From Mars USA

November 2008

(If you read anything this week, please read this, it is critical to your success).

Why Shopper Marketing Matters More in

the Current Economic Climate

Situation Overview

The economic slowdown has quickly morphed into a stall-out of epic proportions.

Enormous increases in commodity prices have placed huge pressure on

manufacturers. Retailers, reluctant to raise prices, are looking to vendors to

absorb the cost of increased promotion, discounts and offers to keep shoppers in

the stores.

In the marketing industry, nothing could be closer to a perfect storm, causing

anxious discussions across the country about budget cuts, reallocation of

marketing dollars and increased spending on trade promotion. Anything

associated with long-term value feels at risk against the need for short-term ROI.

Marketers, watching coupon usage rise and retail sales sink, are starting to buy

into the notion that consumers will not open their wallets to spend without a deep

discount offer.

When uncertainty and volatility seem like a more permanent condition, retail

forecasting becomes highly unpredictable. Buyers skittishly try to manage down

inventory, while shoppers abandon poorly stocked stores in frustration. Sales

forecasts for consumer goods companies are harder to predict and even harder to

allocate manufacturing resources against. Many predictive lenses are fuzzy.

It’s no secret that today’s marketing mix is very different and still rapidly changing.

Consumers have greater control and are actively using technology to edit or even

block the barrage of marketing messages they receive. Today, the mix decisions

for manufacturers are much more complex, causing marketers to second guess

many decisions.

Leaders Maintain Focus on What Is Working

Despite such pressures, leading executive teams clearly recognize that this

is a critical time to accelerate shopper marketing. They recognize how to solidly

meet the needs of stressed shoppers seeking value from trusted brands. They

work on merchandising differentiation and on cementing strong relationships with

key retail partners. Careful consideration of the marketing mix, with a focus on

shopper marketing activity that delivers solid returns on investment with strategic

partners, should be the cornerstone in making this vision a reality.

Leaders use objective thinking, current consumer/shopper information and

broader measurement criteria as the guideposts for marketing mix decisions.

Avoiding the temptation to randomly increase trade discounting is vital, as

companies must be careful to assess and understand the corresponding impact

on reduction of revenue dictated by Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. Moreover, the

erosion of pricing models is risky, as is the potential for this activity to have a

negative impact on shareholder value — as well as consumer confidence about

specific core brands.

Leading manufacturers understand that strategic retailers will expect them to

spend more to drive purchase behavior, but they also know that eroding margins

on both sides via discounting tactics is not the answer.

In this paper, we’ll explore a range of topics that marketers must consider as they

rethink marketing mix decisions. Effectively allocating marketing budgets will

require decisions to be made based on current knowledge of where along The

Shopper’s Puchase Path consumers are making decisions and why. Shopper emotion

drives behavior, and understanding how to leverage emotional values in

messaging is an art that smart marketers are applying to their shopper marketing

strategic model.

Moreover, you should consider expanding measurement criteria for

shopper marketing beyond short-term lift. Finally, both manufacturers and retailers

must accelerate the involvement of senior marketing leadership in planning,

arming the best and brightest with a clear strategy, the power to uncover current

insights, and the ability to act decisively in the face of opportunity.

Shopper Marketing Pays Off

According to Deloitte’s recently published industry report titled “Delivering the

Promise of Shopper Marketing,” companies that have embraced shopper

marketing as an integral part of the marketing mix are growing 50% faster.

The most advanced shopper

marketers are growing at almost double the rate of their respective categories.

From a brand marketer perspective, this means that shopper marketing can drive

BDI, not just retailer CDI. Moreover, 90% of manufacturers with more advanced

shopper marketing capabilities report that the discipline helps them effectively

meet retailer needs and boost top-line growth.

How does this success compare with other marketing disciplines? In the same

study, 73% of participating manufacturers and 86% of retailers rated shopper

marketing programs among the top four activities that deliver truly meaningful

ROI.

Brands ARE Built Through Shopper Marketing

Not only does it deliver ROI, but shopper marketing contributes to brand-building

efforts among a targeted audience via the retail environment. In the old marketing

scenario, budgeting decisions were based on sacrificing longer-term brand

building for shorter-term volume gains. However, with shopper marketing, both

objectives can be readily achieved simultaneously. (We define the scope of

shopper marketing to include all touch points with a consumer who is in “shopper

mode,” inclusive but not limited to in-store activities.)

Understanding where to allocate money requires that marketers update shopper

insights to understand how and where purchase decisions are made, not only for

their brand but for the category. Knowing how this varies across key retail

accounts so that customized solutions can be delivered to each retail customer is

essential, not optional.

Effective “point of decision” programming is a best practice in shopper marketing.

The idea that

“retail environments are an effective brand-building medium” is not a dream, but a

reality.

Brands That Focus on Merchandising Thrive in Recessions

History is a great teacher. Stephen Hoch, Professor of Marketing at the Wharton

School of Business, says it best: “Brands that thrive in recessions tend to be very

focused on better merchandising at retail. When budgets are tight, we have to

focus on what we know actually sells.”

Focus on and Measure what matters!

Professor Hoch, internationally known for research on retail merchandising, is

keeping a close eye on economic conditions and their impact on in-store

marketing. “When economic times get tough, the tough go in-store,” he adds.

“The vague proposition of building brand equity through media advertising doesn’t

hold a candle to actually selling more through better merchandising.”

Manufacturers Must Protect Key Relationships

Any manufacturer that has accrued incremental ROI benefits by focusing on key

strategic accounts should carefully consider the upside potential of accelerating

shopper marketing activity. These critical relationships with evermore powerful

retailers should be cemented through expanded contact with a broader, more

senior-driven team of resources. Today’s climate calls for more frequent

collaborative planning with retailers to create shopper-centric programming that

specifically addresses each of their unique business challenges.

