DM Magazine February 2024

Steve

talkingpoints

Loblaw to invest more than $2 billion, create thousands of jobs and open more than 40 additional stores, all of which will require considerable marketing and ecommerce investment.

Loblaw Companies Limited, Canada’s food and pharmacy retail leader, expects to invest more than $2 billion dollars into the Canadian economy this year alone. This record investment reflects Loblaw’s commitment to enhancing its store network, creating job opportunities, and improving accessibility to affordable food and healthcare services for communities across the country.

The Company’s capital investments this year are expected to create more than 7,500 jobs in Canada, reinforcing Loblaw’s position as a major contributor to Canada and its economy. Part of the Company’s investment will be in its store network, with plans to build more than 40 new stores, expand or relocate another 10 and renovate more than 700 others. The impact of programs such as PC Optimum will be interesting to track.

“This year, we are investing where Canadians need it most. We will introduce more than 40 new discount stores and 140 new pharmacy care clinics in communities across the country — making healthcare and affordable food more accessible to more people,” said Per Bank, President and CEO, Loblaw Companies Limited. “These investments in Canada are a catalyst for job growth and the creation of countless opportunities, in our stores, in our company and with the many partners who work with us.”

For decades, Loblaw has made significant investments in the Canadian economy. This year’s investment is in addition to more than $10B the company has invested since 2016.

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Canadians prioritizing day-to-day finances, optimistic for better days ahead.

Scotiabank’s fifth annual Worry Poll reveals mixed views on how Canadians feel about their

finances. Fewer Canadians spent time worrying about their finances, while those who did spent more hours on average (17.7H) than the previous year, and were most concerned about paying for day-to-day expenses (50 percent), paying down debt (40 percent), and saving for an emergency fund (40 percent).

Amidst cooling inflation, more than half of Canadians (60 percent) are also seeking advice from their financial institution, with the majority requesting long-term investment and retirement advice.

Overall, nearly a quarter of Canadians (23 percent) expect their personal finance situation to strengthen in the next six months.

“Canadians have shown resilience in the face of the rising cost of living, inflation, and uncertainty in the markets with many prioritizing their day-to-day expenses while seeking advice on how to balance their long-term savings and investment goals,” said Kingsley Chak, Senior Vice President — Deposits, Savings & Investments at Scotiabank. “Despite the cautious optimism we are starting to see emerge in a small percentage of Canadians, we know for the majority the reality of today is causing significant financial stress, so we’re encouraged to see Canadians take proactive steps to seek advice.”

Gen Z leading the way: Gen Z are undertaking more cost-saving activities in the past year to help improve their financial situation.

More than two-in-five are shopping at multiple grocery stores (42 percent vs. 31 percent for Boomers+) and redeem loyalty points (43 percent vs. 23 percent for Boomers+).

When it comes to younger generations, Gen Z (80 percent) and Millennials (70 percent) are turning to their financial institution for a multitude of financial needs, including investment advice, financial management and paying for tuition.

A quarter of Gen Z (26 percent) and Millennial (27 percent) Canadians have extra money to invest, and another one-in-five still have an eye on saving contributions, regardless of their debt situation (Gen Z: 21 percent; Millennials: 22 percent).

Despite their current economic situation, Gen Z (50 percent) are four times more likely than Boomers (12 percent) to believe their financial situation will improve in the next six months.

“We’re encouraged by the forward-looking optimism of Canadians, especially younger generations, who are proactively seeking advice to support their day-to-day needs and longer-term financial ambitions” added Chak. “With investment advice the top financial ask across generations, Scotiabank has a team of advisors ready to support life’s financial milestones with digital platforms such as Scotia Smart Investor via Advice+ and Scotia Smart Money by Advice+ to empower clients to set, track, and change their goals as life evolves.”

Geographic Breakdowns

Despite the optimistic outlook for the future, Canadians are still feeling the financial pressures.

A quarter of Canadians (24 percent) confirm their financial situation causes them a significant amount of stress. This degree of worry however differs by region. Ontarians (35 percent) are losing the most sleep over their finances likely due to their high cost of living, followed by Atlantic Canada (27 percent) and Manitoba/Saskatchewan (26 percent). While still in line with the national average, British Columbia is worrying slightly less than their counterparts (23 percent), with Quebec feeling the least stressed over their finances (14 percent). Scotia’s partnered Scene+ loyalty program showcases the power of making every dollar go further for Canadians. From grocery to travel, to shopping and home improvement essentials, clients can earn on every transaction with one of Scotiabank’s award-winning Scene+ debit and credit cards.

Methodology: From November 6th to 7th 2023 an online survey of 1,520 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada panelists was conducted by Maru/ Blue on behalf of Scotiabank. The overall data is weighted by age, gender, and region to be representative of the Canadian adult population. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding. A probability sample of this size has an estimated margin of error (which measures sampling variability) of +/- 2.5 percent, 19 times out of 20.

BTI Brand Innovations Inc., Launches VOICE Grant Program.

BTI Brand Innovations Inc. (BTI) is a Canadian marketing and sales agency that believes in giving forward by sharing time, expertise, and heart towards championing causes that impact a better future. One such initiative is the VOICE Grant Program, which ensures that the voices of underrepresented entrepreneurs are heard to make a difference in the community. This program is a part of BTI Brand Innovations’ commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

The path of entrepreneurship can be a challenging one and even more difficult for people from minority and underrepresented groups who don’t get the same opportunities as their mainstream counterparts. To provide a level playing field in the entrepreneurial world, BTI has created a funding and support program called VOICE Grant Program for entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups, such as but not limited to BIPOC, youth, women, 2SLGBTQI+, persons with disabilities, minority cultural groups, etc., so that they have the resources and opportunities to succeed in their industry.

“From my experience, I have seen that despite having disproportionate opportunities, underrepresented founders have outperformed their counterparts because of the challenges they have overcome and their lived experiences,” says BTI Chief Creative Officer Parveen Dhupar. “I believe supporting these entrepreneurs is the key to igniting change and driving innovation in the community.”

