We all have times when we feel stressed and under pressure to live our life and get things done. Consumers understand there are times when an extravagance (a little indulgence) is precisely what they need…at the airport.

Minute Suites, are meant to appeal to travelers who don’t have a membership at an airline club, parents with cranky children, businessmen and women wishing to get a head start on a presentation and sports fans who want to watch a game. Taking a tip from Asia and parts of Europe, Minute Suites offers travelers a private retreat to nap and relax. British-based Yotel modernized the mini-hotel concept in 2006 when it introduced its pod-hotels at London Gatwick and in 2008 IKEA offered fatigued Stockholm shoppers a similar form of respite by installing a Sovhotell (sleep hotel) in one of the city’s downtown shopping centers.

As people continue to rid themselves from the growing stresses of modern living and traveling, they will retreat to places of comfort and indulge themselves with products that are comforting and provide an escape. Give your consumers a feeling of comfort, satisfaction -- an easy and affordable indulgence -- because they’re worth it.

Take what is expected and familiar and turn it on its ear to speak directly to a discrete consumer need or improvisation to make your brand more relevant and add value in the eyes of the consumer. The ability to find the fun in an activity that usually isn’t, brings a heightened sense of joy into you consumers day. Making the brand more interactive, changing its form or size or making a childhood experience more appealing to adults like ChuckECheese has done with the “concertization” of their events, creates a new level of connection to your brand. A new experience through the brand lens keeps things up to date and relevant.

With the over-proliferation of new products and brands in the marketplace, layering a functional benefit with an emotional benefit can give you a leg up on the competition. While consumers are looking for more than just functional benefits, the product promise still needs to be believable. Additional emotional benefits help consumers decide which products to purchase -- I know Pledge is going to help me keep my house dust free but what makes it better than the product next to it?

Bath and Body products have been doing this for some time now, but it is leaking in to other categories including home care with products like Pledge, air freshening such as the new Glade fragrances like White Tea & Lily -- Tranquility and Harmony as well a fabric care with products like Downy Simple Pleasures.

What additional layers can you add to your products?

As consumers become more curious and confident, they look to brands that can connect them to everything the world has to offer. Witness the sushi sections of neighborhood supermarkets, days spas with exotic therapeutic treatments, Brazilian steakhouses that have people lining up by the dozens and now local creperies popping up in your neighborhood. Inspired by the sidewalk creperies that line the streets of Paris, La Creperie is the place to find this French creation. For dinner and dessert, a variety of authentic crepe creations offer consumers a new cultural taste experience.

Can your brand offer consumers a connection to the world at large? In what other ways have you seen the world “grow smaller”?

In our over-stimulated society, it takes a lot for a brand to break through. So how do you compete with private label?

Creating an emotional connection with your consumer can be an effective method for drawing consumers into your brand. Febreze Air Effects transports the consumer to a new place through the evocative naming of their scents like Spring & Renewal, Winter Evening & Warmth, Rocky Springs & Cool and Hawaiian Aloha. Each scent takes you to a specific place with emotional descriptions.

Consumers are always looking for a more unique experience -- what are you doing to help captivate them?

Consumers who cultivate an appreciation for artisan quality seek out brands that are true to the original intent and deliver on a timeless sense of purpose.

Artisan Biscuits, now available at select Starbucks, may be a new company but they have been baking biscuits in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, for over 70 years. The original Ashbourne gingerbread recipe came into the family’s hands in the early 1800s from the French chef who invented it, and has been passed down from generation to generation ever since. Artisan Biscuits are “made with skill and care from quality ingredients”, offering bisuits made by “real people, not robots”.

Whether it’s based on craftsmanship, centuries old processes or the standard of quality of the ingredients, Artisanship delivers a singluar experience that consumers have shown they are willing to pay for. In pursuing the concept of Artisan, you need to ask yourself if an Artisan version of your product is relevant to your consumer, and will they attach value to it?

In today’s fast-paced, highly networked world, the concept of “limited” can give you an edge.

Creating limited availability, location specific and not for everybody products gives your brand the opportunity to stay in front of consumers and capture their attention in new and novel ways. There is great business potential in positioning your brand at the right place and right time and putting your brand in the middle of the action. Plus, it’s fun for consumers to see their favorite brand do something new and different. It gives them another good reason to engage with your brand.

Brands like Absolut have utilized this concept with their City Series including Absolut New Orleans, Absolut LA and now Absolut Boston. Trendwatching has also noted the idea of “Limited Locations” in their current trend briefing with examples such as Burberry Blue Label and Le Labo City Exclusive fragrances.

How many people just cannot give up their ice cream for frozen yogurt? I mean, ice-cream offers more flavors and more customizability with companies like Cold Stone Creamery and Ben and Jerry’s right?

Wrong!

Yogurtland is now making yogurt more exciting for consumers. Consumers embrace the opportunity to express themselves through the brands they associate with and seek out more options. At Yogurtland you get to make your frozen yogurt treat the way you want it by mixing in nuts, fruits, cereals and candy. “You become the architect of your frozen yogurt creation”. Through customization, Yogurtland has made yogurt more interesting and created a connection with consumers. How can you update your category and allow consumers to make your brand theirs.

The ability to give your consumer choice and status, even if for a short time, is a sure win. Companies and websites like Rent to Roll and Bag Borrow or Steal give consumers a chance to have the status or badge appeal that they crave. Rent to Roll offers consumers the ability to rent custom, high dollar rims, while Bag Borrow or Steal gives woman the chance to “own” limited edition designer handbags without he financial sacrifice. Consumers embrace the opportunity to express themselves, show off new news and products or separate themselves from the mass market, even if its just for a short time.

Consumers like the idea of trying things that APPEAR illicit or dangerous but really aren’t. People revel in the feeling of doing something naughty or unexpected and will continue to experiment with foods, fashions, entertainment and practices that challenge socially acceptability. The increasing presence of brands like Axe Body Spray, KY Jelly, Apple and Eve’s Tribal Tonics and Grand Theft Auto demonstrate that mainstream tastes are inching further into the extreme.

Brands that can push the boundaries offer consumers an emotional outlet in being under the radar and seemingly on the edge.  Can you take the safe version of something that feels wrong and weave it into your brand story?

Have you ever thought about where the boundaries might be with ice-cream? Take a look at how The Icecreamists have brought a little bit of naughtiness into the freezer section.