Tailgating Into Fall: Key Consumer Trends for CPG Brands
This year, Chicory's Fall Tailgating Consumer Capture report delves into the preferences and behaviors of more than 900 digital recipe users, providing insights that can guide CPG brands and retailers in crafting effective fall tailgating advertising strategies. In this blog post, we dig into the key findings of the report and explore how businesses can harness these insights to make the most out of the upcoming tailgating season.
Understanding Tailgating Demographics
More than half of respondents are gearing up to partake in tailgating for game day occasions this fall. This underscores the immense potential of the tailgating market during the autumn months. We took a deeper dive into the data to understand the interest levels of various age groups:
Data reveals that Millenials and Gen X are significantly more interested in fall football and tailgating than other age demographics. By implementing a contextual commerce strategy, CPG brands looking to win during fall football can reach these customers in a future-proof way, by targeting the interest, rather than the age group alone.
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Preferred Game Day Locations
While traditional tailgating in stadium parking lots might be a quintessential image, it turns out that shoppers have a strong preference for enjoying game day occasions at home. ‘Homegating’ saw a surge in popularity when attending live games was restricted, however, it’s clear that the trend isn’t going anywhere.
A significant majority of consumers prefer to enjoy game day occasions at home over bars or restaurants. Consumers being more likely to be hosting gameday events and meal planning around them means we can expect increased traffic to relevant digital recipes.
Tailgating Frequency
According to the report, 67% of shoppers plan to tailgate or entertain for game day occasions more than 1-2 times per season.
Recurring hosting opportunities mean recurring opportunities for CPG products to be used. CPG brands can leverage in-recipe media to target game-day classics and align their brand with recipe categories, like appetizers and dips, or to educate shoppers on how to use their products.
Food Choices for Game Day: Homemade vs. Ready-to-Eat
When it comes to the culinary aspect of tailgating, the report uncovers some interesting trends. It appears that 64% of fall tailgaters lean towards serving homemade dishes, followed by ready-to-eat or frozen options at 27% and takeout or catering at 8%.
Shoppers' inclination toward homemade further underscores the relevance of ‘homegating’. Consumers are willing to put in the effort to create homemade game day feasts. But ready-to-eat or frozen goods brands have opportunities to reach homegaters as well, offering a helping hand to home cooks looking to supplement their spreads.
Driving Inspiration: Online Recipes and More
We all know the age-old question of "What should we make?" is answered with the help of various sources of inspiration. The report highlights that 36% of shoppers turn to online recipes when deciding what to prepare for game day occasions. Family and friends' suggestions hold sway at 34% while cooking shows or videos (16%) and cookbooks (11%) round out the sources of inspiration.
CPG marketers should take the opportunity to reach shoppers in the moment of inspiration by leveraging digital recipes as part of their advertising strategy.
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Ready to take your fall tailgating strategies to the next level? Dive into the full report from Chicory for a comprehensive look at the data-driven insights that can shape your approach this season.