Older is Cooler. Surprising Results from the 2017 Mindshare Culture Vultures Study

For those of us who have aged out of the desirable 25-54 demographic, we can now take some comfort and satisfaction from the results of the latest Mindshare Culture Vulture Trends report. Culture Vulture is Mindshare's global cultural trends program that sets out to identify macro and micro trends.  Now in its sixth year, the Culture Vulture has been ascertaining consumer trends with eerie accuracy.

Past studies have correctly mapped out the increasingly divided nature of our society. “Over the years, two of the biggest trends we’ve tracked have been ‘2 Americas’ and ‘Crossover Culture,’ both of which are still two of most impactful trends years later,” explained Alexis Fragale, Director, Consumer Insights, Mindshare NA . According to this year’s study, we are experiencing a Boomaissance as the value of this overlooked demographic now becomes apparent.  

The 2017 study marked ten impactful trends that are then matched with advertiser demographic targets to help in strategy and planning. The ten major trends are ‘Tapped Out’ (Too busy lives and plateauing productivity), ‘Boomaissance’ (Older adults take on a Middle Aged Millennial mindset), ‘21st Century Success’ (Traditional American dream vs dream of personal experiences), ‘Unmasking Unicorns’ (Parsing fake news), ‘My World / The World’ (Widening gulf between personal perceptions and views of the world overall), ‘Mind(ful) Optimization’ (Seeking purpose and mindfulness), ‘Land of the Giants’ (Corporate giants dominate but niche brands fight back), ‘The Informal Normal’ (More casual at work and with friends), ‘ Borecore’ (More and more, we’re posting and watching ‘boring’ content) and ‘Open Lives’ (Less privacy, more exposed lives).  

I sat down with Alexis Fragale and Jodie Huang, Manager, Insights, Mindshare NA and asked them the following questions:

Charlene Weisler: Two of the biggest trends from past studies are ‘2 Americas’ and ‘Crossover Culture’. Can you tell me about them?

Alexis Fragale: In ‘2 Americas’, we explored how Americans' values and lifestyles have been diverging significantly over recent years – making it harder for brands to speak to ‘one’ homogenous country. This was clearly a huge factor in the 2016 election and we’ve seen it move beyond values and lifestyles to other areas like content preferences and our social algorithms. ‘2 Americas’ has been evidenced in our 2017 trends of ‘My World / The World’ and ‘Unmasking Unicorns.’

In ‘Crossover Culture’, we explored how a more connected and complex world gives opportunities and a need for crossover in art, technology, science, ideas, and brands. And in a world where it’s harder to gain consumers’ trust and wallet share, more brands are finding ways to extend their brand into more areas of their consumers’ life. For example, take West Elm who is set to open a hotel, and NBA teams buying eSports teams. ‘Crossover Culture’ has been evidenced in our 2017 trends ‘Tapped Out’ and ‘Land of the Giants.’

Charlene Weisler: What are the big takeaways from this year's study?

Alexis Fragale: First, the report is a reminder on how quickly the world and culture changes. Second, there are pockets of growth opportunities that advertisers may be missing and may need to address differently than before – for example, look at Boomers, or how to deliver against consumers’ changing definition of success. Third, there are a lot of myths out there. Myths about how people are feeling in America. About the types of content people want. About consumer media behavior. That’s why you’ve always got to keep looking at the data – question those myths.  

Charlene Weisler: Do you think advertisers will shift advertising dollars to the Boomer cohort and why?

Alexis Fragale: Boomers control much of the disposable income in America and they are living longer than ever. While companies will still advertise and try to win over younger consumers (which is partly a Customer Lifetime Value play), it would be a missed opportunity to ignore or alienate such a large portion of Americans, especially one with so much spending power. As for shifting dollars to Boomers, it depends on the nuances of both category and jobs to be done within the campaign (e.g. retain consumers, inspire trial, etc.).

Take spirits as an example: for certain brands, their stronghold of users is among Boomers (e.g. Scotch), but to grow the category, they need to appeal to a (21+) millennial audience. They’ll need to strategize how to balance the growth opportunities while speaking to their loyalists.

Charlene Weisler: How is the American Dream changing and how will that impact spending?

Jodie Huang: We’ve seen a bigger push towards experiential over materialism, especially amongst Millennials. These experiences increasingly help define their lives and identities versus the things they buy. So there is a shift in how they spend, the content they look at, and what companies they use to enable this lifestyle change. Travel is one category that will benefit from shift to experiential spending, and the one-upmanship we’re seeing among Millennials (e.g. the race to be the first of your friends to travel to Cuba or planning an epic celebration vacation for your 30th birthday).

