Latest news with #consumerpower
Fast Company
14 hours ago
- Business
- Fast Company
Thanks to social media, consumers have more power than ever. Just wait until generative AI becomes commonplace
Hello and welcome to a special edition of Modern CEO! I'm Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs; this week I'm dropping a few extra newsletters from the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Engaging with consumers and clients has traditionally been the purview of customer service teams and chief marketing officers (CMOs) who communicate with customers through advertising and messaging. CMOs are the folks gathered at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this week. But thanks to social platforms, consumers now have the ability to tarnish or burnish brands, impact revenue, and even hurt or help stock prices —all part of the CEO remit. Consumers 'are more powerful, and they have more access and more tools,' says Anton Vincent, president, Mars Wrigley North America and global ice cream at Mars. 'The creator economy will only help to accelerate consumer power.' Straight from the top As a result, more CEOs are going 'direct to consumer.' LinkedIn says it has seen a 52% increase in posts from CEOs in the past two years. 'We think about [posts] as a conversation,' says Dan Shapero, LinkedIn's chief operating officer. 'Executives feel safe posting because it is a platform for constructive conversation.' Indeed, comments on LinkedIn are up 32% year over year. The most progressive companies and CEOs aren't just talking to customers, they are harnessing customers' energy to help build loyalty and support for their wares—and even to help companies build new products. Research from ad agency TBWA\Worldwide found that 15% of adults globally would spend more for a brand that lets them 'participate in collaborative projects via co-creation, decentralization, or crowdsourcing.' The customer connection Thanks to generative AI, consumers are already creating art, marketing messages, and other content for brands, much of it unauthorized and much of it 'technically impressive but conceptually shallow,' says Jen Costello, global chief strategy officer for TBWA\Worldwide. A better approach is 'where co-creation is less about spectacle and defined more by transparency, reciprocity, and the infrastructure for true partnership,' she says. 'Think co-branded product lines with fans, closed-loop design labs with select contributors, and shared revenue or credit for substantial contributors. With that in place, AI becomes a powerful accelerant rather than the showpiece.' Vincent of Mars Wrigley says the company engages consumers by offering superfans a peek under the tent of what may be coming next. The M&M candy brand, for example, has embraced personalization, selling customized packaging and candies, and its Fun Club community engages members with quizzes, surveys, recipes, and more. Vincent says he also is 'upskilling' his employees to become fluent in technologies and platforms that consumers are using to communicate displeasure or loyalty. CEOs who cede responsibility for engaging with consumers do so at their peril. Says Jim O'Leary, North America CEO and global president at Weber Shandwick: 'Consumers are much more important to CEOs today because they have a much greater ability to influence things.' How are you connecting with customers?
Malay Mail
24-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Jakarta eyes 5pc GDP growth with electricity, transport and food subsidies for millions
JAKARTA, May 24 — Indonesia plans to announce economic stimulus measures on June 5 to revive activity and boost consumer purchasing power, hoping to push economic growth to around 5 per cent this quarter, the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Saturday. 'These programmes are prepared to encourage growth by increasing consumption,' chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said in a statement, adding that launching the measures before a school holiday starting in late June would provide momentum to boost purchasing power. Southeast Asia's largest economy grew 4.87 per cent in the first quarter from the same period last year, its weakest in more than three years. The central bank trimmed its 2025 growth forecast to between 4.6 per cent and 5.4 per cent from a 4.7-5.5 per cent range. The ministry is still calculating the size of the stimulus package, which is meant to boost growth in the second and third quarters, a spokesperson said. The incentives include a 50 per cent discount on electricity bills for around 79.3 million households and food handouts for 18.3 million lower-income households in June and July. The government also plans to give cash transfer for low-income workers and a discount on work accident insurance for workers in labour-intensive industries. To boost tourism, the government said there will be discounts on airfare, train and sea transportation rates during the school holiday, which runs through mid-July, and discounts on highway tolls for 110 million users in June and July, the ministry said. — Reuters
Reuters
24-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Indonesia to launch economic stimulus to boost consumption
JAKARTA, May 24 (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to announce economic stimulus measures on June 5 to boost economic activity and consumer purchasing power this quarter, a government spokesperson said on Saturday. Southeast Asia's largest economy grew 4.87% in the first quarter from the same period last year, its weakest in more than three years. The central bank trimmed its 2025 growth forecast to between 4.6% and 5.4% from a 4.7%-5.5% range. The incentives include a 50% discount on electricity bills for some customers, food handouts for June and July, a discount on work accident insurance, a 7-million-rupiah ($430) subsidy for electric motorcycle purchases, discounts on highway tolls and tax breaks for airfare and cash transfer for low income workers, chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Friday, according to CNBC Indonesia. The spokesperson for the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs did not respond to a query on the size of the stimulus. "We are preparing six packages. At the moment, each ministry is preparing the regulations," chief economic minister Airlangga Hartarto said. "Hopefully this can be announced soon once regulations in each ministry are completed." ($1 = 16,215.0000 rupiah)
