FRIDAY FOCUS – Shopper Marketing and You

A major retail news event happened this week with the release of a new study by Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) and Deloitte Consulting LLP. Delivering the Promise of Shopper Marketing: Mastering Execution for Competitive Advantage spends most of its attention on the philosophical and cultural aspects of Shopper Marketing. However, once you absorb and dissect the report, there is meaningful information for the members of NARMS and a foreshadowing of continued and increased at-retail service merchandising and marketing opportunities.

So what is Shopper Marketing? According to the report, “Shopper marketing is the employment of any marketing stimuli, developed based on a deep understanding of shopper behavior, designed to build brand equity, engage the shopper, and lead him/her to make a purchase. The premise behind shopper marketing is that manufacturers and retailers can together create a more engaging shopper experience, influencing shoppers at the point of purchase where they make most final buying decisions. Shopper marketing is about using insights, specifically targeting the core shopper… Shopper marketing brings shoppers into the marketing plan, and the marketing plan into stores.” Bringing the marketing plan to the store equals at-retail marketing activity.

In 2007, GMA and Deloitte reported that only 6 percent of manufacturers, and no retailers, had significant shopper marketing organizations. In this study, 29 percent of the manufacturers and 60 percent of the surveyed retailers had organizations of more than 20 people. There’s a reason for the sharp increase. Respondents said that over the next three years in-store marketing activity will continue to grow at a rate higher than that for almost any other marketing tactic. But the research indicates that very few have systematized the capabilities needed to sustain success.

Not surprisingly, at-retail execution is one of the pitfalls standing in the way of sustained success. As in recent findings by the ISI Sharegroup and featured in the NARMS “Value of Using a NARMS Member”, execution seems to be the culprit. The report says that, “Even the organizations with the most advanced shopper marketing operations identify execution as their Achilles’ heel….Companies lack the tools and data to uncover insights and measure results…. Organizations cannot track or ensure compliance.”

Right about now, the phrase, “We can help with that,” comes to mind. The report agrees, “No organization can be good at every component of a shopper marketing effort. Third-party agencies enhance the effectiveness of many organizations’ shopper marketing programs…. They fill key competency gaps in the pathway from insight development to in-store execution of programs.”

So what does all this mean? Clearly sophisticated Shopper Marketing programs are on the horizon and at-retail activities from planning to execution and measurement will be needed if this phenomenon is to reach its full potential. It’s time to find out what your customers intentions are and to let them know, “We can help with that!