On skimpflation and high-risk marketing

Author

Stephen Babcock
October 07, 2022

The daily current header

With the effects of climate change coming further into view and rising consumer demand for more circularity, sustainability is in focus throughout the supply chain. A recent summit organized by GS1 US provided a look at innovation taking place at the various levels of a product’s lifecycle, and how standards can play a role in encouraging collaboration. Here’s a look at the highlights.

You may have heard of inflation, stagflation and shrinkflation. Now there’s skimpflation. That’s when companies reformulate products to reduce the share of pricier ingredients in the mix. It has recently been observed in butter and toilet paper. Yes, consumers are taking notice.

Meta rolled out a host of new ad formats for Facebook and Instagram this week, including “post-loop” ads that play after a Reel has ended and image carousels. On Instagram, ads are coming to the Explore homepage and the profile feed. Machine learning will also help to display more relevant ads once a user has engaged with one.

A few years ago, the launch of a new flavor of Pot Noodles garnered negative feedback from consumers. Now, the brand is centering the reviews as part of a comeback campaign, which includes a display in a Twitter "Museum of Failure.” It’s a move by a brand to be upfront with its customers about past failings, and show how it led to improvements. As brand manager Angus Giddins put it, “We didn’t just listen to consumer feedback, we did something about it."

McDonald’s is behind the latest food x fashion collab, which redesigned Happy Meals for adults and launched a new online merch store in the process. But nostalgia is at the heart of the project, providing grown-ups permission to relive the experience of ordering a Happy Meal, and opening the toy.

Tweet of the Day 🐦 

Were you forwarded this email by a friend or colleague?