The technology tipping point is here. More phones are sold than computers, becoming the preferred way to connect and compute in the twenty first century. Nielsen estimates that smartphone penetration will be over 50% by the end of 2011. With the increased adoption there is enhanced integration of technology into everyday life. And more strikingly, in shopper behavior.
55% of smartphone users believe the shopping experience is more enjoyable thanks to smartphones (Internet Retailer).
73% of shoppers would rather use their phone than talk to a sales associate (Internet Retailer).
41% of iPhone owners have made a purchase from their smartphone
These are not just shifts in behavior. They are step changes in beliefs. This is not just about digital shopper marketing. The conversation is no longer about adoption. It is about adapting marketing strategies and tactics to harness the power of this technology for your business.
So how should you adapt? Your customer should be your starting point, not technology. Watch how they are and are not using technology today. Look at trends that will continue to evolve their behavior tomorrow. Find opportunities to provide value beyond the realm of just your products. Just like shoppers have integrated technology into their experience, so should you look for ways to holistically integrate technology into your plans. Not just as the strategy, but as a way to better connect your strategy to your audience. Want to learn more? Visit www.birdsonggregory.com
Think the shopper behavior of finding ways to save money is going away anytime soon? Not according to a recent Mintel report.
Shoppers continue to look for discounts. While this is not a total surprise based on the sluggish economy, what is surprising is how this behavior has seemingly shifted away from doing this out of need and into doing this out of enjoyment. According to the report, 64% of US Moms say they are spending more of their time looking for details, sales, etc.
In other words, they are spending more of their personal, pre-purchase and pre-store time seeking these deals. This is no longer just about saving money, but about finding enjoyment in the “hunt” for these deals. It is about the process as well as the outcome.
With the boom of shopper technologies, the challege for marketers is not creating and helping shoppers find deals. Instead, the important consideration is how we are shifting shopper engagement strategies to talk to customers pre-store and at the point of sale to effectively drive brand preference.
There is no doubt that this focus on price and finding deals presents significant shopper marketing challenges. However, given this reality, how you adjust and directly impact your shopper's choice to put your brand in their cart? Perhaps birdsong gregory can help?
Not sure if you should purchase that new dress? Want a friend's opinion on a shirt color? Ask the Tweet Mirror. This fledgling technology lets retail customers take pictures of themselves in several outfits, striking poses and showing different angles. Then, using a large touchscreen, they can post these on Twitter or Facebook, or email to specific friends and family. Talk about crowdsourced feedback. This point of sale innovation is just another way retailers are employing new technologies to exploit the growing trend of social retailing.
Now that there are new realms to influence decision making, the brick and mortar, in-store marketing is taking a back seat to social media. So much can be done online, and every step of the purchase funnel now includes some aspect of online presence.
Shopper insights take the form of facebook posts, yelp reviews, product review websites. More than ever brands are finding new ways to get their message out there in more targeted forums that hit the consumer from every angle, rather than just radio, TV, print or OOH. This can be a positive point of sale for a brand and a free boost in a brand's image (through Word of Mouth), but can also pose a potential risk if consumers have even just one bad experience. Brand's beware, shoppers have a strong influence and voice today.
I love this example of pushing the traditional definitions and executions of in-store marketing from Adidas. AdiVerse is a fully dimensionalized and interactive point of sale experience that creates an engaging and informational experience, all available at a shopper's fingertips. I especially love the way they integrated shopper insights into their approach, bringing external information (like how many goals their soccer shoe scored in the World Cup) into the information provided to shoppers.
This video provides some staggering context for how much Facebook is utilized. The implications for marketers are huge. We need to ensure our approach to getting and utilizing shopper insights take social and technological tools such as Facebook into consideration. Based on the way consumer continue to evolve how and where they spend their time and get their information, this is critical. From packaging design to POS design, utilizing relevant and current insights should be the critical bedrock of all your work.
The best in-store marketing takes a holistic approach to reaching shoppers. Whether point of sale or packaging design, color is one of the most important and influential aspects of design. The below infographic from KISSmetrics provides a visually interesting and compelling breakdown of its influence on all aspects of a purchase decision.
