Spend Shift: How the Post-Crisis Values Revolution Is Changing the Way We Buy, Sell, and Live

291 Pages·2010·1.51 MB·English

by  ''Gerzema, John'', ''D’Antonio, Michael''

S p e n d S h i f t
How the Post -Cr i s i s
Values Revolut ion I s Changing the
Way We Buy, Se l l , and Live
John Gerzema
Michael D’Antonio
Foreword by Philip Kotler
Copyright © 2011 by Young & Rubicam Brands. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gerzema, John, 1961–
Spend shift : how the post-crisis values revolution is changing the way we buy, sell,
and live / John Gerzema, Michael D’Antonio.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-87443-1 (hardback)
1. Consumption (Economics)—Social aspects—United States. 2. Consumers—
United States—Psychology. 3. Cost and standard of living—United States.
4. Recessions—Social aspects—United States. 5. United States—Economic
conditions—2009– I. D’Antonio, Michael. II. Title.
HC110.C6G475 2010
306.30973—dc22
2010026648
Printed in the United States of America
fi rst edition
HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Foreword, by Philip Kotler v
Introduction: Numbers and Their Meaning:
Kansas City, Missouri ix
The Enduring Impact of the Great Recession
on Our Values and on Consumerism
1 The New American Frontier:
Detroit, Michigan 1
“Indestructible Spirit”—The Values of Optimism,
Resiliency, and Opportunity
2 Don’t Fence Me In: Dallas, Texas 28
“Retooling”—The Values of Self-Reliance, Faith,
and Betterment
3 The Badge of Awesomeness:
Boston, Massachusetts 53
“Liquid Life”—The Values of Nimbleness,
Adaptability, and Thrift
4 An Army of Davids: Tampa, Florida 78
“Cooperative Consumerism”—The Values of
Community, Collaboration, and Respect
iii
iv Contents
5 Block Party Capitalism:
Brooklyn, New York 103
“From Materialism to What’s Material”—The Values
of Character, Authenticity, and Performance
6 The Quality of the Lion:
Las Vegas, Nevada 128
Reinventing Business Models and Corporate
Culture to Rebuild Trust
7 The Citizen Corporation:
Dearborn, Michigan 157
How Large Institutions Are Becoming
Truly Public Companies
8 Innovation Nation:
San Francisco, California 182
America as an Emerging Market for
Values-Led Ideas
Coda: The Takeaway: Los Angeles, California 205
Ten Ways the Modern Enterprise (and Individual)
Can Thrive in the Post-Crisis Age
Suggested Reading 227
Acknowledgments 229
Notes 231
About the Authors 241
Index 243
F oreword
n my book Chaotics, I explain a new world where businesses
I must adapt to a new Economic Age. We have entered an era
when increased turbulence is a fact of business life. Today’ s manag-
ers must operate within an environment of endless volatility. The
new reality is a world of continuous and at times crushing change.
T he lessons for marketers are sobering. Brand equity changes
in compressed periods of time. Competitive disruption happens
without warning. And consumers are increasingly powerful and
unpredictable. For those prone to celebrating a leadership position
or a competitive market advantage, commoditization lies just
around the hairpin corner.
In a post - crisis world, with the specter of a jobless recovery and
more limited purchasing power, consumers themselves have expe-
rienced chaotics. Yet there is new, hopeful data to suggest that
people are redefi ning their lives and reviving core values, things
like hard work, thrift, fairness, and honesty. They are separating
want from need and discriminating more carefully both in product
and brand choice. Consumers are buying into brands with mean-
ing — brands with integrity, social responsibility, and sustainability
at their core.
This values - led consumerism is not a small, isolated target
market. Over half the U.S. population is now embracing these
v
vi Foreword
values shifts. They are seeking b etter instead of more, virtue instead
of h ype, and e xperiences over p romises. The post- c risis consumer,
already highly marketing- s avvy and armed with the leveling powers
of social connection and critique, is now an even more potent and
unpredictable force in the marketplace. People are looking for
value a nd values.
I came upon these ideas when John Gerzema, Guy Kawasaki,
and I were speaking at a marketing conference in Las Vegas in the
fall of 2009. Over breakfast we talked about the implications for
consumer behavior in the economic recovery. John ’ s research,
based upon the world’ s largest database, BrandAsset® Valuator,
gave credible evidence that consumers were shifting their values
and their spending accordingly, and many prescient businesses had
already adjusted to the new consumer mentality.
But Gerzema wasn ’ t predicting a wholesale era of endless frugal-
ity and “ a consumer in retreat. ” Rather, his data demonstrated that
brands — in a world devoid of trust — were increasingly m ore impor-
tant. And companies could fi nd new forms of competitive advan-
tage by understanding and sharing in the values that were becoming
more important to consumers, such as ethics, community, empathy,
and accountability.
The lessons in this book are useful to anyone examining their
business strategy after the crisis. They explain the new psyche and
values shifts that are infl uencing the spending habits of the
American consumer. Along with his partner, Michael D ’ Antonio
— a Pulitzer Prize– w inning writer and reporter— G erzema details
exemplary strategies of multinationals and small businesses alike.
He shares the methods of adaptation among large Fortune 500
companies, while exposing us to new start- u ps who are capitalizing
on the values shifts in this new market landscape.
While the data is extensive and thorough, perhaps even more
compelling are the stories the authors have gleaned from their
travels across America. Through these accounts Gerzema and
D ’ Antonio help us understand the lasting impact of the crisis on
Foreword vii
middle- c lass families, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and
CEOs. They also help us understand the strategies people are
already using to move forward. As voting patterns defi ne the soci-
etal mood, consumption patterns do the same. How we spend our
money and our time as well as our energy and efforts reveals how
a values shift is, indeed, reshaping capitalism.
S pend Shift offers insights into how our lives are changing after
the Great Recession. It explains a new consumer movement that
you should understand regardless of whom you defi ne as your target
market. And it carries forward my lessons from Chaotics, offering
managers, marketers, and entrepreneurs insights into how to
understand and cater to the consumer of the post -c risis world.
P hilip Kotler
S . C. Johnson Distinguished Professor
of International Marketing
K ellogg School of Management
N orthwestern University