In the WSJ this morning this was a seemingly innocent remark made by a small business owner is the best summation than all the insights from analysts and economy pundits commentating. “Tired of being afraid” is the message consumers have been driving home as the economy gathered momentum, even though saddled with debt and laden with fear, but as Mr. Roosevelt once said, “There’s nothing to fear, but fear itself” and for good reason.
However, we’re smarter than when we came in and consumers can now compete more for what they want amongst the brands and channels on offer from own label to luxury. This is reflected with P&Gs, poor results that nearly got the new CEO heckled, with sluggish sales and “competitors not following the pricing” hikes they’d planned on i.e. the consumer is shifting away from higher margin items and can easily be switched: P&Gs market share is down in 55% of its markets.
PUNCH & KISS 