Ten years ago, if you had a shop selling books, airline tickets, music and video and consumer electronics, you probably weren’t too bothered by e-commerce. Sales on the internet were a marginal thing; there was little evidence to suggest the mass market was going online. Today if you still own a shop in these areas you are either highly specialized or going out of business. Nobody can argue that, in these categories, online shopping has not radically changed the retail landscape. Today this is far from being true in grocery retail. So should CPG marketers worry that the future of grocery shopping might be radically different to what we have become accustomed to today? [Read more…]
Big data – Big Headache!
Everywhere we turn at the moment, the massive explosion in “big data” affects us. In the consumer goods industry, data that was simply inaccessible a few years ago appears to be coming out of the woodwork. I wonder if managers can keep up. In the last year I’ve heard marketing and sales managers complain frequently of their team’s inability to manage, work with and use the consumer and shopper insight they have available – Big data is causing a big headache! [Read more…]
If It’s Not Strategic, It Isn’t Shopper Marketing
There has recently been a huge amount of debate recently as to whether shopper marketing is strategic or tactical, especially following Mike Anthony’s post on whether shoppers are consumers or not. The major fact of the matter is that shopper marketing has been mis-defined for too long. Without a clear view of what shopper marketing is – the debate on what it does will rage. So just what is Shopper Marketing? [Read more…]
Do Retailers Dictate Your Brand Strategy?
I bet reading this question most CPG marketers will immediately respond with a chorus of “Hell no, I determine my own brand strategy!”. But before you get too excited, let’s just think about the facts: For most, if not all, consumer goods companies, retail expenditure is the number one cost after cost of goods. In many cases 60% of A&P budgets now go “below-the-line”. Most companies struggle to contain a widening gap between gross and net sales. In many markets, getting a listing in key retailers is essential to ensure the success of a brand. [Read more…]
We’ve Done Category Management – Now What?
I met a client in China last week who was telling me of their success in conducting category management programs with two major multi-national retailers. “The thing is, we’ve been doing this for two years and we ask ourselves, now what? Our partners are supportive but they keep challenging us to come up with something new”. I started reflecting on their options and what guidance to give.
Thinking about the situation, the people I met where in a fortunate situation – first their experience was positive: the retail partners had delivered a reasonable level of implementation (c. 50% – which is great for China); both sales and market share had grown and the retailers remained engaged. Second, buoyed by a positive experience, the company had gone on to invest in deeper research into shopper behavior in broader capability in managing large data sets. The management team I spoke to was convinced that the next step was to secure more category partnerships with key retailers. I’m not so sure, here’s why: [Read more…]