Shopper Technology Institute Debuts with Focus on Education
By Jack Grant
The Shopper Technology Institute (STI) debuted Sept. 1 as the only trade organization focused on technologies and solutions that engage shoppers and analyze their behavior.
The Institute aims to create awareness of established and emerging shopper technologies and practices. The primary members are solution providers in the areas of loyalty, engagement, analytics and digital applications, as well as providers of research and insights. The associate members are retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and academics.
The charter members of STI are IBM, Henry Rak Consulting Partners, Decision Insight, VideoMining Corporation, and Partners in Loyalty Marketing.
The Institute will be staffed by: John Karolefski, Executive Director; Linda Winick, Director of Operations;
Dan Alaimo, Director of Communications; Robin Newhook, Director of Marketing; and Joy McNulty, Director of Business Development.
STI aims to achieve its goals by publishing newsletters and books, conducting research, hosting share groups, providing education through webinars and webcasts, connecting with the industry through social media channels such as LinkedIn and Facebook, and networking through the annual LEAD Marketing Conference, which STI
will produce.
Leading-edge retailers and manufacturers are using advanced analytics to segment shoppers. They are taking CRM to a new level with enhanced behavioral targeting. They are harnessing the power of shopper media for a new generation of customers. Instant communications, new and emerging in-store and integrated technologies, and changing retail-supplier relationships are reshaping the industry from top to bottom in all trade channels.
These new solutions now available to retailers are often deployed in partnership with manufacturers, who have their own unique applications for brands. The solution providers have the means to connect with shoppers
and improve their loyalty to stores and brands. The Institute promotes collaborative practices among trading partners and “Solutions without Walls” among solution providers.
“The Institute is a one-stop clearinghouse for trends and developments in shopper technology as well as a forum for thought leadership and an advocate for best practices,” said Karolefski.
Supervalu, Kraft, dunnhumby
Headline Speaking Agenda at LEAD Marketing Conference
By Lynne Cooke
Executives from Supervalu, Kraft Foods and dunhummby will head up an all-star roster of speakers at the second annual LEAD Marketing Conference Oct. 11-13 at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont (Chicago), Ill.
LEAD is the industry’s most comprehensive event focusing on all aspects of Loyalty, Engagement, Analytics and Digital applications. The event will be produced and hosted by the Shopper Technology Institute.
Executives from the following companies are also scheduled to present: IBM, Marsh Supermarkets, McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Hormel, Partners in Loyalty Marketing, Henry Rak Consulting Partners, Interscope, Coupons.com, Interbrand Design Forum, and others. There will also be panel discussions among retailers and manufacturers on mobile marketing and social media.
A highlight of the event will be an update on industry trends and developments by Gary Hawkins, CEO of Hawkins Strategic, which just launched the Center for Advanced Retail Technology (CART). With research capabilities for fast-moving consumer goods brands and shopper marketing agencies, CART leverages a multitude of technologies to provide companies with actual data on the in-store effectiveness of signage concepts, displays and location, packaging, pricing, and promotions, in addition to collaborative marketing initiatives and brand loyalty marketing initiatives.
Executives from Interbrand Design Forum will present on session on planning for the Store of the Future which will feature mobile and other technologies to better connect with tomorrow’s digital shopper.
Others scheduled to speak:
- Shawne Murphy Johnson, Supervalu’s Group Vice President of Brand Strategy and Marketing
- Milen Mahadevan, Senior Vice President of Client Solutions at dunhummby, well-known for its work in loyalty analytics with Kroger and Tesco
- Rick Brindle, Customer Vice President, e-Sales and Industry Affairs at Kraft Foods
- Stephen Horne, Associate Partner Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) Consumer Products at IBM Global Business Services
- Michael Sansolo, former Senior Vice President of the Food Marketing Institute and current member of the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council.
The LEAD Marketing Conference is the first collaborative conference to focus on understanding and leveraging the many effective and emerging technologies which are crucial to attracting and maintaining shoppers, as well as providing much-needed differentiation in today’s competitive marketplace.
The event is geared to all channels of retailing including Supermarkets, Drug, Dollar Store, Mass and Discount, Convenience Stores, Specialty Stores and Department Stores. Manufacturers supplying these channels will be attending to make LEAD a collaborative event.
The educational agenda will consist of general sessions, two tracks (one for Loyalty and Analytics and another for Engagement and Digital), and table-top exhibits. Networking receptions and dinners will bring together retailers, manufacturers, and vendors. The second annual LEADER awards, sponsored by IBM, will be presented as part of the conference.
