NIVEA partners with one of the world's leading consumer research companies, Iconoculture, and discovers that simple gestures are what matter most this Valentine's Day
NIVEA has announced the introduction of the "NIVEA American Mood Monitor," a new consumer behavior research project helmed by global research company, Iconoculture, to track the ever-evolving moods of Americans and identify ways in which the consumer is changing throughout the year. The research is designed specifically to gauge and track current and emerging trends that reflect consumer behavior and mood, along with the emotive drivers and values behind these trends. The mood monitor will track the moods of Americans throughout the year. For NIVEA, as the brand that brings people together through touch, what better topic to start with than the sentiment around romance on Valentine's Day.
"We are thrilled to introduce the 'NIVEA American Mood Monitor,'" said Nicolas Maurer, Vice President, Marketing, Beiersdorf Inc. "This is a ground-breaking initiative for our brand and something we are extremely proud of. At NIVEA, we value the importance of human connections and mood certainly plays a significant role in that, which is why we wanted to create a research project to examine consumers' moods throughout the year, understand the emotional drivers and share those insights. It is also a great source of inspiration and affirmation for the development of our products and our marketing plans."
"The 'NIVEA American Mood Monitor' is an exciting project for us to partner on and we are especially delighted to start by examining consumers' mood around romance," says Jennifer Haid, Vice President and Consumer Strategist for Iconoculture. "Results of the research uncovered several key themes around American's romantic mood this year with the most interesting being that consumers are turning to what is being identified as 'The Appreciation Economy.'"
What Americans' Romantic Mood Reveals:
The Appreciation Economy:
In today's society, consumers are focusing on authentic everyday occurrences that demonstrate love, thoughtfulness and appreciation, and letting loved ones feel understood and cared for. It is the simple gestures, like a hug, kiss or touch, that matter most. These small but powerful interactions fuel feelings of love and romance and keep couples connected. Thoughtful, genuine gifts that are meaningful show that the gift giver knows, understands and cares about the recipient.
The Most Desired Gift:
Underscoring "The Appreciation Economy" is the finding that a kiss is really more than just a kiss. It is actually the most anticipated and welcomed expression of love on Valentine's Day. In fact, a kiss is the most discussed romantic gestures within social media, making up 22% of the conversations. Love and romance are charged by all kinds of special gestures like touching, looking or just enjoying time with each other, but consumers say that kisses and hugs especially help strengthen loving exchanges. A kiss makes people feel warm, cared for, comforted, good, loved, in love, happy, heady, tingly, passionate, sensual, sexy, intense, and excited. Those who feel deprived admit suffering from grumpiness, dejectedness, or dissatisfaction.
Virtual Connections:
For those who cannot be physically connected, virtual touch is proving to nurture today's modern relationships as well. In fact, online openness and sharing of public information is on the uptick when it comes to romance. Consumers tweet, blog, talk and read on forums about hugs, kisses and other romantic gestures, which provides them a safe haven for sharing and navigating real-world scenarios that they can translate into their own lives, loves and relationships. More social contacts result in happier, healthier people who experience the same emotional benefits of being physically touched, which is especially important in today's 24/7 virtual world.
About the Research Approach:
Gauging the mood of the American consumer is a broad and diverse mission spanning many categories and demographics. To tackle a project of this scope and bring a fresh approach NIVEA and Iconoculture chose a multitude of lenses to get a picture of the American Consumer including:
- Custom Consumer Research – Iconoculture provided cultural context and overview of the current consumer mood and value drivers through its observational research methodology.
- Custom IconoCommunities – Iconoculture tracked the consumer sentiment around the quarterly theme through its consumer-centric social network, IconoCommunities consisting of more than 500 consumers over the age of 18.
- Social Media Analysis - Adding a listening element to the research, the "NIVEA American Mood Monitor" also utilized Iconoculture's SocialIQ, a powerful analytical tool for mining millions of social media sources like blogs, message boards and microblogs for insights on the quarterly theme.
For more information on NIVEA, visit NIVEAusa.com.
About NIVEA
NIVEA is an international leading manufacturer of consumer products for skin and beauty care. The NIVEA brand portfolio includes NIVEA Body, NIVEA Lip Care, NIVEA Body Wash, and NIVEA For Men. For more information on NIVEA, visit our Web site, www.NIVEAusa.com.
About Beiersdorf AG
Beiersdorf AG, headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, is a leading international company of branded consumer products for skin and beauty care. Beiersdorf stands for leading international brands like NIVEA, Eucerin, la prairie, Juvena, Labello, 8x4, Futuro, Florena, Hansaplast/Elastoplast and Tesa, 125 years of experience in research and development, and strong international presence. For more information, visit www.beiersdorf.com.
About Iconoculture
Iconoculture, the leading global consumer research and advisory company, delivers the most comprehensive consumer insights - quickly and more cost effectively - to Fortune 1000 corporations and agencies. Iconoculture integrates consumer information from multiple data sources and combines it with expert interpretation and analysis by the industry's largest Advisory Services team to produce targeted insights. We illuminate not only what's important to consumers worldwide, but also why it's happening and where it's heading. For more information, contact Iconoculture at 1-866-377-0087 or visit us online: www.iconoculture.com
Contacts:
PMK/BNC for NIVEA
Liz Neale, 212-373-6114
liz.neale@pmkbnc.com
or
PMK/BNC
for NIVEA
Christina Stejskal, 212-373-6139
christina.stejskal@pmkbnc.com
or
Beiersdorf
Inc
Leslie Kickham, 203-563-5821
lkickham@bdfusa.com
