Every month or so when I worked at PlayStation we had an event called the "lunch and learn". We in the marketing team would watch a presentation from an external company while they would watch us eat Domino's pizza. A win-win for PlayStation employees I think you'll agree.

The topics were all fairly recent findings and marketing research; the speakers were usually from an agency doing some work for PlayStation.

The topic I found most interesting was about the rise of epicureanism in marketing, presented by Chris from 2CV, where he compared two different approaches of marketing - hedonism and epicureanism.

Hedonism is all about getting the most that you can get, appealing to status and aspiration.
Epicureanism is about quality, functionality and common sense. It's about getting a more prolonged sense of pleasure rather than a quick dose of ecstasy.

Chris argues that there has been a significant shift from hedonism to epicureanism.

The context of pleasure in today's climate

The economic crash of 2008

This meant less money in pockets, more saving and less spending.

Materialism and consumerism in general took a shift to where it was no longer seen as the key to happiness. In a world where less money was being spent, this fuelled a rise in creativity - where producing things brought happiness. This is no more evident than in the exponential rise in cooking shows, blogging, vlogging, photography, sewing and baking.

Customers are more empowered

With the rise of social media, consumers have greater control, more say, increased skepticism and higher expectations.

Post-2008, money needs to go further, forcing people into more intelligent choices. A good example of this is in French car manufacturers. Brands like Peugeot, Renault and Citroen typically made bright, colourful cars with lots of character but there has been a significant shift in that market for more quality and consistency. Audi, VW, BMW and Mercedes have all boomed where function has trumped form. Note that it's not cheaper brands that have flourished, but reliable, quality brands - meaning value and a prolonged sense of pleasure.

Personally I think this can be seen too in the recent spate of cooking shows aimed at stretching budgets as far as possible - getting tasty meals but from simple, frugal ingredients. Even Gordon Ramsay got in on the action.

Youth experiences are changing

In general they're more health-conscious and image-conscious. Their lives are now played out online so it's important for young people to appear healthy and successful. Typical hedonistic activities like smoking, drinking and drug-taking are all in decline among this younger age group.

This movement away from hedonism has been fuelled by a few different things. Debt from education is a significant issue - nine grand a year for three years means money needs to go further.

There's more of a pressure to succeed, especially when financial constraints mean more young people are still living with their parents. Also there are simply more things to do than just "the pub" - for example gaming, blogging, gyms and social media. This doesn't mean they go out less, but it was noted that they drink less. For bars and clubs this translated to bar take doing down but door take going up.

Examples of the shift from hedonism to epicureanism

Holidays

There's been an overall shift away from budget holidays - they're just not seen as satisfying enough. This ties into an overall idea of "buy cheap, pay twice" which explains to an extent the car manufacturers example above.

Package holidays are tending to provide more quality and value with all-inclusive options as well as in-depth destination knowledge. Sites like TripAdvisor empower consumers so they've come to expect more from other sites. In fact, any travel companies that pull in the objective views of TripAdvisor mean that customers aren't leaving the site to get reviews and opinions, which leads to better conversion.

Premium economy is on the up for people who want to spend that little bit more, but don't want that massive leap to business class.

Lastly, the cruise market has flourished because it provides excellent value for money - customers get to see lots of destinations without moving or unpacking from place to place. It's the epitome of optimising pleasure - epicureanism.

Beer

Carling have recently pitched themselves as "unupgradeable" (hedonistic) which is clearly not the case when you walk into a decent pub these days - it's surrounded by a host of other options. Foster's on the other hand - a very similar beer - have had more success by pitching themselves as pleasurable, easy and fun.

Beers that associate themselves with holidays have done well, e.g. San Miguel and Brahma. The feeling that you're getting an authentic reminder of somewhere hot and sunny.

Beers with a gastronomic association have been doing well too - e.g. Peroni, Tiger, Cobra and Estrella.

In alcohol advertising there are now far more women in ads, thus representing broader and more eclectic tastes.

And of course - the massive surge in craft beer and real ales speaks for itself.

Interestingly, vodka has seen a downturn because it has typically been seen as having only one function - to get pissed. With the rise of epicureanism we can see a huge boost for drinks like gin and whiskey where there's great variety and character among the different brands.

Also - do you remember Aftershock? God that was dreadful. Anyway, the company who owned that brand also owned a brand called Sourz. Sourz is now doing well as it's quite weak and fruity, so you still get that sociable aspect of doing a shot but without the harsh taste and alcoholic effects. Aftershock has died a death because it's hedonistic (and disgusting).

Television

The choice of quality TV programs is now pretty overwhelming. This longform storytelling provides high production values but over a long period of time - again playing into the idea of epicureanism.

Storytelling in gaming

Longform storytelling made popular in the TV renaissance over the past 15 years has proven very popular in gaming too. GTAV drove a massive surge in PS3 sales, while games like The Last of Us were extremely popular, simply due to the quality and length of the narrative.

Lurpak

This Lurpak ad campaign featuring men cooking rich, hearty meals appeals directly to foodies, and particularly male foodies. Men like cooking for arguably selfish reasons:

It's an easy way to be creative.
They don't have to follow the rules too much.
They get to choose the food.
They get to show off and get praise.

At this point I realised exactly why I like cooking and it wasn't at all bothersome to find myself so neatly pigeonholed.

Volkswagen

This campaign literally sold VW on the "buy cheap, pay twice" model. In fact it was a bit of an exaggeration of that. It was more "buy cheap and you might die". As an aside, I learnt from an Econsultancy course that once someone buys a VW car, a massive percentage never ever buy another brand. Something like 80-90%. This means they spend a lot of energy on acquiring new customers because they know the quality and brand experience will retain them.

BMW

In their ad campaigns over recent years, you can see a shift from an "Ultimate Driving Machine" proposition to one of joy and quality, ridding themselves of the "arsehole BMW drivers" perception.

Burgers

Again, like craft beer, the surge in quality burgers in the UK is unavoidable. So much so that when Shake Shack and Five Guys launched in the UK they faced stiff homegrown competition even though they are exciting, talked-about brands from the US.

Overall strategies from the rise in epicureanism

A few things to consider assuming you're on board with a bit of epicureanism.

Don't underestimate the intelligence of your customer.
Maybe even concentrate on your most intelligent segment.
Minimise pain - make things as easy as possible for the customer.
Maximise pleasure, not status. Quality, happiness, practicality.
Attract, don't chase. Show the benefits.