In today’s constantly evolving, always-connected climate, the mere act of grocery shopping can be the best form of education that a serious marketing professional can ever get. Creative Directors TAKE NOTE.
Selling at grocery is serious, And cutthroat. It is the ultimate battleground for share of heart and wallet. Margins are slim, the retailer is king, and new products come and go like rush hour and Grand Central. Add to that the fact that popular brands must directly compete with lowered priced, private labels brands sold by the retailer, and you can see that significant lessons can be learned from successful products. Some important observations that creative and marketers alike can learn each time they hit their local Publix:
1) Packaging is Important — your label, color scheme, fonts, container, and size all are major factors in generating awareness and capturing a consumer’s eye and ultimately wallet. Creative and marketers should take notice each and every time that enter the grocery store and then look for way to benefit the brands and clients that they work for. Ask yourself, “How can my client or my brand benefit from what happening at grocery”.
2) Tactics are Important — Today’s creative and marketers need to understand it’s not about Tweeting, or Facebook posts. It’s about getting the product off the shelf and into a place where the product can be “seen” and bought. Since 70% of all purchases at retail are impulse purchases, advertising, websites, and social media have little impact on the actual “selling” process. Sweepstakes, near-packs, on-packs, self-liquidators, mega-displays, and other tactically based campaigns will have greater success on a brand’s sales then all the “friends” a brand can generate. Smart marketers need to find methods that work, both in the short term and in the long term.
3) Partners are Important — Milk and cookies. Beer and chips. Meat and Charcoal. Marketers, brand strategists, and creative directors should always be looking for ways to extend limited budgets, as well as leveraging synergistic brands to generate greater sales, better store placement, and to increase spend for the retailer. If you can help the retailer sell more of YOUR product along with another’s product, they will love you.
So next time you go out for a gallon of milk, take a few extra minutes and really take note of retail environment, I promise it ill make you a better creative, marketer, or strategist.
Sarasota-based CRE8EGY’s Brent David has spent over 4 years working with Famous Amos Cookies to help increase their business at grocery. The results were impressive. Over 4 years, he helped them increase brand equity from $50MM to $450MM, ultimately leading to the sale of the brand to Keebler. He can help you grow your brand as well.