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February 4, 2025 • 16 mins

Non-Obvious Consumer Behavior Shifts for 2025 and How To Adjust Our Marketing Strategies

In this episode of the Vera Shafiq podcast, Vera dives into three major consumer behavior shifts anticipated for 2025 that franchise marketers must understand. Instead of predictable topics like AI and personalization, Vera explores under-the-radar changes including: (1) 'The End of Ownership' where consumers prefer access and flexibility over ownership, urging marketers to create on-demand services; (2) 'The Return of Boredom' as overstimulated consumers seek offline experiences, presenting unique engagement opportunities for brands; and (3) 'The Death of Trust' with declining consumer trust in ads and influencers, pushing brands to prove their value in every interaction. Vera also provides innovative strategies for brands to adapt, emphasizing the importance of flexibility, discovery-driven experiences, and proving trustworthiness. Tune in to rethink your marketing strategies for a successful future.


00:00 Welcome to the Vera Shafiq Podcast

00:32 Exploring Consumer Behavior in 2025

01:59 Shift 1: The End of Ownership

03:47 Shift 2: The Return of Boredom

05:50 Shift 3: The Death of Trust

07:56 Adapting Franchise Marketing Strategies

11:40 Bonus Strategies for 2025

15:11 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Vera (00:14):
Hey everyone, welcome back to the Vera Shafik podcast, real
and relevant discussions onbusiness and marketing in the
franchise space.
I'm Vera Shafik, your host, andthis is the podcast where we cut
through the noise and getstraight to what matters for
franchise marketers today.
Now today's episode is a prettyinteresting one in the sense

(00:36):
that we're going to take a freshnew look at something and that's
consumer behavior in 2025.
So how are consumers changing interms of their behavior?
But not in the way that you'veprobably been used to hearing
this topic discussed.
So we're not going to talk aboutthe kind of the cliche topics of
AI search optimization,personalization, or meeting the

(01:00):
customer where they are.
Because let's be honest, we'vebeen hearing those topics spoken
about ad nauseum a thousandtimes already.
And I think we're ready to kindof take a fresh new perspective
have a little bit of a twist onthe topic, and talk about some
real shifts that are happeningin consumer behavior right now.
But, ones that are flying underthe radar because we're not

(01:24):
really focused on them becausethere's so much other noise
going on in our marketing day today.
So hopefully today is going tobe a little bit interesting in
terms of the topics that wediscuss.
Maybe you'll think about thingsslightly differently and get a
little bit more insight intosome of the ways that consumers
are actually.

(01:45):
doing things differently as wehead into 2025 and beyond.
And I think these trends aregoing to really define marketing
success for franchise marketersand marketers in general.
So let's get into it.
So shift number one, the end ofownership, we're seeing a
fundamental shift in howconsumers think about ownership.

(02:08):
People just don't want to ownthings anymore.
They want access to things, theywant flexibility, and then they
want fluid experiences.
So look at how this has alreadyplayed out in industries like
transportation.
People don't want to own carsanymore.
They want to ride on demand.
So Uber and Lyft, you know, theway that we use those.

(02:29):
services have kind of reallyexacerbated and really grown
over time People don't want toown software anymore.
They want a subscription servicethat they can cancel anytime.
Even in industries like homeservices, we're seeing this
mentality shift where peopledon't want to commit to an
annual cleaning contract anymorewhere they can just book and go,

(02:52):
right?
Book it as you go and do kind ofappointment by appointment
bookings.
So for franchise brands, thisreally means rethinking the long
term customer relationship.
How do you stay top of mind whencustomers are no longer locked
into your brand?
So here's what you could bedoing.

(03:12):
And what some smart franchisesare already doing is building
access based marketing models.
Instead of pushing subscriptionsor long term commitments,
they're creating an on demandservice or a tier of service.
They're creating fractionalmemberships or pay as you go
engagement models.
And this is all aboutflexibility.

(03:32):
So, you know, I think customershave realized that this is an
option for them across theboard.
And so they go out and they'researching for flexibility in the
way they do business withbrands.
Consumer behavior shift numbertwo.
And I'm going to dub this thereturn of boredom.