Leading Retailers Meeting the Challenge Have Agility, Talent and Tools

Retailers are feeling the pain today, and traditionally are late in rebounding from

an economic slowdown, causing smart retail operators to plan for the long term.

Deloitte Consulting, in a recent report titled “Preparing for an Economic Storm,”

encouraged retailers to adopt the discipline of “rolling” vs. static annual planning.

The projected length of decline in retail sales requires that agility be imbedded

into the planning process, and the focus be placed on understanding which

economic indicators truly impact the behavior of important shopper segments.

We believes that retailers who adopt rolling plans will need to rely more heavily

on agile manufacturers that can provide timely shopper insights, more frequent

top-to-top collaboration, and nimble planning and execution of shopper-centric

programming. Speed to the table and speed to market are new must-haves to

maintain a strong position as a leading, trusted vendor partner.

Aggressive retailers will also take advantage of the soft job market to acquire top

talent, continuing to add executives groomed in core CPG environments.

Additionally, consulting partners will help them build the infrastructure, technology

and advanced business tools needed for the long view. Those with secure

balance sheets will find the credit needed to fund the re-tooling, resulting in

another cycle marked by fewer retail players with more power. The strong will get

stronger, and the trusted brand partners they rely on will too. Retailers of the

future will have even more control over the destiny of the brands with which they

choose to partner.

The following excerpt from Deloitte’s “Delivering the Promise of Shopper

Marketing” report makes this abundantly clear.

Shifting Consumer Values Inform Program Strategy

Anyone thinking that consumers will revert to old shopping behaviors after the

current slowdown subsides must reconsider. This is not a short-term slowdown,

but the onset of a dramatically, permanently changed world. Cultural shopping

patterns and values are in the midst of distinct shifts that are vital to understand.

Today, for some shoppers, the only definition of value is lower prices.

Correspondingly, they purchase private label products and shop at retailers that

support an EDLP or deep-discount pricing strategy. Walmart’s announcement of

September same-store sales gains amidst a sea of competitive declines illustrates

this point. (Note that Walmart’s television campaign is now showcasing trusted

national food brands and explaining the value proposition of eating in vs. eating

out.)

But value does not have to be defined solely by price, and smart marketers will

help shoppers find ways to save money without cutting prices. A timely example of

such a value strategy is the recent pairing of Campbell Soup Company. and Kraft

Foods to promote meal solutions using basic soup and grilled cheese

sandwiches. Kraft’s website soon will feature inexpensive sandwich recipes paired

with Campbell’s soup suggestions. Instead of promoting their premium lines,

these companies are choosing to enhance sales by focusing on their value

products, which have good margin opportunities because they cost less to

produce. And they’re not necessarily reducing prices to make their case.

These trusted food giants are choosing to help shoppers intelligently navigate the

store to provide their families with good, nutritious and inexpensive meals.

Campbell and Kraft may still choose to offer occasional coupons, but the day-today,

full-price volume of these products will surely grow through a focused

strategy that addresses the underlying needs of the value shopper segment.

Coupled with messages that underscore the brands’ previously earned,

longstanding reputation for quality, this effort will make consumers feel safe and

well nourished as they reduce their food budgets.

New Values That Matter

Most consumers don’t equate value with price alone. Many consider deeper value

that includes concepts such as “I’m making a difference,” “I trust this company,”

“simplicity,” “conscious consumption”, “best quality,” and even “deserved

indulgences.” As they shop, these new values act as filters, guiding purchase

decisions across many categories.

One example of this filtering is cited in research conducted in August 2008 by The

Hartman Group, one of the nation’s leading cultural research firms. Hartman

recently concluded that:

A purchase is not just a purchase when consumers believe they are voting

with their dollars. Consumers describe personal power in every purchase,

even in more mundane categories such as coffee, toilet paper and

clothing, as well as bigger ticket items such as vehicles and home

remodeling materials. With this in mind, consumers are becoming

increasingly aware of who (and what) they are empowering with each

swipe of the debit card.

In fact, almost 40% of consumers now feel that purchase decisions have a greater

impact on society than voting decisions or local community involvement. Shopping

behavior is clearly changing to reflect this shift in values.

Opportunities to turn such insight into action require timely understanding of how

shoppers are using these new filters to select where to shop and what to buy, and

whether or not your company and its brands are “on or off” their new radar. This

will require a sustained investment in shopper insights that can be planned in

conjunction with key accounts and commercialized quickly.

The Future of Shopper Marketing Measurement

The topic of measurement is a slippery slope for many CPG marketers. Using

specific short-term ROI is a common strategy to determine marketing mix models,

but should not be the only measurement method. Many companies that have

implemented or are scaling up shopper marketing have expanded their lens as

part of a master plan for measuring the overall effectiveness of the organization’s

total efforts.

Many models now include tracking brand share growth within a category for each

key retail customer, to help drive increased collaboration opportunities. Continued

funding of all activity that drives positive movement in this area should be

considered carefully when mix models are under review.

To paraphrase recommendations made by Robert Holston, Deloitte’s Shopper

Marketing Practice Leader, new measurement models must include the

commercialization of insights, which dictates that they be mapped to specific

activities at each key retail customer.

We concur with this viewpoint, and focuses its planning process to map both

behavioral and emotional insights to specific phases of The Shopper’s Path to Purchase.SM

This helps us clarify when and where to deploy strategic shopper marketing

activity for our clients. Application of insights into the “path to purchase” within

specific categories and by shopper segment also reduces the subjectivity often

associated with evaluation of activities in the marketing mix.

Deloitte encourages manufacturers to better integrate their brand and corporate

planning with the business planning cycles of key accounts, and to measure their

progress in doing so. It also advises manufacturers to assess the shopper

marketing competencies of everyone in the organization with touch points to

strategic retail teams. Specific skill gaps should be addressed immediately,

especially if they affect key retail relationships. Senior-level staffing on shopper

marketing teams can be a key component to achieving successful, measurable

growth.