Traditionally, in-store marketing has been targeted at female heads of household, as they have been the primary shopper for their families. However, as the traditional family shifts away from traditional marketing stereotypes, a significant shift is the more active role of men in family decision making.
A recent Ad Age article found that more than half of men now believe they control their family's shopping cart. While that number might be a bit exaggerated (industry numbers tend to be around 1/3 of men), the impact is nonetheless significant for marketers.
This chart shows the variety of activities where men are getting, playing a more influential role than traditionally. Given this, have you shifted your approach to gaining and understanding shopper insights? How will you make sure you get a gender balanced perspective. How are you approaching packaging design and point of sale differently given these shifts?
Shopper marketing is ultimately about creating a relevant connection and the most critical aspect of relevance is an understanding of your audience. As your audience shifts, so should your approach and understanding.
As the saying goes: "Any press is good press." For Taco Bell this may ring true. In light of the Taco Bell beef controversy, the company has taken this opportunity to embrace the press by placing full page ads in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and New York Times thanking Beasely Allen for filing a class action lawsuit against them, enabling the release of the not-so secret ingredients in the seasoned beef. The company has even addressed this issue on their web and social media sites adding a little humor stating that "plain ground beef tastes boring."
Domino's took this same approach with their "Oh yes we did" campaign by admitting that their pizzas were not up to par and working to make sure the taste, quality and ingredients used in their pizzas were not just sub standard, but a notch above the rest for a mass produced pizza chain. Late night hosts asked people walking down the street how they felt about the news of the Taco Bell scandal, and most people didn't seem to care. They didn't go to Taco Bell for a quality or nutritious meal, as long as it tastes good, they are happy. My fiance and his friends went as far as supporting Taco Bell even more now that this news has broke, claiming that "as long as there is not cat meat mixed in, a couple oats and some sand are not going to hurt me."
There's something about being honest and taking accountability in order to make things better. It's often referred to as brand transparency and can do wonders to gain trust, respect and brand loyalty with consumers. Case and point: Domino's alone had a 14% increase in 1st quarter sales, due in part to their advertising campaign. In an economy where trust is hard to come by, it's a breath of fresh air to have all the facts up front. If consumers find that a brand is continuously transparent and doing "the right thing," they will become repeat customers, and word of mouth marketing will be the primary source of communication. And what company doesn't want free word of mouth marketing? So, Taco Bell, props to you for taking the high road, and making your beef transparent.
What will Google think of next? The newly released Google app for your iPhone or Android has a function that recognizes a product simply by hovering over it, regardless of whether you're holding your phone over a bar code, packaging, or even a print ad. Although this technology may not work as well as typing search terms into a web browser, it certainly makes it easier for brands to be recognized at the point of sale.
Working at our Charlotte ad agency, my mind can't help but explore the possibilities this object recognition app could bring to the fabulous world of branding? Featuring products could become an art form. No more bad ads with page cluttered by huge logos and tacky starbursts.
For now at least, Google has done it again and Googles 1.3 provides consumers with another source for obtaining information about a product with a simple click of a button.
Check out the top 10 words you can now find in the dictionary that began as trademarked brand names for new products – fun stuff like pogo sticks, granola, jungle gyms, and heroin. Here at birdsong gregory, our Charlotte ad agency, which, by the way, specializes in POS design, is currently working with a couple of clients on projects that have the potential to add a new word to the dictionary. Exciting marketing and branding challenges, so please stay tuned.
One of the biggest game changers to the world of Shopper Marketing is mobile technology. As I have previously shared, mobile apps that provide access to information at the point of sale have a potentially huge impact on what the shopper buys. And in most cases, this information is not coming from the retailer or the brands, but from third party information sources.
Adding to this third party information trend is the recent news that Consumer Reports is launching a mobile app. Unlike Amazon's focus on finding the same product for cheaper via their site, CR's app is focused on delivering their "Ratings Report Card" for the product. This will allow shoppers to make an informed decision at the point of sale based on CR's credible testing procedures.
