Take a look at this clip from Unilever. It’s cool isn’t it? Indeed it’s one of five videos on the Clear Singapore YouTube channel encouraging men to be, well men, but also to look after their hair.
There’s a lot of sound consumer thinking here: encouraging male consumers to use a specific shampoo potentially encourages them to use a higher value product and it potentially gets two bottles of shampoo into the shower instead of one. But my question is, will this be enough to drive sales of the brand – I can see how it works for the consumer – but how does it work for the shopper? This is one consumer marketing campaign that needs a shopper marketing solution!
What is a shopper marketing solution?
A shopper marketing solution addresses an extremely common problem – how do you ensure that consumers who want to use your brand actually do use it? In this case, if Unilever wants young men to wash their hair with Clear, they have to get bottles of Clear into those young men’s bathrooms. This means someone has to buy the product – and in this case that might be difficult because the target consumer is probably not the target shopper.
The target consumer
It’s pretty clear that the target consumer group here is young, unmarried men who currently use a shampoo designed for women. The ad is likely to play really well for this segment, not because it reflects real life but more because it reflects the life they aspire to. The reality is that the vast majority of the guys Clear is targeting most likely live at home with their parents: The property market is such in Singapore that for many under-30s living by oneself is impossibly expensive and relatively traditional values mean that cohabitation is rare. So the guys watching these ads are at best aspiring to share a girlfriend’s shampoo; in the real world most will be sharing their moms’ or sisters’ shampoo (in the real-world too, they are probably significantly younger than the guy in the ad!).
The target shopper
Who buys shampoo for young men living at home? Well certainly some young men do. Whilst not knowing what actually happens in Singapore, we do know that 31% of grocery shopping in the US is done by males. But we also know from research we’ve done in other Asian markets that more than 60% of men’s personal care products are bought by women. My guess therefore is that mothers of young men would be a key target for Clear.
Where target shoppers shop
If we accept that moms might be a key group to target, we also have to accept that in order to reach them, we have focus on the retail channels they shop in. I’m guessing that most people buying shampoo for their kids do so when they are buying groceries for the whole house, so I was keen to see what Unilver was doing in Singapore’s leading chain of supermarkets, Fair Price. And here’s what I saw: the brand is neatly positioned with other anti-dandruff shampoos:
It’s also merchandised with other “men’s products”:
Marketing to shoppers, not consumers
So ok – this isn’t a disaster – the brand is positioned with other products; , if you were looking for a product just for men, you might be prepared to spend the time to locate Clear. Likewise, if you were looking for an anti-dandruff shampoo, you might do the same. So in-store this is likely to be successful when the guy is buying for himself.
But my question is, if you were a mom, would you take that time to seek out the product in either area? What would make this shopper buy? If Singaporean moms are anything like my own, buying the perfect shampoo for the lump of post-teen angst that fills her spare room will be way down on her list of priorities.
I believe this is a missed opportunity, not least to make an additional sale men’s shampoo, but also to meet the shopper’s needs too. Is there an opportunity to widen her portfolio? Could she be persuaded to switch her hair care brand to one in the Unilever stable whilst buying for her son? Could she be persuaded to trade up from a more generic family shampoo?
All of these are shopper marketing opportunities that might be left on the table right now. I believe a better shopper marketing solution is needed! A great solution in my view would look at blending the right mix of communication, availability and offer that would make buying Clear shampoo irresistible to Singaporean moms.
I’m offering a free copy of my new book The Shopper Marketing Revolution to the person who comes up with the best shopper marketing solution that gets more Clear shampoo into bathrooms in Singapore. Simply subscribe to the blog and leave your suggestion in the comment box below. I’ll announce the winner (and why I think theirs is such a great idea) at the end of October.
Oh – and for the record – this is just for fun. I have no affiliation with Unilever – but who knows, maybe they’ll read this and like your idea too!