Hot Coals, Hard Calls: Navigating the Affordability Crisis

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Right now, you feel it in every aisle, every spreadsheet, every conversation at the office: money is tight for your customers — and the pressure isn’t letting up. According to the 2025 Real Concerns Report and Canstar surveys, over 9 in 10 Australians are worried about the rising cost of living, especially groceries, household bills, and energy costs. Half of all Australians ranked financial issues as their top worry. That’s nearly everyone you’re selling to. When almost everyone is watching every dollar, it changes how they feel, how they behave, how they shop — and even the broader social mood. Sometimes, it even changes governments.

For marketers and brands, affordability, pricing and perceived value are front and centre —  the hot coals you have to walk across, one careful step at a time.

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Shrinkflation: the hot coals of hard calls

We all know this script: packs shrink, prices stay the same, and suddenly your social channels light up with complaints. 

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By understanding their customers and taking a thoughtful, planned approach, Rebel were able to anticipate the risk and respond to their customers in a way that quickly diffused the issue.

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Here’s the key insight: every successful brand is built on a promise — a covenant of value. That’s what makes people pick your product over a competitor’s. Before you mess with that, make sure you really know what your customers care about, and anticipate worst-case reactions and your response, or you risk losing trust faster than any cost-saving move will ever save money.

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Before you step on the coals…

Before you make a hard call — raising prices, shrinking packs, or swapping ingredients — make sure you’ve satisfied these questions:

1. What do your customers truly value? Is it taste, convenience, sustainability, or “enough for the family”?
2. Which trade-offs will they accept — and which will ignite anger? Fast, consumer-led research gives you answers you can trust.
3. How will your change impact your brand promise? Every tweak changes the story your product tells. Carefully consider how to authentically respond to customer protest. Stay aligned with the covenant — or brace for backlash.

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Doing this work before stepping onto the hot coals separates marketers who lead from those who scramble to put out fires. Anticipate any pushback and understood the covenant. Don’t guess — listen, measure, and plan how to communicate it.

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It’s all about human behaviour

At the end of the day, it’s about how people feel. What role is your brand playing in their lives? They notice small changes, sense unfairness, and act on it. And when wallets are tight, reactions are amplified.

That’s why value isn’t a number — it’s experience, trust, and promise. In tough times, protecting that promise matters more than anything.

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Practical steps to navigate the coals with confidence

• Measure first: Understand what matters most to your customers. What can change without breaking the covenant?
• Model options: Test price, pack size, or ingredient swaps with real consumers.
• Communicate clearly: Explain changes. Transparency builds trust; hiding them erodes it.
• Monitor reactions: Watch social chatter, surveys, and sales to see if your strategy is landing.

Tip: It’s never been easier to research your customers values and responses to pack, product and messaging. Ask us how!

When you do this, you’re not just surviving. You’re leading your brand through the hot coals with confidence, because your decisions are grounded in what your customers value.

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Bottom line

Affordability is the defining concern of our time. Shrinkflation, price rises, and ingredient swaps aren’t just business decisions — they’re decisions about trust, fairness, and human behaviour.

You can navigate this successfully if you start with your people. Understand their values, honour your brand’s promise, and make decisions confidently. Brands are built on promises — and keeping them is the most valuable thing you can do, even when walking across hot coals.

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