While the Rabbitohs commits to gambling reform, B&T reckons the team should commit to a decent auto sponsor.
Google: “Inevitable” That Bad Actors Will Abuse Ads Platform As Advertiser Account Suspensions Double
Google maintains it's simply impossible for it to entirely stop bad people placing & paying for ads using its service.
Quantcast Expands APAC Sales Team With Appointment Of News Corp Account Manager
No pressure at all when you are appointed as a client success manager.
Publicis Sapient Tests Microsoft-Powered Gen AI Search Tool With Homes & Villas By Marriott Bonvoy
Given Gen AI's record for mangling stuff, B&T cannot see the problem with letting it decide your next holiday digs.
Volkswagen & DDB Group’s “Roo Badge” To Reduce Kangaroo Related Road Collisions
Watch out for RooBadge as Cannes Lions' most debated campaign this year.
Twilio Launches Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot Features To Boost Productivity & Engagement
Agent Copilot sounds like James Bond's less interesting cousin.
Reebok & Honda Among New Clients For onetwo agency
OneTwo finally lives up to its name with this double billing.
Ogilvy Report: Throw Out The Social Strategy Rule Book, The Rules Of The Past No Longer Apply
B&T was puzzled that all 'influencers' aren't, effectively, 'virtual', but here we are.
WhiteGREY & AKQA Merge In Australia, Lee Simpson Departs
Fortunately, the combined agencies aren't opting for a trite portmanteau for the new name.
Splendour In The Grass 2024 Music Festival Cancelled!
Music fans all over the country reportedly relieved they can pack away their rain coats and gumboots for another year.
TV Ratings (26/03/2024): “Fairy Bread, F***ing Disgusting”: Gordon Ramsay Slams Aussie Food In Food Stars Launch
Ramsay not one for mincing his words, even when it comes to minced meat pies.
Paramount+ International Boss Doubles Down On Aussie Content, Says Ad-Tier will Grow Audiences And Revenue
Good news as Paramount will not be binning I’m A Celebrity for re-runs of Frasier.
Brent Smart: Telstra Pushing For 50-50 Brand-Performance Split But Warns Numbers ‘Won’t Look Great’ Initially
The old brand vs performance debate continues. But here, Brent is firmly sitting on the fence.
Crowded House, Tones And I & Dom Dolla Win Big At The Shure Rolling Stone Music Awards
B&T staffer reports back with humdinger of a hangover & feeling seriously uncool after mixing with music types.
Opinion: Dyslexia “A Hidden Gem” For Brands & Agencies
Dyslexics offer underappreciated benefits in the corporate field, according to this op-ed.
David Jones Taps Criteo To Power Online Retail Media Arm
Want to see ads for things you probably can't afford? David Jones has got you covered with new retail media play.
oOh!media Sets Up Team To Target Business Audiences Across Airports & Offices
oOh! wants brands to harass you every minute of your next business trip.
QMS Launches Australian First DOOH & TV Partnership With Samba TV
Samba TV, of course, is not a channel dedicated to dancing. Much to our dismany.
Slew Of New Hires At Amplify
Four new faces join the Amplify offices. Team say desk scarcity becoming "acute".
Adobe Announces Content Authenticity Initiative Expansions To Counter Deep Fakes
Try as they might to enlighten them, we suspect Trump supporters will continue to watch and believe Fox News.
The PR Group Appoints TechCrunch Senior Reporter Catherine Shu As Director Of Content & Media
Catherine Shu makes the bold leap from journalism to PR. Says inevitable pay bump was "unrelated".
HERO Nabs Ebony Santin From AMPR
Rumours Santin cleared out the stationery cupboard before departing are as yet unconfirmed.
Karena Noble Checks Out Of EVT Hotels & Resorts To Launch Comms Consultancy
Noble still managed to squeezed in a continental breakfast before departing.
Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Canva & Adobe face off continues. We're not picking sides but keenly aware that Canva's office is next door to ours.
“Lean On Our Team To Help You Find An Audience”: Why Understanding Audience Engagement Is Essential In Journalism
Engaging the audience is critical to journos, apparently. We'd thought self-loathing & alcoholism were key.
Adobe Summit: Major Gen AI Developments, Data Concessions & Partnerships
What happens in Vegas stays there. Unless it's the Adobe Summit and then you get to read about in B&T.