In related news, the LEAD Marketing Conference and GHQ Connections have agreed to co-locate their events this year. The agreement will allow consumer packaged goods companies and retailers the opportunity to engage in face-to-face meetings and attend a conference where they will learn how to enhance their business with customer marketing and shopper engagement strategies, social media, virtual shopping platforms, analysis of paths to purchase, and assorted shopper technology.
GHQ Connections is focused on private one-to-one meetings with consumer packaged goods suppliers and top insights and consumer engagement providers. Executives are able to meet in a setting that allows them to quickly and efficiently determine if any fit exists between their two companies. The schedule is vetted to ensure that each meeting is on target and has value to each organization. For more information on GHQ Connections, contact Jeffrey D. Friedman at jfriedman@macfad.com or call 212-979-4873.
“We are very excited about the opportunity to offer suppliers and retailers two shows in one setting,” said Friedman, Executive Director of Brand Development for Macfadden Communications, which hosts GHQ Connections. “It’s a win-win for everyone, especially those time-constrained retailers and suppliers who now get a chance to meet with so many industry officials in just two and a half days.”
AUGUST 2010
New Programs Don’t Treat Heavy Buyers as Special
By Michael Schiff
There has been a surge in the number and type of loyalty programs over the past few years. This is due in part to new technology that has increased the number of offerings on the market: mobile messaging is growing; Entry Point Marketing offers front-of-store targeted offers; My Coke Rewards brought proof-of-purchase into the digital age. Meanwhile, the proliferation of direct mail shows no signs of abating.
It has become hard for manufacturers and retailers alike to ignore the torrent of data that is available – be it POS, customer segmentation studies, panel data, or internal databases. They are all saying that the current customer base is vital to the health of an organization. The weakening economy and the complex competitive landscape has magnified the “churn” rate – a problem only exacerbated by the increased difficulty in attracting new users to a brand. This, combined with new technologies, is why there has been renewed focus on the core or “heavy” buyer.
Unfortunately, many of these programs are not driving incremental volume. Even worse, many are simply subsidizing a sale that would have occurred naturally. They are not treating heavy buyers as special.
When these programs fail to produce positive returns or drive incremental volume, managers are often quick to blame the vehicle. They lament that the program was too costly to pay out, or it failed to engage with the correct customer, or it was not aligned with the customers’ purchase cycle. And so on.
In other instances, they blame the consumer. “All they are interested in are coupons,” they figure. Some believe that their core customer target is too broad to reach in a cost effective manner.
One area that rarely receives the blame is the messaging or creative. More often than not, the creative used to communicate with one’s core buyers is a slight repurposing of a brand’s national campaign. Sometimes it isn’t even repurposed at all. It is merely copied wholesale and sent to these heavy buyers.
The rationale for this is simple and obvious. A lot of time, effort, and money go into developing the national campaign. It is tested, placed before consumers, modified, and tested again. Most of this creative is aimed at incenting trial – getting non-users to try the product; at best, it may be focused on getting lighter users to use more. To do that, much of the communication has to focus on the brand’s key equities.
The problem is that most heavy buyers have already bought into a brand’s national campaign – usually before it launches. If a core consumer of a popular branded pain reliever uses 300 or more tablets a year (almost one per day), I would hope that they have already bought into the brand’s general advertising that the medicine stops pain safely and effectively. If the core consumer of a frozen dinner brand buys 40 or more year, they probably already believe that the brand tastes good, and feeds their family quickly and cheaply.
Yet this is typical of the creative most often sent to a brand’s strongest users. In other words, those consumers who buy the brand a lot receive a “boilerplate” message, usually along with a coupon. But it really doesn’t matter how efficiently we can locate these consumers if we fail to deliver any special communication that is relevant to them and
their lifestyle.
Brand marketers miss a golden opportunity when fail to use information from focus groups, consumer segmentation and other research in a targeted message or story sent to heavy buyers. The goal should not be to simply connect with heavy buyers, but to connect with them on a stronger level and build up the brand’s emotional relevance. What insight can a brand give them about their policies, heritage, people etc.; peek behind the curtain to build a stronger emotional connection. Can the message pass the “squint test”? In other words, are we communicating in such a way that if one squinted at the brand name, one would not be able to apply this message to any other brand in the category?
We also do not have to hit our consumers over the head with the message. We can choose tactics, venues, and creative that align with our core users’ mentality. ZonePerfect, an energy bar, had research suggesting their core users are above-average supporters/users of arts and entertainment. The company made sure to align their heavy buyer communication with these areas. ZonePerfect can be found in forums such as SXSW and the Cannes film festival where they host musicians, as well as pass out free samples and coupons. Their website is very focused on the arts and they align themselves with VH1’s Save the Music.
The goal is to build up brand loyalty among heavy buyers and prevent them from being enticed by competitive offers. Successful communication does that by building up the FUD Factor (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that consumers feel when it comes to competitive brands.
