Monthly Archives: December 2007

Ho Ho Ho or Ho Ho Hum? How do you cut through the clutter to engage and convert Christmas shoppers?

Topics: Channel / Retail, FMCG, Point of Purchase, Shopper

Ho Ho Ho or Ho Ho Hum?

How do you cut through the clutter to engage and convert Christmas shoppers? See if these shopper behaviour tips in the mall, grocery, petroconvenience and liquor channels light your tree. There’s one for each of the 12 days of Christmas!
By Lee McAllistair, for TORCHMEDIA, December 2007

christmas-holly1.jpg

One
People are home less often – they are shopping and at social occasions. The marketing mix therefore needs to prioritise in store and out of home media and point of purchase execution. Note television moves to ‘summer programming’ – read ‘less people watching’. ..

Two
Shopping mall traffic increases by 25% over the season and 35% in the last two weeks of December. At Christmas you can reach more shoppers more directly than at any other time of year! But visibility is critical. Map out the key shopper touchpoints in the centre for your category, and make sure you have visibility there with a strong call to action.

Three
Shoppers shop by occasion. To achieve cut through at this time, you need to map out who is likely to buy your product, for whom, and why – what is the occasion or problem? Then focus your marketing and media message on how your product is the solution (e.g. ‘Christmas dinner’ or ‘buying for Mum’).

Read More >

Moxie to Launch New Company

Topics: E-Bulletins / Newsletters

Yes, the rumours are true! Moxie Market Strategy has been gathering a KICKER team and gearing up for growth! We’re set to re-launch as a new company early in 2008.

You’ll hear a little more about this (not too much yet though!) over the Xmas period, but here’s a sneak preview of the expanded, end-to-end offer for suppliers and retailers:

Insight: Shopper > Market > Trade
Strategy: Channel > Category > POP
Implementation: Trial > Rollout > Measure
Training: FMCG > Retailer > Supplier

We’re VERY excited about what’s on the horizon, and you can be sure we’ll be keeping you in the loop!

Sense Check on Sustainability – The Case for Trade Research

Topics: E-Bulletins / Newsletters, Insights

Do you really know what your customers and supply chain think? One of ShopAbility’s key clients spent many months refining its global sustainability strategy and specific sustainability-based product offerings for its customers. But, before they go to market, they needed to know if they were on the right track. ShopAbility’s key customer interviews delivered comprehensive, in-depth insights for future positioning, profit and go to market strategy.

ShopAbility’s  approach to trade research is founded in commercial experience, and therefore what questions to ask to obtain commercially useful information for clients.

In this instance, the research not only confirmed the direction of our client’s proposed sustainability strategy, it identified new commercial opportunities for sustainability-based products to help solve big issues for our client’s key customers.

In the long term the win will be two-fold: competitive advantage through leadership on sustainability, and commercial gain (likely to be in the many millions of dollars) from new product initiatives.

Sometimes it’s worth taking the trouble to ask the right questions!

Kerching! That’s Entertainment

Topics: Channel / Retail, E-Bulletins / Newsletters

With the silly season approaching, we thought we’d take a look at the Entertainment & Leisure Channel in Australia, and why to consider it in your channel mix. Here’s a ‘trailer’– rated P for profit!

What is it?

Did you know that in cinema alone, there were 83.6 million admissions in 2006, and that more than 70% of Australians attend the cinema EIGHT times per year?

So, we know there are millions of consumers there (in this channel the shopper and consumer are mostly the same) – but what IS the Entertainment & Leisure channel and what does it include?

Definitions vary, and ideally you would want to view the channel and its segments through the eyes of your category. But, as a starting point, it often includes:

  • Destination Leisure (theme parks, zoos, wildlife parks, aquariums)
  • Special events (major sporting events, Easter Show, major outdoor festivals)
  • Education & Cultural Leisure (museums, art galleries, libraries)
  • Theatres
  • Cinema
  • Sports Leisure (sporting clubs, gyms)

There can be cross over, for example in to what is traditionally called the ‘Route’ channel (sporting clubs fit in to this category too), and also into the Foodservice channel.

Why do I care?

Well, Food & Beverage expenditure in the Cinema and Theatre segments alone is up around $100 million per year.

Attendances across all these channel segments actually outnumber the entire population of Australia more than five times.

Many outlets are selling non-food items that are strong impulse categories and appeal to their target consumers (whether that be families attending a theme park, women attending a lifestyle gym or men attending an NRL game).