Charlene Weisler: How can we dispel myths and fake news?

Jodie Huang: Educating consumers on how to tell the difference between fake and real news will empower the readers and puts the onus on them to decide for themselves whether or not to trust the content they are reading. Tools and content hacking devices can help make it easier to look at the source material, check facts, review credentials and speed up the process of verifying the news.

Charlene Weisler: Give me one descriptor word for each generation.

Jodie Huang: Gen Z: Ephemeral, Millennials: Savvy, Gen X: Overlooked, Boomers: Idealistic

Charlene Weisler: What advice would you give advertisers today to best prepare for the future?

Alexis Fragale: A lot of industry ‘futuring’ work tends to be wrong, especially in highly uncertain categories (the famous quote: “Wall Street indices predicted nine out of the last five recessions”). The best you can do is map plausible scenarios and prepare for a small number of likely outcomes. Our Culture Vulture work throws up the trends that may underpin different category and media scenarios. It’s important to keep a pulse on the directions the world may be heading in, and what the implications are for brands. We recommend three things:

Talk to consumers as frequently as possible (or ensure that your agencies do). At Mindshare, among our other ongoing surveys and research, we run monthly ‘consumer conversations.’ We speak to the early adopters of technologies or behaviors (e.g. right now we’re chatting to folks who have Amazon Echos and Google Home). Look to understand the drivers and barriers of new behaviors to understand the impact to the brand today and tomorrow.

Set up a committed test-and-learn program, with a funnel of hypotheses that come from consumer insights/research, and an overarching measurement strategy.

Get out and experience the emerging technology and cultural spaces – do monthly safaris out into new format retail stores, or set tasks for your organization to download and trial the newest app (e.g. try Meitu).

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Bridging Qualitative and Quantitative Research Together. Interview with Marcela Tabares

Marcela Tabares, SVP, Strategic Insights, Revenue at A+E Networks, studied Political Science at NYU with noble ambitions of making the world a better place. She started her journey working at the Americas Society / Council of the Americas, which promotes understanding of the economic, political and social issues confronting the Americas. “I was fascinated by the work in driving awareness of the cultural heritage of Latin America, but I could barely survive in NYC working in the non-profit sector. So with hopes of getting into journalism, I eyed media as a viable stepping stone and landed a job at Nielsen as an administrative assistant,” she explained. 

It was there that she got hooked on research and has (rarely) looked back. She worked her way up to Research Supervisor before moving to the agency world, making stops at OMD and Mediavest, then shifting to publisher-side, leading the sales research efforts at MTV and eventually to A+E Networks. While sales research may seem like a significant departure from her early ambitions, there are common and constant values that underpin her career: a curiosity to understand human behavior and cultural influence, and the art of storytelling.

Her current job at A+E applies these passions through qualitative and quantitative research precepts that produce compelling insights for both sales and clients. “The role of research has changed tremendously since I first started,” she noted. “At a recent dinner with a friend, we laughed recalling that we literally (and almost comically) sat in a dark, back corner office where we were isolated from the general population (though sometimes that worked to our benefit, especially as twenty-somethings). We went from working in the background to being a strategic voice at the table, but even more interestingly, the essence of the work itself is far more dynamic, creative and challenging. That’s been the most exciting part!” she added. 

Charlene Weisler: Tell me about the work you do at A+E.

Marcela Tabares: My team works directly with the sales and revenue management teams to help drive the sales effort. It’s really interesting work because we have to flex between left and right side thinking as we blend analytical rigor with creative storytelling. We play with a wide range of research techniques, methodologies and datasets, in a problem solving and insight based approach. 

Our work falls into three key buckets – 1. Advertising effectiveness to understand how partnerships are delivering against client KPI’s and to gain insight on how to enhance experiences for future efforts. 2. Data driven decision making where we help navigate business conversations regarding data implementation and strategy. We work with client on advanced targeting solutions, integrating first and third party datasets for precision-based optimizations. 3. Cultural and human insights studies, which is some of my favorite work. Over the past 18 months, we’ve been conducting some fascinating research on gender identity, exploring how womanhood and masculinity have evolved and translating the insights for content creators and advertisers. We’re about to come out of field with the second phase of the womanhood study in which we applied anthropological methods to understand how women of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds perceive gender representation in advertising. It was really eye-opening to hear their experiences and aspirations; I’m excited to use the insights to advance the conversation around how young girls and women should be portrayed. In fact, we’ve shared our work with the ANA’s #SeeHer committee members and it was very resonant as it closely aligns their mission and goals. 

Charlene Weisler: How did it feel to move to an agency from a supplier?

