Global Consumer Confidence Index rise

The Global Consumer Confidence Index (GCCI) has risen from 77 to 86 points, that's a 12% rise over 2 months. The survey of 30,500 worldwide consumers and the various statistics and algorithms show trends in consumer confidence which in turn could indicate the recessions recovery.

45 out of 52 markets are displaying signs of increased optimism compared to last year which is great news for global economies. Once the money begins to flow again it could lead to lower inflation and unemployment.

Geographically speaking the most confident consumers reside within India and Indonesia, the least confident in Latvia and Japan. European success stories include France with a GCCI increase of 7 points and Germany with an increase of 5.

Of those surveyed a year ago who claimed they were in recession 26% are now saying their situation is much improved. Although we are only starting to see signs of recovery some businesses are already experiencing a marked improvement.

Global economies are shifting from recession to recovery, we need to support our local businesses and continue promoting our products. If global consumers loose confidence in markets then the recession could go on for a lot longer.

Mobile connects brands with customers

HipCricket are a US based mobile marketing solutions provider who recently published a survey based on their 45,000+ SMS campaigns and profiling exercises. Interestingly 37% of consumers were willing to take part in a loyalty scheme which indicates the interest in incentives through mobile. UK mobile marketers The Text Works also confirmed that the customers that did take the initiative to set up worthwhile loyalty rewards were getting a great SMS response.

It never ceases to amaze me how open people are to SMS based promotions, HipCricket's results were even more amazing- they found that over 83% of users said they would like to hear about their favourite brands through SMS. In 2009 it seems people want content to find them, and SMS it seems is the best route to deliver that content.

As many UK marketers will tell you one of the difficult things when promoting through media is getting the call to action noticed. HipCricket claimed that 94% of their users remember call to actions from mobile campaigns. Imagine developing a viral SMS message and delivering it to users who WANT to read about your promotions, its cheaper to send to less people and the conversion rate would be a lot higher.

In short spend more time on your strategies and profiling. Listen to your consumers through social media and SMS campaigns. Develop a greater understanding of their ideal content and deliver it to them.

Cutting marketing budgets will weaken long term brands

All of us are feeling the pinch in our business and personal during the trough of the recession, food costs are up employment is down and it seems businesses are neglecting their long term interests such as marketing and branding exercises.

The IPA report on 'Advertising in a downturn' clearly states that businesses are cutting marketing costs in favour of short term savings. This could prove to be a substantial error. Competition in 2009 is stronger than ever and saving money makes sense, but not reminding people how important your brand is to their working or personal life could reduce their contribution. Conversely a competitor might take the opportunity to engage with your existing or potential customers.

It is important that you maintain your bread and butter marketing and take the opportunity to trial other marketing techniques, who knows maybe you could be taking a slice of pie from another competitor.

Something I have worked with and would recommend is mobile marketing and SMS advertising. The Text Works are renowned for their customer service, marketing advice and live demonstrations even before you are a customer. SMS is a great way of reaching people. The open rate is higher, its cheaper than other more traditional marketing and you can build surprisingly accurate demographics for targeted promotions or even promote third party products for a tidy profit. Take a look at their marketing case studies for more information.

Other methods can be used to drive brand attention foe example social media can be great for branding and promotions. I look forward to your comments and questions and wish all of you the best of luck in these trying times.