Curious Thoughts from Curious Minds: What Marketers Can Learn from "Cash for Clunkers" - Kasha Cacy - MediaBizBloggers

The Cash for Clunkers program came to a close last Monday night According to the Transportation Department the program generated nearly 700000 new car sales in a little over a monthWhile the debate whether the program helped the economy will rage on from a marketing perspective the program has had some interesting results According to a study done by Kelley Blue Book wwwkbbcom the program drove demand inmarket shoppers considering buying a new car rose from 12 in July to 20 in August and drove brand consideration manufacturers offering Cash for Clunkersspecific incentives saw 4050 increases in brand considerationCould it be that marketers could learn a thing or two from the Federal GovernmentLesson 1 amp8211 Consumers may be looking to spend againThe Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that the personal savings rate having peaked in May at 62 declined to 46 in June Perhaps Americans tired of scrimping and saving are opening up their pocketbooks again Recent data from UM39s Econocurious Survey give further indication that American belt tightening is actually loosening up While frugality and savings are still important Americans seem to be slightly less focused on it with all major savings strategies down on average about 5 For the brave among us this may be the right time to get ahead of competitors and position ourselves to take a larger chunk of the spending reboundLesson 2 amp8211 Everyone will feel the recovery amp8211 just not in the same wayOur Econocurious research has consistently shown that younger people have felt the impact of the recession much less than older people This isn39t surprising given that older consumers tend to have more invested and more to lose in the primary areas affected by the economy amp8211 the stock market and housing market The same will likely be true of the recovery amp8211 some segments of the population will feel it sooner than others These are the times when staying close to your consumer is criticalLesson 3 amp8211 Consumers are looking for an excuseWhile consumers may be looking to spend again they will need a push to get them over the hump Cash for Clunkers was the perfect combination of financial incentive 4500 emotional incentive helping the environment and urgency the money running out being replenished and running out again all of which gave consumers a really good reason to act now a lesson direct marketers have known for years by the way As marketers we39ll need to employ similar incentives to push people into pulling out their wallets But the good news is that if done right there is evidence that consumers will biteSo maybe it39s time for marketers to stop being so pessimistic and start working hard for the consumer39s dollar If the feds can do it why can39t weKasha is EVP US Director of Communications Planning at UM Kasha is responsible for building and leading UMamp8217s communications planning practice across the US and identifying relevant and engaging ways of connecting brands with consumersRead all Kasha39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Curious Thoughts from Curious Minds MediaBizBloggers

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Curious Thoughts from Curious Minds: What Marketers Can Learn from "Cash for Clunkers" - Kasha Cacy - MediaBizBloggers

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