First off, Happy New Year and all that jazz. Haven’t posted for a while, so forgive the festive omission. If you’re anything like me then, quite frankly, I’m sure you had better things to do.

One of the resounding themes gathering pace this year already – supported it seems by huge amounts of research – is the impact that m-commerce (including couch-shopping using i- tablets) is having on shopping and the path to purchase. The general observation is that the ‘point of sale’ is just as likely to exist in your hand, on your couch or in your pocket as it is on shelf, in store.

While smartphones, apps and Google mobile search for instance are still being used to research products in the planning and shopping phase, evidence suggests that shoppers appear to be using mobile more in the latter stages of the purchase funnel i.e. for buying.

According to Ipsos, 28% vs 5% in 2010 (Nielsen) are not only researching and comparing but then going on to purchase via a mobile device. So in other words, m-commerce is compressing the path to purchase and multi-channel shopping behaviour, that often took days can now be completed in a matter of hours or minutes, any time, anywhere. A recent report from Ogilvy Action, observes that ‘consumers can be shoppers and shoppers can be consumers anywhere and everywhere’, giving rise to what they call, the ‘Shopsumer’.

But you can’t help thinking that the ability to squeeze the joy of shopping down into a touch, stroke or click makes it all very transactional, and all that lovely data gives marketers a false sense of saliency.  Not only that, trying to design a one size fits all for all touchscreens interfaces and devices, like planning holsitic communications, is likely to reduce the the opportunity for rich interactions, engagement and relevant brand experiences.

Which is why it was interesting to read this article from Social Commerce Today. ‘Showrooming’ it seems is where it’s at. Think Apple.

‘To showroom’ means to visit a store – online or offline – for research purposes only, and then purchase elsewhere, wherever the best value can be found – increasingly via shopping apps such as Ebay’s RedLaser and Price Check by Amazon.  It’s a trend we think you’ll see a whole lot more of in 2012″

As more purchases are migrating to handsets, phones and tablets, this is simultaneously transforming the role of stores from retail outlets into product showrooms for prodding and poking around purchase options, re-inventing them from purchasing machines into theatres of dreams.

Walmart for instance revealed today that @walmart labs – the social media / e-commerce unit of the world’s largest retailer has made an acquisition – a company called small society – which develops apps for iphones. Apparently they’ve developed apps for other companies like zipcar, that enables members to find and book a Zipcar quickly, but also honk the horn and lock or unlock the doors—all from their iPhone. Groovy.

So, it will be interesting to see how all this manifests itself over the coming year (or not) and who does what with who (i knew show-rooming sounded a bit, well, suspect).

Break a leg.

Mark Chalmers, Creative Parter at Perfect Fools, began a recent article on Contagious by saying….’Walk down a high street with a mobile in your hand and you’re on the frontline for the online vs offline, real vs virtual, battle for engagement. Need a breather? Take a pause with a coffee, look out to the great shop windows and retail spaces around you while flicking through the apps on your phone. You’re right in it.”

Indeed we are. We’re right in it. And the proverbial fan is cranked up to the max and ready to take whatever the industry can throw at it.

He goes on to ask us to ‘consider how brands continually champion ideas uniting digital and physical spaces. What they’re ultimately trying to do is find their place in the wider cultural tapestry – something that is ultimately personal, intangible and experiential’..and he’s also not wrong when he goes onto say that…

…’It’s about creating the conditions for engagement, visibility and interactivity.’

The example he chooses is the Skittles Super Mega Rainbow Updater (courtesy of TBWA London), an app that encourages users to post their Facebook status updates to a Rainbow Call Centre, and then a Skittles team member reads out the status in real-time and then posts a video of the update back onto on each user’s Wall and onto YouTube.

But in the race to win loyalty and create seamless multi-channel experiences that maintain ‘engagement, visibility and interactivity’ here’s another thought. Perhaps it’s not about merging off-line and on-line , investing above it, below it, through it or even getting rid of it altogether.

