Shopper Marketing Fusion Company TracyLocke Talks with Brandweek

TracyLocke will be represented at this year's Shopper Marketing Fusion Event by Al Wittemen, Managing Director for Retail Strategy. Alan's colleague, Dorothy Allan, SVP, Retail Strategy for TracyLocke, was recently interviewed by Brandweek editor, Todd Wasserman. In the interview, Allan discusses how she has helped packaged goods enhance their ROI from shopper marketing. As she notes, CPGs have to communicate value quickly in-store or they lose out. And that's too bad, because consumers aren't only motivated by price.

Here are a few highlights from their discussion.

BW: What are some lessons you've learned in shopper marketing? (Granular
stuff, like "red doesn't work")?
DA: I’ve learned a lot about the human mind in this role. We all make decisions in basically the same way. We classify and sort information based on pattern recognition over the course of our lives. We deselect before we select. Our minds are designed to remove extraneous pieces of information to get to a decision, which is why shopper insights are so important. It gets to the very heart of what’s getting in the way of making a choice. On the granular side, there are principles of how human beings process information that need to be followed to achieve success. For example, if you want to be able to read anything from 10 feet away, you need to use a font that is at least three inches. If the store is dark, you need to use light colors for contrast. Color has meaning: Red is an action color; pink used to mean “girl” and now it stands for breast cancer; green equals the environment, etc. The first thing and last thing you read, you will remember twice as long as the lines in between, and the last line you will remember two times longer than the first. What’s the last piece of information on almost every Walmart point-of-sale unit? – “Save money. Live better.” I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

BW: How has shopper marketing reacted to the economy?
DA: This year, there has been a lot of information that really makes a case for the entire path to purchase and a cohesive approach. The In-Store Marketing Institute conference, as well as IRI and A.C. Nielsen, have begun to illustrate that the point of decision has crept out of the store. Clean store policies are forcing brands to use their leverage outside the store, and thankfully for the first time in 10 years, consumers and shoppers are reading. That is a good thing for brands. If you group shoppers into segments, you’ll find that the shopaholic is “out” and the mission-minded, pragmatic shopper is “in.” Value is the new darling, and brands have to find ways to quickly communicate their benefits to differentiate – or shoppers will default to comparing prices. Shoppers are looking to brands to help them make better value decisions. It’s not always about price, but price does have influence.


For the interview in its entirety, please click here.

Why Pink Means 'Cancer' at Retail

Al Witteman, will be speaking on Friday October 16 at the Shopper Marketing Fusion Event. Don't miss his presentation, "Solutions Without Walls" with John Dranow, SMARTREVENUE

Online Ads for CPG Compared to Television Ads

This post on retailwire highlights how recent research conducted by comScore has found that online ads have driven sales for CPG (consumer packaged goods) at or above the levels of when associated with television commercials.

Over the 12-week period of the research, sales from online ads for CPGs grew to percent which is higher from previous research done by Information Resources which came to 8 percent. Gian Fulgoni, executive chairman of comScore mentioned,

"These early results confirm the ability of online advertising to successfully build retail sales of CPG brands on par with the impact of television advertising. It is likely that the more precise targeting ability of the Internet - especially in terms of accurately reaching the desired demographic segment -- is a key reason for its effectiveness."

Will we see a huge shift in companies moving most of their television ads for CPGs to online ads?

Private-Label Sales Up 7.4%

CSPnet.com reports that private-label sales are up 7.4% with a strong emphasis on food products. The Nielsen Co. Its study, "U.S. Store Brand Development," found that both private-label dollar and unit sales significantly increased for the 52-week period ending July 11, 2009 versus the prior year.

"When categories are sorted by store brand share, from high to low, some patterns emerge," said Todd Hale, senior vice president of Consumer & Shopper Insights at Nielsen, New York. "Store brand performance and share is strongest in commodity categories. Milk, fresh eggs, sugar and substitutes and canned vegetables top the list. Where store brand share is the lowest is among categories where we see strong marketing support for top brands including candy, gum, beer and those where a high-level of innovation occurs like detergents, deodorant and cosmetics."

Join us this October in Chicago for The Private Label Impact Conference.

Private-Label Sales Up 7.4%

Tips for Growing Store Brands

Here is Tom Pirovano, Director, Industry Insights, Nielsen tips for helping stores expand their private labels as reported in Brandweek.

• Study the category consumer before going upscale. Consumer understanding is the common thread among top-selling brands. It’s not enough for a retailer to roll out a quality product in premium packaging.

• Disguise your premium store brands. Many consumers still associate private label with cheap knockoffs. There - I said it. But what if they don’t know it’s a store brand? Look to position premium store brands as exclusive products like Choxie at Target and Canopy at Walmart.

• Get your pricing right. The price gap between store brands and national brands varies significantly across categories. The same shopper who chooses private label bottled water for a 3% discount may require at least 20% savings for private label barbecue sauce.

• Offer multiple brands in multiple tiers. Although Costco may be the exception, most retailers are finding growth with multiple store brands. No one brand can stand for value and gourmet and healthy eating.

• Eliminate weak links. One bad product experience can hurt the entire store brand, not to mention the retail banner itself. Product quality needs to be consistent across each store brand. Your brand’s perceived quality is only as good as its weakest SKU.

• Drive trial. If your store brand is really as good as the national brand (or better), let your shoppers try it. Offer a free package with a $50 purchase. Consider a trial size or in-store product demos.

• Promote your store brands. There’s a wide range of feature ad support for private label. Using ECRM’s Marketgate data, we found that private label’s percent of feature ads ranged from 45% at Wegmans to 25% at HEB to only 10% of ads at Publix.

• Don’t be too quick to drive out value brands. Some value brands can drive lower price and higher margins than retailers can achieve through private label. The shampoo category is an excellent example with some well-known brands at very low prices.

• Embrace a cause. Use package labeling to show how your store brand supports local suppliers, promotes health & wellness, saves the environment, or funds local charities. You’ll find that many of these causes attract similar consumers. Regardless of sales performance, taking the high road can help to build a retailer’s image.

• Understand the difference between strong sales vs. strong brand equity. Walmart’s Great Value brand claims to be the #1 food brand across categories, but would shoppers ever choose Great Value over a national brand at the same price point?

What other tips can retailers use to grow their private labels?

Check out his article for a bonus tip!