Shopper Marketing Executives: 3 Ways to Gain Attention in an Increasingly Distracted World

As shopper marketing executives, you know the importance of getting the shopper’s attention and how new technology is making this more difficult. As a graduate student at Northwestern University in Medill’s Integrated Marketing Communications program who has learned from experts at Arc Worldwide, I have found articles which address the issue of how shopper marketers need to implement strategies that get noticed.

In, “5 Trends That Are Radically Reshaping Shopper Marketing,” T.L. Stanley writes about how most shoppers prefer to buy from physical stores, rather than buying online. Shoppers want to touch and feel before they purchase. Additionally, virtual reality, beacons, and other new technologies are joining the shopper marketing realm in order to enhance the shoppers’ experience. Stanley emphasizes a personal approach to shopper marketing, and that it isn’t just about the standard display anymore. If it doesn’t capture the shopper’s attention, it isn’t relevant.

            

                Source: Gartner

           

            Jonathan Dodd shares tips for shopper marketers in “10 Ways Shopper Marketing Can Help Improve Sales in a Tough Economy,” on how to improve their sales in today’s evolving market. He stresses that “consumers use, shoppers buy,” and that shopper marketing focuses on the active behaviors in the purchase decision journey. In addition, Dodd recommends keeping the message simple, otherwise shoppers will default to price. Also, he recommends shopper marketers should constantly evaluate and remain flexible when it comes to their campaigns.

           

Based on my review of these two articles, and my relevant studies in the Medill IMC program at Northwestern, I have developed 3 action-items you should regard for the future, they are:

• ·      No Attention, No Sale—If it doesn’t grab and keep the shopper’s attention, it won’t work.
• ·      High-Touch = High-Engagement—It’s important to engage the community by being interactive.
• ·      It’s Their Journey—It is important to remember that it’s about the shopper’s purchase journey, their active behaviors, and to look beyond the traditional “push” campaigns.

 Next time you’re creating a new shopper marketing campaign, remember these 3 action-items, and you’ll have more and greater successes.

 

Mary C. Fox

I am a Northwestern University graduate student studying Integrated Marketing Communications, graduating in August 2017, and I am interested in specializing in Brand Strategy and Strategic Communications. You can follow me on Twitter at @MCatFox or on LinkedIn.

            

Beauty Marketers: 3 Tips to Create Exceptional Digital Programs

As the CMO of a beauty and cosmetics company, it is not surprising that the customers are moving towards the digital and mobile commerce platform. Have worked for a Fortune 500 company with direct contact with customers, I shift my focus to brand strategy and digital marketing. During my time as a student in Integrated Marketing Communications program at Northwestern, I found two useful articles for you as your company want to consider to create distinctive digital programs for your brands. 

The article Mirror,mirror on your app…The cosmetics industry embraces digital written by Emilie Jones and Simon Frankel, it discussed the launch of L’Oreal new mobile app which act as a virtual make-up mirror and the trend of digitalization in cosmetics industry. It also examined the risks of moving towards digital platform: lack of employee customer service and expert advice, trying on virtual mirror is different from trying on actual skin.

Source: http://modiface.com/news/490/im.jpg

In another article Mobile apps: opportunity or risk for beauty brands? written by Lucy Whitehouse, it looked at the proliferation of mobile apps of beauty products and analyzes some opportunities and risks involved for brands. It talks about the more informed consumers who can search anything online about product reviews and information, mobile apps that developed for beauty product reviews, or private virtual communities for beauty expert and enthusiasts all pose challenges for companies that want to develop strategies to go into digital platform.

Based on these two articles and my graduate learning in Medill IMC program, here are three action items I recommend:

• Develop Multi-Channel Experiences- Digital sites allow consumers to see, interact and experience your products in a new and better way

• Monitor and Respond- carefully monitor people’s activity about your company in social media platform, especially on private virtual communities.

• Act as an expert, offer solutions- establish expertise in the mind of consumers when they are having skin problem or wonders will help your company to build long-term relationship with the consumers.

It is clear that as consumers shift their purchases from traditional retail to e-commerce, it is not surprising that beauty and cosmetics companies also want to follow the trend and capture the benefit of proliferation of digital platform. 

Lisa Hu is current a full-time student at IMC program in Medill at Northwestern graduating in December 2015, she specializes in brand strategy and digital interactive marketing and pursue a marketing career in beauty and cosmetics industry. Two years of experience working in retail industry, have worked in China and the U.S gives her a more global perspective when looking at consumers behavior and trends.

Contact Lisa via Linkedin or Twitter 

CPG Executives: Branding Authenticity, the Key to Make Your Brand Stand Out Today

As consumers have access to more information about brands in today’s world, brand authenticity becomes a more and more critical point of difference for consumer-packaged goods.  But with consumers gaining more power in their relationships with brands, how to build an authentic brand image in their perception?

As a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill IMC program (@VitaminIMC) with an interest in brand management, I have identified two articles that can help CPG branders to successfully make your brand authentic.

