The growing importance of shopper marketing

Earlier this week, we wrote an article about the new Shopper Marketing council formed by the Advertiser Research Foundation. Mike Twitty, the director of shopper marketing at Unilever, sat down with Brand Week and discussed some of the reason she felt the council was a good idea.

Brandweek: Why form the new council?
Mike Twitty: Although there are share groups and even annual conferences on this relatively young subject, practitioners have a need for an impartial, principled voice that makes sense of the facts and lore that swirl within this area. It seems as though this need extends all the way to the most fundamental of issues. For instance, there is not even an accepted definition of what constitutes a shopper, let alone widespread understanding of the practices that are so necessary for success in today's marketing and retail climate.

Read the full article here.

New Shopper Insights Council at Advertiser Research Foundation

It was recently announced that the Advertiser Research Foundation is launching a Shopper Insights Council. The members of the new group include ad agencies, media companies, and market research firms. Peter Hoyt, executive director of the In-Store Marketing Institute and one of the co-chairs of the group's first meeting made these comments about the first meeting:

"The whole idea of retail and shopper insights is exploding and, while explosive growth is exciting, it also brings with it the very real likelihood of unqualified practitioners and shoddy work appearing on the scene."

Find out more at Brand Week.