Additionally, we recommend that retailers and manufacturers track not only sales, but

category performance, shopper marketing activity, and outcome of top-to-top

collaborative sessions with key accounts, placing a particular focus on

documenting progress toward accomplishing agreed-upon objectives, goals and

actions. Managing and — more importantly — diligently completing activities on

the “to do” list is a vital service of partner agencies that can enhance retailer

execution, satisfaction and, ultimately, results.

Summary:

Managing shopper marketing investments will continue to be an important

element in determining how to maximize growth opportunities in a sub-optimal

business environment. Whether you are responsible for overall budgeting at the

corporate level, determining a revision strategy for a brand, or evaluating existing

marketing mix models, a level head and objective scrutiny of all options are vital

skills.

Radical shifts in action are not always prudent in radical times. A major shift

toward increased funding of trade discounts can have both an immediate and

long-term impact on how shoppers perceive your brands. (At the other end of the

spectrum, making sweeping decisions to move more money only into direct-to consumer

communication vehicles is just as risky.) Creating the wrong buzz may

lead consumers to cross your whole company off their consideration list.

Marketers don’t have control of this dynamic anymore.

Comparing the disciplines in question provides additional clarity.

Trade promotion, an old methodology that drives volume (and is easy for

the sales organization) but also:

• • Erodes brand value
• • Is brand equity-neutral at best
• • Sets unwanted precedents

• • Often shifts volume rather than building it
• • Gives retailers little opportunity to grow CDI or BDI
• • Has no real marketing benefit

Shopper Marketing, a new discipline that builds business results by:

• • Delivering proven ROI (more so than trade deals or advertising)
• • Directly tying expenditures to performance
• • Requiring no reduction in revenue (as a legitimate marketing expense)
• • Building not only brands, but categories
• • Focusing on shoppers
• • Motivating smarter retailers
• • Leading to more focused, integrated marketing activity
• • Adding value to the sales organization

Shopper marketing is a safe, stable place to invest marketing dollars in both the

short term and when taking the longer view. It’s also an imperative, because

manufacturers must protect and enhance their collaborative planning with key

retailers. Marketers with a unified vision for staying active along the points of

decision with programs and messages that meaningfully speak to today’s

Your customers are thinking very differently, debt loading for the average consumer and family has reached it’s peak, consumers are having a lot of “oh, oh” moments.

Think of that feeling when you reach the peak of the massive roller coaster, and look down at the big drop below… That is what your customers and market are feeling right about now.

Are you prepared to take advantage of the opportunities?

- Elaine Wong

Baby boomers led the U.S. out of a downturn in the last two recessions, but this time around, it will be Gen Xers and millennials paving the way to economic recovery, according to a new report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers today (Tuesday).

The study—called “The New Consumer Behavior Paradigm: Permanent or Fleeting?”—looks at how consumer spending has changed in the last two years. As the nation shifts into recovery mode (February’s unemployment rate held steady at 9.7 percent, per Department of Labor stats), retailers and packaged goods makers can expect the emergence of a more cost- and value-focused consumer. This consumer is also less likely to be driven by “rampant, deal-seeking,” the study found.

When the economy first hit rock bottom, cash-strapped consumers jumped into a frantic, bargain-seeking mode, said Lisa Feigen Dugal, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ U.S. retail and consumer practice advisory leader. Now, that intense focus on meeting budgets and saving any additional cash “will give way to more deliberate and purposeful” spending, Feigen Dugal said.

Baby boomers, however, will not be at the forefront of the economic recovery. That’s because the recession has eaten into this demographics’ savings and retirement accounts, reducing boomers’ ability to spend, Feigen Dugal explained.

The shift is an opportunity for marketers to court Gen Xers and Gen Yers via mobile technologies—including couponing applications, recipe and grocery shopping tools, and comparison-shopping sites, Feigen Dugal said. (Digital couponing is at an all-time high, with the former surpassing print or newspaper coupons by a factor of 10 to 1, per Coupons.com.)

Though Gen Xers and Gen Yers may have less savings income to spend, the latter is “entering its peak earning years,” while millennials have a higher propensity to spend their dollars, Feigen Dugal said. In addition, millennials tend to embrace the latest mobile technology much quicker. Advertisers can now run couponing offers on iPhones and other smartphones.

While there is now more wiggle room for discretionary purchases, the recession has left a permanent mark on shoppers of all ages. The study found that consumers are more likely take into consideration things they “truly need.”

My clients want to understand, and extend their influence over the buying patterns of their customers. They have to get very smart. The first urge is to panic and start a whole slew of new efforts.

Budgets being tightened? You need a secret weapon, you need better aim.

Get smart and use the tools we have discussed, to gather a deep understanding of what makes your customers:

Choose you

Buy More From You

Visit You More Often

Visit you before your Competitors

Let you have the LIONS share of the total spend in your sector

Encourage and advocate for you in their circle of influence

You do not know nearly enough about what makes them do what they do, and that leaves you with less INFLUENCE.

You Lose

Knowledge and Influence will be the decider, in the upcoming cage match, as you, yes you! Fight for diminishing spending and shopping dollars.

Time to wake up and get smarter.

Here is the leading answer, with an article excerpt, and a note from me at the end.

