Shopper marketing
The marketing mix has seen many trends over the years and many emerging buzz words. They have all been important in their own way. None more so perhaps than the shift in recognition recently towards the value, role and importance of shopper marketing.
Getting it right in the retail environment has never been more important with today's savvy shopper, a credit crunch and the growing power of the internet.
Some of the key principles to consider when marketing to the shopper in any retail environment include:
- Shelf positions
- The laws of perspective mean that certain areas of an aisle form hot spots whilst others are left out in the cold. Generating stand out and hero areas with the use of cut through communication will maximise brand impact and propensity to select.
- Importance of colour
- Colours are very influential and can have a major impact on behaviour. The warm reds and purples popular at Christmas are no chance inclusion. These are warm colours that tell of affluence, have royal links and are aspirational. Red, a sign of danger, indicates stop, and is a regular now in sale and promotion messaging.
- Shopper relevance
- Shoppers deselect when in planned and semi-planned mode. Jane wants white wine but she doesn’t know which brand or country of origin. She walks down the aisle and she will not even glance at red wine. Its not on her mission. How do we influence her? How do we help her? How do we cross promote?
- Messaging
- Keep it simple. Keep it visual. More than 5 words and the message starts losing impact. Use visual cues such as navigational arrows and product images. From an early age we recognise shapes, images, colours before we learn to speak the words yet alone read them.
- Shape
- There are some classic iconic images out there. The Coke contour bottle. The Marlboro chevron. The Guinness full glass. These brands are recognised by shape and/or colour. Change their core values and recognition falls rapidly.
- Product adjacencies
- Salt and pepper. Bucket and spade. Simon and Garfunkel. They go together – they are relevant. Recognise where and when the shopper needs your product and we are communicating in the right place at the right time. A typical parasite unit can see sales increase of over 40% by an insightful positioning based on adjacencies.
- Information
- When does the shopper need help, information and assistance? Relevance to the environment and the decision making process is key as is the POS selected. Putting complex instructions on a shelf barker will confuse rather than aid.
Shopper marketing is a complex arena but get a structure in place and the resulting ROI and shopper loyalty and engagement will reap the benefits. We are proud of our expertise in this arena and welcome the opportunity to discuss in greater detail.- Before we can market to our shoppers we need to LISTEN to them, TALK to them and Watch them. Our shoppers are the wise ones.