Shopper Marketing - The Great Marketing Shift

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A Whitepaper on Shopper Marketing in India

Transcript of Shopper Marketing - The Great Marketing Shift

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CONTENTS

02 - 05

06 - 07

08 - 13

14 - 15

16 - 17

18 - 22

23 - 25

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The New Marketing Mix puzzle

Is shopper marketing the missing piece?

Shopper Marketing at retail

The Indian retail scenario

Shopper Marketing in India

Our views on trends in India

Key insights

About us

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THE NEW MARKETING MIX PUZZLE

‘What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School’ is a best seller by Mark

McCormack that goes beyond the teachings of business school classrooms to a

playground where the rules of the game are learnt by rolling up your sleeves, getting

your hands grimy and sniffing the air Red Indian style, for cues. This could also well

describe the way marketing success is being achieved in the 21st century.

Twenty or so years ago, an ivy league business degree would often lead to the

hallowed portals of the blue chip marketers. A few years gaining cross category

marketing experience and the seasoned marketing manager would have a successful

blueprint. It was based on market research insights and leveraged radio, TV, print and

promotions to build the brand. Nothing wrong with that. It even worked in many cases.

Then they said ‘The World is Flat’. Thomas Friedman made a case for India and China.

Boundaries disappeared. Continents and countries shrank and a lot of people got

‘Bangalored’. Communication and the internet had already started shaping a new

world and a just few years ago, we stood at the beginning of a new age. An age of

easy consumer access to a diverse and global media environment with few boundaries.

Consumer access to plenty of information and numerous channels offering an

abundance of choices. An age of consumer control.

Recent economic developments if

anything have arguably made the

consumer even more powerful in the last

two years. In this time, the game of doing

business has changed quite a bit.

The game of advertising and marketing

has changed a lot.

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The typical consumer is often flitting between ATL and BTL media, often

simultaneously exposed to two or more media

Market share of many top brands is reducing

Less than 10% of new products launched survive more than three years

There is a lot of widely cited information pointing to the change

The average global citizen encounters around 5000 advertising messages a day

While watching TV, over 70% of people read and over 65% are also online at thesame time

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We are not the first to see this or say this. Companies like Nike, P&G, Johnson &

Johnson and Coca Cola saw this ‘Great Shift’ happening. Probably one of the few

things they couldn’t have probably seen was the acceleration of this great shift

because of unexpected economic factors. Their response? A steady realignment of

roles and spends in their marketing mix.

Here is one example of this farsightedness. While Nike’s total advertising budget

grew 20% from 2003 to 2006, in the in the same period their ATL budget reduced

from 40% to 33%. The result - a 20% spurt in sales in the same period.

These companies see that new driving forces have come into play in marketing. For

example, traditional TV, radio and print no longer suffice to shape preferences. The

demand for credible ROI is higher than ever before. These innovators in marketing

are therefore reinventing their thinking and their skills with a tremendous sense of

urgency.

Having said that, every innovation follows an ‘S’ curve and shopper marketing is

no exception. Companies who embark on this journey will have to go through the

three stages of Initiation, Growth and Integration. At each stage come the critical

points of inflection which determine whether the innovator moves on to the next

stage or stagnates or even falls completely off the path. There are key barriers, and

as with all innovation, these pioneers will also face the typical risks of integrating

the innovation and interdependence with the other players in the ecosystem.

(See Figure 1)

ROI metrics continue to challenge even the most analytically enabled of these

marketers. But responses to these challenges are evolving. Our own view is that

there is no single formula for success. The only constant factor is the need for

change!

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Fig.1

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SHOPPER MARKETING - IS IT THE MISSING PIECE?

Debates around marketing effectiveness will always continue and at times like now,

reach a crescendo too. Meanwhile brands continue to make large investments in the

traditional marketing practices of advertising and promotions. However in many

cases, success measured by sales and brand equity remains elusive.

In a recently concluded study of over 50 top marketers, we focused on those who

seem to have got it right, in an attempt to isolate a common game changing strategy.