I will say this: You will need to Prioritize –

1. Knowledge

2. Influence

You need to really know the minds, and spending PATTERNS of your customers, and your in store traffic (yes, that includes physical stores and web store/sites)

Author: Bill Gerba on 2006-11-17 07:45:47

The good folks at Reveries Magazine have once again conducted a survey that highlights some of the prevailing opinions about in-store marketing. Their Shopper-Centricity Questionnaire looks at the recent phenomenon of “Shopper Marketing” and tries to determine whether it’s a powerful new strategy or (as some suggest) simply a re-badging of existing, common practices for informing customers. Given that nearly 70% of the 170 respondents listed shopper marketing as either an “important” or “extremely important” part of their 2007 marketing strategy, there’s clearly a renewed interest in how to focus marketing activities on the shopper. With this in mind, I was quite eager to look through the results and see if everybody really is on the same page.

What is shopper marketing?

Oddly enough, the Reveries survey doesn’t actually define the term “shopper marketing,” instead preferring to let the respondents decide if it’s something they engage in, and if so, how important it really is. A Google search for the term and a trip to all of the usual marketing resources on the web also don’t turn up much. But if we apply some common sense, “shopper marketing” can be in-store marketing, loyalty marketing, or even customer relationship management — basically anything that eschews broadcasting ads to the masses in favor of systems that narrowcast relevant, targeted ideas and messages to the individuals who will value them most, thereby improving the overall shopping “experience.” There’s a key distinction between “customers” and “shoppers,” and this is key to the entire idea of shopper marketing: a customer is someone who has purchased something from you before (and who may or may not do so again in the future). A shopper, on the other hand, is someone who is actually engaged in the action of shopping, whether by looking through your catalog, browsing your website, or roaming the aisles of your brick-and-mortar store. Ideally, the right messaging helps convert shoppers into (repeat) customers.

What do marketers think about it?

Many (myself, at times, included) have romanticized shopping into an exciting, social quasi-sport that’s about as far as you can get from your typical 7 pm quick top-off trip at the local supermarket — and there are arguably millions of people who enjoy shopping as a pastime. However, for every shopaholic sitting outside of a department store at 5 am on Black Friday, there are thousands of others who shop out of necessity, and that means millions upon millions of opportunities for retailers and CPGs to deliver a pleasurable experience, whether through innovative product selection and placement, an exceptional in-store environment, or a conversation with a knowledgeable store employee. And if you look at the statistic that I mentioned in the opening paragraph, retailers and product marketers clearly seem to understand just how important those opportunities are: about 70% of the 170 respondents listed shopper marketing as either an “important” or “extremely important” part of their 2007 marketing strategy. But add in those who consider it “moderately important” and we’re up at nearly 90% of respondents, which indicates a pretty significant trend to me.

Why isn’t everyone using shopper marketing?

Barriers to adopting shopper marketing as a major part of an overall program or campaign included all of the usual suspects, including lack of budget/resources, lack of management commitment and the like. However, almost equal to those was a “Lack of a commonly understood Shopper Marketing definition within your company (or client),” which was reported as a problem by 41% of respondents. That’s interesting to me for two reasons: first, it says that shopper marketing is a discipline that doesn’t have clear, uniform boundaries (or perhaps it’s an amalgam of existing marketing practices whose new moniker hasn’t yet caught on). Second, the idea that shopper marketing could be different for every company says that one marketer’s idea of what it entails could be completely different from another’s. That makes the job of putting together a shopper marketing program a tough one, but it also suggests that the demand for such services should be high. When asked which factors are most important to becoming an effective shopper-centric organization, an overwhelming 73.9% responded that having a clear idea of why “understanding one’s target consumers as ’shoppers’ — as opposed to just ‘consumers’ — is important,” and right now, it would seem that there’s a strong need to find marketing experts that can understand this critical distinction.

What are the benefits (sales, loyalty, ROI, etc)?

In terms of the perceived benefits of implementing a shopper marketing program, 42.7% of respondents believed (or hoped) that it would yield increased sales, while others predicted improved customer loyalty or overall ROI. In terms of soft benefits, respondents also expected effective shopper marketing to yield improved relationships with customers (30.2%) and a better understanding of the shopper’s needs (31.5%). That last one is a bit puzzling, since I don’t quite understand how you’d effectively market to your shoppers without knowing what their needs were in the first place, though as one of many tools in the analytics toolbox, responses to existing marketing programs can certainly be used to improve future marketing programs. On the topic of ROI, most respondents believed the ROI of a shopper marketing program to be 50-74% better (45.3%), 75-99% better (14%), 100-124% better (4%) or even more than 125% better (3.3%) than traditional trade spending, though a quick read through the write-in responses for this question shows that a lot of people think it’s too early to tell. Despite this, it’s pretty amazing that two-thirds of respondents find that shopper marketing yields a higher ROI than traditional practices, and with improved methodology (as time goes on and marketers have a chance to refine their techniques) the results should only improve.

Caveat emptor

While the findings from the Reveries survey are certainly interesting, there’s one big problem with taking them at face value: only about 5% of respondents said they worked directly in retail — the bulk were from agencies or related service industries. Now, I know there’s been a lot of buzz lately about major retailers hiring agencies to improve the store experience, but for the vast majority of retailers most in-store decisions are still made by corporate, not an outside agency. Thus, the results from the survey may have been somewhat self-selecting: those agencies and service companies that have experience with shopper marketing (or want to turn it into a revenue stream) were more likely to respond, potentially skewing the results.

Still, the news looks good for those of us who spend our time thinking about how to improve the store experience. Everything about a store — from layout to lighting to signage — can (and should be) improved to make shopping easier and more fun. These efforts tend to help shoppers find what they want and encourage them to spend more time actually enjoying themselves while shopping. Companies like Apple and Starbucks clearly get it, and even behemoths like Wal-Mart are working hard to catch up. So if you still think your retail firm can get away with offering the same bland experience to your customers, perhaps you might want to reconsider. While making your plans for 2007, leave some room for a few simple shopper marketing experiments, and consult your agency, partners and outside experts to help with your store experience planning. Shopper-centric marketing programs are on the rise, and based on the numbers above, they can not only improve your customers’ relationships with your store and your brand, but also drive increased sales and stronger ROI for your marketing dollar.

