July 16, 2018 /Trend

Altruism’s Potential

At the start of the year, we explored why brands should welcome the rise of the unself, concluding that altruism is the key for consumer transcendence.

This month, Rachel Pashley, Head of Female Tribes Consulting for J. Walter Thompson published her book ‘New Female Tribes’.

Following dissatisfaction that advertising consistently placed women into stereotypes, Pashley carried out a three year study that involved interviewing 8000 women aged between 17 to 70. The study spanned across 19 countries and the findings have enabled Pashley and her team to create four tribes accurately reflect women today.

These tribes are as follows:

56% – Alphas, defined as career women, highly ambitious and likely to be leaders in their fields.

43% – Hedonists, adventurous women who seek to embrace self care, social and sexual fulfilment and prioritise ‘me time’

40% – Traditionalists, described as family-focused.

10% – Altruists, this tribe possess the desire to help others and enrich the world by being community focused.

Whilst these tribes are non-definitive and women can interchange depending on circumstance, Altruists coming in at 10% illustrates that this tribe is still in its infancy.

Last year, Havas Media concluded that 60% of the content created by brands is clutter, noting the necessity for meaningful brands. Furthermore, the agency accorded that 75% of consumers want to engage with brands that seek to improve the world and contribute to a wider social cause.

Empathy and community-driven content has been driving brand engagement and retail experiences. We have been exploring the rise of ‘do-good brands’, who seek to cater to consumer demand for altruism.

A key example of a brand doing this well is Amsterdam-based brand Verse who wants their community to join the universe. Combating the pressures of climate change, the brand mission is altruistic driven. This sentiment is echoed in our post exploring the development of the ‘ ‘We-economy’.

In the future, it will no be longer enough for brands to seek to make their consumer feel good through individualistic driven campaigns and experiences. Instead, store design must cater to collectivism and articulate altruism through we-centric, altruistic thinking.