Stereotypes, stress, trust: 5 interesting stats to start your week

Young people in the UK are more stressed than their global counterparts

Half (50%) of millennials and Gen Z in the UK feel anxious or stressed all or most of the time, with research stress levels among young people in the UK are higher than the global average.

Globally, 41% of millennials and 46% of Gen Z say they feel stressed or anxious all or most of the time.

Respondents state concerns over their long-term financial future (36% of millennials and 35% Gen Z), the welfare of their family (36% of millennials and 31% of Gen Z) and career prospects (33% of millennials and 36% of Gen Z), were highlighted as the leading causes of anxiety among those feeling stressed in the UK.

Anxiety and stress brought on by the pandemic pushed 26% of millennials and 22% of Gen Z into taking time off work. But 44% did not state the true intention of their time off due to stigma around mental health in the workplace. More than half of millennials have not spoken openly to their employers about their stress and anxiety.

Only 43% of millennials and 38% of Gen Z think businesses are having a positive impact on society.

Meanwhile, 35% of millennials and 39% of Gen Z have already made choices over the types of work they’d do and the organisations they’re willing to work for based on their personal beliefs and ethics over the past two years.

Source: Deloitte

Most brands use social media to boost awareness

The majority (65%) of UK and Irish businesses say their main goal with social media is to increase brand awareness.

The second priority is boosting community engagement (45%), followed by increasing web traffic (39%) and growing audiences (36%). Driving sales through social is a goal only for 17% of brands.

There is a contrast in the top expectation from marketers and consumers on social platforms though. Marketers rank being ‘known for innovative social content’ as most important, but consumers put this in fourth.

Consumers state they want brands to use social media ‘to be known for putting the customer first’ and for selling ‘high-quality products/services’, which marketers put in joint third.

Marketers put using social media to be culturally relevant as the second most important reason, but consumers rank this in fifth place.

Source: Sprout Social

Business leaders say sales growth is marketing’s top measure of success

Most business leaders (80%) say revenue and sales growth is the top deliverable from marketing, with customer acquisition and profitability in second place (71%).

Business executives are also confident in marketing’s ability to lead growth recovery in 2021, with 69% stating so.

Interaction between the C-suite and marketing teams is also increasing, with 84% of business leaders saying they are marking more of a regular effort. But less than half (46%) say their marketing team’s performance was very good or exceptional in 2020, a further 45% say it was moderate.

Over a quarter of respondents (37%) say collaboration between functional areas of business and marketing is viewed as “close, balanced, effective and well-integrated”, and is constantly improving.

CMO Council executive director Donovan Neale-May says: “Business leaders appear to have more confidence in marketing leadership with 62% of survey respondents considering the essential role of the CMO as ‘customer experience advocate and champion’ in their organisation.

“The fact that the secondary view of CMOs is ‘digital transformation/marketing automation leader’ is also a real plus given the modernisation mandate in a digitally connected world.”

However, according to the research business leaders are looking for marketers to step up in five key areas of performance and value creation: demand generation and sales pipeline development; campaign ideation, execution and impact; customer journey, acquisition and conversion; marketing planning to support digital growth strategies; actioning on customer data insight.

Source: CMO Council

Consumers think stereotypes in ads are a bad influence on young people

A Unilever study suggests consumers could start boycotting brands that do not accurately portray a diverse and inclusive society.

The finds 71% of consumers think stereotypes used in media are having a bad influence on young people. But 66% believe ads could be a force for positive change in the world.

One in two people from marginalised communities feel they have been stereotyped in some way through advertising.

Those from underrepresented communities are impacted the most and are 30% more likely to be stereotyped than the general population.

More than half (55%) of Asian women believe stereotypes in advertising don’t represent them and 46% of men with a disability say they often see negative portrayals of people like them in ads. Meanwhile, 66% of LGBTQ+ people aged 18 to 34 believe people from diverse backgrounds feature in ads ‘just to make up the numbers’.

Source: Unilever

Consumers more receptive to transparent brands

The vast majority of consumers (83%) suggest they’re more receptive to brand messaging when they know the company’s beliefs and values.

Knowing what a company stands for makes consumers feel more trust towards a brand (62%), better understand a brand’s authentic identity (44%) and better believe a brand’s purpose (34%).

Word of mouth is the top action consumers take to recommend brands (67%) or warn families and friends of their experience (51%).

Three-quarters (75%) of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand when people who look like them are represented in ads, showing the importance of representation in advertising.

Over a quarter (29%) of respondents say they take to their social channels to voice their brand satisfaction, with 21% doing the same to share dissatisfaction. Although 16% say they don’t follow brands on social media.

Due to the pandemic, 38% of consumers prioritise a brand’s safety plan when asked about how the health crisis affected how they receive brand marketing messages.

Almost a third (30%) want to know a brand’s alternative purchasing options such as online, store pick-up, and kerbside pick-up.

More than half of consumers (58%) feel positive about receiving “hyper-personalised” online ads, while 19% say they feel negative about it, and a further 8% saying they feel very negative.

Source: Iterable