The Grant Program provides services, funding, tools, mentorship, and strategic and tactical execution support so entrepreneurs can build and scale their businesses without limitations. The program is designed to be flexible to meet business owners where they are and finance up to $25,000 worth of marketing strategy and branding expenses for up to 10 applicants every year.

BTI Brand Innovations Inc. is a full-service, integrated marketing and sales agency helping clients build brands for over 25 years. Based in Mississauga, Ontario, BTI offers a range of strategy, branding, digital marketing and sales services to client partners in food and beverage, healthcare, technology, professional services and many more industries. With a focus on strategy-driven design and a commitment to delivering exceptional customer service, BTI has built a reputation for developing innovative and effective solutions that help clients achieve their business goals.

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Nuvei initiates global roll out of enhanced omnichannel solution for unified commerce. Montreal-based fintech company Nuvei Corporation is launching its enhanced omnichannel payments solution for merchants and platforms. Nuvei’s unified commerce offering, which is now available

to customers operating outside of North America for the first time, is enabling businesses to develop new customer payments experiences with greater control and unified analytics effortlessly.

This proprietary, flexible solution supports merchants and partners by enhancing their payment offering across a wide variety of use cases. Businesses from diverse end markets including consumer retail, restaurant and hospitality, travel, and iGaming are leveraging Nuvei’s omnichannel technology to offer their customers an enhanced, convenient experience at the checkout specifically tailored for each channel, however and wherever consumers want to pay.

Philip Fayer, Nuvei Chair and CEO, commented on the announcement: “A unified approach to payments across channels is increasingly critical for businesses to meet customer expectations, optimize revenues, and accelerate growth. Combining industryleading technology in online and retail payments into a single, truly unified solution not only supports our existing customers to meet their growth goals, but also opens exciting new opportunities as we execute on our strategy to develop new use cases for the Nuvei platform and grow our total addressable market.”

Nuvei’s unified commerce omnichannel solution deeply aligns the best of its card-present (“CP”) and card-not-present (“CNP”) technology for eCommerce, mobile, and in-store transactions. This enables merchants to unify their online and retail payment acceptance into a single, seamless integration for multiple jurisdictions without compromising the agility required to customize and scale payments effortlessly to facilitate growth.

Additional features of unified commerce for consumers include the ability to buy or add products to the checkout basket through one

channel and amend the purchase or request a refund through another. Businesses are also able to run separate pricing, loyalty and incentive programs for online and physical channels.

Nuvei’s platform features a single view of comprehensive reporting analytics and insights for both CP and CNP transactions, equipping businesses with the data required to make the smarter, more informed decisions required to optimize their payments function holistically. Other streamlined operations through a common API optimizes payments further, including a single consistent developer experience and centralizing payment processing across channels through tokenizing transactions .

Nuvei’s flexible approach to retail payments hardware enables merchants to utilize its in-house, semi-integrated cloud solution Verifone Android terminals, or to adopt a ‘bring your own device’ model. Nuvei’s inhouse solutions are constructed using the latest hardware technology and are fully customizable, enabling businesses to craft custom value-added applications tailored to their unique needs.

In addition to accessing each element of its full stack payments technology through the same single integration for multiple geographies, Nuvei’s global reach, including local acquiring capabilities in 50 countries and connectivity to 680 alternative online payment methods (APMs), enables businesses to scale their omnichannel payments internationally as they expand into new markets. Nuvei’s unique approach to global customer support from integration through to geographic expansion simplifies the pursuit of growth further.

Fayer continued: “As businesses expand into new markets, they are increasingly looking to partner with payments providers that can remove complexity while still offering the agility and insights to optimize growth. Omnichannel payments are intricate, so it is imperative for customers to work with a partner that understands their business to optimize revenue and the customer experience. Our omnichannel solution enables businesses to reach customers through payments on every channel effortlessly.”

Nuvei (Nasdaq: NVEI) (TSX: NVEI) accelerates the business of clients around the world. Nuvei’s modular, flexible and scalable technology allows leading companies to accept next-gen payments, offer all payout options and benefit from card issuing, banking, risk and fraud management services.

Author Talks: Howard Friedman on Getting the Most From Your Data Science Team

We all know the best decisions are data driven. So why are so few leaders making good use of their analytics teams?

In this edition of Author Talks, a series from McKinsey Global Publishing, Ron Nurwisah chats with Howard Friedman — a data scientist, health economist, and adjunct professor of health policy and management at Columbia University — about his new book, Winning with Data Science: A Handbook for Business Leaders (Columbia Business School Publishing, January 2024), coauthored by Akshay Swaminathan. The book explores data science and its business applications, emphasizing the need for improved communication, understanding of basic concepts, and ethical considerations during data science project management. An edited version of the conversation follows.

Why did you write this book?

It really comes down to seeing a need. I’m very frustrated when I see business leaders who don’t know how to use data science teams well. They make inefficient use of the teams.

Disconnects in communication are also problematic. The team is doing a great job, but the businessperson is frustrated. I want to bridge that gap. I want something that really enables the directors, the VPs, the C-suite to be able to have that conversation, to get as much value as possible out of their data teams. And I want something that allows data teams to feel really good about themselves at the same time, so they know that they’re delivering a great product and everyone’s appreciating them.

Was there anything that surprised you in the research or writing of the book?

The truth is I’ve written many books before. This wasn’t my first or second. But what was

really interesting for me was the collaboration with a young, very talented data scientist: Akshay Swaminathan. Akshay and I have known each other for a number of years.

As we brainstormed about how to make this an interesting book, he was the one who generated the idea of using a narrative approach. That’s really what makes this book very unique, really reader-friendly, and more accessible than most other data science books out there for businesspeople.

Why did you choose these two career scenarios as your narrative approach?

We have fictitious characters.

They’re working their way through the corporate world in different leadership roles and interacting with data science teams. Steve — by the way, my middle name is Steve — is working for a consumer finance company.

He’s undergoing different rotations and is being challenged to learn different things. My very first experience after finishing my PhD was working for a consumer finance company, where I worked in four different departments in the first five years.

