Home is where the heart is, and the cinema, and the pub, and the restaurant...

Home is where the heart is, and the cinema, and the pub, and the restaurant…

This summer the long fought battle between going out and staying in rumbles on.
As out-of-home activities feel the strain of the recession, consumers are again looking to their homes as a refuge, somewhere to shield them from the gloominess of these financial times.

The ‘cult of the home’; the appetite for consumers to invest in their most valued possession, is something that we have touched on before. In times gone by terrorism, violence and in some cases bird flu were cited as drivers for keeping consumers indoors. However, this trend isn’t losing impetus; in fact it is growing. Not only is the economic crisis resulting in a tangible change in circumstance for most consumers, an impending swine flu pandemic is keeping people firmly shut behind their front doors. It’s not hard to see why we think this trend is here to stay.

Despite the housing market crash meaning that houses are no longer the powerful financial asset they were pre recession; they are still home. The concept of home means much more to the consumer mid recession as people develop a heightened emotional attachment to their pile of bricks and mortar. Times are tough, the harsh realities of the world are ever present and people are looking to their homes as a place to escape, a place of reassurance. In short, a safe haven from all their worries.

As well as being a cocoon, a nest and a fortress, the home is increasingly being used as a one-stop-shop for entertainment and communications, a ‘multi-purpose venue’ for living. As UK pubs close at a rate of 52 per week, people are choosing to transform their homes into the new social hotspot in preference to washing away money down the local boozer. This is being facilitated by advancements in in-home entertainment technology. Home cinema’s HD TVs, blu-ray players and gaming consoles such as the Nintendo Wii have all added to the attraction of the living room. People are investing money and time into their homes with the aim of curbing future spending on out-of-home ‘luxuries’ and consequently are easing the pains of recession. Everyone’s a winner.

Of course, to accommodate this multi-functionality, homes need to be increasingly flexible. With houses in general getting smaller, fewer and increasingly compact rooms must house numerous different functions. For example, only 37% of households have a separate dining room, meaning the kitchen or living room must include a dining area to accommodate the current infatuation with home cooking.

A room may need to act as an office during the week, but come the weekend it may be transformed into a gaming room, a drinking venue or a crash pad for the friends and loved ones who’ve popped round for an evening or indeed weekend of high technology entertainment.

It would be easy to assume that there is little opportunity in this apparently saturated marketplace, however we beg to differ. The cult of the home is a trend that spans all ages and demographics, from the ‘boomerang’ generation of students returning home post graduation to the increasingly techno-savvy ‘silver-surfers’. Could this actually be an opportunity to expand your consumer audience, to target a group that was previously off the radar? For example, levels of DIY are historically low with younger generations as they shy away from larger projects. Is there a market for household DIY courses, or gardening training to accompany products? Could YouTube host a line of video training aids for your company’s natty range of DIY products? Whilst the Nintendo Wii has seemingly boosted the family gaming market could future innovations be tailored to even older generations? Who’s to say that virtual reality and online gaming won’t completely replace the bingo halls and gentleman’s clubs of today, as people stay connected and active all from the comfort of their own home?

Whatever it is, companies need to be creative, trend or no trend, the British public are now most definitely a recession-savvy audience. They are careful with their spending and are constantly on the lookout for the best deal.

If you fancy a chat about anything we’ve mentioned feel free to pop into McCann Erickson Communications House, sorry McCann Erickson Communications Home, and we’ll happily put the kettle on...