Marcela Tabares: It was like a baptism by fire! I was thrown into all sorts of projects that were way above my level of experience at the time.  At first, I was terrified of failure but that fear put a fire in my belly and really pushed me. I learned invaluable lessons and I’d say it was probably the most formative experience I’ve had – I realized my untapped potential, it thickened my skin, built my confidence and taught me how to take challenges head on. An example that comes to mind is when the company sent me to Colombia to lead a regional workshop on strategic planning, in Spanish. I was only a Sr. Analyst and I hardly even understood strategic planning in English! It was a bit terrifying but an absolutely amazing opportunity. I want to pass that forward to others. I believe empowerment is critical for learning and growing - give people opportunity, get out of their way and allow them to stumble…I think too much guidance can be limiting.

Charlene Weisler: Where do you see the role of research going 3-5 years from now?

Marcela Tabares: Technology will continue to advance, data will get bigger and systems and processes will become more sophisticated. So while there will continue to be demand for data science, I also see increased importance in bridging the two divisions of the research role in the future - of hard data driven analytics and the cultural, human insights from qualitative research. We need to connect the Art and Science of research to harness its fullest power and this takes an innate curiosity, creativity, and constant critical thinking to illuminate meaning from data big AND small; it’s an important skill to be able to synthesize stories that engage the organization and offer meaningful insights for the marketplace. That’s my focus with my team – building the bridge and connecting the dots through great storytelling.

Charlene Weisler: What is your outlook on mentorship?

Marcela Tabares:  I think of mentoring as “always on” and it often happens in unplanned, unexpected ways. From my experience, it has worked best organically and unstructured. Working with my team, I am mindful of providing honest feedback, especially in areas that they need to develop…it’s not always the most popular approach but I believe it will be productive in the long run. I also believe in leading by example and stretching people beyond their comfort zone. Some humility also goes a long way - I have no problem admitting that I don’t have all the answers and it’s often more fun figuring it out together. I was never a part of a formal mentorship program until recently. This year I was a mentor through NAMIC and I think I learned just as much from my mentee and am looking forward to continuing the relationship.

Over the last year, I’ve been a part of an internal women’s leadership group, whi

ch has been a really empowering experience (it’s the closest I’ve ever been to having mentors.) I’ve developed relationships with a group of colleagues who I can turn to for leadership advice; they’re there to listen and give me clarity on how to handle tough situations. Most of us are in similar leadership and family/lifestage situations, so I feel very lucky to have this resource of incredibly smart women who are empathetic and supportive.  

Charlene Weisler: How do you achieve work/life balance?

Marcela Tabares: I have two young boys so my philosophy these days is “Let it go”. I learn how to let go of self-prescribed expectations and the “should do’s”. The reality is that I can’t do it all so I need to be accepting and kind with myself, while embracing the chaos Every day is a dance with prioritizing life’s demands.  And you can’t do it alone so it’s really important to have a strong support system at home and at work. My husband cooks, I clean (he gets the creative end of that deal) and we juggle the rest. At work, I have a great team and a boss that’s flexible and understanding. It gets kinda crazy at times so I need some stillness and something to ground me; I turn to yoga, mindfulness and spiritual practice (and a glass of wine). Our motto at home is “it never works out as planned, but it always works out”. It makes life more entertaining.

Charlene Weisler: Please give me some predictions about the state of media in the next couple of years.

Marcela Tabares: We continue apace with technological developments that accelerate personalization, targeting capabilities, accountability metrics, and so on. More data, more sophistication that will bring greater value to the ecosystem and (hopefully) mitigate confusion. Metrics have been messy and I think some of the chaos and chest-pounding will settle and we’ll get closer to a consensus on trading metrics - we might even reach a standardized cross-platform currency. It’s been a complicated time for folks on all sides of the table and I think more dynamic relationships with advertisers will unfold; we will see greater collaboration in bringing their stories to life through new creative formats and context will matter even more. Overall, I think it will be a more vibrant environment. This is a bit self-serving, but I’d say greater value on human insights that link data to creativity and great storytelling.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBloggers.com

Seeking a Data Unicorn. Interview with Katerina Sudit

Katerina Sudit started out in the industry as a creative – a copywriter – and then moved into the more quantitative area of Media Planning, Communications Planning and Client Leadership. 

Her current role as Managing Partner, Executive Lead at Mindshare in the NY office gives her the opportunity to provide leadership for the agency’s luxury, retail and e-commerce clients. Kat is also on the Mindshare NY Steering Committee, affording her the opportunity to work on initiatives like the mentorship program and a dedicated client leadership practice. 

Charlene Weisler: What made you decide to move from the creative side of the business to more of the quant side of the business?