Actually, perhaps the real challenge is staying on it.

In an age when we decry the waste and expense of permancy and ownership – preferring to rent, lend, borrow, trade , share and recycle, (rather than just buy outright) and when we consider that we can capture data about every move we make and every vow we break (ok well, every abandoned purchase and who we hooked up with next) then surely being right in it means staying right on it…the ‘loyalty line’ that is.

Suppose for a moment that we moved from proving short term ROI to developing CLV (customer lifetime value) and that instead of selling and promotion we introduced the notion of subscription based products and services based on personal preferences and algorithms that learned from our behaviour, so we had just what we wanted when we needed it (and sometimes things we didn’t  necessarily need or know we wanted but that turned up well, just because.)

Now just think about how much understanding we would glean from looking at the divers of customer lifetime loyalty for each category and matching those up against the data generated from a subscription based commerce model across a portfolio of competing brands.

We’d all be right on it. Wouldn’t we?

Now an old client recently sent me this. Not sure whether it was a wry observation on how things are or a gentle reminder of what I perhaps never managed to achieve for him.  Either way it sets up my post nicely (and i know I haven’t posted for a while…)

You see although the idea is important and of course it should achieve the kind of visibility, cut through and standout in the executional and motivational sense, what it misses is the actually the most critical dimension of shopper marketing….the way in which you can influence the shopper at different points along the path to purchase to increase the likelihood that they will buy.

It’s not just about the first moment of truth, the point of purchase or even the store. It’s basically about communications planning and the ability to  unbundle the myriad of decision making steps, channel  choices and shopper-consumer- influencer inter-relationships that increasingly exist behind most purchases when people are living, planning, shopping, consuming and sharing.

Let me show you an idea that perfectly captures the essence of this cartoon. I like it. In fact I like it a lot. A colleague from work (thanks Clare!) emailed it to me. And it’s hard not to be inpressed by the ingenuity.

But will it actually make people buy Panadol? Sure it will create a bit of buzz, it’s made it onto this blog and youtube (along with many others I’m sure) but nonetheless the primacy rests with the idea as a thing of itself. Not as  means to an end. It’s the equivalent of chucking a rock in a pool, watching the ripples and then walking away with the squawk and commotion of pond life ringing in your ears.

To put it another way it stops; it engages; but it doesn’t close. It sets up and dramatises the problem beautifully but leaves you, well, a bit empty. There’s no realisation of the benefit, no follow through and no commen experience to share. It’s a commentary on the living, but planning, shopping, consuming and sharing are completely left out of the picture…which makes an incredibly disruptive 3-dimensional piece of guerilla marketing, strangely one-dimensional.

Now take this little seasonal gem from my old agency (nice one guys!)

Is the idea as striking? well, no. Is it as disruptive and commanding? not really. But will it get people falling in love with J C Penney (and each other again?) youbetcha. In fact this idea is a means to an end because it moves shoppers effortlessley across living, planning, shopping, consuming and sharing. Or put another way, it has a purpose which requires participation. It’s highly personalised and fully activates the path to purchase (the 4Ps of shopper marketing – see previous posts). As Saatchi would say, it is an ‘organising idea’ inspired by the stuff that people care about, enabled (not disabled) by technology. And that’s a wrap.

Well actually it’s more like Ketchup doing facebook or more precisely, Heinz further embracing social media to test-launch a balsamic vineger version of the world’s favourite Tommy K.

And?

Well if you think about how many brands have tried, and failed spectacularly, to change a much loved and original taste, recipe, function or formulation and then had to retract and recall it faster than a nun in a knocking shop, then you’ll begin to see why this is such a good idea.

Heinz Tomato Ketchup is perfect. No really it is. It has what they say in the taste-testing business as ‘high amplitude’ or in other words, it strikes the perfect balance, by appealing to all the fundamental human tastes – salty, sweet, sour, bitter, and umami – (that thick, stocky full mouth sensation you get from meats, gravy, stocks and cheeses. ) Which makes it very hard to copy and even harder to change. (Coca-Cola is another one of course)

And to try and improve or refine such saucy perfection in an imperfect world of focus groups, product trials and modelling takes budget and balls. Now, in actual fact, all it takes is facebook. And that’s why it’s such a canny strategy for Ketchup.