Although this is by no means the most sophisticated mobile app, what is interesting about CR's offering is the credibility of information. In today's technology age, source anxiety has consumers wondering who is behind the information and what information they can trust. CR's app, with an introductory price of $9.99 before rising to $14.99 in January, allows consumers to buy that trust and confidence in CR's unbiased view.
The question that remains to be answered is how much information credibility is worth to consumers.
What do you think? With Amazon and other mobile app offerings available for free, is $14.99 too steep a price to pay for unbleached, unfiltered, unbiased authentic information?
As a recent transplant to the area, I have been on a fun journey exploring what Charlotte has to offer in the way of food (and so far, I have been pretty impressed). This weekend I finally made it to Pasta and Provisions, a place I had been hearing about for a while. The experience did not disappoint – they have more handmade fresh pasta offering available under one roof than I have seen anywhere.
But what stood out to me wasn't the approachable gourmet environment or great selection of all things Italian. It was the service. This is an environment where it is obvious the staff loves to work. And as a result, the shoppers enjoyed being in the store, resulting in satisfied, loyal customers.
After getting an overview of offerings and recommendations from the man behind the counter and narrowing down my selections, I made my decision to try their rosemary/garlic and arugula/black pepper fresh pastas cut into linguine.
Then, as I was checking out, it happened. Knowing I had recently moved from Chicago and it was my first time in their store, they gave me one of the pastas free for being a first time visitor as a way to welcome me to the area. In the world of retail marketing and shopper insights, this stuck out as such a powerfully simple move. And more, it was the first step in converting me from a visiting customer to a loyal shopper.
There is much we can learn from how smaller retailers approach their point of sale. Here are some quick take-aways:
Love what you sell. If you do this authentically, it will be an important part of your brand, as well as a way to differentiate yourself aside from the products you sell.
Empower your employees to satisfy customers. Ultimately the focus should be on sales and satisfaction. If you are focused purely on sales, this will be reflected in how your employees treat customers. Satisfaction sells and satisfied customers buy more.
Focus on the checkout. All of retail has to be focused on selling, but that shouldn't be at the expense of the last interaction your customers have with you. Checkout is the opportunity to start of the relationship and seed return trips. Ask yourself this question: are your customers leaving happy?
Loyalty is built one customer at a time. There is much talk about loyalty in shopper marketing, but the conversations tend to stay at the macro level. Ultimately loyalty is a micro conversation, requiring a focus on every customer and every transaction. Employ empathy as a strategy - walk in your customer's shoes and proactively look for ways to improve the experience.
My experience at Pasta and Provisions was a reminder of how powerful a retail interaction can be. The great news is that if you get the above right, not only will you begin to build loyal customers, you will experience exponential growth thanks to satisfied customers spreading word to others.
After all, sometimes loyalty is as easy as giving away your noodles.
One of the biggest potential game changers in retail is the ability for shoppers to access information at the point of sale in order to inform or influence their purchase decision. Any and all conceivable information, from reviews to competitive prices, is literally in the palm of their hands via smart phones.
An obvious risk retailers and brands face is a shopper comparing their offering and going elsewhere/buying something else. Retailers and brands are doing what they can to combat this by using shopper insights to understand the purchase process and then providing the needed information to shoppers. However, regardless of how much information is provided, the ultimate power is choice and that will always reside with shoppers.
Aside from delivering information, technology is also playing the role of facilitator, facilitating the collision of two retail universes: brick (traditional retail stores) and click (online). Whereas it used to be an either/or world (ie shop online or shop in the stores), technology is now allowing shoppers to brick and click at the same time, in the same place.
A great example of this ability coming to life is Amazon's smartphone app. Aside from the predictable ability to shop their total store, they also included a smart tool called "Amazon Remembers." It allows you to take a picture of a product (regardless of where you are), will then scan its online store and then find the exact or similar product and send the results to you.
Shopper marketers, the future is in the palm of shopper's hands - today. Amazon's app points to a world where the combination of what and when will be the deciding factor, not the where. Retail is a world of constant evolution and the fight for the what and when will only intensify. However, with this collision of bricks and clicks, the winner will always be the shopper.
