> March 2009 <
What's In Store This February? Shopper Activations
An In Store Activation is communication at shelf and aisle that turns consumers into buyers. Each month we review the shelves who is activating and how.
This month there is a heavy emphasis on reaching out to the consumer, with activations focusing on education and reward; our key to communicating with our target audiences in current economic times is to offer greater perceived value through multiple level winning and big value prizes as incentive for purchasing.
Education – a lengthy process
In March 2008 we saw the launch of Omo’s Small and Mighty and its move towards a more concentrated laundry detergent formula. Packaging has reduced in size, allowing Unilever to deliver a more environmentally friendly message. A critical opportunity was missed at the time however, to direct consumers online to engage with the green benefits and the company relied on TVC to reach the audience.
This year it’s Colgate Palmolive’s turn to transition its products to the more concentrated, better-for-the-environment formulas. The strategy to maximise education and minimise customer dissatisfaction has been communicated through on pack stickers and neck tags at product level, providing functional triggers to educate the consumer.
Signposting at shelf to drive selection and floor media at aisle level to communicate functional benefits educate the consumer and drive awareness. They also provide retailers with a reason to engage and get excited about delivering the message.
Other product and shelf activity includes discounting to shift current stock before the launch of the new size.
Aisle ends have also been provided to interrupt shoppers’ behaviour and generate more awareness.
Unilever are lucky to be able to piggy back Colgate. Using sampling, the product can be trialled for free. Again support is with TVC and the message is promoted at shelf with neck tags and on pack stickers.
Attracted by ‘Free!’, purchasers are actually presented with a false economy – they must first pay for the product then claim its cost back by downloading a claim form and sending it in. The offer is only available for the first 10,000 claims and the process is lengthy and complicated. One of the first rules of a successful promotion is to keep the entry mechanic as simple as possible but in this case, will it all become too hard for consumers? My feeling is Unilever are banking on it.
Once online, the major promotion is giving away a washing machine. From a marketing point of view Unilever have succeeded in getting consumers to engage with the product at a low risk and cost
Value add
This promotion alone was offering a car, 4 holidays, 10 cash prizes and 300 gift cards. Entry is only limited to spending $50 in one transaction so shoppers can enter as many times as they spend by mail-in of the entry form or online. The prize value of even the smallest reward, $100 WISH gift card, is double the minimum qualifying amount and it’s a big hook when we are rewarded for doing the weekly chore.
Prize relevance
We see a fairly good spread of relevance of prize.
IGA was pushing the back to school theme: targeted at the kids, Papermate, Sharpie and Liquid Paper joined forces to give away 8 weekly prizes of $500 or an i-Phone. SPC were giving away 100 Nintendo DS with brain training game with purchases of 2 lunch box size fruit snack packs and McCormick Foods were giving away 10,000 key rings for 3 Aeroplane Jelly products.
Relevant to time of year, target audience and product, the SPC and Papermate prizes are engaging enough to warrant the nag factor for Mum and so encourage brand switching. I’m not sure how many main grocery buyers would be inclined to redeem their singing Bertie key ring, perhaps lacking in appeal, this one!
Ricky’s second appearance is for Swisse. Unsure of the connection between cricket and vitamins, I’d say the prize is the hook.
A fully rounded campaign
This month SunRice have launched their ready-to-eat microwaveable red and green curries. Taking a strategic approach, they have made the most of existing resources to maximise awareness, interest, desire and action.
The product is being sold for a special introductory price to drive trial. At shelf, there is signposting with entry leaflets and wobblers to drive selection and in the aisle there are take-ones providing functional benefit information to interrupt buyer behaviour and create awareness of product innovation.
Entry to the promotion is driven to SunRice’s recipe club website where consumers can further engage with SunRice products and must become a recipe club member to enter.
Once online, there is clear direction on how to enter and multiple entries are encouraged.
The prize is a holiday to Thailand for 2 people with an authentic Thai cooking class. Not only is the prize relevant to the target audience, but there is a strong connection to the product, the brand and the message. It also holds enough perceived value for the consumer to feel incentivised to try.
The tactic is clear: spend smart to make the most of existing tools so as to get the shopper to try the new product.