Here’s the bottom line: When using all of the new technologies that connect with all consumers, marketers should treat their heavy buyers as a separate and special group.
Michael Schiff is managing director of Partners in Loyalty Marketing, a Chicago-based consultancy
Market Watch
New Research Lab Debuts for FMCG Brands, Agencies
By Jack Grant
Hawkins Strategic has launched the Center for Advanced Retail Technology (CART) with research capabilities for fast-moving consumer goods (FMSG) brands and shopper marketing agencies. CARTconnect leverages a multitude of technologies to provide companies with actual data on the in-store effectiveness of signage concepts, displays and location, packaging, pricing, and promotions, in addition to collaborative marketing initiatives and brand loyalty marketing initiatives.
CARTconnect provides FMCGs a four-dimensional analysis of shopper behavior: product-based activity metrics (sales dollars, units, margin); shopper-based metrics (individual or household responses); video-based metrics (traffic counts, aisle conversion rates, dwell times by category and brand, purchase conversions). All of these factors are able to be viewed by hour, by day, by week, and by product group or shopper segment.
“CART is leading the way in shopper marketing insights and measurement for the retail industry” said Gary Hawkins, CEO of Hawkins Strategic. “CARTconnect is a major step in furthering this mission.”
CARTconnect enables partners to access data to support their learning – in addition to analytics provided by the CART team. FMCG brands and agencies have access to video analytics, a portal to view actual SKU-level product sales, and a portal to brand and category data supporting brand-driven analytic research.
CART is a live store environment built on the vision of Retail 3.0™, and enabled by next generation technologies, that serves as an educational center for the retail industry supporting testing, data publication, research, and learning. It is an ideal environment in which to test a complete range of initiatives from merchandising to pricing to marketing.
CART is booking tests up to six months in advance (large-scale tests up to twelve months). For more information visit connect.hawkinsstrategic.com. To learn more or for scheduling questions, please contact CART@hawkinsstrategic.com or call (877) 577-9718.
Meanwhile, in a related development, CART launched partnership with Ikan Technologies, which provides customers a new way to shop for groceries with its wi-fi enabled kitchen unit that scans items as they are discarded. A shopping list that Ikan has developed based on those discarded items aims save consumers time and money, reduce spoilage in their household inventory, cut down on extra trips to the grocery store, and assist them with recycling.
Following the mission of CART to be an educational resource, Ikan is on display at CART to showcase the significant benefits the system yields to shoppers.
“CART’s vision of Retail 3.0™ is all about the shopper, making Ikan a natural fit in that it provides the shopper a better way to interact with their grocery store. In keeping with the promise of 3.0, participating retailers are realizing strong returns,” said Sterling Hawkins, executive vice president of Hawkins Strategic.
Ikan is designed to eliminate the problems of too much or not enough in the household pantry. It portends a revolution in grocery shopping, said Hawkins, and can also be used with such services as Peapod for grocery delivery in thirty metropolitan markets. Ikan is deployed at almost twenty retail supermarkets including the entire D’Agostino chain. It is included as part of the educational programs running at CART.
LEAD Marketing Conference
The agenda of the LEAD Marketing Conference Oct. 11-13 at the Westin O’Hare in Rosemont (Chicago), Ill. includes executives speaking on critical issues in Loyalty, Engagement, Analytics and Digital applications.
Executives from the following companies are scheduled to present: dunhummby, IBM, Marsh Supermarkets, McNeil Pharmaceuticals, Hormel, Partners in Loyalty Marketing, Henry Rak Consulting Partners, Colloquy, Kraft, Coupons.com, Interbrand Design Forum, and others.
Meanwhile, LEAD and GHQ Connections have agreed to co-locate their events at the Westin. GHQ Connections is focused on private one-to-one meetings with consumer packaged goods suppliers and top insights and consumer engagement providers. The agreement will allow consumer packaged goods companies and retailers the opportunity to engage in face-to-face meetings and attend a conference where they will learn how to enhance their business with customer marketing and shopper engagement strategies, social media, virtual shopping platforms, analysis of paths to purchase, and assorted shopper technology.
216-533-5337.
e-Coupons for ShopRite Rewards Card
To help shoppers lower their grocery bills, ShopRite has added a Coupons.com “Save to Card” coupon gallery on its Web site that enables users to apply coupons directly to their ShopRite Price Plus Club cards.
The new gallery displays coupons for items across the store. It is available 24/7 at www.shoprite.com/coupons. After registering their card information, shoppers can choose the coupons they want. When their cards are entered or swiped at checkout, coupons are automatically deducted from the total, without shoppers having to clip or scan printed coupons. Since 2008, ShopRite has also offered online printable coupons from Coupons.com.
