South Africa, March 20 -- Let's look at this in the context of the cost-of-living conversation.

The cost-of-living conversation is not new, but each fresh trigger - a fuel levy increase, a rate hold that offers no relief, another round of administered price adjustments - acts as an accelerant.

It tightens decision-making and raises the threshold for what earns a place in the basket. For brands operating in this environment, the strategic implications are immediate and real.

Understanding what happens to consumer behaviour under sustained economic pressure is the brief that every marketer should be working to right now.

The basket optimisation economy

One of the most telling shifts in cost-pressured markets is that consumers do not si...