Katerina Sudit: I have always had a passion for creativity but quickly recognized the opportunity in Media to balance both the right and left side of the brain. I believe you need to combine business savviness with creativity to be truly successful. 

Charlene: How do you encourage creativity in your agency?

Katerina: As an agency, we believe in driving a culture of curiosity. We ask “why?” – Why this type of media behavior? Why this belief? The “why” is the differentiator between a potentially actionable insight and a fact. We cater to the “whys”. 

This is paramount as we craft ideas to a largely millennial audience. Millennials are now the largest demographic constituency in marketing, and they’re empowered and hungry not just to interact with brands, but to impact them and effect change. Everything from the immediate two-way dialogue in social, to impacting the marketing of the brand, all the way to putting their fingerprints on what the brand looks like and how it behaves. We’ve spent countless meetings with clients talking about what the brand stands for - which is ultimately futile as Millennials will tell you themselves what the brand is about. The answer is allowing them to co-create ideas with you. There is power in the co-creation and we invest in that philosophy within our teams and our work product. 

Charlene:  Tell me about your mentorship program at Mindshare.

Katerina: I have benefitted greatly by mentors throughout my career. Their advice and encouragement have been an important part of the success I’ve achieved. Women like Marcie Kazdin inspired me not to take myself too seriously. It’s important to be vigilant in business and light-hearted in relationships. So I feel passionately about paying it forward. We have a mentorship program at Mindshare, focused on growing our people. The base of our employees are Millennial and we’ve structured our offering to that mindset. Mentors are grouped in a pod of mentees and encouraged to openly discuss issues and challenges in the industry and in their professional lives. 

Charlene: What is the dedicated client leadership practice?

Katerina: The agency world is evolving. When media separated from the full service agencies, it became the responsibility of planners to be proficient in everything from billing to client management. Agencies everywhere have recognized that their people need to be skilled beyond the planning function in order to help their careers as well as grow the business for the agency. That’s what the Client Leadership discipline focuses on. I feel passionate about client leaders in the agency being more nimble in addressing broader business challenges and being able to build more trust with clients. 

Charlene: Since you started in the industry, how has the role of the agency evolved?

Katerina: The older model where creative agencies were the sole lead, creating the message, and media just followed suit to distribute, has fundamentally changed. Media is now foremost and prominent in the agency ecosystem as the importance of engaging with consumers has become of heightened importance. The paradigm of broadcasting messages AT a consumer has shifted 180 degrees in a world where they can control which messages they receive and when. Placing the consumer in the center and focusing on the context of the message is the only way to break through and connect. 

The largest challenge impacting us today is the fundamental commoditization of established brands. Across all categories, luxury, spirits, auto, the tried and true has lessened in value and the niche/boutique is prized. This is particularly concerning as the importance of the brand for Millennials is paramount. The future of branding for larger, well-established, brands is in the achievement of a value exchange between the brand and the consumer: what is it you are doing for them, not what it is you are selling to them. It is not just about the message. It is about the value-based engagement plan.

Charlene: How do you measure engagement?

Katerina: There are established KPIs for engagement like clicks and conversions and more sophisticated reads on the impact the media has on the consumer: does the consumer talk with you, do they value your interaction, does the consumer love your brand, etc. We prize our ability to measure the impact not just the intrusion. 

Charlene: What data do you use?

Katerina: I love this question because everyone is talking about the age of Big Data. I don’t believe there is any client that is lacking in data. What the industry lacks are the magicians and unicorns who can mine insight from the data. How do we translate all of this data into actionable insights which fundamentally transform businesses? One of the things that most impresses me about Mindshare’s Marketing Sciences capability is the work they do on that. 

Charlene:  How do you find a data unicorn?

Katerina: (Laughs) Have you seen a unicorn recently? We have been diligent at the agency in terms of sourcing the new wave of talent. Two years ago we deliberately focused our intern program to mine for the types of people who can find the magic in data - our Data Bytes program brings in students across computer science, engineering, economics, mathematics, and more. A lot of them wouldn’t have normally thought of media as a potential field for their talents, but the program opens up a new career path for them.  

Charlene: Kat, you are interested in many things – your professional work, your family and your photography. How do you achieve work / life balance?

Katerina: To me, work / life balance is fundamental. I have a daughter, Skylar, who is a mini-me. It is very important for me to ring-fence time for her. She knows I tuck her in at night, I pick her up from school on Fridays. There is no perfect plan. There is no secret sauce. I fail every day, at one or both. But I am a better Mom and a better employee for the effort of it.

This article first appeared in www.MediaBizBlogger.com