'More Ish': setting the consumer tone for 2013

Years of what we describe as maximising (the constant search for the best deal) has morphed into ‘Ish’ – the growing tendency of consumers to espouse far more fluid lifestyles. A sizeable chunk of the population – 27% – tell us they are ‘cancelling or reducing personal entertainment contracts/subs/magazines’. This is a big number for an item that represents relatively small spend. Meanwhile, 44% of the population agree that they are ‘cutting back on all things wherever they can’. 

 

Making its first appearance in late 2012, Ish has proven so relevant for many of our clients that we have already issued an addendum entitled More Ish, which fleshes out the commercial consequences of this trend. We define this as the need to offer shorter and more flexible contracts and build in constant and automatic upgrades.

 

The mobile sector is leading the response. O2 has been quick to reward business customers with shorter, less imposing smartphone contracts. T-Mobile and 3 offer pay-as-you-go broadband for the iPad. And, most recently, Vodafone and Tesco have offered the iPhone 5 on 12-month contract plans to all consumers. 

 

In the flexible world of Ish, our decisions become more elastic and more episodic, less conventionally acquisitive and more creatively transitory. The thrift message has matured into a new consumer credo, of which Ish is the embodiment. This proposes that we don’t commit unnecessarily – rather that we go with what works, do not trust habit and stay alert to freshly appearing options.

 

Ish, like so many consumer trends, is a powerful commercial consequence of longer-term social changes. How we organise our intimate lives has been a leading indicator here: a depleted appetite for formal marriage; later marriage and childbirth; a high incidence of remarriage; fewer weddings with religious endorsement; significantly increased cohabitation; and, of course, easy access to divorce.

 

While monogamous stability remains the culturally preferred option in most of the world, the reality is that cohabitation has doubled in the UK since 1996 and divorce rates are currently highest among the over-50s.

 

 

So, in a century when millions can expect their post-pubescence to last for more than 60 years, when social pressures to exist within a traditionalist family frame are weakening, and when we are encouraged to experiment, switch brands and be more individualistic, we notice the apparent rise of more bendable, more instrumental (‘are-we-getting-a-good-deal-here?’) approaches to intimacy. For example, in Mexico, there has even been a proposal that marriage contracts should be renewable every two years.

 

It’s also easy to find evidence of new forms of personal preparedness as people, and the businesses that serve them, realise just how much contingency there can be in lifestyle. Ever-fewer people will want to commit to a long-term subscription when a better service might be available tomorrow, or technology is bound to improve within months.

 

We can expect to see more ‘try before you buy’ options, too – particularly as part of a subscription-based model. YBuy, for example, is a tech startup funded partly by Google chairman Eric Schmidt. Launched late last year, the business is already making a profit. Users sign up for $25 a month. Subsequently, they try items before having the option to pay to keep them (with their subscription for the month going towards the cost of their purchase), or return them (with free shipping).

 

Le Tote is a US fashion website that encapsulates the Ish mood. In return for a monthly subscription of $49, its members receive a monthly tote bag containing three items of clothing and two accessories, which can be worn and then returned to the site in a pre-paid box at a date of their choice. There are no return dates or late charges; members simply keep the items for as long as they like and then exchange their current tote bag for a new one containing a fresh selection of items.

 

Even our homes are subject to the pressures of Ish. The Smart New Homes initiative has been incredibly quick out of the starting block. The government-backed scheme offers a try-before-you-buy-approach, giving first-time buyers the opportunity to rent a home for 12 months to see if they would be happy living there permanently. If they choose to buy it, they can put the last 12 months’ rent towards their mortgage deposit.

 

Ish is a lifestyle attitude where loyalty is prized for as long as this quarter’s emotional returns stay on an upward curve. Individuals are becoming monogam-Ish: not social revolutionaries, just hesitant about any unbreakable contract. 

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Melanie Howard is chair of the Future Foundation and a non-executive director of TCA. [email protected]

 

This article was taken from the March issue of Market Leader. Read more from the archive here.