Steve is pretty close to my life, and fleshing out him and his backstory was a lot of fun. We really tried to make the book like a novel where you think of the

characters. Kamala, named in honor of Akshay’s grandmother, is working her way through the health insurance leadership space.

Akshay himself is a director in the healthcare data analytics space. Kamala’s story reflects some of his experiences and my work with pharmaceutical companies over the

Howard Friedman is a chief data scientist, health economist, and adjunct professor of health policy and management at Columbia University.

years. The challenges really reflect our own lives and the work that we’ve done as professionals. But it was a lot of fun to mix a little bit of our own personal history into these fictitious characters.

How do we make data science less ‘scary and arcane’ for those who aren’t data scientists?

How do we dispel this fear of data science and the specialization of it? It’s about having a conversation; it’s about communication. The first area where people have to connect is on the definitions so that we agree on what we’re talking about.

In the book, without looking like a dictionary, we weave in the important concepts that business leaders should know about data science so that they can have that conversation. We bring in data science definitions. But then we introduce frameworks.

Whether it’s a data science project or any other type of project, the concepts of project management are the same. How we judge success becomes the same conversation.

So we bring in those frameworks incrementally throughout the book and really help people understand how to connect the dots. In the end, data science is a

specialized field. But there are lots of specialized fields out there. The more we can bridge the dialogue, the more value everyone gets out of their hard work.

What are some of the essential principles to keep in mind when you’re engaging with generative AI and data science?

Generative AI [gen AI] and some of the incredible capabilities we’ve seen in the past few years are really mind-blowing. An important consideration that I advise for all business leaders is to think about the problem you are solving. Don’t get so excited about the latest and greatest tool. Instead, think about the issue you’re trying to address.

What do you want to make a success of? Are you trying to look at a problem from a revenue or cost point of view? Approach it systematically. If it turns out that gen AI provides you a gamechanging solution, great.

Don’t start with the answer.

Start with the problems first, then see what the answers are. Often, the best answers start with some basic analytics and then bring in advanced modeling or the latest tools that are out there.

How do we keep ethical concerns front of mind when working with data and AI?

Ethics within data science and AI comes up all the time and in so many different aspects. One of the basic ideas is about privacy, about understanding that people’s personal information could be exposed. And it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect that privacy.

“Data scientists have a responsibility to communicate well, to get away from the technical jargon, and to make sure that the customer understands the capabilities and which solutions map to which problems.”

The other items that come up are about the use of data. How is it going to be

applied? Is it going to potentially put people at risk? Or is it [the data] going to be applied in a way that is ethical and can improve people’s lives? Assessing algorithms to make sure that they’re not repeating and emphasizing bias is absolutely critical to do.

Is it [the data] going to be applied in a way that is ethical and can improve people’s lives? Assessing algorithms to make sure that they’re not repeating and emphasizing bias is absolutely critical.

There are methods for conducting this assessment. From a business leadership point of view, arming the data science team with important questions is the most prevalent one. Giving them a short list of questions to ask about how they are protecting data privacy is a start.

How are they assessing the potential biases in the algorithms?

How confident are they? What are the potential risks? Nobody wants to have that moment when they appear as a negative story on the front page of a newspaper. At the same time, it’s not just about the optics of your business. It’s truly about doing the right thing for your customers, for your employees, and making sure that the data is being used well.

What’s the one thing you want an interested stakeholder to take away from this book?

I really want people to realize that data science is amenable to everyone. It’s accessible. And to be a good customer of data science, you need to feel comfortable with basic concepts and to be armed with good questions and good frameworks.

Once you have that information, go out there, engage with the teams, and really see that you can get a tremendous amount of value by, again, treating data science as you would any other project. That’s the key.

What should a data scientist take away from this book?

I want data scientists to recognize that they have a responsibility to communicate well, to get away from the technical jargon, and to make sure

that the customer understands the capabilities and which solutions map to which problems. They also have a responsibility to listen, rather than get so focused on the solutions first.

Data scientists have a responsibility to communicate well, to get away from the technical jargon, and to make sure that the customer understands the capabilities and which solutions map to which problems.

That’s why you see a lot of conversation in the dialogue approach of the book: to make sure that people really understand, “What is the project? What is the goal? What are we trying to accomplish?” Because if you establish that, you’ll find that you’ve already gotten yourself halfway to the answer.

On the other hand, if you walk in with that hammer, then you’re always searching for the nail. We really don’t want data scientists to do that. Listening first, engaging with the customers, and understanding are part of the approach.

I came from a very quantitative graduate school background, for example. I studied advanced statistics and engineering. But when I came into the corporate world, it took me a little while to recognize that to be a successful data scientist and analyst, to produce high-quality work, and to lead teams, I needed to understand the great value that project managers bring to the table, the great value that those facilitators and communicators bring.

They’re the ones who helped enable my success. So, I’m forever grateful for those early years when I worked with amazing project managers who taught me to ask those questions. They taught me to listen and then to tailor my solutions to what the customer wanted, not just to what I knew I could build.

The Building Blocks of a Best Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing

BY RICHARD SCHENKER

When designing a loyalty program, many brands do not afford sufficient priority and resources to building a highly impactful Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy. While in the throes of the development of a loyalty program, brands tend to be overly preoccupied with devising the mechanics of a loyalty program, such as earn and burn rates, rewards portfolios, tiers, conditions, and restriction. Although these are all very important programmatic decisions, brands often tend to defer thinking about the Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy until the tail end of the design process. Unfortunately, this results in a half-baked Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing strategy as the time horizon towards launch gets closer and closer, with mounting pressure to place the loyalty program into market. This is a significant missed opportunity, as many brands launch their programs without a well thought out and robust Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing plan. Consequently, they do not reap the full business benefits and efficacy from their loyalty program. A well-designed Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing solution can bump loyalty program sales growth by up to 10 percent, based on the brands which I have worked with during my career.

So just for greater clarity, “What is a Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy?” It’s a defined marketing communication discipline to be leveraged by a brand to attract, onboard, engage and retain loyalty members through their entire journey with a brand.

