Global brands and attitudes of young

Europeans :
The rise of the citizen consumer in
France and Germany

Esomar Consumer Insights Conference 2005

Béatrice Maccario - Qualitative director - Research International

Marie-Agathe Nicoli - Quantitative director - Research International
 Introduction : The rise of the “citizen-consumer”
 Anti-globalisation thinking is strong across Europe, especially
in France and Germany.
 In both markets, consumers are becoming more sophisticated
 
  citizen-consumers concerned about the ethical and social
behaviour of brands.

 Negative view about the  Better accept the rules of

power of global brands.
 Sensitive to scandals,
corporate social policies,
layoffs and relocations
the consumer society.
 More worried about the
products’ price to quality
ratio than the strategies
of large corporations. 

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 Introduction
 How this plays out amongst
younger consumers ?

 Focus-group sessions among

young people in France and
Germany (including pro-
boycott consumers and
potential activists) and online
research within the 18-35 age
group have been conducted.
 Support of Business for Diplomatic Action
(BDA) in devising the questions

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 Agenda
 What is a Global Brand ?
 A Positive View of Global Brands
 5 Patterns of Relationship with Global Brands
 Key Expectations for Global Brands
 Main Complaints on Global Brands
 Does The Country of Origin Matters ?
 Trapped by The Consumer Society
 Is the Boycott Option a Growing Trend ?
 Alternatives to Global Brands
 Fields of Action for Global Brands
 Conclusion

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 What is a Global Brand ?
 A powerful international brand with strong and consistent
image
 Dominating brand holding a leading position, a monopoly
even.
 Represents a group heading several brands and many
activities
 Embodies the global village, the appealing idea to feel at home
everywhere, to come across landmarks
 Trans-cultural : "It has to offer something that is appealing and
relevant in all cultures." 

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 Food and drink: Coca-Cola,
Nestlé, Mac Donald’s, Pepsi,
Ferrero, Schweppes,
Starbucks
 Shoes: Nike, Adidas, Puma,
Converse
 Clothing: H&M, Levi’s, Gap,
Zara, Benetton
 Consumer electronics: Nokia,
Sony, Samsung
 Computing/Internet: Microsoft,
Apple, Yahoo, eBay, DELL, HP
What is a Global Brand ?
 Cosmetics: L’Oreal, Nivéa,
Dove, Garnier, Body shop
 General: Unilever
 Perfumes: Chanel, Gucci,
Vuitton, Prada
 Media: CNN
 Finance: American Express
 Oil: E.ON, Shell, Total
 Tobacco: Marlboro
 Furniture: Ikea
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 A Positive View of Global Brands
 Fascination in the gigantic power game in which brands evolve
and operate

Have a positive opinion of global

80%
brands (85% among less than 25yo)

Have a very good opinion of global

25%
brands

82% 62%

Like the fact that these brands are

“powerful”.
France Germany

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 5 Patterns of Relationship with Global Brands
They like the brands and delight in
The “enthusiasts” their choices. Potentially fans of
“classic” brands

They do not care about what the

The “pragmatics”
brands do or their social policies

They require from the brand ethical

The “ethical”:
values and traceability

They are willing to act in an

The “activists”
organized way to penalize a brand

The “resigned Similar profile but their dissent

critics” remains a vague desire

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 Key Expectations for Global Brands
They want quality and ethics.
Expert, critical consumers not fooled by marketing.
69% 66%

They should offer quality

products
69% 65%

They need to be trustworthy

73% 63%

Offering fashionable and

trendy products and services
67% 60%

Communicating well to their

consumers
France Germany

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 Key Expectations for Global Brands
 Any spending of money by a global brand is appreciated

"Even if calculated, better than nothing."

"Even Bill Gates spends money for Aids in

Africa."

