Why Our 'Stay At Home' Nation Offers And Interesting Challenge To UK Marketers

I got a bit of a shock last night. Before attending last night's Convergence Conversation, held at Ingenious Media, I thought the outlook was bleak for businesses of all shapes, sizes and sectors; I left with a real sense of the challenge the marketers face in trying to reach a nation that will be forced, in the coming months, to save rather than spend.

On one thing all last night's attendees agreed on, evidence of the slowdown is already there for all to see. Consumers are finding it harder every day to justify spending their diminishing funds on anything other than the essentials, and the situation will worsen in the coming months. Luxury goods and big ticket items, such as holidays and cars, are no longer sitting high on the priority list. These have been replaced with increased sales in homewares (espresso maker sales are at an all time high) as people settle in for a hard winter.

We are set to become a 'Stay At Home' nation. Rather than spending our weekends out on the razzle with our mates, we will favour a pizza and a DVD or perhaps a few games of Dragon Ball Z on the PS3. Whether you agree with this position or not, the fact is that people are going to be harder to reach - and we have to reach them at home.

Marketing needs to adjust to this trend, we need to look at innovative ways to reach audiences via their broadband connections, or mobile devices - on their own terms and in their own territory. There is room for serious innovation our part, our jobs and our clients' businesses depend on it.