2/23/2010
Posted by Jim Lucas, Director of Shopper Marketing
Shopper Marketing, lest anyone think otherwise, continues to escalate in importance to marketers of every stripe. That fact is reflected in part by at least five currently developing trends:
- Increasing competition of retailers’ private labels vs. manufacturer’s brands
- Range rationalization
- Delisting of products
- Product portfolio rationalizations
- Evolving new product development processes
Understanding these trends and helping our clients cope with the new rules for success is the subject of my blog for the international publishers of the recent book titled Shopper Marketing: How to Increase Purchase Decisions at the Point of Sale (to which I was a contributor). It’s a blog post that provides some insights on how to navigate this new in-store battleground.
7/17/2009
Who knew? Jim Lucas’s commentary on Social Media + Shopping in yesterday’s Marketing Daily includes links to more than 30 shopper sites of various kinds — from rebate/refunds and general economizing, to retail gift cards, coupons, discounts, and just plain social media shopping sites. Each is different, and Jim says the ranks of social shopping sites is continually growing, offering marketers multiple opportunities to get smarter about what customers are looking for and how to better serve them.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=109893
6/16/2009Posted by Jim Lucas, Director, Shopper Marketing
Commenting on my recent interview with Brandweek.com, Peter Breen, marketing director of content for the In-Store Marketing Institute, in his latest Talking Back column talked further about the ways in which shopper marketing is evolving. Obviously it goes far beyond shelf talkers. One could go so far as to argue that the shoppers are the ones with the greatest impact on shopper marketing. As our “economic situation” has unfolded in the US, shoppers have not only changed the ways they shop, but the ways in which they learn about how and where to shop.
Witness the popularity of Fatwallet.com, NotMeRetail.com or Refundle.com. These sites are largely dependent on the shopper for their content. Anyone who has spent any time studying these sites (Sam Pocker, Retail Anarchy) can tell you that the shoppers are light years ahead of we who are trying to ply our trade in shopper marketing. Moreover, a quick read of one of the conversations taking place within these discussion groups shows how social this media can be. The next generation of shoppers will be even more savvy than the current one.
To echo your point, Peter, this is not just about shelf talkers!
4/9/2009Posted by Tina Manikas, Global Retail and Promotions Officer, Draftfcb
We had a very rich two days at the In-Store Marketing Summit held at McDonald’s Hamburger U.
Draftfcb served as a sponsor of this year’s summit, and it proved to be an insightful experience among the 200-250 participants made up of marketers, manufactures, retailers and industry partners. With the increase in staying home and eating in, shoppers are frequenting the store more often and are being more “planful” as well. The focus for marketers is now to “get on the list” as well as “get in the cart.”
Jim Lucas, our director of shopper marketing, did a brilliant job hosting the insights seminar track which included key leaders/presenters from Walmart, P&G, Pepsi, and top PhD’s in the retail space. Presentations on virtual retail research, and shoppers behavior in the current economy sparked many ideas. I attended a get together with shopper marketing retail leaders from Pepsi, Nestle Dryers, P&G as well as Kraft (inducted into hall of Fame). Great conversation was shared on retail challenges and opportunities.
For those of you who haven’t attended the summit in the past, I definitely recommend it. It’s a great opportunity to share insights with some of the leaders in the industry.
3/4/2009
Posted by Jim Lucas, Director, Shopper Marketing, Draftfcb
An article by Jack Neff in this week’s Advertising Age is headlined: “Trouble in store for shopper marketing?” It gives rise to some very intriguing questions: Is in-store impact diminishing? What is shopper marketing?
There is much evidence to suggest that shoppers have indeed become more “planful” in their approach to shopping (making lists, checking circulars, clipping coupons and consolidating trips). Along these same lines, the IRI’s “Transforming Economy” series suggests that some channel migration has occurred as shoppers trade-off channels in pursuit of value. The big winners appear to be supercenters. Yet because shoppers tend to purchase more items on these trips, there is a greater chance of their making in-store decisions.
Moreover, as the quoted Ogilvy Study alluded to, not all of these decisions are impulsive in the sense of being “something that wasn’t on my list.” Rather, much of the in-store decision-making is around issues like size, form and value. Increasingly, shoppers are moving from being consumers to investors. Retailers, who want to be perceived as “the value destination,” and manufacturers alike, are trying to communicate value (not just price).
Even fill-in or quick trips, such as for drugs, can typically involve OTC shelf decisions about getting the right product at the right price. So, in truth, in-store communications are probably more important than ever when shoppers want information, education and reassurance about value. Shoppers don’t want to purchase the wrong product (waste their investment).
The second question the article raises is about the nature of shopper marketing. As marketers become more savvy about the ways in which shoppers approach shopping during this recession, they are taking a more holistic view (“our product is one of many items being purchased during the stock-up trip”) and are looking beyond the store to activate shoppers. FSIs, advertising, circulars, retailer websites, online coupon websites and shopper loyalty card programs represent just a few of the things marketers are utilizing to entice shoppers to the store and shelf.
9/24/2008
Posted by: Jim Lucas, Director Shopper Marketing, Draftfcb
Pieces like Chris Anderson’s Age of the Petabyte or Stephen Barker’s The Numerati have pointed to the importance of understanding the kinds of behavior trails most of us leave behind. They point to the importance of mining massive data sets over hypothesis and experimentation of more traditional science.
A recent AC Nielsen Study of Private Label, based on the aggregation of thousands of transactions, would seem to point to the importance of this new approach. As one might expect during times like the current economic situation, Private Label Dollar sales were $6.4 billion or 9% across F/D/M (52 weeks ending 4-19-2008).
The surprise was that Private Label’s unit volume was actually down 1.2% versus last year. This paradox is in part due to the double-digit price increases in staple products (e.g., milk, eggs, cheese, etc.), which have driven much of PL pricing. Okay, so people are consolidating and doing without.
But there was one more twist. Branded product dollar sales were up more modestly (+3.9%), while their unit sales were only down slightly (-0.4%). Shoppers are not foregoing branded products,
One could spend a good deal of time trying to determine how much of this was due to pricing. But this actually suggests that shoppers are employing shopping strategies that are different than we’ve seen in the past. They’re cutting back more on private label than branded product purchases? Is this a form of accessible indulgence? Has the skyrocketing price of staples made “cooking from scratch” a much less viable idea? |
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