Social Media in Consumer Goods - Thematic Intelligence

Social media has become an almost inescapable reality of modern day life globally for billions of consumers. Social media is composed of online platforms that allow users to share information and allow networking between individuals. This has been particularly prominent in the consumer goods industry as brands are able to promote their products through this medium and can reach an astounding amount of viewers, thus leading to online sales/s-commerce.

With the COVID-19 pandemic heightening the amount of users present on social media networks, the channel became vital for consumer packaged goods companies to keep in line with this upward popularity and ensure that their brands were present online/invested in their social media pages in order to maximize profits. From this, many partnered with 'influencers' to guarantee further exposure online to reach audiences that the company may not have reached alone. While social media has benefited a vast number of companies, it has been the demise of others. With the vast reach that social media platforms have, consumers may post their opinions of products that could also be negative, or even worse, provide scandalous claims about the company. Therefore, there are positive and negative outcomes of the utilization of social media.

Scope

• Key players in the social media theme include Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft to name a few, while Hubski, Discord, and Clubhouse are among the challengers.
• Social media sites have become a platform of mistrust and exaggerated lifestyles. Through the growing culture of influencer lifestyles and bragging about possessions, many consumers are now left feeling deflated and unhappy with their lives. As a result, the consumer goods industry and foodservice outlets may have benefitted or declined as consumers may deem particular brands or restaurants as ones they wish to show on their social media accounts and others not.
• For many consumers, social media platforms have become essential. It is, therefore, imperative that they make informed decisions about who has access to their data and for what purpose. The quality of services offered by social media platforms also depends on how effectively they can shield users from harmful content, misinformation, and online abuse.
• Online payment services go hand in hand with ecommerce services, as social media companies are stepping up their efforts to allow shopping on their platforms. Social media platforms are the perfect complement to online retail.
• As well as payment protection and personal information, product safety and security need to be strictly managed as consumer journeys are increasingly online.

Reasons to Buy

• Understand multiple trends and company responses in order to tap into what is really impacting the industry.
• Gain a broader appreciation of the fast-moving consumer goods industry by gaining insights from both within and outside of your sector.
• Access valuable strategic take-outs to help direct future decision-making and inform new product development.