The last few years has seen significant changes in the Irish Consumer Marketing and Advertising landscape. Consumers are under significant financial pressure as austerity measures take effect while the consumption and use of media has changed significantly.

Using our monthly iReach Consumer Decisions Omnibus, we have been tracking a number of key and strategic trends over the last few years and we have developed some unique insights to help you understand what the year ahead might hold for leading brands in Ireland. Click on link for more details

Aideen Glynn – Ballinakill, Co. Waterford

Yvonne Kelly – Kimmage, Dublin 12

Denise Magee – Firhouse, Dublin 24

Maeve Peoples – Kinsealy, Co. Dublin

Marie Mongray – Balinteer, Dublin 16

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Congratulations to our winners:

Jason O’Halleran

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Richella McCarville

Aine Kingston

Who all won a €50 One4All voucher for taking part in our survey

Congratulations to our winners:

Eleanor Reade

Gerry Morrissey

James McAuliffe

Lisa Byrnes

Peter Spencer

Who all won a €50 One4All voucher for taking part in our survey.

Congratulations to our winners:

Owen Molloy

Siobhan McShane-Loy

Bernadette Walsh

Michael Roche

Ann Clayton

Who all won a €50 One4All voucher for taking part in our survey

The aim of the project was to measure the effectiveness of Richmond’s free samples of Pilsner Urquell which were given out to pub-goers in Ireland, by finding out if the samples made a favourable impression and created an intention to purchase the product over a period of time after initial sampling had taken place.

Participants were asked to provide their mobile phone number and some basic personal details for the purposes of the study.

In wave 1, respondents were sent an SMS either 2 or 3 days after sampling had taken place asking how much of the product they consumed on the night of sampling, how much they enjoyed their free sample, and how likely they were to try Pilsner Urquell again in the future.

In wave 2, respondents were sent an SMS 4 weeks after sampling asking on how many occasions they had drunk Pilsner Urquell since the sampling night and how likely they were to drink it again in the future.

Results of the study were very positive and justified Richmond’s use of the free sampling campaign:

35% of respondents indicated that they were very unlikely to have tried Pilsner Urquell if they hadn’t received a free sample

73% of wave 2 respondents had drank Pilsner Urquell on at least 1 occasion in the 4 weeks since product sampling

26% of respondents said they will definitely drink Pilsner Urquell again in the future

31% enjoyed their free sample of Pilsner Urquell a lot

I recently spoke at Purse Power, a seminar on the increasing impact Irish females have on consumption. In my presentation I discussed the change in Irish females’ consumption patterns and the media channels which are influencing the purchasing behaviour of the modern Irish female consumer.

Irish females and consumption – the figures:

Research carried out by iReach exclusively for the Purse Power event underlined the influence women have on consumption in Ireland. According to the research data Irish women influence 89% of all consumer purchases where they have a direct role in buying, including a massive 97% of food and retail, pharmaceuticals, and new homes purchasing. They also influence over 90% of purchases for holidays, healthcare, and financial services.

Even more importantly, 58% of all consumer purchases in Ireland are made by females, from food and retail through to homes, holidays, cars, and PC’s. It is clear that the Irish female consumer has moved from being the “grocery mum” stereotype of old, responsible for one part of household consumption, to an ever more influential decision-maker across a broad range of products and services.

Irish females and marketing

Women accounting for 58% of Irish purchasing becomes particularly important for marketers in light of another statistic: 41% of Irish women across all purchase categories feel that advertisers don’t understand them. This figure is higher among investment (54%), automotive (44%), and healthcare (43%) advertisers, and lower (38%) with food advertisers. These statistics pose some interesting questions to marketers, particularly in those sectors performing poorly – what are they doing currently that makes women feel disillusioned, and how do they begin to connect in a more meaningful way with Irish women in order to make them feel valued and understood.

During the research process, iReach took financial services as a case study sector and unearthed several key factors which are affecting Irish females’ perception of financial advertisers, many of which are also impacting other advertisers. The key factors were:

• Shifting brand power from company to consumer – consumers more informed, aware and powerful. More channels for word of mouth (WOM).
• Falling levels of trust in business, government, and media.
• Impact of the recession.
• Ever changing gender roles.

So how can marketers reconnect with this key group that is diverse, powerful, informed, and currently feeling like they’re not being listened to?

Reaching females – social media

The key to marketers reconnecting with Irish women lies in harnessing the power of social media. In Ireland, 50% of females use social networks everyday, with the most regular users women in the 18-34 age group. Of this segment 45% check social networks first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It’s also interesting to note that 72% of all women online regularly visit a social network site compared to 60% of men. Another major difference between the genders is that Facebook is seen by women as more of a central point for news, content, and entertainment in their lives than men’s. Social media, and Facebook in particular, is now the major way to reach the majority of female consumers in Ireland today, and it affords marketers a massive opportunity to connect with a growing number of Irish women in a meaningful way through a medium that is increasingly important to them.

Social media impact

Due to its popularity and the level of involvement and interaction it brings, social media has had a major impact on Irish female consumption patterns, with 76% of women claiming that positive or negative social media comments have directly affected their purchase intentions. 80% of females also said a positive recommendation will reinforce a purchase decision, while 71% claimed a negative comment has changed their mind about a purchase decision in the past. What is also of interest to marketers is that twice as many females as males start an online product search at the retailer’s website instead of at a search engine, which gives the potential to control the information flow in a better way.

Traditional media v social media

Even with the popularity of social media and online among marketers, traditional media still remains the most impactful and recalled medium among Irish females, with TV the most effective of all available channels. iReach research showed that TV ads were better at driving brand value and awareness, while internet advertising’s strength was its effectiveness at providing information and driving decision-making.

However, when the power of word of mouth is factored in, the impact of media channels is changed drastically, with personal recommendations and online social network recommendations more important than traditional media in their influence on Irish female consumers’ purchase behaviour.

Summary

From the research data it is clear that Irish females today have more influence than ever on a wider range of purchase decisions. They have a major say in the purchase of healthcare, financial services, homes, and cars, as well as the more traditional food and retail. The fact that women account for 58% of all purchases in Ireland is a major wakeup call for marketers as they need to shift priorities to avoiding alienating key segments.

So far marketers in general have been slow to adapt to the new female consumer and this is something that needs to be addressed as a major priority. Social media represents a great opportunity for marketers to reconnect with Irish women and drive positive WOM. Advocacy is now key for restoring trust and confidence, and with the proliferation of online, there is increased scope for fostering and encouraging positive conversations around a brand. This will lead to increased return on investment across all channels and allow marketers to reconnect with Irish women.

Patrick Dunne – Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow

Margaret Kavanagh – Dunnone, Co. Meath

Clare Maurer – Sandyford, Co. Dubln

Mary-Louise Dunne – Ballinasloe, Co. Galway

Richard Riordan – Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow

Karin Timperi – Dundrum, Co. Dublin

Anne Hopkins – Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin