A summary of highlight findings from a 2014 consumer study including: Levels of Consumer Trust in Brand Content Influence on Purchase Decision Making Comparative Impact versus Advertising Content Preferences by Product Category Content Preferences by Platform Brand Voice for Brand Content

1. FMCG consumer content preferences 2014
A consumer’s view of content marketing in the UK

2. JPMH
Introduction
A leading content and communications agency,
at Me.jpmh we commission original consumer
research to help us improve the insight we bring to
the work we do for our clients. Because we believe that
consumers are more in control of the marketing relationship
than ever before, asking them what they think just seems like
best practice to us.
In a relatively short time content marketing has made it to the top
of many brands’ priority lists. A tried-and-tested sales pillar for B2B
communications, 2014 has been the year that B2C fully embraced
content marketing. In fact, according to the Content Marketing Institute’s
most recent figures, 97% of UK B2C marketers are now developing at
least some content as part of their marketing mix.*
Because it had become such a hot topic, we’ve read a lot of articles
and reports that focussed on the marketing industry’s view of this
communications format. But what seemed to be missing from all the talk
and analysis was the consumers’ perspective on it all.
So we decided to ask them. And what we discovered was
often surprising.
Methodology
We asked 600 adults (18+), all responsible for their household’s
weekly grocery shop, about their attitudes to advertising
and digital content. The research was conducted online
and responses were weighted to be nationally representative.
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Objectives
• To discover UK FMCG consumer attitudes to, and trust for, traditional advertising
• To discover UK FMCG consumer attitudes to, and trust for, content marketing
• To understand the impact of content marketing on FMCG purchase decision-making
• To explore UK FMCG consumer use of content marketing by category
• To explore UK FMCG consumer content preferences by channel
*Content Marketing in the UK: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends

3. JPMH
Contents
Consumers’ trust in traditional advertising is fragile
FMCG consumers trust content marketing more than advertising
Content marketing influences buying decisions at every stage along the path to purchase
Content preferences depend on the category
FMCG consumers expect certain types of content from specific channels
Consumers are a Brand’s best ambassadors
What next?
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4. Consumers’ trust
in traditional
advertising is
fragile
trust outdoor
and billboards
42%
trust print
advertising
To really explore FMCG
consumers’ attitudes
to content marketing,
first we needed to
understand how they
felt about more traditional
communications methods.
49%
40% 29%
trust online
advertising
trust radio
advertising
trust TV
advertising
41%
JPMH
We asked grocery consumers about their attitudes
toward traditional advertising and found that trust
is perilously low. 54% of our audience said they
distrusted all adverts and 58% claimed they would
avoid all advertising if they could.
At a channel level, trust for traditional advertising
falls even lower. Our research audience considered
online advertising the least trustworthy format, with
only 29% of consumers reporting any faith in it at
all. And while print and radio ads fared moderately
better, they still only achieved consumer trust scores
of just 42% and 40% respectively.
FMCG Consumers’ trust in advertising formats
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers 305
Base 305 4

5. 70%
object to being
interrupted by ads
Disruption creates distrust
Good ads are disruptive and deliver strong calls to
action, right? Consumers disagree. With so much
information and content available to consumers,
they have become increasingly selective about
how and where they spend their time. And they
don’t like to be interrupted.
In fact 70% of grocery consumers told us they
hate being interrupted by advertising, while 75%
particularly object to being told what to buy.
And this is increasingly becoming a challenge
for traditional advertisers – just how do you get
consumers’ attention when most simply tune
ads out?
But it’s not all bad news. Despite their reservations,
it seems that consumers maintain a love/hate
relationship with the medium - and 53% of
respondents admit to thinking life would be duller
without it!
70% 75%
hate being
told what to buy
just tune
ads out
JPMH
61%
of men would
avoid all ads if
they could
55%
of women would
avoid all ads if
they could
FMCG consumer attitudes to advertising
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers 602
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6. With trust for traditional
advertising so low, our
next step was to discover
how that compared to
consumers’ attitudes to
content marketing.
things every
marketer should know
about content marketing’s
hottest prospects
29%
FMCG consumers trust
content marketing
more than they
trust advertising*
1
5
2
4
3
JPMH
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74% of 18-24 year olds trust content marketing
They are generally more likely to share branded
content on all platforms
Among Facebook users, 50% follow FMCG brands
Of those, 35% visit FMCG brand Facebook pages to check
out peer reviews before they buy
46% of younger Twitter users follow FMCG brands
43% of those visiting YouTube had checked out a brand
video in the previous month
They believe content marketing impacts their purchasing
decisions more than any other demographic
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According to our survey, grocery consumers of all
ages trust content marketing more than advertising,
although faith in all formats declines as they get
older. But for those aged 18-24 (and particularly
young men), content marketing has become
an accepted and familiar way to discover and
research brands.
We also found that men are 15% more likely to
trust content marketing than they are advertising
messages. And generally, families report a
preference for content marketing
when compared to those
without children.
*Net trust of advertising vs net trust of content marketing
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers 602
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7. JPMH
100
Advertising 18-24
Content Marketing 18-24
Advertising 25-34
Content Marketing 25-34
Advertising 35-44
Content Marketing 35-44
Advertising 45-54
Content Marketing 45-54
Advertising 55-64
Content Marketing 55-64
Advertising 65-74
Content Marketing 65-74
50
0
9 32 50 9
4 22 44 30
21 34 35 10
18
11 36 35
32
21 24 41 14
15
13 30 42
21 32 38 9
17 33 33 17
23 37 34 6
30 8
21 42
33 39 20 8
33 35 29 3
75
25
Strongly Trust Trust Distrust 40% 80% Strongly Distrust
FMCG consumer trust in advertising vs content marketing
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers 602
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Trust declines
with age

