“While we have long been proud of our popular employee benefits such as Workout Wednesdays, birthday days off and paid sabbaticals after only five years, the competition for talent inspired us to boldly go where no agency has gone before,” said Allison+Partners’ Chairman + CEO Scott Allison. “What we’ve landed on is not only breakthrough in our industry, but some of the best perks in the entire world, bar none.”

Allison+Partners’ new perks were sourced through active and purposeful googling of the agency’s competitors, aspirational targeting of companies we’re nothing like and general pipe-dreaming. They include:

• Chocolate Fountain to End All Chocolate Fountains – A 6-foot-tall, 85 percent dark cacao nibs fountain enhanced with vegan collagen will be placed in each office to enable 24-hour dipping pleasure for employees.  According to a newly released survey, 87% of workers indicated they are open to extending their workday by an additional two hours if bribed with chocolate.
• Grapes on Demand – A duo of office assistants will float seamlessly from desk to desk to peel and feed employees grapes and fan them with oversized palm fronds while they work. It’s hands-free grape eating perfection! During a recent employee engagement survey, we found 98% of employees prefer grapes over every other fruit. We take these results seriously.
• Sloth Therapy Room – Who needs puppies when you have fuzzy sloths in a sound proof room with classical music playing in the background!? While puppies have been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety by more than 80%, surveys have shown that cuddling sloths leads to over the top euhphoria in more than 100% of people.
• Forget “bring your kids to work day,” we’re announcing Bring Your Kids to Work Every Day and equipping our offices with changing tables and branded diaper genies.  Science has shown that crying can actually produce a soothing effect similar to white noise and beach waves, when it reaches a decibel equal to a dozen kids crying at once. 
• Remote Working Gone Wild – We’ll offer a once in a lifetime Mars employee exchange program enabling employees to work for six months from the fourth planet from the sun. Let’s face it, space is hotter than ever.
• Staff manicures are so last year.  As a pet-friendly agency, we are offering weekly manicures to the staff’s pets, custom nail art included.   Pet manicures was the top #trending item on social media in the month of March.  
• We’ll replace the traditional holiday party with twice yearly, all-staff trips to the North Pole, reindeer rides included.   While zero percent of adults still actually believe in Santa, let’s face it, we all want to.
• Why should parental leave only be for actual parents? We’re offering parental leave when your work-wife or work-husband gets a new pet (reptiles included). A wise unknown and random person once said that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” We believe it.  
• To save on commute time and maximize efficiency, we’ll introduce on-demand autonomous driving sleep chambers to take all employees to and from work. Studies by important people have shown that R.E.M. can best be achieved in autonomous driving vehicles.

Additional information on the ground-breaking new perks can be found on April 1 at https://www.allisonpr.com/about/careers.html

The report, based on a survey of U.S. consumers fielded in January 2019, reveals a clear shift in consumer attitudes, values and behaviors between generations and with more transportation options available than ever before.

Key findings that highlight this shift include:

• Cars remain at the center of today’s transportation equation, but how they’re used is changing. While roughly 70 percent of licensed Americans drive their vehicles daily, 38 percent of those without a driver’s license say they have no need for one. With Gen Z, the numbers become even more significant — nearly 70 percent of Gen Z respondents do not have their driver’s license and 30 percent of those who do not currently possess their driver’s license have no intention or desire to get one.
• Car culture shifts from “me” to “we.” Younger generations, including Gen Z, have begun to see automotive benefits that move beyond convenience to relaxation and social experiences. When asked why they would purchase an autonomous vehicle, Gen Z consumers cited relaxation as a primary factor (65 percent) – almost equal to convenience (67 percent).
• For Gen Z, the car has become less aspirational. Gen Z sees cars more as appliances than any other generation, with more than half of Gen Z respondents (56 percent) indicating a car represents essentially no more than a means of transportation.
• Technology and transportation have become synonymous. The excitement for autonomous technologies is driven by Gen Z, due largely to a high trust level with technology. Ultimately, 60 percent believe they will use autonomous vehicles by 2029.

“Not only will the car itself change drastically with the advent of new technology and mobility solutions, but its role in our lives and in culture will also evolve,” said Marcus Gamo, Senior Vice President and Automotive Specialty Group Lead at Allison+Partners. “Our automotive practice was born out of an authentic passion for disruptive brands that are redefining mobility, with a deep understanding that the most important attributes of transportation for consumers are trust and loyalty.”

The report also reveals that despite changing American consumer values and behaviors, brands remain more relevant than ever. For marketers, however, the introduction of this new mobility culture will require a revamped approach to effectively garner consumer loyalty and advocacy:

• Reinforce how technology enhances the experience. With consumers conditioned to expect technology innovation at a faster rate than the traditional new vehicle introduction timeline, it’s important for marketers to reinforce how technology features enhance the ride experience, contribute to vehicle safety and support a future where transportation options come together in concert.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the shift from “me” to “we.” It will be more important to underscore the benefits of a particular mobility option to communities of people (such as a city, university or corporate campus), rather than to just individual drivers.
• Focus on building relationships during the journey, not at the finish line. Younger consumers value authentic relationships with brands, and it takes time to foster that trust. Understand their values, what advancements in automotive technology excite them and, equally important, their concerns about the future of mobility. Use this information to inform how to communicate and engage with them about your brand.
• Consider new avenues for introducing mobility options. The traditional auto show has been the core of how automakers, motorcycle brands, RV makers and others have introduced new vehicles to a rabid group of automotive enthusiasts. Due to this shift in values and attitudes, marketers must now plan for more values-based, communal and experiential local market activations, where influencers help create and share the story and consumers can experience brand value in a real and authentic way.

“As consumer relationships with cars evolve, automotive and transportation industry marketers must change how they engage with younger audiences, especially Gen Z,” said Lisa Rosenberg, Co-Chair of Allison+Partners’ Consumer Marketing practice. “Being headquartered in San Francisco with deep roots in technology, Allison+Partners has been at the forefront of cultural movements since our inception. We believe that brands that embrace this cultural shift and provide opportunities for consumers to be active participants are the ones that will win with a generation whose favorite currency is social.”

ABOUT THE REPORT

Allison+Partners compiled this report using data from an online survey of 1,035 people in the U.S. over the age of 16 conducted in January 2019. Fielding was conducted using the Qualtrics Insights Platform and the panel was sourced from Lucid.