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APR. MAG. 2020 XII Home sweet home! We could say that in the last twenty years, it’s something that was forgotten as we became used to short lunch breaks, business lunches, pre-dinner drinks, dinners, concerts, shows, meetings, trips, etc., we felt more comfortable in our favourite restaurant, on an AV train or a plane, in the hotel room we dreamed of. But the Covid-19 locked us in. And so here is the house, lived as a constriction, as a fence. Then slowly the habit, the routine: smart-work, home-sport, digital lessons, the obligation to cook and a rediscovery of forgotten family recipes. Waiting to physically embrace relatives and friends again, now that we have all become forced “chefs”, we find ourselves dreaming of a lunch/dinner to celebrate the end of this “enclosure”. Certainly, the limitations that will be imposed on us to return to an almost normal life, certainly different, will impose new habits and conviviality. And so here is the opportunity to be seized, not with cunning revenge, but for an epochal change of strategy, to rise from the ashes like the Arab phoenix to a new life. This paradigm shift concerns everyone: bars, cafes, diners, pizzerias, restaurants, etc., with no one excluded! 1ST ASSUMPTION: THE NEW CONSUMER-PERFORMER The consumer in the post-financial crisis period of 2008 was already undergoing a rapid transformation process and has been described as a post-modern consumer; but the Covid-19 has further accelerated this process. To understand the situation, we need to start with the post-modern consumer’s income, as it is only an ingredient in the mix of factors leading to the purchase. In the sense that, today, each of us, starting from our own financial resources (above all, what will be during post- Covid), chooses according to our own priorities; we give up something when we want something else. If once there were social classes, today it is more accurate to say that there are multiple lifestyles. All our spending wants to express our way of being and our attitude towards those around us, even when this crisis eventually ends. This is because - as I illustrated in my article published in the previous issue - it is emotions that govern shopping. Today’s Western society has drastically reduced needs, emphasizing desires. We have gone from being consumers to being consumer-performers, in the sense that our decisions influence not only our choices, but also those of those who supply the product. The old rumour that the producer builds the market has been definitively refuted, because it is the market that selects the producers/performers. So how do I get selected? 2ND ASSUMPTION: SOCIAL ACTION The scope of marketing is no longer the market, but society. In other words, the space of relationships that are created between marketing and the target clientele. The postmodern consumer is not a simple processor of information and stimuli, but an active producer of meanings. The postmodern consumer can be exemplified with 7 words: Impulsive, Influential, Impatient, Informed, Irritable, Unpredictable, Unfaithful. An important prerogative of current consumption dynamics is that, when we spend, we do not choose a product/environment but we choose an experience! And it is precisely from this concept that we should try to start again. It is necessary to structure a strategy that makes your BRAND your strong point. SOLUTION: CORRECT COMMUNICATION The question will arise spontaneously: how is it possible to create a brand today, given the immobility we are living in? Answer: WITH COMMUNICATION. This means that all of us must focus on AIMED COMMUNICATION, in order to stimulate the ego of every one of us. And communication today is mainly digital, which does not mean having a website and/or being a social network presence. Because the web is not a market! Too often the WEB is conceived as a free place in which just being there is enough to sell, thanks to the disproportionate number of presences and daily interactions. Many people think: “If before I had a shop window where 1000 people passed in front of me, now I can take advantage of the visibility that the WEB offers me”. This reasoning is simple, linear and WRONG! The question is: why SHOULD PEOPLE CHOOSE MY ESTABLISHMENT? Never before have you had to affirm your CREDIBILITY, which is neither more nor less than a simple formula: CREDIBILITY = COMPETENCE + RELIABILITY + CONSTANCY Beware that CREDIBILITY is the only absolute value we have now! People are persuaded when they feel they can trust; people tend to take very high account of the behaviour or choices made by a large number of individuals. Statistically 8 out of 10 people trust each other’s advice and the other 2 trust advertising. The success of TheFork, Tripadvisor, Booking.com, etc. is based on these principles. The more you communicate coherently, correctly, constantly, the more search engines - or rather the algorithms (artificial intelligence) that manage them - put you in the spotlight and elevate you in the ranking, making yourself discovered by the “surfers” of the net who are your potential NEW customers. In short, all we are looking for is satisfaction and happiness. This last word is what we all feel in great need after an event like Covid-19. CONCLUSIONS Each company should give priority to thinking about its current positioning and that post-Covid. Although the emotional drive leads companies to open up to the entire market, it is necessary to analyse which markets the company has the most potential and to focus on those with a medium-term strategy. To renew its communication using the new languages and, above all, taking advantage of the new analysis techniques offered by neuromarketing. “Societing” evolves rapidly as new generations emerge. It is necessary to constantly monitor the behaviour of its potential customers and anticipate their needs. But beware, digital ethics are much stricter than traditional ethics. Those who make mistakes pay more heavily and quickly than before. Therefore, it is good to rely on serious professionals and not improvise by oneself. AT PAGE 40 IN THE DINING ROOM Let’s redesign the spaces! Establishments post-lockdown? They will have to be reconsidered and redesigned from an architectural, MAGAZINE