The challenge with technology in shopper marketing is not the lack of innovative technology, but the lack of adoption of the technology with shoppers. As most of the technologies are new, it takes a while for the adoption curve to get past early fringe adopters.
Knowing this, I think it is significant to watch the growth of mobile barcode scanning. A new report from ScanLife, as demonstrated by the chart to the left, shows it is on a serious growth trajectory. Even though it has a small base upon which to grow, statistics like "there were more barcode scans performed in a single month starting in July 2010 than in all of 2009" point to an increase in shopper adoption of this technology. The article goes on to say barcode scanning is up 700% this year and 1D and 2D barcodes are scanned about equally, "showing people are less concerned with code format, and more interested in getting information quickly."
What is important to note with this trend is not just the adoption, but the fact that this is technology shoppers are using at the point of sale. This points to a larger trend of shoppers adopting and utilizing technology to help them make smarter decisions in stores and at shelves.
This has many implications to retail marketing. Here are a couple quick take-aways: 1. Shoppers are using technology to make them smarter. How are you using technology to inform and influence decision at the point of sale? 2. Shopper insights must be based on actual understanding of behavior. If you don't know how your target audience is getting information or approaching purchase decisions, it is time to invest. Without a true understanding of your audience and their behaviors, your work will be ineffective or worse, it could be just plain irrelevant.
The most critical moment in Shopper Marketing is the point of decision - that time and place where a decision to purchase your brand and product is made. The inherent challenge in that moment is that retail tends to be very regulated environments, forcing your brand to operate the same way your competitor has to operate. Even point of sale material is limiting, as it still falls within the retailer's regulated space.
So how can a brand dimensionalize its retail environment? Here are three critical starting points:
1. Understand the purchase behavior happening in the category. This has to include more than just the actual decision point, but pay attention to how shoppers navigate the category and competitors. Shopper Insights should be the foundation of your retail work. If they are not, you risk irrelevance.
2. Make your in-store tools work harder. The pictured to the left is a great example of this: in the emotionally rich category of baby seats, the vast majority of packaging is plain and uninspired. This helps Safety 1st's Air Protect packaging stand out that much better.
3. Utilize technology to continue the conversation. Brands should look to leverage existing and new technologies as ways to create and sustain dialogs with their shoppers. Mobile technologies are advancing faster than ever, creating many opportunities to connect a shopper's need with your product's information. The power of these technologies is that they can be accessed in the retail environment and even at the shelf, where your target is in their shopping mode.
Dimensionalizing your retail experience is a critical aspect of retail marketing. Using insights to help frame up your approach is the most important first step you could take.
My wife and I took a last minute trip to Chicago a couple weeks ago after she found some inexpensive tickets online. Neither us had been to the windy city and we were looking for an excuse to get out of Charlotte so it seemed like the perfect time see a ball game, sample the cuisine and put away the work for just a moment.
We hopped on an early flight into O'Hare and met a friend at Hot Doug's around 10 am Saturday morning. While enjoying our foie gras hot dogs and duck fat french fries he suggested we take the Architectural + Historical Cruise. I appreciate the local's taste in encased meat products, but I'm usually not one for being herded like cattle through bus terminals and sweaty guided tour lines while waiting to catch a glance of something that never quite lives up to the hype. Despite my hesitation, we inquired with the concierge at the hotel and were greeted with a poster sized folded brochure with tons of factual information and two beautifully designed Chicago Line passes. They looked like European currency and featured large portraits of those responsible for sculpting Chicago's skyline over the years. I'm a sucker for good design, count me in!
The next day we catch a cab to the River East Art Center and make our way down the docks past newly renovated studios that face the water. Once the boat is full with anxious tourist and egger students we set sail out of Ogden Slip and make our way to the Chicago River. Our tour guide was more than thorough and paused only once to clear her throat after becoming visually upset while mentioning the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. I don't want to bore you with the details but the next hour of our ride was filled with some of the most amazing architectural vistas I've ever seen, truly unbelievable. The Chicago Sun-Times had this to say about the tour "Without question the best architectural tour available in Chicago". I'd have to go a step further and say it's one of the best things to do in the city, period! Everyone enjoys unplugging and getting away from the day-to-day to reenergize, but to learn more about this American city that bounced back from disaster to design and create architecture the entire world marvels at was quite inspiring.