How does a brand accomplish this?

By understanding their members’ needs and addressing the different stages of the member lifecycle and journey, and proactively delivering timely, dynamic, targeted and personalized omni-channel communications in the form of content, offers and experiences.

What can a brand expect to achieve?

Highly profitable member behaviours, sales growth, and fortification of the members’ relationship with the brand.

Member Lifecycle

The Brand seeks the following objectives/outcomes from a Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy:

1. Relationship Building – An understanding of its members’ needs and aspirations and greater reciprocal connectivity.

2. Emotional Commitment – Emotional connectivity and advocacy towards the brand.

3. Education – Proficient understanding of the intricacies and merits of the loyalty program and how to best make the most out of the program, the experience with the brand and its partners.

4. Engagement – Relevant and personalized content, monetary offers/incentives that motivate members to grow their transactional relationship with the brand and its partners.

5. Retention – Compelling reasons and incentives in the form of content, offers and motivation to stay loyal to the brand and its partners. Automatically predict, detect, and remedy member decline in engagement and/or attrition.

6. Optimized Velocity – A reasonable and acceptable volume of communication that is considerate of the expectations, needs and tolerances of members.

7. Profitable Sales Growth – Profitable growth of members’ share of wallet and lifetime value, through financially accretive lifecycle campaigns.

Program Members seek the following from a Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy:

1. Value – Tangible and meaningful monetary value.

2. Simplicity – Easy to understand, engage with and communicate to others.

3. Experience Enriching – A consistently enriched member experience coupled with a heightened level of satisfaction with the brand, along every touch point of the member’s journey.

4. Relevancy – Meaningful, purposeful, and mindful of a member’s life stage, milestones, need states, environment and where they are in their journey with the brand.

5. Convenience – Benefits that engender greater simplicity and ease of experience resulting in a preferred experience with the brand.

6. Confidence – Trust and “peace-of-mind” in the delivery of services at each interaction with the brand and it’s partners.

7. Inspiration – Encouragement, motivation, and assistance to members to reach their personal programmatic (and often goals in life) with the brand.

8. Empathy & Helpfulness – Proactively reinforce that the brand “has its members’ backs” along each step of their journey with the brand.

9. Recognition & Reciprocal Loyalty –Regular acknowledgement of program achievements and recognition of members’ loyalty to the brand.

10. Enjoyment – Heightened satisfaction, engagement, comfort, and happiness with each communication.

Best of Breed Strategy

Some of the most important guiding principles or characteristics to consider when designing an effective Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy include:

1. Brand-Congruency – In service to and aligned with the brand’s purpose, goals, tone, and personality.

2. Value – Provide tangible and meaningful monetary and/or educational value to members.

3. Motivational – Foster encouragement and inspiration to members to reach their loyalty program goals.

4. Experience Enhancing – Authentically enhance member interactions with the brand across each touch point in the journey with the brand and its partners.

5. Personalized – Meaningful relevance, material to the specific member’s life stage, needs, surrounding environment, solving pain points, unlocking personal aspirations with the program and/or brand proper.

6. Timely – Delivered at the right moment, with the right frequency and with sufficient time to act.

7. Customized – Personalized and curated to individual member’s unique needs, aspirations, and level of engagement with the loyalty program and the brand proper.

8. Engaging – Provokes a familiar or unfamiliar behaviour aimed to encourage members to increase their engagement with the brand.

9. Consistent UX – The UX must be simple to engage with, familiar to navigate, and consistent across channels.

10. Measurable – All marketing communication motions must be easily tracked and measured.

A Loyalty Lifecycle must embody the following design requirements:

1. Brand & Loyalty Integrated – The brand and loyalty program communications need to be orchestrated and harmonized to be distinct and purposefully integrated.

2. Omni-Channel – Capability to deliver communications in all digital channels based on members’ channel preferences.

3. Personalized – Delivery of dynamic content and offers differentially to members in order to optimize member behaviour.

4. Seamless Digital UI & UX – The member experience must be delivered consistently, seamlessly, simply and in an intuitive manner.

5. Automated – The ability to automate campaigns based on actions and inactions of members and deploy behavioural triggers irrespective of communication channels.

6. Contact Controlled – The capability to control the pace and frequency of communications right down to a specific member.

7. Data Driven – Ability to consume and utilize zero, first party, second party (and third-party data) to design personalized campaigns efficiently and expeditiously.

8. Analytically Optimized – Efficiently and effectively utilize data analytics to create relevant messaging based on members’ lifecycle stages and observed behaviours (actions and inactions).

9. Scalability – Progressively and efficiently expand the sophistication of the Lifecyle Marketing Strategy over time.

10. Compliance – Capabilities to comply with existing and emerging privacy regulations.

A Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy is a critical driver of loyalty program success. It requires meticulous planning and commitment and should be constantly evolving to meet the needs of members and the brand’s business objectives and priorities. While it should be fully integrated into the design of a loyalty program prior to launch, brands who have not done this effectively from the outset, should be overhauling and reimagining their Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy now. Every day that a brand operates their loyalty program without a highly functioning Loyalty Lifecycle Marketing Strategy, they are missing out on fully fortifying their transactional and emotional relationship with program members. Suffice it to say, they are making it easier for their competitors to capture market share and are not capitalizing on their brand’s sales growth potential.

RICHARD SCHENKER is a highly accomplished customer engagement thought leader, loyalty practitioner and partnership curator who has designed, renovated, and managed some of the world’s leading customer loyalty programs. He has an impeccable track record of success at enriching transactional and emotional relationships between iconic brands and their customers, across multiple business sectors. Richard has spent the first half of his career in senior loyalty roles with the Hudson’s Bay Company and Shoppers Drug Mart and the remainder of his career in leadership roles with leading loyalty agencies, Air Miles and Bond Brand Loyalty. Currently he is the Founder & Chief Customer Engagement Officer of Loyal Strategy Consulting, a consulting firm focused on enriching customer loyalty for leading brands. Richard can be reached at: rschenker@ loyalstrategyconsulting.com or visit: https:// loyalstrategyconsulting.com

ISTOCK/MIKHAIL BLAVATSKIY

BY KRISTINA ROGERS

Climate change is becoming a growing reality for people around the world and disrupting ingrained consumption habits.