Are you in Food and / or Beverage? You may not have considered this channel because it is traditionally considered the territory of the treat. BUT, demand for healthier options in these channels is increasing exponentially, just like quick service restaurants (McDonald’s, Subway) and other on-the-run outlets.

Are you in an impulse category? Have you considered the potential fit between Entertainment & Leisure consumers and your brand / product?

What should I do about it?

A few things!

Map your categories to consumer occasions and channel segment types. Are your consumers more likely to be at the cinema or in an art gallery?

Research the relevant channel segments. Key questions:

Sizing and Prizing

  • How many outlets are there in Australia?
  • How much foot traffic?
  • What $ annual retail sales?
  • What % of that could I realistically get?
  • What is the cost to service / supply chain structure? What margins and volumes do I have to offer to play there?
  • Therefore what is my net market potential in this channel? Is it worth it?

Fit

  • Is there a brand fit?
  • Does the category fulfil a consumer need / occasion in this channel segment, or is it a relevant impulse category?
  • Are my competitors there? What are they doing?
  • What do the trade in this channel say? Are they potentially interested in this category – is there a fit? Would pack and format need to change to enter this channel?

In Store

  • What does a typical outlet look like and what are my range, space, and merchandising options?
  • What would the pricing policy be (keeping in mind that Entertainment & Leisure channels charge premium prices and expect large margins and volume to be interested)?
  • How important is persuasion & service and would we need to provide training or incentives?

Final take

Once you have answered these questions, and determined how profitable an opportunity E&L might be for you, then comes the task of a go-to-market strategy based on the outcomes of your trade research.

Then… Kerching! That’s Entertainment!

Kerching! That’s Entertainment

Topics: Channel / Retail, E-Bulletins / Newsletters

With the silly season approaching, we thought we’d take a look at the Entertainment & Leisure Channel in Australia, and why to consider it in your channel mix. Here’s a ‘trailer’– rated P for profit!

What is it?

Did you know that in cinema alone, there were 83.6 million admissions in 2006, and that more than 70% of Australians attend the cinema EIGHT times per year?

So, we know there are millions of consumers there (in this channel the shopper and consumer are mostly the same) – but what IS the Entertainment & Leisure channel and what does it include?

Definitions vary, and ideally you would want to view the channel and its segments through the eyes of your category. But, as a starting point, it often includes:

  • Destination Leisure (theme parks, zoos, wildlife parks, aquariums)
  • Special events (major sporting events, Easter Show, major outdoor festivals)
  • Education & Cultural Leisure (museums, art galleries, libraries)
  • Theatres
  • Cinema
  • Sports Leisure (sporting clubs, gyms)

There can be cross over, for example in to what is traditionally called the ‘Route’ channel (sporting clubs fit in to this category too), and also into the Foodservice channel.

Why do I care?

Well, Food & Beverage expenditure in the Cinema and Theatre segments alone is up around $100 million per year.

Attendances across all these channel segments actually outnumber the entire population of Australia more than five times.

Many outlets are selling non-food items that are strong impulse categories and appeal to their target consumers (whether that be families attending a theme park, women attending a lifestyle gym or men attending an NRL game).

Are you in Food and / or Beverage? You may not have considered this channel because it is traditionally considered the territory of the treat. BUT, demand for healthier options in these channels is increasing exponentially, just like quick service restaurants (McDonald’s, Subway) and other on-the-run outlets.

Are you in an impulse category? Have you considered the potential fit between Entertainment & Leisure consumers and your brand / product?

What should I do about it?

A few things!

Map your categories to consumer occasions and channel segment types. Are your consumers more likely to be at the cinema or in an art gallery?

Research the relevant channel segments. Key questions:

Sizing and Prizing

  • How many outlets are there in Australia?
  • How much foot traffic?
  • What $ annual retail sales?
  • What % of that could I realistically get?
  • What is the cost to service / supply chain structure? What margins and volumes do I have to offer to play there?
  • Therefore what is my net market potential in this channel? Is it worth it?

Fit

  • Is there a brand fit?
  • Does the category fulfil a consumer need / occasion in this channel segment, or is it a relevant impulse category?
  • Are my competitors there? What are they doing?
  • What do the trade in this channel say? Are they potentially interested in this category – is there a fit? Would pack and format need to change to enter this channel?

In Store

  • What does a typical outlet look like and what are my range, space, and merchandising options?
  • What would the pricing policy be (keeping in mind that Entertainment & Leisure channels charge premium prices and expect large margins and volume to be interested)?
  • How important is persuasion & service and would we need to provide training or incentives?