Let’s put a new lens on the future of shopper marketing.

I’ve pasted a link below and took some excerpts out of the article

http://www.hubmagazine.com/archives/the_hub/2010/jan_feb/the_hub34_mars.pdf

We propose a new diagram as a better way to depict the current landscape of shopper marketing relative to reality only a few short years ago (see chart one). We can use the right column as a checklist of things that require action in today’s version of shopper marketing; full engagement in the discipline means actually delivering something against each item. The practice of shopper marketing is evolving rapidly, with sophisticated retailers expecting manufacturers to bring solutions that drive trips, leverage the potential of the total store and grow basket size. Use this diagram to help make the transition from yesterday’s way of thinking to tomorrow’s action plan simpler and more effective.

We can use the right column as a checklist of things that require action in today’s version of shopper marketing; full engagement in the discipline means actually delivering something against each item

The new shopper-marketing landscape has changed from CPG to Retail

Yesterday

Today

Consumer

Shopper

Top Down

Bottom Up

Brand Management

Shopper Solutions

Category Share

Shopper Share

Transactional Data

Shopper Insights

How They Shop

Why They Buy

Talk To

Talk With

Media Silos

Everywhere Messages

Creative Isolation

Integrated Campaign

Isolated Innovation

Collaborative Innovation

Snapshot of a solution. To win where the shopper’s decision is really made, marketers should move beyond home-based demand/consumption thinking to full path-to purchase understanding and messaging. We’ve coined the progressive path to planning all marketing activity as “shopper-designed” planning. This planning rigor has been in place for years within many progressive agencies and manufacturing companies, and may well be the defining principle of a retailer-specific view on shopper marketing processes for the future. When the initiative works as a solution for the shopper and builds traffic/basket size for the retailer, and grows a brand without undermining the category, it makes the cut. When an approach or concept supports a strategy that both the manufacturer and multiple retailers have in common, it should ladder up to be considered by the manufacturer as an integrated national program that marketing dollars can support across a range of timeframes that make sense for multiple retailers

Get started, with a great snapshot of customers and traffic, there are innovative ways to gain insight and influence, you need to know for 2010.

What do you really know about your customers and your store traffic, and if it is a web store, what do you know about the traffic there?

You probably have some metrics that tell you traffic totals, conversion rates, average sales etc…

What do you really know about their needs, thoughts, and aspirations?

How much is it costing you in lost sales, poor performance, and MISSED OPPORTUNITIES?

The example below, demonstrates the value of really knowing your traffic and your market, as well as your customers.

Retailer Caters to the Recently Divorced (only 50% or more of the adult population right?, so not very important?)

By George Anderson

Lindsay Conway, director of social services in the Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland, finds it “very bizarre.”

Debenhams sees it as a social service and an opportunity to drive sales in its stores.

The “it” here is Debenhams’ Divorce Gift List registry service, which was launched earlier this week to help people who have ended their marriages get on with the rest of their lives.

Peter Moore, head of retail services at Debenhams, told the Belfast Telegraph, “With so many couples now living together before they marry, the Wedding Gift List concept is now regarded as more of an upgrade service, rather than stocking up the first home with the basics.

“However, a divorce means that one partner will be leaving the marital home and therefore be left without any essentials in their new house.”

Among the items the recently divorced often need include dishes, glasses, linens, towels, microwaves and toasters.

“Divorcing can be an expensive time and registering for a Divorce Gift List means that family and friends can help the newly separated begin their new life,” Mr. Moore told the Telegraph.

Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium, told CNN, “It’s about focusing on what your customers need and want, and of course looking for new opportunities.”

Great idea, pray tell, how will you excel this coming year?

By Dan Alaimo

Shoppers do not necessarily fit into the demographic boxes marketers have traditionally used to develop promotional and sales programs. When consumers are divided into three groups based on shopping behavior, the usual definitions of size of household, income and age do not apply any more.

As a result, retailers and marketers have to rethink what drives the consumer to buy, said Mack Hoopes, manager of shopper insights at Henkel’s Dial Corp. More specifically, what is needed today is a better way to help retailers understand how their customers prefer to shop.

That was the central finding of new research from Henkel Consumer Goods, Scottsdale, Ariz., which markets Dial and Purex among other prominent brands.  The company is now presenting the study results to retailers, Hoopes told CPGmatters.

“We are helping our retail partners identify the proper timing of communication, and the type of communication by category to shoppers so they can increase baskets, trips, revenue and profits,” he said.

The study was published in the spring, and retailers are seeing it for the first time this fall, so “we are fairly new at this,” and there are no measurable results yet. “It is getting a very positive reception from our retailing partners, and we are understanding together how we can execute behind this.”

The company hopes the study will help retailers attract new customers, and then communicate to them with clarity and precision. The research will enable retailers to “understand which categories attract them and which categories don’t attract them so they can be more efficient operators,” he added. At Henkel, “we think we have some brands that play into that, and drive some of those attributes.”

Hoopes presented the results of the study at the LEAD Marketing Conference recently in Chicago. Using a common market research presentation technique, the study named the three groups as: ‘Shoptimizers,’ ‘Mainstreeters’ and ‘Carefrees.’

Shoptimizers is “a group that takes a lot of time pre-planning their trips, reading ads, cutting coupons, organizing lists. They spend an inordinate amount of time doing that,” Hoopes said.

Mainstreeters is a “group that says, ‘I don’t have that kind of time’ or ‘I don’t want to spend that kind of time.’ ‘I’m just going to go to the store with my simple list. I trust the store and I’m going to buy what I have to.’”

Carefrees are not responsive to marketing messages. “They are not going to spend any time (preparing to shop), and they are the kind of people who buy what they want when they want to buy it. Regardless of pricing or promotions, they are just going to go in and get what they want,” he said.