8. Content marketing
influences buying
decisions at every
stage along the
path to purchase
So, if consumers are
more trusting of content
marketing, does it actually
influence their FMCG
purchasing decisions?
Our survey found that half of grocery consumers
believe content marketing has a direct, positive
influence over what they buy, and they look for
different content at a variety of inspiration points
when deciding which product to purchase.
While the majority of consumers expect great
content from brands they use regularly, ever greater
numbers also rely on content much earlier in their
decision making process - particularly when it
comes to brand discovery, awareness, evaluation
and comparison.
77%
Discovery
76%
Evaluation
74%
Awareness
77%
Usage
66%
Loyalty
61%
Comparison
How FMCG consumers rate impact of content marketing on purchasing decisions
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers 602
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9. JPMH
Entertainment Customer Reviews Specific Product Information
Snacks & Crisps
Independent Expert Reviews General Category Information
Confectionery
Soft Drinks
Pet Food
Household Cleaning
Baby Care
Personal Care
Baby Food
Health Foods
Healthcare
Content
preferences
depend on the
category
If consumers are being
influenced by all this
content, all the time, we
wanted to know what
it was in particular that
impacted their decisions
when thinking about various
FMCG categories.
We found that consumers
have clear content
preferences for different
grocery categories and they
are influenced by different
types of content depending
on the nature of the purchase.
It seems, for consumers,
grocery purchases lie on
a continuum, between
impulse buys (like snacks and
crisps) and more considered
purchases (such as health
foods and baby care
products). As consideration
increases, so does the depth
of content consumers explore.
So while overwhelmingly
preferring to let entertaining,
fun content sway impulse
purchases, our audience
increasingly look for
informative content like
product information, peer
reviews or independent expert
content as purchase decisions
become more considered.
Consumer content preferences by FMCG category
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014
Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers: Household cleaning products - 299, Personal care – 303, Healthy foods – 296, Pet food - 300,
Baby care – 302, Baby food – 301, Healthcare – 298, Snacks & crisps – 298, Confectionary – 309, Soft drinks - 304
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10. General Category Information
Independent Expert Reviews
Specific Product Information
JPMH
FMCG consumers
expect specific
types of content
from certain
channels
30%
34%
25%
42%
Native content is such a
hot topic that we had to
ask if consumers’ content
preferences changed
depending on the platform
they were using.
We found that consumers have very set ideas about
the kinds of content they expect brands to deliver in
specific social and digital channels. And because they
visit particular platforms to engage with certain types of
content, branded content needs to be appropriate to
consumers’ channel use.
While our survey found entertainment content is
generally preferred on social media channels like
Facebook and Twitter, consumers report that product
reviews, category information and product details
become increasingly important when they visit brand
websites, blogs and online news sources.
But, while consumers report content preferences
for different channels, ultimately category content
preferences trump those of channel.
53%
46%
60%
Customer Reviews
31%
24%
33%
24%
23%
22%
44%
58%
26%
23%
39%
45%
24% 33%
31%
27%
41%
51%
Entertainment
FMCG consumers’ content preferences by channel
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014
Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers: Facebook - 481, Twitter – 217, YouTube – 384, Online newspapers - 251, Online magazines – 115
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11. JPMH
29%
55%
68%
42%
54%
Entertainment
Customer Reviews
Specific Product Information
Independent Expert Reviews
General Category Information
Brand websites
are an essential
content hub
92% of FMCG consumers reported
visiting at least one brand website in
the previous month. And, according
to our survey, they came with some
very clear expectations about
the content they wanted to find
there. Overwhelmingly, consumers
reported visiting brand sites to find
specific product information first,
closely followed by general category
information and then customer
reviews. Interestingly, entertaining
content like online games or funny
videos ranked low in consumers’
content expectations here, with just
29% of our survey group saying they
looked for it on brand sites.
FMCG Consumers’ content expectations of brand websites
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers: 268
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12. JPMH
