Branding Consumer Insights

Trend - The matcha beverage landscape is evolving, enriched by the introduction of colorful variants such as pink, red, blue, and orange matchas. In a time when both the aesthetic appeal and nutritional benefits of food and drinks are highly valued, there's a notable trend towards inventive, Instagram-worthy choices that offer more than mere flavor.

Insight - The rise of mocktails and "sleepy girl cocktails" is reshaping at-home drinking culture, focusing on mindful, non-alcoholic options. This trend towards health-conscious, innovative beverages caters to a desire for unique, relaxing drinking experiences. As consumers prioritize wellness and novelty, there's a market opportunity for brands to offer drinks that combine taste, health benefits, and visual appeal, highlighting a shift towards beverages that support a lifestyle of mindful indulgence and self-care.

Trend - Brands are creating "third places," a concept championed by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, to offer social spaces distinct from home and work. These welcoming environments foster regular connections among people through shared interests or activities, responding to the consumer's quest for community and spontaneity.

Insight - The remote work boom and social shifts are fueling a consumer desire for "third places" – hubs beyond work and home for connection. Craving escape from car-dependent suburbs and planned social activities, consumers seek spaces for spontaneous interaction and emotional support. Brands that successfully tap into this trend do so by crafting casual, community-focused havens. These spaces cultivate a sense of belonging and unity, drawing people together over shared experiences and interests, thereby winning the hearts and loyalty of consumers.

Trend - Brands are redesigning the packaging and pack-ins of consumables, such as food and beauty products, to be quicker and easier to use. The redesigns include adding handles or resealable lids, based on how consumers interact with the products. This reduces friction during the consumption ritual.

Insight - Most consumers have certain beauty or food products that are integrated into their daily routines. These consumers can prefer a product for any number of reasons, but, when faced with two nearly identical products, they ultimately prefer the more convenient one. Brands that aim to integrate themselves into daily lives, particularly in the F&B and beauty spaces, are re-assessing their products with a new focus on convenience, with the goal of streamlining consumption and capturing more consumers.

Trend - Craft breweries and snack brands are launching co-branded products for mutual benefit. By aligning with brands in adjacent industries, particularly those with overlap in consumer bases, awareness for each brand increases, leading to heightened sales and brand recognition.

Insight - Brand recognition is an evergreen motivator when it comes to consumer purchasing decisions. Some consumers prioritize consistency and are unlikely to take risks with their purchases. These individuals gravitate toward products with recognizable names, as well-known names are associated with consistency and quality. In recognition of this desire, craft brands are working together to boost name recognition and better address risk-averse consumers.

Trend - Esports and gaming companies are partnering with haptic accessory companies. These branded vests offer advertising for the gaming company while simultaneously adding to the credibility of the accessories. This widens the consumer appeal of the products to fans of both companies involved.

Insight - When investing in new hardware, software, or accessories, gamers often weigh products on a cost-to-benefit scale, considering performance, immersion, and credibility on the benefits side. In terms of immersion, most of the innovation is focused around technologies such as VR and AI. However, physical accessories, while niche, can dramatically enhance immersion when used properly. In recognition of this, accessory brands are seeking partnerships and endorsements to increase credibility.

Trend - Companies in the United States are collaborating with Hispanic creators to better appeal to the large Hispanic communities in the U.S.A. These collaborations showcase catered culture-inspired products, such as drinks, dishes, or skincare, designed for Hispanic consumers.

Insight - Companies in the U.S.A are tasked with marketing to a diverse population of cultural backgrounds. Given that representation is a large contributing factor to consumers' purchasing decisions, many consumers opt for products from brands that stem from, or show respect to, consumers' diverse cultural backgrounds. Businesses are identifying this pressure, and are responding by launching curated campaigns and collaborations that identify with consumers with these cultural backgrounds.

Trend - Brands in the men's health space are launching sexual health products with discreet packaging and branding. These treatments are for conditions such as erectile dysfunction without exposing the consumer. From the shipping packaging to the branding, the products are masked for privacy.

Insight - While research suggests that one in ten men in the United States are faced with erectile dysfunction-related challenges at some point, most men are hesitant to discuss the topic as acknowledging these conditions can make men feel embarrassed. However, these men still desire treatment and solutions, as they don't want to be inhibited by symptoms in the most crucial moments. As a result, these men are gravitating towards discreet products that hide the treatment purpose on the package.

Trend - Coffee brands are implementing regenerative farming practices to ensure that coffee farming has a positive impact on the surrounding environment. These farming methods result in cleaner coffee blends while improving animal welfare, worker rights, and surrounding ecosystems.

Insight - There is a growing market of consumers that are drawn to products that promote social good, whether it be related to working conditions, animal welfare, or environmental impact. These consumers prefer products with certifications on the label to ensure them that the products are supporting good causes. This

Trend - Startups are combining multiple artificial intelligence (AI)-based services into comprehensive platforms that generate custom advertisements. These use image, video, and text-generation to create entire marketing campaigns, streamlining the process for clients, and saving on time and budget.

Insight - Brands are often tasked with creating marketing campaigns with heavily limited time and budgets, leading to less-than-ideal outcomes in order to deliver on time. These brands desire more efficient services in each aspect, as increasing the ROI on advertising is a top priority for marketing departments. However, these brands cannot sacrifice decision-making control, margin of error, or quality, creating a demand for low-cost, customizable, quick marketing services powered by AI.

Trend - Gen Z-focused brands are launching menstruation-inspired products and campaigns that uplift and empower women, aiming to destigmatize menstruation through wholesome branding and marketing. This helps younger women take more pride in their bodies and not resent the menstruation process.

Insight - Marketing practices for menstruation care products are traditionally subtle, using codewords and drawing attention away from the menstruation process wherever possible. This causes young women to feel ashamed and feel they should resent menstruation. These young women want to be knowledgeable and aware of their bodies while feeling empowered, placing pressure on brands to create more uplifting products that do not shy away from the reality of being a woman experiencing menstruation.