Many consumers have already been forced to change how they live and what they buy because of the impact of climate change, according to EY global research. People are increasingly willing to pick sustainable products and to pay more for them, although this is still a growing minority view. Consumers are worried about the health of the planet and expect companies to show more leadership to reduce negative impact and increase positive impact.

We’re living in a decade defined by change, uncertainty and instability, but also by resilience. Through the economic and geopolitical disruption that followed the global COVID-19 pandemic, people have shown time and again they have an extraordinary ability to adapt. The best companies have shown this too. Over the last few years, they’ve worked hard to stay relevant as consumer needs, behaviors and budgets have changed, and in many ways transformed.

Now we could be on the brink of another historic disruption, one that could test that resilience and adaptability to its limits. This latest edition of the EY Future Consumer Index explores the ways that people around the world are changing their behavior in response to the growing reality of climate change.

The Index shows the extent to which consumers are feeling the impact of a changing climate in their daily lives. The increasing frequency of high temperatures, fires, droughts, floods and strong winds are affecting their homes and livelihoods, their access to water, the food they normally buy, the cost of everyday items, and their plans for the future. Many people are actively thinking about changing how they live and consume.

Some are following up with action, and the direction of travel is becoming clear. The Index reveals signs of a shift from mitigation to adaptation, from “I’ll do what I can to reduce the effects of future climate change” to “I need

to make changes because climate change is impacting me now.”

We’re seeing this pivot across all geographies and generations.

As a result, consumers are forming new attitudes around what they are willing to pay for sustainability, how closely they will scrutinize brands, and what companies they trust. These changes in attitudes will ultimately become changes in behavior. How quickly and how significantly remains to be seen, but our data suggests another wave of disruption is about to break.

Methodology: By choice or necessity, consumption habits are changing

Consumer products companies and retailers can’t ignore the large percentages of consumers who are thinking about changing their lifestyles and consumption habits in response to climate change, which have now reached significant levels. Some consumers have already made changes out of necessity, and more are likely to follow.

For example, 42 percent are thinking of changing the food they eat because climate change has pushed up prices or limited availability, and 29 percent have been forced to make new choices

already. The proportion that has already started to buy products that protect them from a changing climate is also high, at 25 percent.

Awareness of climate impact is growing fast

While consumers say — understandably — that the state of their finances and the wider economy are front of mind, they’re increasingly worried about climate change.

Because of their financial concerns, they’re spending more time at home and 74 percent say they plan to buy less in future. For 73 percent, that’s an effort to save money, and 49 percent feel they don’t need those items anyway. But 39 percent are trying to buy less to help the environment.

Analysis of consumer conversations in English on social media shows growing discussion about weather and climate change, with significant peaks during summertime in the northern hemisphere.

This greater awareness of the impact of climate change is influencing consumer priorities and driving new buying behaviors. Globally, consumers are feeling the impact on their wallets, but also on their mental and physical

well-being.

Not surprisingly, the effect that climate change is having on them personally is reflected in what they perceive to be the most important sustainability issues to solve. Their priorities are combating climate change, good health and wellbeing for all and affordable clean energy.

Different generations favor different responses

It’s often assumed that younger generations will drive a shift to more sustainable consumption, and the Index shows they are thinking about making dramatic changes in response to climate change. For example, 44 percent of consumers aged 18-42 (Gen Z and Millennials) have relocated or are thinking about relocating to an area with a milder climate and 58 percent have adapted or are thinking about adapting their homes.

But the Index also suggests people of every generation want to do something. When it comes to behaviors like using less plastic, recycling more or conserving water, it’s older consumers who are leading the way. Younger consumers are more focused on buying better quality, checking the sustainability of brands, and telling their friends what to buy.

Overall, consumers are planning to buy less and buy better. Many want to switch to products that align with their new values, priorities, and lifestyles and some will pay extra for that if necessary. This is especially true for younger consumers.

Quality and value for money remain the most important reasons for switching to a different product. But 44 percent say they will choose a more sustainable alternative if they can, and the percentage of consumers willing to pay a premium for sustainable products and services has steadily increased, from 24 percent in February 2022 to 32 percent.

Consumer products companies are responding by creating new products or reformulating existing ones to make them healthier and more sustainable, so they can protect their profitability and the brand experience. Here trust is a critical factor.

Over the last 18 months, the percentage of consumers who would pay more to buy a brand they trust has increased significantly. People are more informed now about what sustainability means and they have better access to information to assess whether a brand is living up to its promises. Younger consumers are far more active when it comes to checking what companies are doing and saying in this area.

Whether they get that information from the brand itself, from their friends, or from influencers on social media, it’s having an impact on their perceptions and choices. Nearly a third (31 percent) of Gen Z consumers, for example, have stopped buying from a brand or bought less from it because it wasn’t doing enough to help the environment.

Who will lead and who will follow?

The growing desire to live and consume more sustainably reflects people’s deeper worries about the environment. Sixty-seven percent say they’re concerned about the fragility of the planet, and only 34 percent say their government is taking enough action. But how committed are consumers to making a difference?

Many (59 percent) say they

are interested in sustainability actions that save them money or don’t cost them anything. So, they will comply with government or corporate interventions designed to encourage sustainable behavior — like recycling initiatives — as long as these actions don’t require too much thought or effort.

While 56 percent believe consumers should be pushing companies to achieve better social and environmental outcomes, i.e., consumer pressure is needed to make change happen, 77 percent say it’s down to government and 73 percent say companies need to lead the change. Consumers want to see companies use of renewable energy and more efficient, or reduced, use of water.

There’s an important gap in expectations here, as separate EY research (CEO Outlook Pulse, July 2023) shows that 60 percent of consumer CEOs believe sustainability and ESG risks will impact their business performance over the next 12 months, but they are not able to prioritize the climate crisis over other risks.

