Digital Trends: Brands – Canada – 2024 offers valuable insights into the Canadian tech and media landscape, outlining consumer preferences, market trends and the importance of factors like affordability, quality, trust and usefulness in tech brands. It emphasizes a growing focus on sustainability and style among younger demographics, while indicating that economic factors and a changing demographic landscape significantly influence consumer behaviour.
The report also delves into aspects of brand loyalty, noting that eight out of 10 Canadians remain loyal to major tech brands despite associated challenges regarding privacy, ethics and sustainability. Brands need to prioritize innovation, social influence, trust and ethics to cater to varying consumer behaviours based on age, gender, income and ethnicity.
Brand partnerships, such as Apple and Disney, social media engagement and employee advocacy are noted as powerful tools for expanding reach and driving innovation. Emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing are also highlighted as crucial for brands to remain competitive. Moreover, the report underscores the significance of personalization in user engagement, minimalist design aesthetics and sustainability in marketing.
In essence, success in the Canadian tech and media market hinges on understanding consumer preferences, economic adaptation, diversity, innovation and leveraging technology.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Tech brand qualities important to consumers
- Tech brand quality associations
- Smartphone accessory ownership
- Tech brand advocacy and loyalty behaviours
- Tech brand relationship deal breakers
- General attitudes towards the tech industry and brands
Unlocking the Canadian market: tech brands must prioritize affordability, quality, trust, personalization and sustainability for success.
Michael Lloy, Research Analyst
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- What you need to know
- Market predictions
- What consumers want & why
- Opportunities
- Drive innovation
- Employee empowerment
- Personalized engagement
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THE MARKET
- Market context
- Adapting to change: how Canadian tech and media brands navigate economic pressures
- Market drivers
- Costs remain elevated for Canadians
- Graph 1: consumer price index, 2020-24
- Canada’s inflation trends: slower CPI growth, rising rents, and impacts on talent and start-ups
- Eight in 10 Canadians are implementing cost-cutting measures
- Graph 2: cost-cutting measures over the past two months, 2024
- Still, Canadians are optimistic about their financial situations
- Graph 3: changes in financial situation, by worse or better off, 2024
- Canadians’ higher savings rates persist amid inflationary pressure
- Graph 4: household savings rate, 2019-24
- Canada’s demographic shift: the growing importance of genuine diversity in marketing and media
- Graph 5: proportion of visible minority in Canada, 1981-36 (projected)
- Canada’s ageing population: brands must adapt engagement strategies for growing elderly demographic
- Graph 6: population aged 0-14 and 65+, 2000-40*
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CONSUMER INSIGHTS
- Cool is what we aim for: desirable qualities in tech brands
- When it comes to tech brands, affordability is just part of the package that consumers are looking for
- Graph 7: tech brand qualities important to me, 2024
- Older consumers prioritize different brand factors when compared with their younger counterparts
- Graph 8: tech brand qualities important to me, by age, 2024
- Younger consumers are more likely to value sustainability and style when compared to older consumers
- Innovation rivals usefulness as a brand priority for Black consumers
- Graph 9: tech brand qualities important to me (select), by race, 2024
- Brands, like Sony, commonly take to social media to promote their sustainability initiatives
- Higher income consumers are significantly more likely to value “high-quality” brands
- Graph 10: “high quality” is important to me, by household income, 2024
- Brand reputation goes a long way in securing sales
- Brand identities from a consumer perspective
- Apple wins on innovation and quality; Google and Amazon are seen as the most useful
- Graph 11: tech brand associations (select), by brand, 2024
- Amazon wins on affordability; Apple is winning on aesthetics
- Graph 12: tech brand associations (select), by brand, 2024
- Apple’s social media posts lean into its device design choices, leaning on that advantage
- Brands lean on recognizability for trust, but suffer with perceptions of ethics, sustainability and invasiveness
- Graph 13: tech brand associations (select), by brand, 2024
- Consumers and brand loyalty
- 81% of Canadians have a preferred tech brand, and this attitude manifests in various loyalty behaviours
- Graph 14: tech brand loyalty behaviours, 2024
- Interconnectivity is a huge driver of brand loyalty