The shift in thinking brought about by a shopper centric approach was what we found

common among these companies. As much as brand management and then category

management emerged as important paradigms in marketing, shopper marketing

seems to be the next step in the evolution of marketing towards an integrated 360

degree approach.

What is Shopper Marketing?

Many different definitions exist. To us,

shopper marketing is simply defined as a

deep understanding of how consumers

behave as shoppers in different channels

and formats and using this insight to

benefit the brands, the retailers and the

shoppers.(See Figure 2)

From this definition, clearly the core of

Shopper Marketing is Shopper Insight.

Shopper insight needs to be combined

seamlessly with consumer insight and

brand and category management to

deliver the ultimate goal of holistic 360

degree marketing.Fig.2

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So why do we think Shopper Marketing is the crucial missing piece of today’smarketing success puzzle? A few pointers:

P&G’s 2007 financial reports restated 11 years of advertising expenditure to reflectover $500 million current annual spend on shopper marketing alone.

A 2007 Deloitte GMA study had 6% of consumer product respondents and 0% ofretailers investing in shopper marketing. The 2008 study reflected 29% and 60%for the two respectively! The same study showed that companies who have reallyembraced Shopper Marketing were growing at 25-50% more than their nextcompetitor in the same category.

It is first important to understand that Shopper Marketing is not just an activity

inside the brick and mortar store. The in-store aspect of Shopper Marketing is only

one aspect of Shopper Marketing. The broader approach is one that is shopper

centric and believes simply that happy shoppers buy more.

Deloitte GMA study on media spends

CAGR 21%Pe

rcen

tage

Fig.3

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SHOPPER MARKETING AT RETAIL

Shopper Marketing at retail is using the insight into shopper behaviour of different

segments in different retail formats, to deliver the right marketing mix of product,

price and promotion (communication) in the right place (environment).

Narrowing this focus further, we find that there are broadly three main areas that

impact Shopper Marketing at retail. These are

1. MARKET SPECIFIC VARIABLES

2. SHOPPER CENTRIC VARIABLES &

3. DESIGN & EXECUTION CHALLENGES

1. MARKET SPECIFIC VARIABLES

Market variables mainly pertain to the channel and the format.

As much as channel variations significantly impact marketing strategy, we believe

that format variations (more so in a market like India) have a very strong relevance

to the shoppers. A shopper marketing strategy can therefore not afford a ‘one size

fits all’ approach. Marketers have till recently looked at modern and traditional

retail as two broad entities and devised solutions accordingly. However, this broad

division is not enough. Within modern and traditional retail, markets differ to a great

extent. There are geographical and cultural differences, urban and rural differences

and more.

Shopper behaviour in each channel and format needs to be understood well and the

different layers of marketing stimuli need to be synchronised to work towards the

objective of integrated 360 degree marketing. Ideally - different strategies for

different formats.

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2. SHOPPER CENTRIC VARIABLES

Shopper centric variables include behaviour based on

demographic, psychographic and cultural factors. The

shopper’s mental make up is decided by his sex and

age, where he hails from, the sociocultural aspects that

have shaped his thinking and habits, the economic

strata of society he belongs to and his genetic traits

too! There are important differences in shopper

behaviour that stem from who the shopper is. These

factors strongly impact the outcome of in-home, out of

home and instore experiences and need to be far

better understood than they are today. While

consumer research provides these inputs through

consumer research, shopper research is key to gaining

this insight into these shopper centric variables since

shoppers follow a path to purchase. On this path,

shoppers may be predisposed to make a purchase notonly within the store, but probably on the way to the store or even at home, before

venturing out to make a purchase.

A second angle to the whole thing is how the same shopper can behave differently in

different formats. Segmenting the shoppers at each format or retail banner based on

shopping behaviour gives insight into the most profitable segments. Shoppers move from

one segment to another as they shop in different formats. When mapped with consumer

segmentation, the shopper marketing strategy can be aligned with the right segments.

