Leveraging Shopper Insights to Reinvent Categories, Jill Boyce and Don Baker of Sara Lee

Sara Lee has its own brand of shopper marketing which the maker of refrigerated meats sees as the key to success. The approach delivers value at the Moment of Truth in the store when shoppers select products to load into their basket.

Shopper marketing links shopper needs and attitudes with action against the brand. Jill Boyce and Don Baker said category leadership drives that linkage. In the end, aligning the brand and the category plan is a win-win for both trading partners.

The executives have customized the traditional eight steps of category management to work for their shopper marketing initiativies. Here are the new steps:

(1) Learn (category definition and role)
(2) Build (insight generation and strategic/tactical plan; translate insights to grow the category)
(3) Plan (initiative development; create great shopper plans with building blocks of distribution, shelving, merchandising, pricing and activation).
(4) Act and Measure (plan launch; shopper activation translates brand and category strategy into an in-store plan).

Bottom line: Sara Lee develops the specific initiatives that they will execute to deliver against the retailer and category opportunities.