Women are more likely to recommend the food brands they like to family and friends more than any other category – including those you might expect like beauty and fashion – according to new research on female advocacy conducted by leading marketing agency Haygarth. www.haygarth.co.uk
Haygarth’s study into the power of recommendations reveals that women are almost twice as likely to recommend food products (80%) over fashion (44%). Food was also placed well ahead of beauty (68%), alcohol (58%) and travel (33%) in the recommendation stakes, according to the survey of 2,000 25 to 35-year-old women.
Whilst food remains a vital part of our daily lives, this research shows food brands in particular are harnessing young women’s willingness to advocate brands that they enjoy and think highly of. Food brands are turning consumer knowledge into social currency, paving the way for other categories to follow suit, and allowing brands to target women with more specific and relevant content.
Sophie Daranyi, Chief Executive, Haygarth, commented:
”Our research has highlighted that giving consumers something to talk about that will keep them ’in the know’ is a great step in the right direction in maximising advocacy. Brands need to engage with their audience where they are already active, for example via social or email. This can lead to brand advocacy, which can drive competitive advantage; engaging with customers and building on those connections goes a long way to ensure a brand is remembered and talked about.”
The survey also found that brand websites (38%) and email (32%) are people’s preferred channels of communication for food brands, whereas email (39%) and social media (26%) both sit high on the scale of their preferred channels for beauty products.
Whilst websites and email may not be as ‘trendy’ to marketers as they once were, their importance to women who talk about food is still high with 72% preferring it to other channels. So whilst social media might be ‘in vogue’ this is not the preferred method of contact for the majority of women, suggesting that this might be a channel they prefer to retain for personal communications. This further highlights the need for brands to maintain a multichannel approach to their marketing.
Meanwhile quality (81%) is the most popular reason why women recommend food products to others, with promotions (66%) and value (58%) coming a close second and third. Whereas when it came to beauty products, ‘a chance to try for free’ was cited as the main reason (62%) women would recommend a product.
Interestingly, the study has also found that personal recommendations (36% food; 34% beauty and 20% alcohol) are twice as effective as independent reviews (18% food; 19% beauty and 8% alcohol) for driving recommendations across all three categories.
Haygarth’s shopper behaviour study into brand advocacy attitudes was carried out amongst more than 2,000 consumers via a OnePoll survey.
About Haygarth
Managed by CEO Sophie Daranyi and MD Marcus Sandwith, marketing agency Haygarth has rich experience across a number of client categories and has an annual turnover of over £13m.
Haygarth is proud of its blue chip client base including Dairy Crest, H. Samuel, Heinz Infant, Majestic Wine, Procter & Gamble and Vodafone. Whether delivering a single discipline or working through the line, the team’s mind-set is firmly integrated, with experts in each field who deliver with discipline expertise.
The Wimbledon-based marketing agency was formed in 1984 and has over 100 diversely talented people delivering top results across core disciplines of PR, social media, promotional & shopper marketing, experiential, digital, direct marketing, and design.
Haygarth is hugely proud of its dynamic culture and reputation, reflected by its appearance in The Sunday Times 100 Best Small Companies to work for the past seven consecutive years.
Recent Awards include:
The Grocer Brand Experience Agency of the Year – 2011 & 2012
Marketing Magazine Promotional Agency of the Year – 2011 & 2012
IPM Awards -2012: Gold, Silver & Bronze (2011: 3xGold & 2xSilver)
MAA Best B2B Campaign -2011