Benjamin Gelnett is the new Senior Graphic Designer at Birdsong Gregory and has worked professionally as a graphic designer since graduating from SCAD in 1999. During this time he's created a variety of advertising campaigns, packaging and POS components, brand identities and sales and marketing materials for brands such as Gulfstream Aerospace, Bombardier, Renyold's Alcoa, Hunter Fan Co., Ecko Unltd and Muzak.
Two different articles, two different topics, two different industries ultimately lead to one question: Are purchase incentives changing or shifting behavior?
Whether we are talking about rebates or coupons, there is little debate post recessionary consumers are looking for deals. And as a result, shopper marketing has become very focused on delivering those incentives that reduce and eliminate barriers to purchase, enabling your target to select your product.
However, it is important to ensure you are delivering this value through the lens of long term, that your price is a reflection of the value of a brand. Rebates and coupons have the ability to drive immediate action, but if they are not based on leveraging shopper insights to convert this short term action into longer term preference, then are you really leveraging the strongest in-store marketing tactic to change behavior?
Whether at the point of sale, online or any other touch point, as marketers we are in the business of influencing product selection, creating brand preference, then leveraging that preference to build loyalty. Your rebates and coupons should be leveraged as a marketing tool to deliver this long term behavior shift, not just a short term sales gain.
There was an interesting article in the NY Times the other day about how luxury brands that formerly eschewed the the online retail world are now flocking to it in droves. it seems that before the Great Recession of 2009, retail brands like Hugo Boss or Marc Jacobs felt the proletarian warrens of the Web was no place to sell very expensive, very exclusive products like a $500 shirt or a $3000 handbag. In 2009, as the worldwide luxury-goods industry fell 8%, online sales were forecast to grow 20%.
But now, these ritzy brands are taking the plunge, and enjoying the benefits of a clickable environment: low overhead, no middleman, social networking opportunities, etc. And although I don't buy clothes that cost more than a week at the beach, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I think I'd prefer to shop for pricey labels online in my ratty pj's rather than have to endure the snooty atmosphere of a high-end bricks-and-mortar boutique.
Shopper Marketing tends to focus on using shopper insights to enable selection at the point of sale. However, in categories that are complex, overwhelming or otherwise hard to navigate, enabling deselection is just as important. You have to enable your shoppers to deselect what they don't want before they are able to select what they want. I learned this lesson while working on Millstone, at the time a P&G premium coffee brand. In an intimidating category like premium coffee, we found that organizing the shelf based on shopper insights gained from research brought about more clarity and ultimately, more sales.
The above picture is a fun way to approach another category that can be intimidating - wine. Press in Charlotte, NC chose not to take the typical approach to categorizing wines by regions or varietals, instead creating fun categories based on what the shopper will experience. Deselection ultimately should enable better and faster selection and in this example, narrow down a large wine list into a smaller set of relevant options.
Think the shopper behavior of finding ways to save money is going away anytime soon? Not according to a 
itionally, in-store marketing has been targeted at female heads of household, as they have been the primary shopper for their families. However, as the traditional family shifts away from traditional marketing stereotypes, a significant shift is the more active role of men in family decision making. 
One of the biggest game changers to the world of Shopper Marketing is mobile technology. As I have 
The challenge with technology in shopper marketing is not the lack of innovative technology, but the lack of adoption of the technology with shoppers. As most of the technologies are new, it takes a while for the adoption curve to get past early fringe adopters. 
The most critical moment in Shopper Marketing is the point of decision - that time and place where a decision to purchase your brand and product is made. The inherent challenge in that moment is that retail tends to be very regulated environments, forcing your brand to operate the same way your competitor has to operate. Even point of sale material is limiting, as it still falls within the retailer's regulated space.
Powered by Compendium