Get With the Program
Packaged goods manufacturers have known for years that a small number ofbuyers account for most of their sales. But “they never really paidattention to how to identify and target them,” says Chris Hulse, presidentof Greenwich, CT-based Madison Marketing, Inc.
That has changed over the last two years, according to Hulse. “What’samazing is the rise in the use of consumer profiles, heavy-user categories,[and] consumer segmentation strategies” on the part of packaged goodsmakers as they attempt to increase market share, he says.
New co-op mailings are trying to tap the potential business represented bya consumer who is already deeply involved with a brand. “Today’s [packagedgoods] marketing campaigns simply say to the shopper, ‘We know yourepresent the core of our business.’ You are the customer we are workinghardest to keep,'” says Hulse. “It’s just amazing to see the way thesetechniques have caught on.”
Madison does co-op mailings for clients including Johnson & Johnson,Nestle, and Colgate.
