Consumer behaviour during a recession

At the ADMA Forum, I attended a fascinating and useful presentation by Steven Noble, a senior analyst from Forrester Research. His presentation is available here. They want your details in return (which is why I'm not posting it here) which is kind of fair enough - they are research after all.

Steven had us going all the way back to basics, looking at needs and 'providing' comfort. Brilliantly illustrated with real examples, including how Ivory Soap advertising in the USA evolved through the Great Depression.

Bottom line: Marketers need to give consumers more 'comfort'.

He didn't talk about NGOs and charities, but I reckon we may well have the easiest opportunities to do that.