 Charity is acceptable when it appears credible

 Greater degree of transparency
 Companies should provide more information, explain how
profits are used, and encourage dialogue with the public.
 They should be transparent and accountable, clear about
the production process

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 Main Complaints on Global Brands
 Under-performance from a global brand is not accepted
 High price :
69%
49%
Global brands are too
expensive
France Germany

 Excessive or manipulative marketing is identified as poor

behaviour  

63%
40%
Global brands manipulate the
consumer too much
France Germany

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 Main Complaints on Global Brands
 They penalize brands identified with :
 health hazards,
 political or financial scandal,
 layoffs and relocation,
 the use of child labour and damage to the environment.
 Exploitation of developing countries
64%
37% Feel concerned by the fact Global
Brands are not exploiting local
workers
France Germany

 Lack of respect towards individuals

75% 73%
53% The company is 56%
Too much has
too much
been relocated
focused on
abroad
France Germany
profitability France Germany

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 Does The Country of Origin Matters ?

20%
13% Buy fewer American global brands
since the Iraq war.
France Germany

 Some do not see a significant difference between the type of

management of a European group as opposed to a US group.
 There are ‘good' American brands – the ones which are more
tribal and with credible authenticity such as Apple, Levi's, eBay
and Converse.

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 Does The Country of Origin Matters ?
70%

44%
Prefer their domestic global brands
(American brands come in second)

France Germany

60%
45%

Prefer buying products manufactured

in their country
France Germany

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 Trapped by The Consumer Society
 They feel trapped by the consumer society and the existence
of brands

“ We do not have the choice” “We are

dependant”
“Even if you would like to, you hardly can avoid
them, you buy a product and find out later that it
belongs to a global enterprise.”
“If we stop purchasing these brands, we might as
well live in a remote village and not see anyone.”

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 Is the Boycott Option a Growing Trend ?
 Boycott has to be a collective action

“we feel like we are acting alone, isolated”

 A change in purchasing habits is complicated,

“Why would I penalize myself by deciding to stop

purchasing a brand?

 It may even have an opposite effect to the intended

We penalize a company because they are laying off, but as

we purchase less, we might contribute to force the company
to layoff again!

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 Is the Boycott Option a Growing Trend ?
31%
19%
Have already boycotted a brand

57%
47%
Have never done it because they
think it is pointless

 The reasons of boycotting a brand were :

56% 51%
Disagreement with the company
policy
42% 42%
Poor working conditions such as the
use of child labour or low wages
42%
34%

Brand harmful to the environment

France Germany

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 Alternatives to Global Brands?
 Individuality, community, innovation
 Private labels which offer value for money
 Regional products  fresh quality and support of the local
business
 Fair trade products
39%

14% They buy more brands with the

Fair Trade label than before
France Germany

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 Fields of Action for Global Brands
 To improve the ethical and human dimensions of the global
brands by :
 Reestablishing their meaning
 Fighting against standardization
 Encouraging ethical consumption
 Finding new ways to communicate with communities of
consumers
 Innovating across a range of their activities for the benefit of
society

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 Fields of Action for Global Brands
 Education: Supporting of universities, schools, foundations.
 Employment: work committees, fair jobs/payments, fairer
contracts of employment.
 Environment: More credible ecological packaging or
production methods.
 Humanitarian help/ human rights: Sponsorship of
humanitarian foundations, fair trade, and development aid.
 Health: The use of organic ingredients, no preservatives,
medicinal research, no genetically modified raw materials, no
animal testing.
 Public interest: Sponsorship of kindergartens, playgrounds,
and cultural institutions

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 Conclusion
Young people are increasingly well-informed and used to the
idea of consumerism  the basic contract of the global brand is
becoming more sophisticated.

 A brand with a global dimension must :

 Create products which are always more perfect and personalized
 Get involved in a more human and generous vision of capitalism
 Be even more irreproachable in terms of quality and consumer
service,
 Be even more respectful of its customer base and employees,
 Be even more responsible in protection of the environment or
humanitarian work.

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 Conclusion
The global brands have everything to gain if they have more
ethics, transparency and commitment

 Moving business in a direction that allows global brands to

increasingly become citizens of the world is a true challenge
that is at the heart of the evolution of our western societies

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