But the most surprising finding of the study was that none of these behaviors can be predicted based upon current demographic information. “Regardless of how much you make, how old you are, or how many people in your household, you could actually be anyone of the three behavioral types.”

So as a result, “we have to rethink how we go into the marketplace because each of these groups responds to the stimuli that manufacturers put in front of them very differently. It requires thinking about how we are communicating with the shopper and at what point in their shopping trip – or shopping style – we are going to talk to them,” he concluded.

Retailers and manufacturers need to evaluate implications in four areas, according to Hoopes’ presentation:

• Retailer Positioning Realize that different groups frequent different formats. There are opportunities to appeal to certain segments and define their place in the market, while taking into account key behavioral tendencies of core shoppers.

• Retailer Segmentation The study suggests more relevant and impactful ways for store clustering. Retailers can determine what type of shopper they want, and develop marketing and merchandising strategies to appeal to them.

• Promotion Targeting Shopper segments react differently to various messages and promotions, so focusing on what the desired segments respond to can lead to more effective targeting.

• Product Distribution The study could lead retailers and other marketers to rethink the 100% ACV (all commodity volume) objective. Some stores or store formats may not need to carry some products depending on the purchase behavior of their    core shoppers.

In conducting the research, Henkel, led by the Dial team which includes Hoopes, analyzed over 300 categories from 2006 through 2008. The company is continuing to track these segments to determine how or if shopping behavior patterns change during 2009 and beyond. Besides Dial and Purex, other Henkel brands include Combat, Dry Idea, got2b, Loctite, Renuzit, Right Guard, Soft & Dri, and Soft Scrub.

Summing up, Hoopes said retailers and manufacturers need to take a closer look at “what drives their shoppers to buy: where they buy and the types of media or vehicles that would stimulate them to buy.”

Integrating the latest cutting edge market research tools that measure emotional response and linkage, to a top grade tool to measure buying habits and patterns, with regular buyer and non buyer surveys, will help you understand what makes consumers tick.

The more you know about your customers, the better you can target them with relevant offers in a meaningful way. Different types of data—attitudinal, behavioral and demographic—enable different targeting abilities based on preference, purchasing and lifestyle. You can use each of these data types alone to create a marketing advantage, but they are most valuable when used in combination. Here’s how:

1. First, survey your customers to learn their attitudes about your brand and your products or services. Ask questions such as:

* What marketing channels do you use to purchase?
* What types of promotions are more enticing?
* What do you think about our brand, products, customer service?
* How do you research products before buying?

Use the answers to create selection data points in your marketing database. If surveying your customers is not an option, enhance your customer database with third-party attitudinal data. The data may be broader, but it’s still valuable to determine how to approach customers with a differentiated offer.

2. Next, create attitudinal segments (clusters) of your customers using the attitudinal data from the survey responses. (Keep the responders’ names and physical addresses—you’ll need that later!)

Once you better understand the attitudes and opinions of customer segments, you can customize products as well as target customers with better messaging and more relevant offers. Customers are far more likely to respond to an offer that resonates with their individual preferences than to a generic offer.

Attitudinal data tells you how to talk to a customer segment, not who is most likely to buy. For that, you need demographic and behavioral data.

3. By appending third-party demographic data to your customer and prospect universes, you can project the attitudinal segments by building a segmentation projection model (discriminant analysis). You also may further define subsegments by using other demographic data such as proximity to your stores, presence of children or generation (e.g., gen Xers or baby boomers).

4. Once you assign the segments on your customer database, you can build models within each segment using behavioral data such as previous purchases or campaign responses to improve targeting. These behavioral models tell you which customers within each segment are most likely to respond and/or purchase. This final, critical step allows you to limit your marketing spend to just those customers and prospects within a segment who are likely to purchase.

Attitudinal data drives the segmentation, telling you how to communicate with your customers. Behavioral data and demographics improve the targeting to just those customers who are most responsive and likely to buy.

Used in combination, attitudinal, demographic and behavioral information also provides enhanced strategic insights and help you improve product positioning and market intelligence. Varied information used together leads to better targeting to grow customers and increase your bottom line.

The Data Combo in Action
Let’s look at a hypothetical example:

Company: Furniture Store
Segment: Home Fashionistas; values high-end products
Attitudes: Prefers to research online, buy in-store due to online shopping security concerns and touch/feel product before buying; also likes new styles and premium fabrics
Behavior: High-value purchases, high frequency, all purchases made in-store
Demographics: Suburban, within 20 miles of a retail location, high household income, female, ages 45-55

You may find an attitudinal segment within your survey that describes a customer always on the lookout for the latest designs and fabrics. Projecting this segment onto your customer base reveals other like-minded customers. Look at past e-mail campaigns to this segment to discover the behavioral, geographic and demographic attributes that drive purchases at a local store through e-mail response. Next, develop an e-mail campaign that mentions new products added to the collection or fabrics that she needs to see in person to drive her into the store. You can see that isolating one data type over another leaves some part of the segment profile unanswered. Your ROI will be negatively affected if you talk to customers with these attitudes who don’t live near a store, or who aren’t likely to purchase.

There are better ways to get to know customers and have a real time understanding of what makes them buy, and what determines where they buy.

You can use the insights and relationships to effectively influence that behavior in YOUR favor.

_________________________________

Deflation Pressures Intact

This may be one reason why government bonds refuse to sell off despite the surge in the equity market. The Wall Street Journal reports that companies like Clorox is keeping prices stable on items like its new and improved trash bags. Campbell’s Soup is cutting prices on select beverages (like V8). Burger King is selling double cheeseburgers for a buck. And, what’s this about RIM starting up a smartphone price war? According to a new holiday season poll taken by Deloitte, 74% of respondents intend to only buy items on sale or with discount coupons. The same survey indicates that holiday shopping will be flat year-over-year this year, which at one point would have been amazingly bullish but at this stage is likely a setback for the stock market. Keep in mind that Wal-Mart is now expecting 1.0%-2.0% sales growth into January 2010 whereas a year ago that expectation was in a 5.0%-7.0% range.