(03:53):
The reason that I'm calling itthe return of boredom is It's
pretty interesting for years,you know, we've been seeing
people just become junkies totheir, mobile devices, their
TVs, their audio devices.
And as marketers, we've beencramming more and more content
into their lives, right?
With hyper personalized ads, andthen we have constant

(04:16):
notifications.
AI generated recommendations.
People are constantly lookingfor that dopamine rush of that
little red flag on their phonethat shows that a new message
came in or a new notificationcame in.
But I think here's the thing,consumers are exhausted and
they're really overstimulatedand What's happening right now

(04:38):
is a shift to where they'reactively seeking out boredom.
What do I mean by that?
I think people are putting theirphones down or putting their
phones on do not disturbspending time in silence You
know, look at the trend towardsmore mindful practices such as
meditation relaxation, doingthings that involve friends and

(05:03):
family and kind of being in themoment.
And I think people generally arecraving offline moments of
discovery now.
And this is a massiveopportunity for franchise
marketers because brands thatfigure out how to engage a
consumer who's deliberatelydisengaging from digital noise.
are going to have a hugeadvantage.

(05:23):
So instead of trying to insertyour brand into every digital
moment, think about how you cancreate slow marketing
experiences.
And this could mean designingunexpected real world touch
points, creating discoverydriven experiences, or even just
dialing back digital engagementand making your brand feel more
intentional.

(05:46):
Let's move on to consumerbehavior shift number three.
This is going to be dubbed thedeath of trust.
So consumer trust is at an alltime low.
And I mean this across theboard.
So people don't trust adsanymore.
We've seen the movement towardsprivacy and doing more ethical

(06:07):
and respectful marketing becausepeople are just fed up of the
constant bombardment of ads.
People actually don't trustinfluencers anymore.
Studies have shown that,consumers are now turning
against or, ignoring thisinfluencer marketing, kick that
we've been on for quite a whilenow.

(06:28):
And so now that they don't trustthat, They're even getting to
the point where they're nottrusting authentic, in air
quotes, brand stories anymore.
So I guess they're kind ofwising up to the fact that, hey,
this is just a lot of noise, alot of people in my ear telling

(06:48):
me what to buy, telling me whatto do.
I know it's not authentic and Iknow it's not real.
And I'm tired of it.
I'm going to shift into, adifferent mindset.
And so the shift is now kind oftranslating into consumers no
longer buying into a brand.
They want brands to provethemselves every single time

(07:09):
they interact with them.
And so this means thattraditional loyalty doesn't work
anymore.
People aren't sticking with abrand out of habit.
They're constantly reevaluatingtheir choices.
So if you think you're buildingbrand equity, the old fashioned
way, think again, consumersaren't giving brands that
benefit of the doubt anymore.

(07:30):
And I think the brands that aregoing to win in 2025 will flip
the funnel.
Instead of trying to convincepeople to trust them, they'll
focus on proving their value inmicro moments.
This means radical transparency.
Try before you buy models andupfront proof of credibility
before a consumer ever clicksthe buy button.

(07:52):
So what does this all mean forfranchise marketing?
All right, so we've talked aboutthese big consumer shifts.
What do we actually do with thisinformation?
I think first of all, we need todrop the traditional marketing
funnel.
Consumers don't move in astraight line from awareness to
conversion anymore, and we'veknown that for a while now.

(08:12):
I think we've been talking aboutthe nonlinear funnel and, you
know, the fragmented way thatpeople discover brands and
purchase products and services.
We've been talking about thatfor a while, but I think this is
going to be an inflection pointin the way that we as marketers
allow people to interact withour brands instead of these kind

(08:36):
of regimented funnelexperiences, people are
discovering brands now throughunexpected some of this is
through AI generatedrecommendations, which is now
possible with all that, youknow, technology that we have,
but then there's also thingslike niche communities and real

(08:58):
world word of mouth.
So instead of focusing ontraditional digital ad funnels,
let's start thinking about howour brand can show up where
people aren't actively looking,but are passively discovering.
And this could mean tapping intounconventional channels like,
local WhatsApp groups, Facebookgroups, hyper niche, online

(09:21):
forums.
Things of that nature ratherthan just relying on paid ads.
And I know it's really easy andvery tempting to just go to our
staple digital channels, put adson there and just hope and pray
that those are going to move theneedle for us.
But I really do think that if wecan.

(09:42):
Put ourselves in these whitespace places, where our
competitors are not necessarilyfocusing right now.
I think we can move the needleeven more.
Second, I think we need todesign for the uncommitted
consumer.
If people don't want long termcontracts, don't fight it,
right?
Let's give them commitment freeways to engage with us.

(10:05):
Let's give them a drop inservice model or a short term
subscription, or even a pay peruse option.
And that all depends, obviously,on your business model and the
way that you sell your productor service.
I think finding ways to createthat flexibility for consumers
is going to be key.

