Global brands and attitudes of young Europeans :

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Global brands and attitudes of young Europeans

• The rise of the citizen consumer inFrance and
  Germany

Esomar Consumer Insights Conference 2005
Béatrice Maccario - Qualitative director -
Research International Marie-Agathe Nicoli -
Quantitative director - Research International
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Introduction The rise of the citizen-consumer

• Anti-globalisation thinking is strong across
  Europe, especially in France and Germany.
• In both markets, consumers are becoming more
  sophisticated citizen-consumers concerned about
  the ethical and social behaviour of brands.

   

• Negative view about the power of global brands.
• Sensitive to scandals, corporate social policies,
  layoffs and relocations

• Better accept the rules of the consumer society.
• More worried about the products price to quality
  ratio than the strategies of large corporations. 

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Introduction
? How this plays out amongst younger consumers ?

• Focus-group sessions among young people in France
  and Germany (including pro-boycott consumers and
  potential activists) and online research within
  the 18-35 age group have been conducted.
• Support of Business for Diplomatic Action (BDA)
  in devising the questions

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Agenda

• What is a Global Brand ?
• A Positive View of Global Brands
• 5 Patterns of Relationship with Global Brands
• Key Expectations for Global Brands
• Main Complaints on Global Brands
• Does The Country of Origin Matters ?
• Trapped by The Consumer Society
• Is the Boycott Option a Growing Trend ?
• Alternatives to Global Brands
• Fields of Action for Global Brands
• Conclusion

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What is a Global Brand ?

• A powerful international brand with strong and
  consistent image
• Dominating brand holding a leading position, a
  monopoly even.
• Represents a group heading several brands and
  many activities
• Embodies the global village, the appealing idea
  to feel at home everywhere, to come across
  landmarks
• Trans-cultural "It has to offer something that
  is appealing and relevant in all cultures." 

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What is a Global Brand ?

• Food and drink Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Mac Donalds,
  Pepsi, Ferrero, Schweppes, Starbucks
• Shoes Nike, Adidas, Puma, Converse
• Clothing HM, Levis, Gap, Zara, Benetton
• Consumer electronics Nokia, Sony, Samsung
• Computing/Internet Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo,
  eBay, DELL, HP

• Cosmetics LOreal, Nivéa, Dove, Garnier, Body
  shop
• General Unilever
• Perfumes Chanel, Gucci, Vuitton, Prada
• Media CNN
• Finance American Express
• Oil E.ON, Shell, Total
• Tobacco Marlboro
• Furniture Ikea

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A Positive View of Global Brands

• Fascination in the gigantic power game in which
  brands evolve and operate

Have a positive opinion of global brands (85
among less than 25yo)
80
Have a very good opinion of global brands
25
Like the fact that these brands are powerful.
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5 Patterns of Relationship with Global Brands
They like the brands and delight in their
choices. Potentially fans of classic brands
The enthusiasts
They do not care about what the brands do or
their social policies
The pragmatics
They require from the brand ethical values and
traceability
The ethical
They are willing to act in an organized way to
penalize a brand
The activists
Similar profile but their dissent remains a vague
desire
The resigned critics
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Key Expectations for Global Brands
They want quality and ethics. Expert, critical
consumers not fooled by marketing.
They should offer quality products
They need to be trustworthy
Offering fashionable and trendy products and
services
Communicating well to their consumers
France
Germany
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Key Expectations for Global Brands

• Any spending of money by a global brand is
  appreciated
• Charity is acceptable when it appears credible
• Greater degree of transparency
• Companies should provide more information,
  explain how profits are used, and encourage
  dialogue with the public.
• They should be transparent and accountable, clear
  about the production process

"Even if calculated, better than nothing."
"Even Bill Gates spends money for Aids in
Africa."
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Main Complaints on Global Brands

• Under-performance from a global brand is not
  accepted
• High price

Global brands are too expensive

• Excessive or manipulative marketing is identified
  as poor behaviour  

Global brands manipulate the consumer too much
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Main Complaints on Global Brands

• They penalize brands identified with
• health hazards,
• political or financial scandal,
• layoffs and relocation,
• the use of child labour and damage to the
  environment.
• Exploitation of developing countries

Feel concerned by the fact Global Brands are not
exploiting local workers

• Lack of respect towards individuals

Too much has been relocated abroad
The company is too much focused on profitability
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Does The Country of Origin Matters ?
Buy fewer American global brands since the Iraq
war.

• Some do not see a significant difference between
  the type of management of a European group as
  opposed to a US group.
• There are good' American brands the ones which
  are more tribal and with credible authenticity
  such as Apple, Levi's, eBay and Converse.

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Does The Country of Origin Matters ?
Prefer their domestic global brands (American
brands come in second)
Prefer buying products manufactured in their
country
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Trapped by The Consumer Society

• They feel trapped by the consumer society and the
  existence of brands

 We do not have the choice We are
dependant Even if you would like to, you hardly
can avoid them, you buy a product and find out
later that it belongs to a global enterprise.
If we stop purchasing these brands, we might as
well live in a remote village and not see
anyone.
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Is the Boycott Option a Growing Trend ?

• Boycott has to be a collective action

we feel like we are acting alone, isolated

• A change in purchasing habits is complicated,
  

Why would I penalize myself by deciding to stop
purchasing a brand?

• It may even have an opposite effect to the
  intended

We penalize a company because they are laying
off, but as we purchase less, we might contribute
to force the company to layoff again!
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Is the Boycott Option a Growing Trend ?
Have already boycotted a brand
Have never done it because they think it is
pointless

• The reasons of boycotting a brand were

Disagreement with the company policy
Poor working conditions such as the use of child
labour or low wages
Brand harmful to the environment
France
Germany
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Alternatives to Global Brands?

• Individuality, community, innovation
• Private labels which offer value for money
• Regional products ? fresh quality and support of
  the local business
• Fair trade products

They buy more brands with the Fair Trade label
than before
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Fields of Action for Global Brands

• To improve the ethical and human dimensions of
  the global brands by
• Reestablishing their meaning
• Fighting against standardization
• Encouraging ethical consumption
• Finding new ways to communicate with communities
  of consumers
• Innovating across a range of their activities for
  the benefit of society

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Fields of Action for Global Brands

• Education Supporting of universities, schools,
  foundations.
• Employment work committees, fair jobs/payments,
  fairer contracts of employment.
• Environment More credible ecological packaging
  or production methods.
• Humanitarian help/ human rights Sponsorship of
  humanitarian foundations, fair trade, and
  development aid.
• Health The use of organic ingredients, no
  preservatives, medicinal research, no genetically
  modified raw materials, no animal testing.
• Public interest Sponsorship of kindergartens,
  playgrounds, and cultural institutions

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Conclusion
Young people are increasingly well-informed and
used to the idea of consumerism ? the basic
contract of the global brand is becoming more
sophisticated.

• A brand with a global dimension must
• Create products which are always more perfect and
  personalized
• Get involved in a more human and generous vision
  of capitalism
• Be even more irreproachable in terms of quality
  and consumer service,
• Be even more respectful of its customer base and
  employees,
• Be even more responsible in protection of the
  environment or humanitarian work.

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Conclusion
The global brands have everything to gain if they
have more ethics, transparency and commitment

• Moving business in a direction that allows global
  brands to increasingly become citizens of the
  world is a true challenge that is at the heart of
  the evolution of our western societies