The Christmas/New Year season is usually one of the biggest marketing windows globally. It is expected to always possess that aura that makes merchandising propitious. It is common knowledge that the period is often characterised by a shopping spree and a rise in the volume of sales and promotion bonanza by brands. But it is over two weeks into the last month of the year that I am writing this piece and the story in the country is looking different.
Most times, brands rely on consumer spending during the Christmas season to boost their balance sheets. It seems this year, the highly dependable consumer seems to be stuttering. One can easily count the number of jingles, promos, and campaigns from brands utilizing this marketing window in 2022.
In this digital age, social media has become a vital regular tool for such campaigns as brands leverage Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms to promote their offers and deals and jostle for consumers’ attention during festive seasons like this. The lull is so obvious this year. Some commentators believe the World Cup excitement must have taken a chunk of people’s attention. To most people, the reasons for this lethargy are not too difficult to decipher if we take a closer look at the economy.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), The annual inflation rate in Nigeria accelerated for the 10th straight month to 21.47% in November of 2022 from 21.09% in October and above market estimates of 21.15%. It was the highest reading since September of 2005, attributed to food supply disruptions, import cost hikes due to currency depreciation, and a rise in production costs.
Main upward pressure continued to come from prices of food & non-alcoholic beverages (24.13% vs 23.72% in October), by far the most relevant component in the yuletide and new year celebrations.
Significant upward pressure also came from prices of transport (19.5% vs 19%); miscellaneous goods & services (18.1% vs 17.7%); housing & utilities (17.3% vs 16.8%); restaurants & hotels (16.7% vs 16.5%), among others. Looking at each item.
“On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate for October 2022 was 1.24 percent, this was 0.11 percent lower than the rate recorded in September 2022 (1.36 percent). This means that in October 2022 the general price level for the headline inflation rate (month–on–month basis) declined by 0.11 percent,” the report partly revealed.
According to the Bureau, the rising inflate rate was caused by importation costs, high energy costs, and surging food prices among others. Insecurity, climate change, and the devastating impact of severe flooding on farmlands this year coupled with the ongoing Russia-Ukrainian war were other key factors weighing specifically on the country’s agricultural sector.
Also, noticeable during most yuletide seasons is the astronomical rise in the volume of Christmas and new year seasonal greetings ads by brands as they compete to win a place in the hearts and minds of consumers, knowing full well that advertising can sway popular culture. One interesting feature of Christmas-styled adverts by brands is that brands tailor popular Christmas tunes/songs to their tunes advertising their products and services. One company that has consistently exploited this for its Christmas advert narrative – in extending the Christmas season’s greetings to its customers during the yuletide – is First City Monument Bank (FCMB). This year, the bank lived up to that culture. But most other brands seemed to have adopted a low-profile posture in 2022.
It is interesting to note also that Christmas/New Year special offers, sales, and promos thrive not just on the season’s spending fervour or consumers’ tendency to save towards Christmas, but also on the payment of 13th-month salary and other emoluments by some employers which enhance their purchasing powers. This year, most companies are struggling to pay even the regular December salary to talk less of the 13th-month bonus.
There is also the perception that most brands are holding back because they were expecting an avalanche of political advertising with just two months to the general election. Interestingly the political parties are even more lethargic than the brands as the usual media blitz expected two months before a general election seems non-existent. Could the increasing use of social media lead to this?
Regrettably, the biggest segment of consumers this 2022 lull would affect the most are kid consumers. Now, children are viewed as an expanding viable market by many manufacturers and marketers.
Potentially, children constitute one of the most lucrative markets there is for many businesses. Entire industries – such as producers of candies/gums, frozen desserts, soft drinks, toys, comic books, music, and video games – treat children as a current market. Many manufacturers and retailers respond to them as future consumers to be cultivated now.
Very few seasons reflect the power of Kid consumers more than the Christmas/ New Year marketing window. A season that is generally accepted as the biggest marketing window globally.
It is common knowledge that the period is often characterized by shopping sprees and a rise in the volume of sales and promo offers/retail bonanzas by brands. In most families, the kids are in charge of Christmas- they decide where the family visits, events to grace with their presence, concerts to attend etc. They make invaluable inputs. Parents and other adults just “hide in” to have fun. The 2022 season seems to be radically different as parents would be compelled by the scorching economy to stamp their foot against so many proposals from the kids.
Even with the economic challenges of 2022, the importance of the Xmas/New Year period for business cannot be overemphasised as brands, merchandisers and event planners rely on consumer spending championed by kids during the Christmas season to boost their balance.
Besides, kids also constitute a market of influencers that create billions of dollars of purchases among their parents. Probably best known of these marketers are cereal firms that intensively advertise to children on Saturday morning television, directly or indirectly encouraging the children to persuade their parents to buy certain brands of cereal.
With these limitations, a lot more would need to be done to improve the desired connection. A strong relationship is a good thing for marketers – it means loyalty now, and greater sales and profits in the future. It is a good thing for children – it provides enormous input to their consumer socialization process as well as current satisfaction from products and their purchase of them.
Brands can even use tough periods like this to position themselves for a stronger future relationship. They can give children and adults freebies and package things for them to create that ambiance for children to play and have fun at various locations of interest: cinemas, recreational centres etc.
No right-thinking consumer brand would forget as better days will continue to unfold. Virtually all children-oriented brands know they need to make an impact in the life of kids, and generally be part of their lives as they grow – because when a child grows loving a particular brand, the child will not only become a brand loyalist but a sold-out loyalist to the brand as well for many years of his life. Brands will do well to prepare for a beneficial relationship today using all the opportunities created by the tough economy of today.