If there is some good news for retailers, it is that they are heading into the shopping season with fairly lean inventories — that won’t prevent but should help limit ultra-steep markdowns this year.

Martin Comments:

United States retail will very tight excepting niche markets, we are finding that understanding the patterns and behavior behind the analytic sales numbers is critical to success.

Retailers have a better grasp than ever of the retail scene through a variety of analytic tools, what they do not know, is:

WHY DO CUSTOMERS DO WHAT THEY DO AND HOW DO I MOST EFFECTIVELY INFLUENCE THAT BEHAVIOR IN MY FAVOR?

This is working very well for our retail partners,

Employ strategies and tactics that effectively alter the shopping behavior of your customers – the primary shopper, and those who shop with them and their circle of influence.

You will see what increases revenue in the store today.

Patterns caused by underlying behavior, make your sales numbers what they are, you really need help understanding the underlying thinking of your customers and market.

You and I both know, what customers say, and think, and actually do, when it comes time to spend, can be quite different, this research below may be helpful to you.

The question that I would pose:

“How do you get a granular fix on your changing customer and market, and how do you use that knowledge to take fast effective actions where it will count the most?”

I sincerely hope this is helpful to you, ps what will your customers and potential market be doing this year? My experience suggests that we can help.

Martin

(from retail wire)
Turbulent Times, Reexamined
Actual Behavior vs. Expectations

About the research:
The objective of the 2008 Unilever Trip Management Report was to uncover unique insights into the shopping tactics that would emerge under the stresses of the recessionary economy. Research, conducted in March of 2008, covered 47,000 U.S. households and 36 key categories.

Later in the year, Unilever used cluster analysis to understand the patterns of change in actual buying behavior that had occurred across 120+ Nielsen categories.
When Unilever reported the results of its Trip Management Report last April, the threat of recession had consumers worried but, for most, the reality hadn’t yet hit. Unilever felt that the rich insights derived from that study warranted a deep dive into the data later in the year to see how CPG categories were actually shopped in 2008.

Highlighted “key takeaways” from April’s original Trip Management Report prior to sharing results and recommendations from the follow-up research. Of course, even in March of ‘08, consumers expected that economic circumstances and rising prices would change the way they would live and shop. Shoppers recognized that “quick trips” were uneconomical and hoped to do more planned, stock-up shopping to save money. Also, retailers were advised, given the results, that top and bottom tier positions would do best, while consumer propositions that appealed to the mid-tier would have to struggle more in order to maintain market share. And since both high and low income shoppers were in many cases “swapping habits,” it would be essential that operators looked at the effect of changes category-by-category.

That was then, this is now…
In order to get a handle on what shoppers were actually doing in 2008, vs. what they assumed they’d do, Unilever turned to cluster analysis – simultaneously considering the shoppers’ savings tactics across 120+ Nielsen categories. What was revealed were seven distinct patterns of CPG shopping in 2008. For retailers and manufacturers, a look at these macro-trends can help determine which categories shoppers are abandoning, cutting back on, and which are continuing to prosper.

The new research revealed that there is certainly “trading down” going on, but it is the penetration declines that are most troubling to CPG categories. Retailers should

• Find SIMPLE ways to increase their value to shoppers and make sure that these are communicated clearly and often;
• Come to understand the types of sacrifices their shoppers are making and find ways to help them cope and feel better. Shoppers need to feel that you understand their pain and want to work with them in these difficult times;
• Understand how shoppers are treating important categories to help determine retail strategies;
• Leverage “Categories That Grow in Turbulent Times”;
• Drive buying rates in other categories.

Time to get a real handle on the real thoughts that link to purchase actions of your market

This year, retailers are expected to see a 1% increase in same-store sales in November and December, according to trade group International Council of Shopping Centers. Factoring in January, sales may rise 1.5%, their best performance in three years, ICSC said.

Last year, they dropped 5.8% in November and December and declined 5.4% including January, marking their worst performance on record by both measures, ICSC said.

After trending downward for the past two years, U.S. average weekly earnings have risen, which may translate to “a positive omen” this holiday season, ICSC said.

At the same time, some signs of improvement in the job picture are emerging, with initial jobless claims declining to below 550,000 in September. In March, they reached their highest level in more than 26 years. The recession, which began in the 2007 holiday season, ended this past July, ICSC’s chief economist Michael Niemira said in an email.

“Retailers will experience their first non-recession holiday season in three years, and economic growth is fundamentally on the mend, even though there will be lingering pockets of weakness,” Niemira said. “The wear and tear of the recession and financial crisis on the consumer psyche [are] slowly giving way to renewed hope, optimism and most likely gift buying.”

In the wake of this year’s nascent economic recovery, shares of department stores and upscale retailers like Macy’s Inc. , Saks Inc. , Nordstrom Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. have outperformed the broader retail index and discounters such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. .

As a case in point, at the recent Coterie trade show, which showcased designers’ spring collections to retail buyers, there was a steady flow of traffic, with retail buyers and designers seeing improved sentiment and orders. See full story.

The recession and record-high unemployment have led retailers across the board to lower inventory, which likely means they won’t have to offer the steep profit-eroding discounts of last holiday season in response to a sharp fall-off in demand, Niemira said.

The recession has forced some retailers out of business, but those that remain will be stronger as a whole during the upcoming holiday season, he said. Retailers from Circuit City to Linens ‘n Things have shut their stores.

While the trend of consumers buying items for themselves may be “at risk,” spending on gifts will likely improve this year, he said.

