Dr Karel Jan Alsem: ‘Mild winter is making things difficult for companies’

This winter has been one of the warmest ever. That poses a problem for the marketing departments of companies. ‘Advertising campaigns have had to be shelved', explains Karel Jan Alsem, a lecturer in Brand Management and Communication.

‘Extremes – such as cold winters or hot summers – provide much more scope for market players’. Supermarkets keep a close eye on the weather forecasts. As soon as a warm weekend is forecast in the summer, they stock the shelves with meat for barbecues. In the winter, they do the same with typical winter products. But the current mild weather makes it very difficult to be creative. That is partly because mild winters have negative connotations: climate change, carbon dioxide, rising sea levels.’

Snow, ice and emotions
According to Alsem, consumers have three main needs that marketing can respond to in the winter: snow, ice and emotions. ‘The first two can be met fairly easily in a warm winter, with ice rinks and indoor ski and snowboard centres. But the most important need relates to emotions: “cosiness”, nostalgia, that sort of thing. It is also the most difficult thing to evoke. ’ Advertising can do that to a certain extent. Obviously, advertising is about creating an ambience or atmosphere. But it has to be realistic too. If you bring out ads with too much snow, ice and cosiness when the weather is relatively mild, you could lose out on credibility. That is why ‘nostalgia brands’ – such as Unox – are good at evoking winter emotions. ‘They remind us of the past, when winters were still cold.’

Opportunities
Alsem: ‘But the weather is unpredictable. If the weather suddenly turns cold enough for the “Elfstedentocht” skating race, companies need to be able to respond quickly. ’ Weather is less unpredictable in the long term – temperatures rise slightly every year – but that offers few opportunities. ‘Climate change is such a gradual process that it offers little scope in terms of marketing. We know about it, but we don’t really notice it happening.’ Alsem has a few tips for businesses on how to deal with the mild winter. ‘Make lightweight winter clothing. Or special snow parks with sticky snow, so that children can build snowmen and igloos. Winter is the new spring, with new possibilities.’

Curriculum Vitae
Karel Jan Alsem (1957) has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Economics since 1991. He specialises in strategic brand management, marketing communication and marketing planning. Dr Alsem is also a brand consultant.