In fact, there are a number of ways in which shopper behaviour is studied, right from the

use of technology to simple observation. But to an extent the methodology takes second

place to intent. There has to be a clear intent to understand shopper behaviour.

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CASE STUDY

In a recent case during the recession, we were confronted with a very common

situation. The client was averse to spending on advertising (or anything else for that

matter). The shopper was averse to spending (purchasing). So the onus fell on us

as the consultants to break this impasse. We started with shopper interviews and

we then went on to shopper observations. It certainly told us a lot. But the solution

finally came from trend research. At the risk of stating the obvious, the most

powerful trend during a recession is a reduction in spending. Our shopper and

trend studies in this tough time however, showed us that consumers and shoppers

were greatly missing their earlier experiences in all the gloom. So we decided on a

model that would allow our client to offer ‘free trial’ of their product (the fact that

the client was in an appropriate sector unlike CPG helped!). We decided to

‘TRYVERTISE’ our client’s product. Potential customers were offered an opportunity

to try the product for a specific time period. If they liked it, they could buy.

We also believe that true shopper insight does not come only from interviewing

shoppers or observing them, but in also knowing what they think. And a non intrusive

way in which we do that is in researching trends and their implications on shoppers

and shopper segments. Human needs and thoughts are constantly changing with

time. Some core needs remain constant throughout, whereas others evolve in

alignment with external (sociocultural) and internal (demographic) variables. Seen

another way, some trends remain, only modifying themselves along the way whereas

others disappear making way for newer manifestations. Global events give rise to

global trends. Local cultures are impacted by local events that shape local trends. But

any which way one looks at it, trends are fluid in terms of their dynamics and most

certainly impact all humans. Thus ongoing trend research is an important part of any

shopper marketing strategy. An example below illustrates how Insight Instore used

findings from trend research in creating a strategic solution.

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3. DESIGN & EXECUTION CHALLENGES

Often brands approach retail formats without researching the implications of the format

for their category, or with only a broad understanding of the variables. We are of the

view that the design and execution-specific variables are key and can even take on

regional or cultural differences, specially in a market as diverse as India’s. The

challenges are spread out, very fuzzy and need a very different set of skills and tools to

tackle. Design has to thus stem from a deep understanding of format specific challenges

at retail, apart from taking into account the human-centred elements. Design should not

be restricted to only devising tangible products and services. It should extend to doing

background research and charting out a smooth flow of the strategic solution, from the

drawing table into the market place, through the various funnels of manufacturing,

marketing & advertising, organizational implications etc., depending on the case

maybe. In other words, organizations need to have design thinking in their culture itself.

Finally, no strategy is successful unless it is executed well. Well-executed rollout of the

activity and compliance often make the difference between an expense and an

Otherwise there were no obligations. While drastically reducing the client’s spend,

if nothing, it would help build the brand for better times, we reasoned. The result

was a pleasantly significant improvement in sales and tremendous impact on brand

equity!

It is of importance to state here that trends are a valuable directional tool not only in

the case of understanding shopper behaviour, but also in constantly keeping track of

market conditions and other challenges faced both by brands and retailers.

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CASE STUDY

A client had a brief that was to devise a promotion strategy to deliver better

results with their key accounts - improving the results for the retailers as well as

the brand.

Shopper studies at the different accounts revealed insights into the gross visibility

impressions of an ongoing promotion. This was then compared with audience

conversion to determine the approach that should be used at each retailer to

drive improved performance. For example, at Retailers X and Y, the gross

impressions were low but conversions were high. Secondary stocking locations,

displays and signage was used to drive conversions higher

At Retailer Z on the other hand, gross impressions were high but conversions

were low. Aligning the product mix to the profitable segments of Retailer Z,

category adjacencies and in-aisle promotions were used to drive incremental

sales. The new strategy took into account all these to get the approach right

from day one!

