Are you letting Alexa make buying decisions for you yet?

The number of smart speaker users is growing by 48% a year.  That's faster than any tech product since the smart phone.  By the end of 2018, 90 million Americans will have smart speakers. (Koetsier, 2018)

No longer just for techies, speakers are now being adopted by Baby Boomers (8 million users), younger Gen X women, and parents and families - including my 7 year old niece Mallory, who got one for her birthday. (Stone, 2018)

Before long we'll all be having conversations with our voice assistants.  And then, we'll be happy to let them make our decisions for us. 

Decision-making is hard work.  What makes it even harder is having too many choices.  And the Internet is all about infinite choices.  So we find plenty of short cuts to make decisions easier.  For instance we may look at only one element - say price, or we could only consider items with a 5 star rating - which indicates that others like the product.  It's what we do.

So, I wasn't surprised to read that 85% of voice assistant users have purchased the item suggested by smart speakers despite the fact that it may have differed from their initial intent.  And, 37% of voice purchasers 18-34 "always" or "often" purchase the first option selected for them by voice assistants. (Faw, 2018)

It's just so much easier to let someone else decide. 

Do you have a smart speaker yet?  If so, have you bought anything based on a recommendation from it?  If you don't have a smart speaker yet, are you planning to get one?  Will you let it make decisions for you even if they are biased?  Does it concern you that you have far less choice when you buy things on mobile phones and smart speakers than you do online?

Koetsier, J. (2018, May 29)  Smart Speaker Users Growing 48% Annually, To Hit 90M In USA This Year.  forbes.com.  Retrieved November 11, 2018, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2018/05/29/smart-speaker-users-growing-48-annually-will-outnumber-wearable-tech-users-this-year/#3da75bc05dde

Stone, J. (2018, November 9)  Smart Boomers, Smart Speakers, Smart Marketing.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved November 28, 2018, from

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/327850/smart-boomers-smart-speakers-smart-marketing.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=111748&hashid=qPjrjs2d4CzuoIyymSYheeVOsxs

Faw, L. (2018, August 8) How Brands Can Avoid The Dreaded Voice Assistant 'Dismissal' mediapost.com  Retrieved August 29, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/323358/how-brands-can-avoid-the-dreaded-voice-assistant.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=110385&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI

Will Tide's new packaging bring in more Millennial users?

Packaging matters.  Just ask Tropicana.  Their repackaging attempt in 2009 was an epic failure - costing them $33 million before they returned to the old package design.  The problem?  Consumers couldn't recognize their favorite brand and thought they were looking at a generic product.  

And all the products in the line looked the same, so a red grapefruit juice lover like me thought they were sold out when I surveyed the shelf.

The fact that Tide has maintained their traditional colors is a plus in terms of shelf recognition.

 

What they did do was go from a traditional plastic container to a "wine box" format.  Hmmm.  

The new box is more environmentally friendly as it is 1. easier to ship and takes up less space in trucks, and, 2. uses 60% less plastic.  Of course the internet had a field day with it - you can check some of the comments in the article. (Donaghey, 2018)

Presumably the rationale - other than packaging and shipping cost savings - is that Millennials, given their avowed preference for environmentally friendly products, will now embrace Tide, despite the fact that it is a premium priced product.

There may also be a side game.  The introduction of Tide Pods actually reduced sales of detergent because most people were using too much when they measured themselves.  So I can't help but wonder if this isn't a way to get consumers to start using more detergent again.

So what do you think?  Will Millennials be impressed by the new packaging?  Will they pay a premium price for detergent again?  And use more?  Will the new packaging be just as dangerous for children as the pods?  What about you?  Will you buy Tide?  Have you paid more for a product that aligns with your values?  Which ones and why?

Donaghey, R. (2018, November 12)  Oh Good, Tide's New Packaging Looks Exactly Like Boxed Wine.  vice.com.  Retrieved November 20, 2018, from

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wj35qw/tide-boxed-wine-detergent-packaging-tide-pods-twitter-meme-vgtrn

Will you enter Yellow Tail's Super Bowl contest? And then will you buy their wine?

For their "Tastes Like Happy" campaign, Yellow Tail wine has launched a contest, asking fans to shoot and share six-second videos of what makes them happy.  The videos posted on Instagram or Twitter need to be tagged #tasteslikehappy and #yellowtailwineus or uploaded to the contest site by November 28, 2018.  And participants need to follow Yellow Tail on social media.

The grand winner will get a travel voucher worth $15,000 for a trip for two to a place anywhere in the world.  But, they will have to agree to share moments from the trip with the brand's 1.3 million social media fans.

The plan is to incorporate up to four seconds of consumer generated video, from two of the six- second entries, in the Yellow Tail Super Bowl ad.  The videos will also be showcased on the contest site.

Interestingly the brand cannot actually run nationally on the Super Bowl as Anheuser-Busch has exclusive rights in the alcoholic beverage category.  But they intend to execute a work around - running their commercial in 80 local markets during the game. 

Yellow Tail will also be running ads during January and February on iHeart Radio, YouTube and Buzzfeed.  And the campaign will include PR, in-store promotions, local activations and social sharing as well. (Lukovitz, 2018)

So what do you think of user generated video?  Do you watch more YouTube than Netflix?  Have you ever participated in a user generated video contest?  Will you participate in this one?  Assuming you don't participate, will this approach make you more likely to drink Yellow Tail?  Why or why not?

Lukovitz, K. (2018, November 13)  Yellow Tail Seeks UGC Videos For Third Super Bowl Outing.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved November 14, 2018, from https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/327961/yellow-tail-seeks-ugc-videos-for-third-super-bowl.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=111760&hashid=ybq2buULrntyGS6NfbELk0afrrI