A Gucci advertising made in partnership with GQ. Image courtesy of Gucci
At a time when luxury brands are placing so much emphasis on tracking the consumer journey, new research shows that consumers spend the majority of this time in the influence phase, where brands are missing out.
According to Condé Nast, the beauty industry sees the most time spent in the influence phase, taking up 80 percent of the customer journey. Fashion and tech follow beauty but with significantly lower time spent in influence, at 69 percent and 65 percent respectively.
“First, what the study shows is that not all content has the same level of impact on consumers and that an optimal time to influence their purchase decisions is during the inspiration and discovery phase prior to search,” said Pamela Drucker Mann, chief revenue and marketing officer at Condé Nast, New York. “What that means for advertisers is that they are leaving a lot of pre-search opportunity on the table.
“Partnering with us puts them top of mind for consumers at just the right moments, which can make a real impact on their bottom lines,” she said.
The study was commissioned by Tapestry, which followed insights on the customer journey.
Tracking the journey
The advertising industry has shifted dramatically, leading many to believe that advertising is less effective. However, the study shows that consumers will pay attention to ads from outlets they trust.
Sixty-nine percent of consumers will trust an ad from a source they believe in.
Saint Laurent's ad film featured on Vogue.fr. Image credit: Saint Laurent
While such a large portion of the customer journey is spent within the influence phase, most consumers already have their minds made up before searching.
About 79 percent of consumers have a smaller list of brands in mind before they start their search.
Fifty-two percent spend most of their time finalizing their decision between two brands.
For fashion, a majority of customers end up going with the brand they first considered when beginning to research their purchase. About 63 percent of fashion consumers purchase their first brand choice and 64 percent of teens do the same.
GQ, Vogue and Glamour are the top trusted sources for advertising at Condé Nast, with 92 percent having faith in these outlets.
In one example, Gucci teamed up with Condé Nast men’s magazine British GQ to highlight the stories of creative individuals.
The second installment of their collaborative series “The Performers” followed five influential men as they travel to a place that shaped them. Rather than one-off articles, today native content partnerships often revolve around ongoing campaigns or series, allowing a brand and publication to make more of an impact (see story).
Gucci and GQ's film
For the beauty industry and cosmetics, Allure and Glamour are Condé Nast's top trusted outlets with nine out of 10 having confidence in the publications' ads.
Additional insight
While marketing spend on digital advertising is quickly overtaking television spend, a report from Boston Consulting Group and Facebook is showing that those that tap data are more successful.
Marketers that invest in long-term interactive relationships with consumers, which seamlessly span multiple platforms, are seeing better results than those using the “spray-and-pray” method. Brands need to tap real-time feedback from consumers and invest in varying concepts (see story).
“The study proves that our content has demonstrable influence on how consumers spend their time and money,” Condé Nast's Ms. Drucker Mann said. “And now we've developed innovative new ways for advertisers to leverage that influence at scale and across every platform - print, digital, video, social and experiential, delivering a truly immersive experience.”