Collaboration lets stores control the customer journey

Retail marketing used to mean a store taking cash from a brand for the privilege of running a promotion, but the traditional transactional relationship is being replaced by a burgeoning “shopper” marketing sector in response to changing consumer expectations and a better understanding of in-store shopping journeys.

Developing deep customer insights that help to create successful in-store campaigns at the point of purchase is increasingly seen as a vital strategy to boost the bottom line for retailers and brands alike.

Retailers responding to increasing competition and value-hunting shoppers are attempting to become destination brands to increase footfall, adopting the kind of mood music once the exclusive reserve of fancy cocktail bars.

The Marketing Store planning and strategy director Wendy Lanchin argues that creating the right atmosphere in store prevents the shopping experience being reduced to a bargain-hunting exercise. “There appears to be a rebalancing of the quality versus price equation, despite the recession still being with us.”

She points to John Lewis being at the top of Verdict’s customer satisfaction survey for the last three years and Asda’s move to introduce more “quality lines” as just two of many examples that show shoppers are being more choosy about where they spend their money rather than just looking for the cheapest prices.

Other supermarkets have also been pushing their own label brands in a bid to increase overall spend. This shift is creating a new landscape because the growth of own label popularity is here to stay, according to sector analyst Planet Retail’s recent PR report.

“For an increasing number of retailers, the role of own label is moving from generic alternative to FMCG brand. The extension of own label into services and other key areas aims to strengthen the brand equity of the retailer and drive shopper loyalty,” it concludes.

Brands must respond to this shift by developing shopper-led partnerships with retailers. Diageo, which created a category in-store marketing campaign in partnership with supermarkets this summer, set up a shopper marketing department because winning in retail has become very important to them as more people drink at home rather than in pubs, according to Anthony Hopper, UK managing director at Saatchi X.

The agency has helped to develop the “Together for a Better Summer” campaign, which attempts to shift the tendency for customers to opt for beer or wine in supermarkets by prompting shoppers to buy fruit and mixers that go with spirits before they reach the alcohol aisle at the end of the shop.

Sales of spirits and mixers have risen as high as 45% year on year in stores that have been running this campaign, claims Louise Curran, head of shopper marketing at Diageo.

She adds: “Investment targeted at consumers in shopper mode has increased in the past 12 months and is an increasingly important part of the marketing mix,” she says.

Meanwhile, retailers’ approach to in-store communication has also changed, points out Debra Walmsley, retail director of market research agency Leapfrog. “Sales have historically been communicated with the colour red and sales branding has always sat separately to the retailer’s brand. The use of softer, subtler colours such as green demonstrates the shift towards retailers thinking as a brand, and an awareness of the need to not devalue or damage that brand,” she says.

The growth in intelligence about shoppers’ habits, gathered from everywhere from focus groups to loyalty cards, has allowed marketers to influence in-store decisions much more effectively, says Alan Treadgold, head of retail strategy at advertising agency Leo Burnett.

“Cutting through the visual congestion in store is very important,” say Treadgold, who suggests that brands should develop different messaging depending on where the marketing material is placed in store.

Schweppes brand manager Shelley Norris agrees. “Define the main type of shopping mission you’re tapping into and build your plan around that,” she advises.

A greater focus on in-store messaging has created tension between FMCG retailers and brands, however. Some leading retailers moved to create “clean shelf” policies to combat growing customer inertia as a result of being bombarded with too much information.

Saatchi X’s Hopper says: “Retailers have cut out almost every type of messaging in store apart from what you say on pack and they probably have an influence on that too, so it’s really difficult for owners to control how a brand is seen in store.”

Shoppers want and expect some kind of experience and retailers aren’t allowing that any more, he argues. However, the recent high profile launch of Apple’s iPad demonstrates that customers will rush to stores if retailers provide the right experience.

Morrisons supermarket is another retailer using physical retail space cleverly to communicate brand values and increase sales, according to a recent IGD report.

The retailer’s decision to turn store space over to its Market Street initiative – where counters display fresh food – demonstrates that its message of quality, good value groceries is more important than the fact that its space could be used more profitably, argues Billington Cartmell’s shopper marketing expert and group account director, Andy Jarvis.

The agency, which has worked with Morrisons to refine its marketing in recent years, advocates that retailers should concentrate on becoming a destination brand. Jarvis says: “Marketers should focus not simply on reaching the next turn in the road, but on the ultimate destination for their brand.”

Empowering retail staff on the ground is of crucial strategic importance, adds Jarvis. Morrisons trains its Market Street staff to be specialists in particular areas such as the bakery or butcher’s department.

It’s crucial to invest in training, engaging and empowering staff, argues Elvis business director Gareth Rowe. “Store staff are the most effective, most flexible way of delivering messages in store,” he says.

Elvis recently created the Event in a Box campaign for T-Mobile, which encouraged branch store managers to pitch a business case to create an in-store event that would attract local people, for example a small business networking breakfast.

For Schweppes’ Norris, shopper marketing lives or dies on understanding the target shopper and partnership with retailers.

“You need to understand clearly what the opportunity of the marketing initiative is for the retailer and build a plan with them,” she says. “Doing shopper marketing well requires absolute retailer buy-in to allow you to access the right in-store touchpoints and feature that will capture shoppers’ attention.”