Shopper Marketing Fusion Speaker: Jesse Spugin, VP, Shopper Marketing ConAgra Foods

Jesse Spungin,
VP, Shopper Marketing
ConAgra Foods

Promomagazine.com had a fascinating discussion with Shopper Marketing Fusion speaker, Jesse Spungin in February of this year. Here are a few excerpts that we thought were particularly timely.

PROMO: So ConAgra has embraced shopper marketing.

SPUNGIN: We used to call it customer marketing, but we changed the name a year ago to shopper marketing to be more in line with the industry standard. The one thing manufacturers and retailers can all agree on is the shopper. It's the common ground we can start with and put all the other issues aside, like fighting over trade dollars and slotting efficiency.

P: Is your customer shopping any differently in this economy?

s: In many ways. When gas prices were up, for example, the number of trips to retailers went down and so did the total basket ring. This crossed all income levels because people with higher incomes love great deals and people at lower levels need great deals. ConAgra has a diverse portfolio that has value, and that provides a big opportunity for us and for retailers.

P: Have you launched any value-driven products?

s: We launched Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers, a lunch product, last September. It's a great at-work option for $3.

P: What role did shopper marketing play in this?

s: It was part of the integrated plan. We understand who the shoppers are, and we developed customized programs for the launch at SuperValu [grocery retailer]. These included point-of-purchase communications, in-store shippers and other tactics that were different from what we did at Walmart. The Walmart shopper is different, so the messaging has to be different. The programs paid off with profitable results.

P: Is shopper marketing more important in a recession?

s: : In these times, there's a danger in pulling back on marketing. Now more than ever, you need your message to break through.

We look forward to hearing from Jesse at this year's conference!

Shopper Marketing Fusion 2009
Brochure

Shopper Insights in Action Speaker Profile: Chris Borek, Target

Chris is a Senior Manager at Target in charge of external sales and partnerships for the retailer’s multi-channel digital marketing division. His current role focuses on in-store digital marketing, online, as well as emerging technologies. Chris works with agencies, brands and partners to determine how to most effectively message to Target’s affluent Guest. During Chris’ 10 years at Target he has held roles in Finance, Merchandising, Technology and has also managed a SuperTarget store. Prior to coming to Target, Chris spent time at West Publishing Company in a variety of Finance and Accounting roles.

Chris received his MBA from the University of Minnesota focusing on Finance and IT and also has his CPA.

Chris is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


For more information about the speakers at Shopper Insights in Action 2009, please visit our speaker page.

About Shopper Insights in Action:

The event is the industry’s #1 event focused on driving change at retail by truly understanding shopper behavior. This is where the brightest in the retail and brand world converge to stimulate game-changing ideas through actionable case studies and uncensored peer-to-peer conversations. It tackles today’s mission-critical topics covered by those leading the charge. Topics include shopper marketing. green at retail, shopper psychology, collaboration techniques, virtual shopping, shopping trends, engagement, shopper loyalty, retail activation, shopper marketing and more. 2009 is all about CHANGE. Take control of your brand, your category and your business.

Kimberly-Clark Shares Tried-And-True Shopper Marketing Tactics

Elaine Wong of Brandweek reports that Kimberly-Clark's Mark Scott is ready to share their shopper marketing tactics. Check out Wong's interview with Scott here. Of particular note for Shopper 360 readers, check out this exchange:

BW: What portion of Kimberly-Clark’s total ad budget does shopper marketing currently make up? Have you increased spending in this regard since the recession began? Why so?

MS: [We don’t break down marketing spend.] Having said that, we did in December actually formalize a shopper marketing structure in North America, where we’ve got some folks out in the field on some of our customer teams and some dedicated shopper marketing resources imbedded into our brand teams. All of that is intended to make sure we have the right shopper and customer choice at the right time as we build integrated marketing plans. Because we really want to put the consumer and the shopper—who, in many instances are the same—at the center of everything we do and we get deep insights [from] them.

What do you think a dedicated shopper marketing team should cost?

Goodwill Sales Jump as Shoppers Race for Second-Hand Items

The Chicago Tribune reports that second-hand stores, specifically Goodwill, are seeing a huge jump in revenue thanks to the cash strapped consumer. According to the article, many retailers are scaling back expansion plans or closing stores, but non-profit Goodwill plans to open five stores a year from 2008 through 2012, doubling its cadre of second-hand outlets in the Chicago-Milwaukee market to 50. Its likely that Goodwill will see more stores opening throughout the country. Last year, H&M, Forever21 and other "fast-fashion" stores showed high revenues, will this year be the year of the thrift store?

Dollar General to Speed Up Openings After Sales Rose

Bloomberg reports that stellar sales have lead Dollar General executives to speed up store openings around the United States. In a tough economy, Dollar General is seeing gains as shoppers look to save pennies at the grocery and home goods retailer. Wal-Mart and McDonald's have also seen a large gain in stock prices--and in profits as the United States sinks deeper into recession. According to Bloomberg, Dollar General bought by private equity firm KKR & Co. in 2007 for $7.3 billion, plans to open about 450 new stores in 2009 and remodel or relocate about 400 others. In fiscal 2008, it opened 207 new stores, relocated or remodeled 404, and closed 39, ending the year with 8,362 U.S. locations.

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Comfort Food Reigns in Recession

In the recent article at The Chicago Tribune, reporter Mike Hughlett tackled the issue of shopper's adherence to familiar brands and comfort food during the recession. According to Hughlett, less-expensive comfort foods and classic brands—think Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Hormel's Spam canned meat—are doing bang-up business. White flour and dried beans are hot items as more Americans are making foods from scratch. Hughlett also relays that Americans bought considerably less fresh produce during the 13 weeks ended Nov. 1, and they increasingly stocked up on dried legumes. And they were cutting back on frozen prepared foods as well as prepared deli items.

What will this mean for the prepared food market? Will we see a continued decrease in purchased of prepared deli foods?

Another facet that we would be interested in seeing, is the growth of restaurants offering comfort food. Think how Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans and local diners are faring.