Are You Ready for the Change in Perception?
We know things are changing in our world, yet we don’t know what will be permanent and what is a temporary alteration. Savings by millennials has climbed dramatically during the pandemic. Part of that savings is attributed to $2,000 per year not spent on gourmet coffees out of the home. Will that trend stay? Are the days of coffee shops on every corner going to disappear?
Many are predicting upheaval in every business sector, especially in the office. Yet who knows how many people will actually return to the office setting when vaccines are widely available? It’s a pandemic that happens every 100 years or so. What we do know is that sales of gourmet coffee makers have surged with the surge of coronavirus. For now, people are drinking coffee at home, but with a vaccine, will you stay at home or venture out for a venti latte?
One thing for sure is that you need to follow current research closely. Pre-COVID research is not valid. Here is a study done by Morning Consult. This poll was completed in January 2021. The second thing to look at is the margin of error. (This poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2, which shows credibility and confidence in the research is high. The lower the margin of error, the better.)
This research shows three key insights:
- The basics still matter: Give us what we want when we want it.
- Consumers are watching: We want our organizations to care about society, contribute to society, take care of employees.
- Stand for something: Consumers want organizations to stand for something more, including be socially responsible.
Things are changing, and the change consumers want to see is more caring from the people with whom they spend their money.
Mark Mathis III is chief creative & strategy officer, partner and cofounder of AMPERAGE Marketing & Fundraising.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.