What have we learned with a weak Economy?

Thanks to Mojo Saivngs and A Thrifty Mom for this guest post, I thought it was a worth while read and brought up a good point!


Photo Courtesy Of Walmart

Thanks to my lovely wife Lisa for letting me have the floor for a minute. We frequently shop at Aldi and are accustomed to buying generic products. She was unaware that many generic brands are made by name brand manufacturers and almost didn’t believe me at first. I guess the conversation came up because I was commenting on just how good Aldi’s cereal is and in some cases tasted just like the name brand cereals.

Ok, so maybe I had an unfair advantage as I have been in the Marketing, P.R. and the Advertising business for some 20 years but I honestly just thought everyone knew this.

As the economy has been weak for a lengthy period of time and continues to stay weak, I’ve believed for awhile that there would be a fundamental change in consumers values and belief systems and that consumers would be looking more for value over name brand, not just now but for the long haul. I think when you suffer enough pain and bang your head against a wall long enough that surely you will learn something. Perhaps it is the end of the keeping up with Jonses era. Well, lets hope so at least.

Here is a great article that attests to the changing values and priorities of the consumer. How retailers are kicking name brand products off their shelves in favor of their lower priced generic brands by demanding better prices and less confusion with their many different product lines.

GO HERE to read this great article from CNN Money. What are your thoughts? Do you believe this change in Americans values, priorities and beliefs will stick for the long haul? If not, why? Is it good for the consumer?