“One of the only positive factors that the retail industry can uniformly agree upon is that the year-over-year arithmetic is more favorable compared with the dismal 2008 holiday season,” Niemira said.

Ok, nice spin, but with only the government and interested “spin” partners like the mainstream media, screaming into an empty room, I have news that you know in your gut is true

– THE RECESSION IS NOT OVER-

We are noticing that shoppers are way more careful, and they are far more likely to “shop around” than ever before, before they make a deal.

If you want to survive this season, you better make sure that you understand your competition very well.

Do you really know why your shoppers, and in store browsers go to selected competition?

Do you know what they are thinking and most of all

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT TRIGGERS THEIR BUYING DECISION?

Does your completion know better than you?

We notice that along with buying patterns, buying “triggers” are changing fast.

Price, perception of value, store display and the quality of display “communication and connection” are now critical.

Staff interactions are changing, and selling styles that create a “buy decision” are radically different now.

Buying is triggered by the right combination of store, environment, engagement, experience and value perception….

These factors are changing at a faster rate than ever before, and you need to be able to read the signs as they change, not weeks later in your sales data.

Get ready for a very brutal and competitive season, perhaps if you are ready, and proactive:

Season’s Greetings, and if you are not…Season’s beatings indeed…

Here is a useful article and my comments after the article:

Simon Houpt

Toronto — With files from Reuters Last updated on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 07:49AM EDT

For a moment, you could almost hear the sighs of relief. When a trio of big U.S.-based retailers reported second-quarter earnings on Tuesday that beat analysts’ expectations, the markets responded with a little spring in their step.

Were consumers finally stripping off their recession-era duds to come to the rescue of the world economy?

Alas, a closer look at the numbers reported by Home Depot Inc., (HD-N26.76-0.17-0.63%) Target Corp., (TGT-N45.090.771.74%) and Saks Inc. (SKS-N5.64-0.08-1.40%) suggests none of the conventional approaches for targeting consumers are having an effect. The news from all three retailing powerhouses was only good because it wasn’t as bad as everyone expected, and consumers are still window-shopping instead of heading to the cash.

Home Depot’s second-quarter profit was down 7.2 per cent to $1.12-billion (U.S.) from $1.2-billion, while the high-end retailer Saks had to choke down a loss of $54.5-million. Meanwhile, Target, which has ridden a whimsical image of smart and fashionable fun to its position as the No. 2 U.S. discount chain, reported profit of $1.064-billion in the quarter, down 3.1 per cent from a year earlier. That followed last week’s news that even Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had suffered a 1.4-per-cent drop in revenue.

The U.S. consumer who is supposed to drive the economic recovery has yet to relax behind the wheel and stop shaking with anxiety. Penny-pinching has cut across a broad swath of the retail landscape, as shoppers steer clear of luxe goods at the likes of Saks, but also cut down on the more downmarket but still chic offerings of Target, and even the household staples at Wal-Mart.

Instead, consumers are looking to the lower rung of the retail ladder: the discounters. TJX Cos. Inc., which owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, reported a 4-per-cent rise in sales, and attributed it to “extraordinary increases” in customer traffic.

To try to lure back the most cost-conscious shoppers from the discounters’ aisles, retailers such as Target have responded by retooling their advertising campaigns to focus more heavily on price. In television ads this season, the red-and-white bull’s-eye marketer has heavily sprinkled its message with prices for inexpensive goods like summer clothing for the whole family.

“They’re trying to reposition themselves with a bit more of a price story, where previously they really avoided that aspect,” said Scott Smith, a senior vice-president with the brand consulting company Interbrand. “Target has definitely struggled in this economy.”

Once at the mall, shoppers are reminded by in-store displays that Target regularly checks its competitors’ prices.

But even the new marketing focus on price may not be enough.

Consumers, while more confident in their own financial security than they were during the dark days of last winter, still have legitimate reasons to be nervous: Unemployment is projected to remain high for the next year, consumers perceive that their paycheques are not keeping pace with inflation, and many workers remain concerned they’ll be laid off, said Ken Goldstein, a labour economist with the New York-based Conference Board.

The recession, now more than halfway through its second year in the United States, is still holding on tight. “To be blunt about it, [consumers] are wondering how goddamned long this is going to go on,” he said.

With U.S. students returning to the classroom in less than three weeks, early back-to-school sales seem to be a widespread bust. Worse, those sales are a key signal for U.S. marketers and retailers on how to approach the holiday season. If sales remain sluggish this month, the rest of the year will be a washout, too.

Mr. Goldstein noted the increase in the savings rates for U.S. consumers was preventing a speedier recovery. “In some past recessions, consumers were not spending money consumers didn’t have. This time around is different. Consumers are not spending money consumers do have,” he said.

While the increase in the savings rate is a necessary step for the long-term health of the economy, few seem as concerned about the state of affairs 10 years down the road as they do the state of affairs next year. The U.S. consumer, then, isn’t so much a superhero as a cardiac patient that needs a jolt of life now.

“The money is there if consumers decide to spend, but there’s no evidence they’re in any mood right now, or are likely to be through the holiday season, to start to spend some of that money.”

Martin Comments:

One, the money is not there, average savings rates are climbing because consumer debt is being squeezed off, and or paid down or defaulted on.

If a customer has less credit available, does that sound like more money available to you?

So, it will be a brutal fight for market share and every dollar this year.  In addition, your budgets are decreased, and your head count is down.  You will need a very accurate method to climb inside the mind of your customers and marketplace to gain KNOWLEDGE, INSIGHT, AND INFLUENCE.  You will need to assess very accurately, what you can do with minimal resources, that will have MAXIMUM IMPACT ON SALES AND REVENUE.

Are you ready to fight intelligently?  You will have less money less time and less resources, you better be smart and have real time intelligent influence.

Your competitors will.