In the article “Customers Demand These 2 Fundamental Aspects of Authentic Brands”, Jim Joseph (@JimJoseph ), the President of Cohn & Wolfe, pointed out that purpose and protection are the 2 aspects consumers care most about brand authenticity, especially for entrepreneurial marketing. Based on his research, 76 percent of U.S. consumers think brands should have a story of what they believe besides making money. For protection, consumers not only want brands help them avoid harms, they also assume brands should protect them. 78 percent of consumers would stop buying the brands when they don’t feel safe with the brands. The conclusion is that to build an authentic brand image, marketers need to show transparency in business practice in consumer communication.

(Picture source: marketoonist @tomfishburne)

While purpose and protection are essential in building brand authenticity, Matthew Hutson’s(@matthewhutson(silverjacket)) article “Quenching Consumers’ Thirst for ‘Authentic’ Brands” argues that heritage, sincerity and commitment to quality are 3 dimensions consumers see as brand authenticity. It is also concluded in the article that these 3 dimensions are linked with each other. To make consumers trust your brand, marketers should figure out a way of telling the brand story so that consumers can feel the connection between them and the brand.

Based on the 2 articles and my graduation study in Medill IMC Program, there are 3 action items I recommend you to consider.

• Listen To Consumers – Brand authenticity has different meanings to different consumers. Abandon your assumption and listen to what consumers think of it.

• Tell A Good Story – Authentic brand doesn’t mean being bland. Find a cultural essence of your brand as the heritage and tell consumers a good story to show them a transparent business process.

• Grow On Your Heritage – For those brands already have heritage, root the communication in it while grow with your consumers as the social environment change. Adjust the meaning of the brand and use social media for efficient communication. 

In this versatile market environment, if your brand is not perceived as authentic, it is fatal. To stand out in the homogeneous world, CPG brands really need to consider the proposals mentioned above. Keep in mind that transparency and openness will always be the base of successful authentic brand building.

 “Rain”, Xinwei Yang is a graduate student pursuing her M.S. in Integrated Marketing Communication at Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern. She will be graduated in Dec. 2015. She is a marketer specializing in branding and interactive marketing with a strong passion in the consumer packaged goods industry. You can reach Rain on Linkedin or follow her on Twitter @Rain_yxw.

Big Data: Opportunities vs. Threats

As marketers, we are receiving overwhelmingly amount of data from multiple channels everyday. We all know that big data provide us with the ability to make more insightful decision. But what exactly is Big Data? 

Once upon a time, marketing is completely an art. Agencies creates ads based on guts. “Leo Burnett didn’t need a legion of focus groups to come up with the Marlboro Man”. With big data, however, marketing is now becoming a combination of arts and science.

For example, the article "Big Data, Big Opportunity" by David Murthy discovers that mobile has become a trendy devices for customers, and ad spending has been significantly increased in the recent years. You may find the full article via:

 http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/gc-guavus-april2014 

This finding tells us the consumer behavior of using more mobile devices. However, what are some in depth insight marketers may find in mobile using behavior. For example, If consumers are using mobile than other devices to engage with your brand, marketers could put more investment on mobile ad. If consumers are just browsing one or a few products from your brand, marketers may put design more ads of these particular products on mobile. If consumers are simply browsing your products instead of purchasing with mobile devices, marketers may design easily purchasing feature on mobile to encourage mobile orders, and thus to drive direct orders. Big data tells us some commons sense we might have ignored before, and we should all using the data based on our own needs.

However, marketers can be drowned by data as well. Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath and Anne Quaadgras' article You May Not Need Big Data After All tells that big data has been “hyped so heavily that companies are expecting it to deliver more value than it actually can.” This article illustrates that some companies, even have obtained the consumer insight that may provide them with competitive advantage, however, are not actionable at all. You may find the full article through:

http://hbr.org/2013/12/you-may-not-need-big-data-after-all/ar/1

For many companies, the real purpose of big data is to provide evidence for decision makers, and to utilize data to guide decision making process constantly.

Several steps were suggested to improve big data efficiency:  

1.   Making a clear business plan. It is important to define the goal of data, and have a clear vision of how could data contribute to a specific case. Understanding how data would support the business goal, ensuring your effort can be aligned with the business goal.

2.   Understanding the data you already have, and identifying those data you need. Collecting and analyzing data with a reason.

3.   Turning data into structured insight after capturing the data.

4.   Making your data and insight actionable. Based on the original plan, execute the planned project by using elements of the big data. Always keeping ROI in mind.

5.   Making strategic plans and tactics to solve the problem. Testing the market and keep track of the ROI. 

In conclusion:

Big data gives marketers both opportunities and threats. Many companies may put too much effort in collecting too much data without integrating data analysis into profitably used with a business vision. We should always keep in mind that big data is just serving for the company, and we are not serving for the data. 

The author, "Alisha" Fengzhi Chen is an integrated marketing communication graduate student at Northwestern University. She is particular interested in turning data into actionable insight and marketing strategy, therefore to improve ROI. You may contact the author via +Fengzhi Chen twitter: @fengzhichen