When it comes to allocating capital, most are giving sustainability the same level of priority as any other business initiative. Only 15 percent are dedicating substantial resources to sustainability initiatives, with 9 percent saying they are not a priority.

This might be understandable. In a difficult economic and geopolitical context, business leaders are focused on challenges that can feel more immediate, according to World Economic Forum research. This suggests CEOs are as worried about geopolitical conflict, market volatility, regulatory risk and technology risk as they are about sustainability.

But the climate challenge is unavoidable. That same WEF research shows business leaders expect climate change to be the most severe global risk over the next decade, followed by extreme weather and biodiversity loss. Moreover, they believe that in the second half of the decade the top five risks will all be related to climate change, environmental damage or biodiversity loss.

Other risks may pass, but sustainability will only grow as a priority

The disruptive impact of economic or political cycles comes and goes. But the impact and importance of climate change will only grow in prominence, especially as people feel the tangible impact of climate change and the regulatory need to mitigate it becomes more urgent. Here are some insights and imperatives to consider:

Change the way you do business

Companies planning for climate mitigation are doing so to prevent a future catastrophe, but change is happening now and it will impact the way you do business. From supply chain disruption to worker safety, the failure to take measures to adapt your business to the reality of climate change will cost more if you don’t invest now. Simply put, invest now or invest more later.

Change what you sell

Consumers are increasingly looking to products and services that can help them adapt to the changes

they are seeing, from smaller things like sunscreen to bigger spending like flood and storm protection. Companies will need to think about which products will become more, or less, relevant as our environment changes.

Adapt while you mitigate

You can’t choose between adaption and mitigation but must manage both at the same time. Adapting for climate change while not seeking to mitigate it will only drive more need for adaptation and accelerate the pace of change. Companies must balance action to slow, or reverse, the pace of change alongside adapting to the impact of climate change.

Be bold — look beyond tomorrow

Playing it safe will not create longterm sustainable value. Companies that don’t make longer-term plans will be doing too little too late when the time for action becomes acute. But almost half (49 percent) of consumer products CEOs (from the July EY CEO Outlook Pulse) plan to optimize key parts of their business and operating model instead of implementing fundamental changes. Adapting to climate change will require leaders to pursue new ways of creating products and services to deliver value for consumers, stakeholders and investors.

The latest edition of the EY Future Consumer Index shows how climate change is becoming a growing reality for people around the world, and is starting to disrupt ingrained consumption habits. Many consumers have already been forced to change how they live and what they buy, and many more are actively thinking about it. It’s not just younger consumers who are pushing for a healthier planet; people across the generations are trying to make a difference in their own ways. But many are looking for companies to take a bolder lead.

KRISTINA ROGERS is EY Global Consumer Leader. Special thanks to the following individuals who contributed greatly to the development of the EY Future Consumer Index – the survey, analysis and insights: Marie Bos, EY Global Consumer Senior Analyst; Andreas Waelchli, EY Global Consumer Analyst; Rebecca Edwards, Global Consumer Marketing Leader.

Critical Trends Driving Brand Growth in 2024 and Beyond

and ultimately drive more impactful results. AI also enables brands to shape expectations towards the ways people interact with them. AI-powered tools enable more personalized and timely interactions with consumers, which ultimately results in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

BY EMMANUEL PROBST

We examine how brands will make positive contributions to our lives and the world around us in 2024.

Looking forward to 2024, the world continues to change in ways that are worrisome for most of us, with global conflicts, inflation, climate change and the adoption of artificial intelligence all prominent concerns.

These issues ultimately impact how people consume and choose brands, hence Ipsos’ continued efforts to understand the role brands can play in people’s lives and identify what makes brands successful. Extensive research-on-research conducted across numerous categories brought to light the importance of Expectations, Context and Empathy in driving brand choice.

More specifically, shaping expectations refers to what people feel and know about the brand and category. Understanding context means understanding what is happening in people’s lives and the world around them. Acting with empathy is about understanding what’s important to people and how brands can add to their lives.

In the following sections, we rely on the lens of Expectations, Context and Empathy to reflect on four key takeaways from 2023 that will shape brands and consumption in 2024 and beyond.

Harnessing the macro and micro context

The customer journey is becoming increasingly fragmented across a multitude of online, offline and media channels. Brands must

therefore seize the “moments of truths” or opportunities to create positive impressions for their product. Broadly speaking, consumers are influenced by their macro context (the world at large) and their micro context, which are the occasions in which people choose brands (who are they with, what the weather is like or what kind of occasion they need the product for). In the spirit category, for example, research Ipsos conducted for Pernod Ricard reveals that people choose brands based on “moments of conviviality” such as a night out, a celebration or a dinner with family.

Contextual Brand Tracking enables understanding brand equity through the lens of different occasions and unveils new opportunities for targeting. For example, a cereal bar traditionally marketed as a morning or afternoon snack may have the potential to be positioned as a replacement for breakfast or an evening snack.

AI is promising and threatening at the same time With the exception of a few (often self-proclaimed) experts, most of us know what we don’t know about artificial intelligence (AI). Only 3 percent of us think we are experts in generative AI. 29 percent of people say they have some knowledge. Forty-five percent have very little knowledge and 23 percent have no knowledge at all when it comes to generative AI.

By gathering and analyzing vast amount of data, artificial intelligence enables brands to better understand their target audience, tailor their messaging,

The chain of fast casual restaurants Chipotle used AI to deploy its Doppelgänger email campaign, which scans data from millions of transactions to trigger a personalized email that pairs up people who ordered the exact same thing, at the same time. As Chipotle customers love personalizing their order, they are surprised to find out their order is not as unique as they think it is. Customers therefore shared their doppelganger on social media, which in turn generated $4.8M in revenue for Chipotle in its first four weeks.

However, with these opportunities also come potential threats for brands. As AI continues to evolve and become more intelligent, there is a risk of it being used to manipulate or deceive consumers. This can damage a brand’s reputation and its trust with its audience.

Brands are expected to take a stance on social issues, yet doing so comes at risk Brands must pay close attention to their stance on and their handling of social issues, as consumers are quick to boycott brands that don’t align with their views. In the US in particular, Ipsos research shows that over half of consumers are less likely to buy from brands that take a stand on political or social issues that they don’t agree with.

