Reaching 'Stay At Home Britain'

Further evidence that consumer confidence is taking a beating emerged this week and made me think more about what this will mean for marketers operating in a depressed commercial environment.

My previous post alluded to the need to adjust marketing and PR strategies to take into account the fact that none of us are going to feel particularly flush in the next 12 months, and how this might impact on the habits of the great British public. I had dinner with some friends earlier this week and realised that talk of us spending more time at home (and less time spending money on the high street) isn't just theory - it's happening now!

Two out of three have spent the last two weekends at home, one has installed Sky Broadband so that she can download music and movies and, she says, order takeaway. Another said that she had started spending less money on magazines - bought to read on the tube - and had taken to playing games on her mobile phone to save money.

These are small choices, but if these people are representative of the bigger picture, what does this mean for PR and marketing professionals? New figures show that broadband sales (particularly mobile broadband) are on the rise. We are creating and joining social networks in our droves. Anecdotal feedback shows that people will be spending more time online - online gift sales are set to reach record highs this year, bucking the wider market trend.

With newspaper and magazine sales dipping, we should all take note of the these trends and look closely at our digital marketing strategies. Clever marketers are looking at ways of meeting British consumers on their own turf, in their own environment and in a more relevant and targeted way. Consumers may not entirely replace Friday nights in the pub, but, increasingly, our virtual lives will evolve and grow - and we must evolve and grow with them.