Consumer | Pierce Mattie

Is it Authentic? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or in this case, the unauthorized seller

If you purchase products from an unauthorized seller, the manufacturer will not guarantee the authenticity of the ingredients and hence, the efficacy of the product.

Beauty and the Beast

While this French fairy tale has a wonderfully happy ending, the beast, in this case being aging skin, doesn’t always follow suit.

The Parallax of Marketing When Viewed Through the Lens of Public Relations

True or false: public relations should mirror all other marketing activities? The answer: a murky ‘it really depends on the situation’.

IT’s Growing Role in What You Buy at the Supermarket

Business Intelligence (BI) systems have been around since at least the late 1950s. Now, with the advent of better tech and faster systems, what took days to find out can take as little as a few seconds. But do buyers of consumer packaged goods really want the Geek Patrol telling everyone what to stock and, presumably, what to buy?

Bigger Stores Could Dent Retailers’ Holiday Profits

“He who has the largest store or number of stores will sell the most things between now and the end of the year.” Right? Maybe not. Bigger, alas, is not always better. But could larger operations with extra floor space actually result in lower sales numbers? Especially once the holiday shopping season stampedes into town? Is that even possible?

Packaged-Goods Offers Your Phone Can’t Refuse

The Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry tries very hard to let you know just how necessary its products are to your life. These days, though, golden-glow, soft-focus TV spots about the wonders of laundry detergent aren’t going to keep you captivated. Appealing to the one object that commands your undivided attention might, however. Which is exactly where the CPG industry is planning a massive advertising assault. On your mobile device.

Authenticity Gap

Midwest PR and marketing agency FleishmanHillard decided to find out the difference between what consumers expect from companies and what they actually experience. The resulting study, entitled “Mind the Gap”, looked at 20 different industry categories in the U.S., Germany and China. Do consumers care if a company comes across as authentic and genuine? Does sincerity always carry the day?

Will Price Always Trump Brand, and Do Marketers Need to Care?

Are consumers chucking brand loyalty overboard in favor of getting the best deal possible on a product or service? Or are they simply responding to expanded product lines, increased promotional opportunities and economic realities – the same way people always have and always will? And does anyone need a marketing guru to explain it all?

Something Borrowed: Rented Goods Get Bigger & Broader for Consumers

To rent or to buy, that is the question that often conflicts us when standing with a big ticket item at a store. There is no doubt that we covet these luxury items, but often our pockets aren’t deep enough or we have trouble justifying the purchase if we don’t see ourselves wearing it often.