Diversity has become a core theme in marketing, as brands endeavor to embrace disability, LGBTQA+ and gender representations. But taking a stance on such issues comes at a risk, as exemplified by the controversies over AB InBev’s use of trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote its Bud Light product.

Bud Light’s conservative customers felt betrayed and fled to other brands, while liberals criticized Bud Light for not supporting Mulvaney when faced with transphobia. In the six months since the boycott, Bud Light’s sales have declined over 26 percent.

Brands can have a positive impact on society and the environment

As charging remains a key concern for EV drivers and a roadblock for EV considerers, French automaker Renault created a peer-to-peer app that connects home charger owners with drivers. Renault Plug Inn enable drivers to find and book the home chargers that are available where and when they need it. This “recharging community” solves the problem of driving long distances through the countryside, where charging stations used to be few and far between. Renault Plug Inn reached over 500k private chargers and is the fastest growing recharge network in Europe. Through its Electric Village campaign, Renault understood the context of e-car drivers and acted with empathy to reshape drivers’ expectations towards electric chargers and driving long distances.

Despite the (justified) anxiety and uncertainties that stem from the current political and economic climate, we can all be optimistic about the positive contributions brands will make to our lives and the world around us. Indeed, brands can harness our micro-context to provide us with products and offers that are most relevant of us, at the moment of need. Further, brands can leverage AI to meet and shape our expectations towards personalized and timely interactions.

Finally, brands demonstrate empathy for people and the planet, through the implementation of ambitious ESG-led campaigns.

EMMANUEL PROBST is Global Lead, Brand Thought Leadership, Ipsos.

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New Research: In Sales and Marketing Conversations, Timing is Everything

New research from York University’s Schulich School of Business shows that, when it comes to sales, service, and marketing communications, it’s not just what you say that matters — but just as importantly — when you say it.

The findings are contained in the article “When Language Matters”, published in the Journal of Consumer Research. The article was written by Grant Packard, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York University, along with Yang Li, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and Jonah Berger, Associate Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School.

The researchers carried out a multi-method investigation, including analysis of thousands of moments across hundreds of service conversations at two firms, plus four separate experiments, to document the moment-to-moment dynamics between language and important marketing outcomes like customer satisfaction and purchases.

The researchers demonstrate their approach to identifying when language matters by looking at “warm” and “competent” language — which can be as subtle as the difference between a salesperson asking, “How are you today?” (warm) versus “How may I assist you?”(competent). Conventional wisdom in marketing is that a warm approach leads customers to think employees are less competent, so competence should be prioritized throughout the customer interaction.

This new research shakes this conventional wisdom. Customers across two firms and thousands of participants across four experiments were more satisfied (and spent more money) when employees used both warm and competent language but at separate, specific times. Specifically, customers are more satisfied when agents use warmer language at the beginning and end of conversations. But warmer language can be costly during the middle of the conversation, when customers expect to “get down to business.” Competent language works the opposite way: it can be costly at the start and end but enhances customer satisfaction and purchases when emphasized in the conversation’s middle.

“Our research helps update beliefs about the ‘warmthcompetence paradox’, provides a method for determining when certain kinds of language matters, and highlights ways to improve the customer experience,” said Packard.

Managers and researchers can try out an automated analysis to find out when language matters using their own data for free at http://www.whenlanguagematters.net

Added Packard: “Our findings can help improve customer service, aid employee assessment and development, and fine-tune artificial intelligence chatbots’ effectiveness. They can also more broadly be used to shed light on word-of-mouth, sales interactions, and marketing communications.”

KNOWN AS Canada’s Global Business School™, the Schulich School of Business in Toronto is ranked #1 in Canada and among the world’s leading business schools by a number of global MBA surveys, including The Economist, Forbes, and QS. The Kellogg-Schulich EMBA program is ranked #9 in the world by The Economist, #9 in the world among joint programs by QS MBA, and #1 in Canada by the Financial Times

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Insights on Data-Driven Retail Media in Canada

BY VICTORIA CROMIE

In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in retail media ad spending in Canada, with the latest projections suggesting that budgets will exceed the CAD$3 billion mark in 2024 according to IAB Canada. With these budgets nearly doubling in just three years, we believe the time is right for an exploration of opportunities amidst the evolving challenges in the Canadian retail media landscape.

A Unified Theory of Measurement

The first of these opportunities is the journey toward a unified theory of measuring retail media. To fully capitalize on the increased spending in the industry, standardizing metrics across retail media platforms becomes imperative. The industry must adopt a unified lens for measuring effectiveness, ensuring clients receive comprehensive insights, irrespective of the platform. While acknowledging the challenges of navigating a still-emerging media landscape, stakeholders believe ongoing collaboration between retailers and clients will lead to significant progress in standardization and metrics in the year to come.

Across the border, we saw the IAB propose retail media standards last September to ensure that the pace of spending growth is paired

with a more coherent approach to measurement, retailer control, and timeliness in reporting data and analytics. We believe a similar refrain is coming to Canada, with key retailers aiming for consistent metrics — attribution, viewability, and benchmarks familiar with standard digital campaign media.

In the interim, measurement partners and AI tools continue to emerge in Canada to allow marketers to better understand campaign effectiveness. This will allow marketers to bridge the gap with the insights we need in the short term to move the needle. The true power of retail media lies in its ability to influence real-time purchasing decisions at any point in the shopping journey. In the long run, standardization in the industry will make it easier for marketers to reach that goal — to deploy campaigns based on business needs, to shorten lead times for executing retail media, and to activate more consistent creative across retail platforms.

How Retailer Data Can Fill the Gap

The second major area of opportunity involves retailer data and its contribution to end-to-end marketing campaigns. In an era where third-party data is on the decline, retailers hold a key with the frequency and recency of their first-party data. The trust placed in

this data enables precise targeting, avoiding the pitfalls of generalized data and ensuring marketers reach the right audience with the right message. The retailer’s task this year will be to focus on how marketers can easily digest all the data that has been mined and activate it with their consumers across the shopping journey.

