Bring back the romance: has the thrill gone for your shoppers?
February 14, 2008
Lee McAllistair gives shoppers a little more attention, for Valentine’s Day 2008
Valentine’s Day reminds us that a little emotional connection goes a long way, and not just on one day of the year! How emotionally connected are your shoppers with your category and brand, and what should you do about it?
Well, Nielsen research in 2007 introduced the concept of ‘Shopper Modality’ – the fact that shoppers have varying degrees of emotional involvement in the products they buy, and different shopping habits associated with them. What you need to do in store to optimise sales changes according to which mode your shoppers are in when considering purchases in your category.
Here’s our Valentine’s Day edition of Nielsen’s four shopper modes, and how you can bring a little more lurrrrve to the shopping equation!
The four shopper modes:
1. Just not that into you!It’s your worst Valentine’s Day nightmare – your date is just not emotionally connected.In shopper land, Nielsen calls this the Auto Pilot mode – shoppers just want to grab and go, and they’re not emotionally switched on by the category (type of product). Old habits die hard in this mode, with shoppers buying the brand they know. Example products that fall into this shopper mode include margarine, bottled water, nuts, coffee, carbonated soft drinks, hot cereal and cheese.But here’s the good news - Nielsen has also demonstrated that shopper Auto pilot mode can be interrupted. In store triggers are:
• Merchandising
• Packaging
• Promotions
• Price
• Out of Stocks (trigger annoyance emotion!)
So what do you do when your shoppers just aren’t that into you? Provide strong brand reminder and navigation assistance in store to direct them to their brand of choice, fast. Directional, strongly branded floor and shelf media can assist (preferably with a price promotion in this instance), along with differentiated packaging, merchandising and display.
In essence: remind them why they got into you in the first place, and where to find you now, incase they’ve forgotten.
2. You’re so hot right now!It’s kind of dreamy, but you know it won’t last – so you ‘make hay while the sun shines’ before they move on to the next more interesting fling.Nielsen calls this the ‘Buzz-activated’ mode, where the shopper seeks the latest ‘must have’ hype and is fully engaged by ‘buzz’ advertising. Product categories that currently fall into this mode, but will surely change with the next round of ‘newer and better’ include: ready to drink tea, smoothies / yoghurt drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks and chocolate.How do you capitalize on your opportunities in store if your product is in one of these kinds of categories? By generating excitement and showing innovation.
In store media and all point of purchase communication can afford to be OTT (the latest acronym for over the top, bound to be used by these shoppers!). Say it loud, forget facts and information and focus on pure emotion.
And keep innovating so you have a ‘new thing’ when the gloss wears off and you’re on the scrap heap!
3. Bring back the thrill. . .It’s been a long relationship. Loyal, trusting and safe, but geez, romance is not its strong point. Time to bring back the thrill!Nielsen calls this shopper mode ‘Variety-activated’. The shopper seeks new tastes, flavours and formats of the same trusted products – something new to take home. Products that are shopped in this mode include cookies, salad dressing, chewing gum, salty snacks, breakfast bars, cold cereal, some frozen foods and candy.What to do before store? Develop new flavour and pack variants. What to do in store? Communicate surprise and boredom relief. Use your in store media and point of purchase promotions to clearly demonstrate that there is now something new to take home from the same trusted brand.
In short: spice it up a little!
4. Dinner’s on you.You know the drill here – at the end of the day it’s just all about the money.Nielsen names this ‘Bargain-activated’ shopper mode, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that price and price promotion are really the only effective means to optimize sales when your product falls into this category. Example products include pasta sauce and canned foods like tuna, tomatoes and canned fruit.
What to do in store? The clearest, loudest price promotion you can manage. Don’t waste your in store media and promotions on pure branding here. There needs to be a strong price-oriented call to action on every piece of communication. Moral of the story: no morals - just money!So, may you have a Happy Valentine’s Day…
… and a happy, healthy ‘relationship’ with your shoppers!