Consumers are
a Brand’s
best ambassadors
Real customers
Independent Experts
Someone Involved in
Making the Product
Recognisable Person Who
Owns or Runs Company
Unknown Person Who
Owns or Runs Company
Actors
9%
9%
21%
And finally, we wanted to
know if grocery consumers
had a preference when
it came to the ‘face’ of
branded content.
Consumers say they look for authenticity when it comes
to branded content. According to our survey, 70% of
grocery consumers prefer to see real customers as the
‘face’ of branded content, with independent experts a
near second at 56%.
However, if a company representative is essential for
your content message, consumers clearly prefer to see
real people involved in the production of your product
to a company owner or CEO.
35%
70%
56%
FMCG consumers’ preferences for the ‘Face’ of branded content
Source: What’s in it for Me. Consumer report 2014: Base UK Adults, FMCG consumers: 297
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13. JPMH
What next?
With trust in traditional advertising waning, our survey found
that content marketing offers brands a trusted, impactful and
effective alternative for connecting with FMCG consumers.
But one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to creating content
that converts.
Grocery consumers have an appetite for branded
content – but they engage with it on their own
terms. And while we found trust in content
marketing to be higher than traditional advertising,
consumers’ engagement with branded content
depends on a number of factors which vary by
category, platform and demographic.
However, while the consumer’s digital journey
and content preferences may vary depending on
product or purchase type, critically we found that
FMCG consumers do believe content has real power
to influence purchase decisions at every stage along
their path to purchase, from awareness through
to loyalty. This directly contradicts the popular
view that content marketing is primarily an
evaluation tool.
Nevertheless, hitting the right audiences with the
right content in the right place and at the right time
isn’t straightforward. Our survey identified that the
right content marketing mix for any grocery product
can be as individual as consumers themselves,
with age, gender and even geographic location all
playing a part in consumers’ content choices.
The new challenge for brands is creating tailored
content that meets the needs of personalised
audiences at key inspiration points along their
purchase journey. This content should be delivered
on consumers’ preferred platforms, but with a
particular focus on those most appropriate to the
product category. That’s a lot of variables, requiring
a bespoke strategy that changes for every brand.
And for many, this can be daunting.
And while our survey outlines some distinct areas
where content marketing presents significant
new opportunities for forward-thinking brands,
it also offers some clear warnings. Perhaps most
essential to content producers, our survey suggests
that 74% of FMCG consumers still can’t always tell
the difference between advertising and content
marketing! And while this may be partly due to
the novelty of the medium, it seems to have more
to do with the quality of much of the content
currently produced.
If brands are to get the most from content
marketing, they must first recognise that effective
content is not just a subset of traditional advertising,
but an entirely different format with its own rules,
conventions and standards. Until they do, consumers
will continue to just tune them out.
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14. About
Me.jpmh is the content and communications agency with an individual point of view. Because we insist on
looking at brands through the eyes of the people who buy them, we invest in original consumer research to
help us improve the quality of our insight and create more effective work.
We have more than 10 years experience working with international, blue-chip companies to deliver bespoke
customer engagement strategies for highly targeted audiences around the world. And in that time we’ve
come up with some great ways to create content that reaches the right people, in the right places and at
the right time. Every time.
Our unique planning and creative process allows us to get even closer to consumers, and we are proud
of our reputation for creating content strategies that engage across every channel, category and
demographic.
We don’t just walk a mile in your customers’ shoes. We make sure we jog, run and dance in them too. And
then confirm our insights with hard data to identify the right audiences and the right opportunities for our
clients as they arise. As a result we create award-winning work that gets noticed. Not just tuned out.
To discover more from our report’s findings, get in touch
Email nik.myers@me-jpmh.agency
Me.jpmh me-jpmh.agency/Home/Blog me-jpmh.agency @Me_jpmh /Me.jpmh.co.uk
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