With their rich first-party data sources, retailers can attribute consumers to potential sales opportunities, optimize search criteria, and retarget effectively. It’s not just about showcasing products; it’s about guiding the consumer journey and closing the sale, connecting media into physical stores, closing the loop for advertisers, and creating a more connected and immersive experience. The future will include being able to connect out-of-store to in-store, down to the aisle and checkout.

Opportunities for Innovation & Evolution

The last opportunity in the retail media industry is embracing the rapid pace of change in the space. New and diversified media offerings have rolled out in Canada from many key retailers this past year. Taken as a whole, the announcements indicate a more omnichannel approach to retail media offerings, with new features like in-store screens,

DOOH, and in-store audio. We are now able to deploy full-funnel campaigns for clients in the retail media space. The emergence of self-serve platforms also presents a significant opportunity for marketers to take more direct control of their retail media campaigns. In total, the new media offerings that are coming online give marketers further insights into what moves the needle and new levers to drive brand growth.

As we collectively embrace this transformative journey, the power of retail media emerges as a pivotal force propelling Canadian retail businesses forward into the digital future. This is not just a story; it’s a testament to the resilience, innovation, and collaborative spirit defining the future of data-driven retail media in Canada.

VICTORIA CROMIE is the Canada Managing Director, The Mars Agency. Victoria is a seasoned marketing and digital leader with two decades of experience working with global brands. She has a proven track record of building highperforming cross-functional teams that deliver exceptional ROI and exceed organizational goals, including helping drive growth in a down market and developing new strategic plans to attract new business and acquisitions. Using a shopper-centric approach, she is skilled in driving successful media strategies, optimizing online campaigns, and leveraging data-driven insights to maximize brand visibility and customer engagement. See more about her shoppercentric approach at themarsagency.com

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Train Frontline Employees and Automated Marketing Systems

When different communication styles matter

BY GRANT PACKARD

Over the last few years, sophisticated technologies and methods for analyzing language at massive scales have helped researchers shed new light on the importance of language in marketing settings. The conclusion? Seemingly insignificant choices about the words marketers use, and when they use them, can have a significant impact on customer attitudes and purchases.

Taking advantage of these insights can help marketing organizations stay one step ahead of the competition. By training salespeople or front-line employees, not to mention ‘training’ marketing automation platforms and Chatbots to use the right words at the right time, marketers can make sure their words are working for them.

Some of the latest findings on this front come from my own research at the Schulich School of Business, work I did with colleagues from The Wharton School in the U.S. and CKGSB in China. We recently used machine learning and econometric methods to analyze the text from thousands of conversational moments across hundreds of customer-employee service conversations at a major retailer and a major airline. Our goal was to try to solve a problem known as the ‘warmth-competence paradox.’ What is this supposed paradox? In sales and service, past research finds that friendly, warm employees are seen as less competent. But competent,

solution-focused employees seem cold and unfriendly.

How to address this problem?

Most firms pick one of the two approaches and live with the consequences. Because solving a customer’s problem or opportunity is usually the goal of sales and service, our interviews and surveys found most organizations prioritize competence. They also prioritize time, which makes competently addressing the customer’s needs or wants seems like the most costefficient approach.

Our research shows this approach is flawed. Because our method allows us to consider “when” in a conversation different words signal warmth or competence, we can tease apart whether an employee’s use of such words helps or hurts important outcomes like customer satisfaction and actual purchase behaviour. What we learned was that sales and service people need to be BOTH warm and competent, but at different times.

Specifically, across all kinds of different sales/service conversations at firms in different industries, customers were more satisfied when employees used warmer words at a conversation’s start and end. Competent language works the opposite way: it is actually costly at the start and end but enhances customer satisfaction and purchases when emphasized in the conversation’s middle. A series of large-scale controlled experiments corroborated these real world results.

On its face, this recommendation

might seem obvious. Sure employees should be friendly in the first few moments of an interaction. But this about more than just “being friendly.” Words matter. The most common words service employees start with language like “What can I do for you today?” or “How might I assist you?” That’s not signaling warmth though, but competence. It’s an offer to help solve a problem. Instead, say something as simple as “How are you today?” or “I hope you’re enjoying this fine day” before jumping to the business at hand. Doing so has a measurable impact on satisfaction and purchases. For another example, take apologies. Using words like “sorry” or “forgive me” in the conversation’s middle (rather than the start or end), had a negative effect. Our modeling and experiments suggest this is because the middle of a conversation shouldn’t be about warm and caring regrets, but about finding solutions.

Marketers who use automated Chatbots or other generative large language models to communicate with consumers are already starting to use these findings by incorporating examples of the temporal impact of warm and competent words as part of ‘training’ the datasets used to produce customer-facing language in real time. Similarly, customer service or salespeople are being trained on these and other ways that words shape customer attitudes and behavior. Speaking only of our own research, for example, we’ve published findings

that employees who refer to themselves in singular rather than plural first person (I vs. We can look into that for you) and who use more specific, concrete words to describe the customer’s interests (I can help you find the right laptop vs. I can help you find the right option) enhance satisfaction and purchases. Giving employees examples of similar phrases using warm vs. competent words, singular vs. plural pronouns, and concrete vs. abstract words can help them think about how to communicate, and help you improve marketing outcomes. Marketers who have transcripts of sales or service conversations linked to outcomes that they measure (e.g., survey results, sales data), they can try out our automated analysis approach using their own data for free at http:// www.whenlanguagematters.net Marketers who have access to data scientists can use the code posted at that web page to perform more customizable automated text analysis of the words they have available.

GRANT PACKARD is an Associate Professor and Director of the Master of Marketing Program at the Schulich School of Business at York University. He is a globally recognized expert on how language used in a range of marketing contexts shapes consumer beliefs and behaviours, and how the words consumers share in online reviews can shed light on their attitudes, motivations, and word-of-mouth persuasion. Packard’s original research articles, including the article When Language Matters discussed above, can be found at https://tinyurl. com/scholargrant-packard

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