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Tag: Consumer Engagement

  • Why Meeting Consumer Expectations Won’t Cut It — and What Businesses Should Do Instead | Entrepreneur

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Consumer behavior has undoubtedly shifted. Research shows that 70% of consumers are willing to pay a premium for ethically sourced products, and 66% expect brands to understand their needs and preferences. Nearly half of all consumers now buy products after seeing them endorsed by people they trust. These statistics clearly show that people want businesses to do better.

    But here’s what the data doesn’t capture: consumer expectations alone cannot drive the fundamental changes our world needs. While businesses scramble to meet these demands, they’re missing a crucial opportunity to lead transformation rather than simply follow it.

    Related: Being ‘Busy’ Isn’t Helping You Be Productive — 5 Tips to Become Truly Efficient at Work

    The limits of consumer-driven change

    Consumer preferences are powerful, but limited. According to McKinsey’s 2025 consumer outlook, 79% of consumers are trading down due to economic pressures, and 49% plan to delay purchases. When people are focused on survival and cost-cutting, their capacity to prioritize broader social issues naturally diminishes.

    More importantly, consumers can only demand what they can imagine. They respond to problems they understand and solutions they can envision. But the most pressing challenges facing businesses and society require innovation that goes beyond current consumer awareness.

    Technology companies didn’t wait for people to demand smartphones before developing them. Steve Jobs famously said that consumers don’t know what they want until you show it to them. Apple created a solution that transformed how we live and work, not because market research indicated demand for touchscreen devices, but because they envisioned possibilities that consumers hadn’t yet imagined.

    We’re seeing the same pattern with Artificial Intelligence today. Companies aren’t implementing AI solutions because consumers are demanding them — most people still have mixed feelings about AI integration. According to recent research, consumers are “AI ambivalent,” yet 85% of Fortune 500 companies are already using AI solutions to transform their operations. These businesses are leading change by recognizing AI’s potential to solve problems and create value, regardless of current consumer sentiment.

    The same principle applies to social impact. Waiting for consumer demand to drive every positive change means limiting ourselves to incremental improvements rather than transformative solutions.

    Why businesses must take the lead

    The business world is transforming continuously, at an unprecedented pace. In my experience building software companies, I’ve seen how tech leaders emerge not by following trends but by anticipating needs and creating new possibilities. That same dynamic applies to social responsibility and positive impact.

    Companies have resources, expertise and scale that individual consumers lack. They can invest in research and development, form strategic partnerships and implement solutions at speeds that consumer movements cannot match. When 95% of organizations have undergone multiple major transformations in just three years, it’s clear that businesses are becoming comfortable with rapid change.

    The question is no longer whether businesses should respond to consumer demands — they absolutely should. The question is whether they’ll stop there or use their capabilities to drive changes that serve the common good and create a truly better world. This means going beyond what consumers haven’t yet realized they need and actively working toward solutions that benefit society as a whole, even when those solutions may not have immediate market appeal.

    What proactive leadership looks like

    Real business leadership in social change goes beyond traditional corporate social responsibility. It involves using core business capabilities to address societal challenges, even when there’s no immediate consumer pressure to do so.

    1. Get ahead of future needs rather than react to current demands. Companies that succeed in creating lasting change identify problems before they become mainstream consumer concerns. They invest in solutions that may not have immediate market demand but address fundamental challenges.

    2. Use technology for social good. With 85% of Fortune 500 companies now using AI solutions and the projected global AI impact reaching $22.3 trillion by 2030, businesses have unprecedented tools to create positive change. The companies making the biggest difference are those using these capabilities proactively rather than reactively.

    3. Build ecosystems of change. Rather than working in isolation, leading companies create networks that amplify their impact. The Rise Ahead Pledge, signed by 24 major corporations, demonstrates how businesses can collaborate to drive social innovation beyond what consumer demand would naturally create.

    Related: How to Keep Up With Customer Expectations

    Beyond consumer expectations

    Social entrepreneurship and innovation are converging in powerful ways, offering a blueprint for traditional businesses. The Global Innovation Index 2024 highlights how social enterprises create transformative solutions by mobilizing diverse stakeholders to effect change at regional and global scales. These organizations succeed not by following consumer preferences but by identifying systemic issues and developing innovative approaches to address them.

    Traditional businesses can learn from this model — instead of waiting for consumer surveys to tell them what people want, they can identify underlying problems and develop solutions that create new markets and possibilities.

    The most successful companies of the next decade may be those that understand that sustainable business success requires creating value for society, not just responding to its expressed demands. This means taking calculated risks, investing in solutions that may not have immediate payoffs and using business capabilities to address challenges that extend beyond traditional market boundaries.

    Consumer expectations will continue to evolve, and businesses must remain responsive to their markets. However, the companies that will truly make a difference — and build lasting competitive advantages — are those that move beyond responsiveness to proactive leadership in creating positive change.

    The time for waiting is over

    We’re at an inflection point where traditional approaches to business and social responsibility are no longer sufficient. Consumer demands provide important signals about market direction, but they cannot drive the scale and speed of change that current global challenges require.

    The businesses that recognize this opportunity and act on it will not only create meaningful social impact but also position themselves as leaders in the next era of commerce. Those who continue to wait for consumer permission to make positive change will find themselves increasingly irrelevant in a world that rewards proactive leadership over reactive adaptation.

    Lead the change you want to see in the world, or spend your time chasing changes that others create. The companies that choose to lead will define the business landscape for decades to come.

    Stefan Grigorov

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  • What is Disruptive Marketing and Why is it Crucial for Success?