The ultimate objective in any case is to convert shoppers to buyers. It is by

understanding the market variables, the shopper variables and the design and

execution challenges in the context of macro trends, that focused and successful

shopper marketing strategies are created. (See Figure 4)

investment. An effective shopper marketing approach thus has to address each of

these aspects as the following case shows.

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Fig.4

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THE INDIAN RETAIL SCENARIO TODAY

Retail has been one of the fastest growing industries in India over the past few

years. The country was also ranked 1 on the list of most attractive countries for FDI

in retail for two successive years. Global players waiting to enter, modern retail

growing at a scorching pace and the growth of organized retail beyond the metros

and Tier 1 cities – this was the picture.

The last 18 months have created a changing landscape and new emerging

challenges, as retailers have been forced to focus on profitable growth through

rationalizing operations, consolidation and innovation. Modern retail is grappling

with issues of rental renegotiations, store profitability, working capital management

and manpower resizing as they seek to deal with falling footfalls as well.

In all this, traditional retail has been quietly initiating a slow metamorphosis. While

maybe the change is still perceptible only in the top 20 cities, there is no denying

the movement that has been set in motion.

A 2009 KPMG report on Indian retail says that organized retail is not likely to

achieve the growth that was originally projected for it by 2012. (See Figure 5)

Source: KPMG Analysis & Retailer’s Association of India

Fig.5

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A recent Nielsen study also reports that the acceptance of Traditional Retail has

increased over its modern counterpart over the last year. “Traditional grocery

stores continue to dominate the Indian retail scene and are frequented more often

by Indian shoppers. While 39 percent of grocery buyers visited a

Supermarket/Hypermarket at least once in four weeks, 97 percent of them visited a

Traditional store over the same period” the report says.

Our own study of “Unplanned Buying at Traditional Retail in India’ has a number

of interesting insights into many aspects of traditional retail.

We think the change in traditional retail is more like a mutation that in many years

time, will end as a transformation. To start with, the sudden spurt in modern retail

certainly attracted the attention of traditional retail. And a country that has spread

its entrepreneurial creativity at retail all over the world could not but learn from the

awakening. Not for nothing is small retail in Dubai or London the prerogative of the

traditional Indian retailer. The ‘bhaiya’ as he is popularly known in India is well

known to be a very quick learner and though he often sits in a small corner of his

shop all day, is known to be very nimble on his feet in terms of strategy. Quick little

adaptations followed to compete with the modern stores. First, many stores were

cleaned up and in many cases the counter moved inside the store in an ‘L’ form to

allow the shopper more access to the products. The bhaiya’s skill at credit

assessment was also proven to be superior to that of many multinational banks, as

he seems to have leveraged this facility well for increased loyalty. And finally,

armed with a mobile phone, a bicycle with a large carrier and a skillful rider to

home deliver even large bags, the traditional retailer seems to have not just held

bastion, but even pushed back noticeably.

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SHOPPER MARKETING IN INDIA

Shopper Marketing in India is still in its early stages. Call it shopper marketing or

shopper insight or customer insight, only a clutch of blue chip marketers and a

couple of top retailers seem to have actually reached a stage where they have

integrated this function into the company’s way of working.

For brand manufacturers, the traditional approach to the marketing mix has long

been the main tool of marketing success and for modern retailers, growth seemed a

default option till recently. Even today, for many brands, shopper marketing might

seem synonymous with point-of-purchase advertising – in itself relegated to a line

item in the P&L and often, more of an afterthought in budgeting.

However, the good news is that we see more efforts in recent times to bring

shopper insights into strategy. Companies have created separate portfolios around

consumer marketing, shopper marketing and trade marketing. Shopper insight is an

area that is increasingly sought to be understood.

CASE STUDY

Grocery World is a chain of modern grocery stores in India. They have a presenceacross three southern metros with a chain of 38 stores. A study of Grocery World’sshoppers reveals the following 7 shopper segments for the banner.