(10:26):
And third, I think we need touse AI for unpredictable
scenarios.
Not just personalization.
So we are, all familiar with theway personalization happens on
platforms such as Spotify,Netflix, Amazon, you know, the
algorithms learn our behaviorand then provide us personalized

(10:46):
recommendations of what weshould be buying or what it
thinks we should be watching orlistening to.
And I think that is kind oftable stakes right now.
And it's almost old hat for alot of people.
I think if we can use AI tocreate unpredictable moments, we
are going to delight andsurprise our customers and

(11:08):
consumers even more so thetrend, I think, and the big win
in 2025 is going to be using AIto create moments of what I call
serendipity.
So instead of just recommendingthe obvious to a customer or
consumer, use AI to deliversomething unexpected or

(11:28):
delightful that feels fresh tothe consumer.
And I think this is what's goingto catch their attention and
really get them hooked onto yourbrand.
All right.
So I'm going to add a couplemore out of the box strategies
as a bonus here.
And this is something that I'vebeen thinking about.
And wanted to come at it from acompletely different angle.

(11:51):
So as local marketers,especially in the franchise
space, the near me.
advertising movement issomething that we focus a lot
on.
And don't get me wrong.
I'm not saying shut off all yourGoogle ads near me, search
keywords or anything like that.
But I really think that we're alittle bit too obsessed with the

(12:12):
near me type of mentality interms of we've got to get to our
consumer and let them know that,Hey, I'm near you.
I'm closest to you.
Come to my business.
Right?
I think for years, brands havebeen focusing on these optimized
near me searches.
Pizza near me, dry cleaners nearme, fitness centers near me.

(12:33):
But I think in 2025, proximitydoesn't matter if availability
is an instant.
So I think this is now cateringto a customer that wants things
right now.
And I think that if you're closein proximity to a consumer, but
you can't give them somethingthat they want right now, I

(12:54):
think you're losing.
So, because we know thatconsumers want what's available
right now, So for example, ifthey search for a fitness class,
they just don't want to be ableto see what's nearby.
They want to know which oneshave open slots for the next
hour.
Or if they're looking for aplumber, they're not really
calling around for estimates.

(13:15):
They're booking the firstavailable slot online.
That's super urgent for them,right?
So I think this is a fundamentalshift in how we think about
local marketing.
Cause everything is urgent rightnow.
I think when people aresearching for something, they
want it now and they want itimmediately, right?
And they want it convenient.

(13:35):
They want it flexible.
And if your franchise doesn'thave real time availability or
instant booking built into themarketing strategy, I think
you're already losing customers.
And then the final bonus of howI think consumer trends and
consumer behaviors are changingis what I'm going to call

(13:59):
invisible loyalty.
I think the consumers in 2025don't want to sign up for
loyalty programs anymore.
I think they're fed up of that.
They expect brands to rememberthem and track their behaviors
invisibly and then reward themwithout them having to lift a
finger.
So, you know, rather than mepulling out my phone and

(14:22):
scanning my QR code every time Ibuy something or me having to
remember.
That I have points or I haveloyalty rewards.
And instead of making me opt into the program, I think the best
franchise brands are going tostart tracking loyalty in the
background, invisibly.

(14:42):
And AI is going to help do thisundoubtedly.
I think we can call it memorymarketing or something like
that, where AI has a memory andcan recognize past customers and
proactively offer them perkswithout them having to do
anything.
So I think that loyalty in 2025and beyond isn't about points

(15:03):
anymore.
It's going to be about brandsmaking customers feel seen,
valued and heardeffortlessly......
So here's the bottom line.
The biggest mistake franchisemarketers can make in 2025 is
assuming that consumers thinkthe same way that they did in
the past.
I think it's time to shift andinnovate and realize that

(15:27):
consumers are droppingcommitment, they're seeking slow
moments, they're questioningtrust, and they're rejecting old
school loyalty.
If your brand is still marketingthe way it did, Five years ago,
three years ago, two years ago.
I really encourage you torethink that strategy.

(15:54):
If we can build for flexibility,create discovery driven
experiences and focus on trustthrough proof.
I think that we will win thenext generation of customers.
So I'd love to hear yourthoughts on all of this.
And whether it resonates withwhat you're doing.
Let's continue the conversation.

(16:16):
Please reach out email me or hitme up on LinkedIn.
And if you found this episodevaluable, make sure you're
subscribed so you don't misswhat's coming next.
Thanks for tuning in.
I'll catch you in the nextepisode.
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