- Graph 15: “I typically try to buy tech accessories that share a brand with my device” (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Graph 16: “tech from the same brand works better together” (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Younger consumers are also more likely to advocate for their tech brands, both on and offline
- Graph 17: tech brand loyalty behaviours, 2024
- Black and South Asian consumers are significantly more likely to be brand advocates than consumers overall
- Graph 18: brand advocacy behaviours (select), by race, 2024
- Black and South Asian consumers are significantly more likely to have peers that care about their tech brands
- Graph 19: “my peers care about what brands of tech I own”, (% agree), by race, 2024
- Higher income consumers are more likely to show brand loyalty
- Graph 20: brand advocacy behaviours, by household income, 2024
- A lack of affordable options can make or break a brand relationship
- Graph 21: “I prefer to buy whatever tech or accessory brand is most affordable” (% agree), by household income, 2024
- Parents can be a good way to create generational loyalty
- Graph 22: tech brand loyalty behaviours, parents vs overall, 2024
- Brand loyalty can even affect how consumers receive gifted tech devices
- Graph 23: “I would return a gifted tech device if it isn’t my preferred brand” (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Brand relationships: deal breakers
- With how expensive technology can be, quality is a clear deal breaker for a majority of consumers
- Graph 24: brand relationship deal breakers, 2024
- Different operating systems can present a clear barrier for consumers when it comes to switching devices
- Graph 25: “the learning curve of a new device is a barrier to switching brands” (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Quality and data privacy matters more to older consumers; innovation and social pressure affect younger consumers
- Graph 26: brand relationship deal breakers, by age, 2024
- Privacy is a concern for most Canadians; a majority are unconcerned with brands embroiled in political controversies or unethical manufacturing
- Graph 27: attitudes towards ethics (% agree), by age, 2024
- Ethnic minorities in Canada typically align with the values of younger consumers
- Graph 28: brand relationship deal breakers (select), by race, 2024
- Brand loyalty: smartphones and accessories
- Brand loyalty shapes the smartphone market
- Graph 29: smartphone brand attitudes and behaviours (% agree), 2024
- When possible, consumers try to buy accessories that share a brand with their device
- Graph 30: “I typically try to buy tech accessories that share a brand with my device” (% agree), by age and gender, 2024
- Headphones, charging cables and screen protectors are the top-owned smartphone accessories in 2024
- Graph 31: smartphone accessories owned, 2024
- Consumers of all ages are interested in protecting their smartphone
- Graph 32: protection-related smartphone accessories owned, by age, 2024
- Younger consumers are more likely to own audio-related smartphone accessories
- Graph 33: audio-related smartphone accessories owned, by age, 2024
- Older consumers more likely to own car chargers; younger consumers more likely to own all other kinds
- Graph 34: charging-related smartphone accessories owned, by age, 2024
- Consumers aged 35-54 are significantly more likely to own car mounts, while younger consumers are more likely to own lens attachments
- Graph 35: other smartphone accessories owned, by age, 2024
- Accessories allow consumers to personalize their smartphones, which can be important when connecting with younger consumers
- Fairphone capitalizes on its green reputation with the “green moss” case
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COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES
- Launch activity and innovation
- Brand partnerships can elevate awareness, engagement and sales
- Brands build and engage with their communities via social media
- How leading brands are driving innovation with emerging technologies
- Brands can turn employees into powerful brand advocates
- Brands leverage personalization to increase engagement
- Marketing and advertising
- Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are the most widely utilized platforms on a daily basis
- Graph 36: daily social media usage, by age, 2024
- Adobe’s Film & TV Fund: empowering creativity and championing diversity in entertainment
- Marketing around sustainability is common image strategy for brands
- Top-engaged posts were typically TikTok posts
- Minimalist and user-centric designs are defining brand aesthetics
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APPENDIX
- Consumer research questions
- Consumer research methodology
- Generations
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations and terms (cont’d)
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