Fine Food Shoppers 26%

Health Food Shoppers 20%

Convenience Shoppers 15%

Price Sensitive Shoppers 15%

Mainstream Shoppers 12%

Traditional Shoppers 7%

Social Shoppers 5%

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GROCERY WORLD’S POSITIONING STRATEGY

EXCLUSIVITY

LOW CONVENIENCE HIGH CONVENIENCE

AFFORDABILITY

Mapping this traditional positioning map based on consumer insights with the

shopper segmentation revealed potential gaps. By moving the positioning towards

the exclusivity seeking shopper who was willing to pay more, GW better aligned

the positioning of the store with the most profitable segment that was shopping

there. (See Figure 6).

If GW decided to expand into different geographical markets, would the same

positioning work?

Interestingly, from a brand’s perspective, we found that a similar exercise would

also suggest the marketing mix that was best suited to the major shopper segment’s

behaviour at GW’s format - possibly more exclusive products, smaller pack sizes

and individual communication with shoppers.

Old GW

Fig.6

New GW

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A FEW VIEWS

On retail in Rural India

While Indian retail is certainly going to learn and grow, we think that retail in rural

India will become increasingly more relevant. A few numbers set this in perspective.

70% of India’s and 12% of the world’s population lives in rural India. They

contribute 50% of the country’s GDP. At 750 million, their population is more than

that of USA, UK, France, Italy, Germany and Japan combined. This population also

accounts for 64% of the country’s total consumer base. McKinsey predicts that 63%

of this population will continue to live in rural areas even in 2025.

Size apart, the growth potential is impressive too. In 2008 the rural retail market

grew at 25% as compared to a 10% in urban areas. Rural GDP has also been

growing at 4%. Negligible tax liability and low credit offtake has meant rural

savings accounting for 33% of the country’s savings. Increasing exposure and

discretionary income make for a good combination as well. The Associated

Chamber of Commerce and Industry says rural India accounts for more than 40%

consumption of major FMCG categories like personal care, beverages and fabric

care. And it says this sector of rural consumption is growing at 40%. All this points

to one clear trend - rural retail is set to double in the next 4 years and this is not an

opportunity that can be ignored.

However, the sheer diversity of the nation and its multi lingual cross cultural

population spread across a large geography means that a strategy that holds good

for the goose may well not be good for the gander. If shopper behaviour in urban

retail in itself not understood well enough, venturing to ride the rural wave without

proper insights into shopper behaviour will be like driving a car blindfolded.

Thus understanding trends at rural retail is critical. Innovation has started raising its

head at rural retail too, not only as initiatives by brands and corporates but also

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as ideas borne from the heart and soul of the rural people themselves. For example

the rural farming community has devised a barter economy system in Raawal

village, Rajasthan, India. There are tiny shops owned by members of a close-knit

community where articles are exchanged, instead of the regular cash deals. Thus, a

big pack of beedis is exchanged for half a kilo of wheat. Many other similar

transactions make life easier for the villagers. Corporate initiatives that have

emerged successful include ITC’s E-Choupal and HLL’s Project Shakti. E-Choupal is

ITC’s business model to build a trading platform with rural India, and it already

touches more than 3 million farmers. HLL’s Project Shakti uses self-help groups to

directly cater to 1 million homes every month in villages where traditional

distribution systems cannot hope to enter.Other initiatives include include

Mahindra’s Shubhabh and Rural initiative, Godrej Agrovet-Adhaar and Tata Kisan

Sansar.

In essence, it is important to align strategies with all the elements that make up the

rustic rural landscape.

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On technology in shopper research

In both urban & rural scenarios, shopper marketing can take a few lessons from it’s

online cousin, internet marketing. Internet marketing places an emphasis on

marketing that appeals to a specific behaviour or interest, rather than reaching out

to a broadly-defined demographic. Marketers have the luxury of targeting by

activity and location with geolocation software, and delivering automated different

content to that visitor based on his or her location, such as country, region/state,

city, metro code/zip code, organization, Internet Protocol (IP) address, ISP or other

criteria. Shopper marketing can draw parallels to this with the concept of shopper

segmentation, already mentioned earlier. Effective shopper segmentation helps to

streamline strategies to appeal to the shoppers mindset depending on various

extrinsic and intrinsic factors, including the retail format in which the shopper is in,

thus ensuring effective translation into higher sales and greater brand equity.

