5 Traits of Great Shopper Marketers

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The most-frequently asked question by clients, and potential clients, these days is “What makes a successful Shopper Marketing program?” The answer is very simple (and deceptively difficult to actually execute).

1. Be single-minded, yet schizophrenic. That means having one voice, one point of view for the brand, yet be open to adapting your message to fit very specific consumer needs at various points of sale. So you have a consistent, national language, translated into dozens of local dialects.

2. Get into her head. Understand that your consumer actually behaves differently depending on where she’s shopping. She’s less likely to try a new product at club stores, for instance, than she is at a local supermarket. So you have to communicate different product attributes, and even alter the packaging, to address her need states at all your retail outlets.

3. Have ONE marketing plan. Not separate plans for branding, media and advertising, and another for “activation.” And another for PR. That siloed approach will leave you with a bunch of TV and web video, and a salesforce trying to explain what the funny commercials have to do with the pallet of cereal they’re trying to unload. The successful marketers now plan the entire year together, with every stakeholder sitting at the table taking a single, provocative idea and applying it to every touchpoint.

4. Love your retailers. They’re not going anywhere, and are just now beginning to market themselves, and their private label products, in the same sophisticated way brands learned to do 50 years ago. They are in control. Smart brands help them market themselves, by partnering with accounts to share data, assess behavior and rethink, together, how entire categories are marketed, and how the in-store experience can be altered so that everyone profits. Take a look down the soup aisle, or the coffee aisle, and you’ll see alterations that lift the entire category being implemented, brought to you by a big brand that’s thinking about things differently.

5. Understand that Shopper Marketing starts loooooong before she gets to the store. The inspiration to buy new shampoo, for example, starts in the shower, under the water, when she realizes the damn bottle is almost empty. That leaves a thousand opportunities to have her purchase decision altered before she gets to the store. Smart marketers take advantage of this by diversifying their messaging, and using internet, social media and guerilla tactics to make sure their brands stay top-of-mind throughout the day.

Bonus Thought: Don’t forget the dudes. Our research shows that 60% of males now say they shop for packaged goods, and they tend to be more brand-loyal than women (and much less likely to chase around town for values). They shop differently than women do. Great Shopper Marketers take advantage of that.

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