Final take

Once you have answered these questions, and determined how profitable an opportunity E&L might be for you, then comes the task of a go-to-market strategy based on the outcomes of your trade research.

Then… Kerching! That’s Entertainment!

New One-Day Shopper Insights Course

Topics: E-Bulletins / Newsletters, Insights, Shopper

Are you well-versed on consumers but need to upskill on shoppers? Shopper marketing and shopper insights are hot topics right now, but there are few shopper insight specialists.  Learn how to become one with our new one-day training course, presented by Moxie Market Strategy and our research partner, Jigsaw Strategic Research.

What you’ll learn

  • Approaches to the shopping and retail environments, shopper mindset, and key things to understand that form the basis of shopper research
  • What types of business and marketing issues and opportunities shopper research addresses
  • What the various shopper research methodologies are, and which work best for what problem types
  • How to write a best practice shopper research brief
  • How to drive the results through your organization and with retailers to get positive change at the point of purchase (ie how to make sure it doesn’t just sit on the shelf!)
  • Tricks and tips to make the insights gathering process smooth.

Why do it?

  • Get the most out of your shopper research projects and agencies
  • Improve your shopper research briefing skills
  • Get clarity on what issues shopper research can solve, and those it can’t
  • Understand the key differences between consumer and shopper mindsets, and thus insights
  • See best practice shopper research case studies and application

Who should attend

Buyers and briefers of shopper research, or those new to shopper insights and research, specifically:

  • Consumer insights practitioners
  • Shopper insights practitioners
  • Marketers
  • Category managers
  • Trade/customer marketers

When?

Our first course will be early in 2008 and will be open to clients.

However, for companies wanting to train across multiple teams within their organisation, we can discuss a special date for your company only.

Email us for details:
enquiries@moxiemarkeing.com.au

A Little Too Close Too Home

Topics: Channel / Retail, E-Bulletins / Newsletters, FMCG, Insights, Segmentation / Clustering, Shopper

In the past twelve months there have been a bevy of reports about a ‘return to the village economy’ and shoppers shifting from grocery or mass to local specialty stores. As ‘localisation’ gains momentum, retailers and suppliers are responding with an increased focus on segmentation and clustering. But here’s the rub:  where shoppers live and what they earn is a fraction of the story!

If geo-demo profiling is the only yardstick, how do we explain the success of Aldi in affluent suburbs? Or high sales of luxury products in non-affluent areas?

Price consciousness is not just a function of how much we earn and where we live. It is also partially about personality and values.

Personality governs to what extent various factors are important to an individual shopper. For some shoppers, functionality and value is key – they want the thing to do the job and why buy a Rolls Royce when a Toyota Corolla will do.  For other shoppers, emotional connection with a brand and sensory experience are far more important.  Others just want the quickest, easiest way to tick the to-do item off their list, while some want information about ingredients, footprint and ethics.

Most categories and channel segments will have one or two ‘default’ shopper personality profiles to whom they skew.

In addition, shoppers themselves can move within a certain range among the personality profiles according to which categories they are shopping for.

Enter Nielsen’s ‘shopper modality’ – demonstrating that shoppers have four main modes of shopping that change according to the category:  Auto Pilot (grab & go), Buzz-activated (open to buzz and engaging advertising), Variety-activated (seeking new tastes and formats) and Price-activated.

So, what is the point here?

That simple geo-demo shopper profiling of shoppers and the resulting segmentation and clustering by retail stores barely scratches the surface, and is inadequate when looking at real sales drivers.

But it all seems too complex and too hard!?

It needn’t be.  It’s a case of determining:

  1. To which key shopper profiles is my category (for suppliers) or channel segment (for retailers) most likely to appeal?
  2. Among my shoppers, in what mode are they likely to be shopping?

Then, what does that mean for how we execute our offer – the increased or decreased importance of various factors in store:

  • Sensory, experiential, theatre
  • Product and ethics information
  • Price and price promotion
  • Ease of navigation and proximity to front of store
  • NPD and new pack formats
  • Buzz-based advertising
  • Simple POP and pack communication with a focus on functionality and quality

Why do this?

Well, if you’re using price promotion for a grooming product that is likely to attract experientially-driven shopper types shopping in buzz-activated mode, you’re potentially shaving not just legs – you’re shaving off profits!

Default shopper profile > shopper category modality > tailored in store execution = profit!