Internet marketers also have the advantage of measuring statistics easily and

inexpensively. Nearly all aspects of an Internet marketing campaign can be traced,

measured, and tested. The advertisers can use a variety of methods: pay per

impression, pay per click, pay per play or pay per action. Therefore, marketers can

determine which messages or offerings are more appealing to the audience. The

results of campaigns can be measured and tracked immediately because online

marketing initiatives usually require users to click on an advertisement, visit a

website, and perform a targeted action. Internet marketing thus offers a greater

sense of accountability for advertisers. The success of shopper marketing in future

will be decided mainly by its accountability, which in turn, will drive the learnings

back into the strategy design process. With technology advances being the main

factor for the success of online marketing, it will play a huge role in deciding the

future of many a shopper marketing strategy as well.

Instore research activities have embraced technology through the use of eye

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movement trackers, heat and footfall sensors,

video surveillance and RFID chips to

name a few. Results are arrived at by

correlating these data with other techniques

like shopper interviews, observations,

ethnographic studies, POS data etc. If these

are any indicators, shopper marketing is at

the threshold of a technology revolution.

Martin Lindstrom in his book, Buyology,

speaks of having used MRI scans of

shoppers to analyze their behaviour. One

cant but help think at this stage – ‘With such a huge influx of scientific

methodologies and technological processes to unravel the shopper’s mind, are we

encroaching into private territories in the human mind, bordering on the unethical?’

The issue of ethics in Lindstrom’s neuromarketing process, where the hot debate is

on using human mind studies for commercial gain, has been addressed to an extent

in his book. According to him, “neuromarketing is simply an instrument used to help

decode what consumers are already thinking about, when they are confronted with

a product or a brand — and sometimes even to help uncover the underhanded

methods marketers use to seduce and betray without the consumers even knowing

it.” He takes a route in which, according to him, the consumers are actually

benefited, as brands and retailers know more about their subconscious needs and

desires, and customise strategies to give them a meaningful and enjoyable

shopping experience. Our own view on this is that putting people under an MRI

and mapping their brainwaves may give a certain amount of insight but that is

again limited by the simulated and possibly rather stressful environment. After all,

lying inside an MRI scanner is not the most pleasant way of calling up responses to

marketing stimuli!

Photo courtesy : www.rfid-weblog.com

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All said and done, it really does depend on ethical use of all the information

though. And also in making the shopper feel comfortable in his shopping

environment, without the constant fear of being watched by cameras or sensed by

hidden chips or being questioned by robots. Technology has to be integrated

seamlessly into the entire instore strategy. With the benefits it can bring to shopper

marketing, technology is here to stay. While it helps in uncovering shopper

mindsets, it should do so with due consideration to the shopper. A technically

friendly face on the outside and ethically correct, effective processes behind the

scenes.

Photo courtesy : www.blogs.fayobserver.com

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KEY INSIGHTS

1. Shopper marketing is an approach that evolves at each step. There are no set rules.

While on the face of it, this might seem rather inappropriate for a strategy, given the

number of variables and unseen implications, this is the only way to go about the

approach. Of course, periodic measurements are important and there are the

signposts that need to be followed, but by and large, shopper marketing is not

something that can be defined by a given set of rules before the start.

This is specially true in diversity defined India. A strategy devised after having taken

all the key points into consideration, will undoubtedly see iterations along the path.

Brands and retailers need to understand this, and be flexible in their approach to any

shopper marketing activity.