    What is Disruptive Marketing and Why is it Crucial for Success?

    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    As marketers, we are always trying to stand out from the crowd. Enter: disruptive marketing.

    Think back to 20 years ago when Steve Jobs said that iPhones would replace computers. People didn’t believe him at the time, but I bet you are either reading this article on your phone or your phone is at least next to you. Steve Jobs’ claim is a perfect example of disruptive marketing.

    I’m not a fan of buzzwords, but I am a fan of disruptive marketing. So much so that I recently came on board a disruptive marketing agency, Overit, as the Senior Marketing Director. Part of my role involves being a disruptor in the marketing industry, and with this article, I aim to help you become a disruptor. As disruptors, we need to be cutting-edge and unafraid so let’s explore how to do just that.

    What exactly is disruptive marketing?

    While innovative, disruptive marketing is also strategic. It goes against the status quo of traditional marketing tactics and reaches your target audience in new and creative ways. Disruptive marketing resonates with your current customers and unlocks new audiences.

    FYI, this marketing strategy is only for risk-takers. However, it’s an excellent opportunity to grow your brand rather quickly. It is not just about being unique to get attention; disruptive marketing should be paired with data and strategy — just like any other marketing technique.

    To put it simply, disruptive marketing is the process of using new and original marketing strategies to reach your target consumers in a way that your competitors are not.

    This type of marketing allows for a lot of creativity and, like all marketing strategies, can continually be refined by the data you collect from your efforts. This data is important because disruptive marketing involves experimenting, and some tactics will work while others won’t.

    Disruptive marketing pushes boundaries and creates new norms. Strategies we have in our marketing toolboxes were once disruptive. Take influencer marketing for example, it once was a foreign way to get authentic brand recommendations, and now it’s a strategy that many brands implement.

    If you want to be a disruptor, you can’t be afraid to fail. However, this type of marketing has the chance of going viral. Are you a risk-taker like me?

    Why should my marketing be disruptive?

    The modern-day consumer is quite intelligent. They know when they’re being “marketed” and are sick of the traditional advertising norms. Disruptive marketing involves you doing something unique to allow you to stand out in an over-saturated industry.

    Consumers value innovation. In fact, they expect it. There is a sea of repetitive marketing trends out there, and your target audience craves something different. This type of marketing makes your products or services stay top-of-mind by being unique and memorable.

    The top 10 disruptive marketing tips

    Have I convinced you to be a disruptor yet? If so, I’ve streamlined the top 10 tips I use in my disruptive marketing efforts. Write them out on a sticky note and post them on your monitor so you can always remind yourself how to be disruptive.

    • Stay up to date with social media trends and success stories
    • A/B test different strategies
    • Capture data and implement the insights you glean from it
    • Consult your buyer personas to ensure you’re reaching your target audience
    • Challenge current marketing assumptions and do the opposite
    • Speak to consumer pain points
    • Embrace technology
    • Follow disruptive thought leaders for inspiration
    • Be unusual but not bizarre
    • Implement storytelling best practices

    Examples of disruptive marketing

    Uber appalled people when they announced that they came out with an app in which people essentially get into a stranger’s car. Today, there are competing apps, and “ubering” is part of our English language.

    Bitcoin is the world’s largest bank but has no actual cash. That didn’t stop them. They kept promoting their values and honed in on target consumers who don’t trust traditional banks, and now look at how far they’ve come.

    Dollar Shave Club came out with its first commercial in 2011 and flipped the entire razor industry on its head. They studied what consumers were looking for, addressed those pain points in a brand new way, and the rest is history.

    REI took a risk and set itself apart from other brands vying for consumers to spend money on Black Friday. In 2015, they started #OptOutside and discouraged consumers from shopping at their store on the biggest consumer spending day of the year. Many consumers actually respected this stance, which clearly didn’t hurt business because REI still encourages consumers to opt outside on Black Friday.

    In 2015, HBO released their HBO Go app. Instead of pushing typical pain points like watching HBO from anywhere, they released a commercial of a family watching awkward HBO shows together. They then showed how the family went to different rooms in the house to avoid awkward viewing. They thought outside the box, and it worked.

    Air Wick implemented disruptive marketing with their Scent Decorator quiz. They invite consumers to take quizzes to find the perfect home scents. Typically, people want actually to smell something before purchasing, but Air Wick found a way around that, and they did it successfully.

    A balance between traditional and disruptive

    Disruptive marketing creates quick impact and brand awareness. However, this strategy doesn’t mean you throw traditional marketing out the door.

    There is a balance between holding onto traditional marketing that works and using your tried and true strategies to power your disruptive efforts.

    Like traditional marketing, when implementing disruptive marketing, look at things like the consumer’s journey, pain points, value propositions, etc., when allocating your time and budget for 2023.

    Final thoughts: How to be disruptive with your content

    So much of modern-day marketing is content-driven. Naturally, some of your disruptive marketing efforts will be rooted in content. After all, 91% of brands use content marketing, bringing in 6 times as many leads as traditional marketing at 62% of the cost.

    A great place to start with disruptive marketing is through your content.

    User Generated Content is popular and effective. Consider challenging your audience to post content about your brand with a theme that gets people’s attention. You can then promote your UGC using marketing strategies that you already use.

    The beauty of content creation is that it allows you to experiment with disruptive marketing. Look at your competitors’ typical blog posts and publish the opposite. Be bold. Be experimental.

    Same with the content you put on social media. Do something risky and measure the results against your other social posts.

    You don’t have to re-work your entire marketing strategy, you just need to not be afraid to be different and think outside the box.

    Kristen Matthews

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