This implies that research has to be a fairly ongoing activity built into each step. The

team in charge of the shopper marketing program needs to constantly keep asking

themselves how their strategies are driving growth. They need to review research

findings on a regular basis and think through the implications that arise from the

insights. Core strategies that address the objectives will need to be redefined

accordingly. Redefining could mean small incremental changes or sometimes a drastic

deviation in the path itself. For example, It could be something as easy as an extended

display period or as radical as changing the entire messaging for the target audience

in a specific format. To reiterate, shopper marketers have to monitor key performance

indicators throughout the course of

the program and not just at the

conclusion. To minimize major

changes in the process, Insight

Instore has test runs of the strategic

solution wherever possible. The

insights from this step are fed back

into fine tuning the original solution.

(See Figure 7)Fig.7

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2. A cross-disciplinary approach & collaborations are key to the success of shoppermarketing today

A lot is being said about creativity these days. Definitions are changing. Its

complexity as a concept and its importance in creating any strategy is being

underlined many times over. Design today is not just about product or service

design. It is about all-encompassing creativity. In shopper marketing specifically, it

means using design to embed the shopper-centric culture into the fabric of the

organisation. It has to come from figuring out format specific challenges and

opportunities to devising human factor strategies to pave the way forward. It

involves cross-disciplinary innovation tools, processes and behaviors. It involves

moving from a closed innovation approach to a much more open framework where

creativity comes into play at every step from research to strategy to analytics and in

extrapolating it to the future.

In this context, collaborations within and

between organizations and teams will

help initiate solutions that align mutual

objectives and strategies towards a

common creative goal. It will help in

vertically integrating shopper marketing

solutions with all relevant brand efforts.

Also, strong ties and constant

communication between brands and

retailers will ensure better communication

activities that increase purchase intent

and drive profitable, incremental volume.

In the process these also induce

differentiation and grow both retailer and

manufacturer brand equities.

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3. There are many barriers to collaboration and execution is a big challenge, more

so in a market like India.

In fact, our research shows that close to 40% of any spend on shopper marketing

in-store, does not get activated. Reasons? Indifference of the sales staff and the

retailer, clutter, and inefficient logistics to name just a few. This is also a reason for

a constantly evolving strategy, stated as point 1 earlier. However, the trick is to see

this age-old challenge as a new opportunity. It is an opportunity, given the focus on

traditional, unorganized retail today, and the big numbers forecasted in rural

markets. Execution challenges are more in these scenarios and so is the current

potential for growth.

As positive developments, Industry standards are now seeing light and technology

seems to be slowly edging its way into Indian retail to be an integral part of

shopper marketing strategies. Automated processes will ensure better distribution

methods and instore merchandising programs. Apart from this, an increasingly

skilled workforce will ensure progress in execution related activities, enhanced by a

good background understanding of the research and analytics scene as well. At

present, steps have been initiated in the right direction and the success timeline will

depend on the consistency of collaborative efforts put forth by brands, retailers and

agencies.

To conclude, Shopper Marketing is here to stay and the question is notTo conclude, Shopper Marketing is here to stay and the question is not

one of one of ‘‘ifif’’ it will be the next gen strategy but more one of it will be the next gen strategy but more one of ‘‘whenwhen’’ will it will it

be accepted as the next gen strategybe accepted as the next gen strategy! Till then, we continue our! Till then, we continue our

attempts to provide more Insight Instore.attempts to provide more Insight Instore.

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Insight Instore is a trend research and retail shopper marketing consultancy. We studytrends and shoppers. We see the shop as our laboratory. Our aim is to create impactinstore, through insight and innovation.

Our areas of work include shopper research and instore consulting, design consulting,trend research and forecasting.

Our solutions are driven by a combination of various skills and disciplines, comingtogether on a vibrant and receptive platform. Research forms the basis of ourconsulting work. Consulting for us does not stop at developing a strategy, but extendsto helping our clients to execute and evaluate the strategy. We also use this entireexperience for trend research and forecasting.

Insight Instore is headquartered in Bangalore, India.

Contact us:

Insight Instore455, 1st Cross9th Main, HAL 3rd StageBangalore - 560 075, India

email: [email protected]

Tel : +91 97390 94983 / +91 97399 74069

ABOUT US