You’re test marketing a new product to people that love you the most and are also most likely to forgive you if they don’t. If it catches on, then of course it will fly and the fact that you can only buy it on facebook means you’re saving millions and avoiding the embarrassment of  having to go back ‘cap’ in hand to key customers. If it does work, then of course the Walmarts of this world will be chewing your hands off for a bottle or 10 million.

Now that’s smart.  And a perfect example of how facebook can be used to drive penetration and test market innovation.

So when the chips are down, let’s see if they can keep their bottle. (OMG….that was just ….. no.)

For full article go to the New York Times

“For years and years, the beauty industry has been making women feel bad about themselves for their own commercial ends, wouldn’t it be great it there was a brand that celebrated women just as they are”

What an insight. In fact this sentence pretty much single-handedly took Dove from a failing band in 2003 to a force to be reckoned with, increasing their share of the soap market alone by 36%;  but as we all know, Dove is much more than that. Dove’s campaign for real beauty turned convention on it’s head and made glossies and airbrushes look like the ugly sisters of the beauty industry.

In fact a 2004 study revealed that only 2% of women considered themselves beautiful and that anxiety about looks begins at an early age.  72% of girls said they felt tremendous pressure to be beautiful with 60% disconnecting from life, avoiding normal daily activities like attending school or even giving their opinion.

The point? Well, yet another example of the new 4Ps of shopper marketing in full flight (see previous blog post below for context)

Their PURPOSE? In a promotion that asks women who has inspired them, Dove will donate $1 to Girls Inc. for every answer received. Women can share their stories, and reflect on who has made a difference in their lives, on Facebook.com/Dove and on Dove.com.

PARTICIPATION is further amplified through a the ‘Self-Esteem Weekend’. National partners in the US including Girls Inc., Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, as well as other organizations and individuals, will help bring the weekend to life through thousands of events nationwide that bring together women and girls. Women can share their plans for the weekend, or locate a public event in their area, on the interactive Dove Facebook map. The map shows where events are taking place and will serve as a visual representation of the reach of this effort.

Oh yes, and here’s the PERSONALISATION bit too with a bit of gamification mixed in for good measure)  Women can download a badge to show their support for building self-esteem in girls and send it around within their communities.

But what about PURCHASE DECISION JOURNEYS I hear you cry?!

Fear not. Ladyfolk can also can download free self-esteem building tools and activities to inspire a girl in their life by visiting Dove.com. These free resources include a “A Girl’s Guide to the Digital World — How to Log Off of Digital Drama….”  along with tip sheets with recommendations from Dove communities on Facebook and Twitter on how to build self-esteem in girls. So in other words, the ‘living’ and ‘planning’ steps of the path to purchase are very well taken care of, no doubt creating positive brand consideration pre-store for consumer-shoppers and shopper- gifters / family care-takers.

So, a simple but powerful insight continues to resonate and drive holistic multi-channel activity 8 years on. That would boost any brand’s self-esteem wouldn’t it?

www.dove.com

Featured on contagious , Heinz has tapped into the rise of personalisation with customisable soup cans. After Liking the brand on Facebook, fans can send their sick friends a customised can of soup to help them get well soon.

Now when i read this, it got me simmering. Because I have theory; a theory which none-else seems to be subscribing to and now -ha ha- oh yes- here’s the proof on the front of a soup can. So there.

I believe there are a new 4Ps of marketing, or more precisely, shopper marketing.

PURPOSE. PARTICIPATION. PERSONALISATION. PURCHASE DECISION JOURNEYS.

Brands (and categories) need a ‘PURPOSE’ rather than a ‘positioning’ to truly engage and sustain stakeholders and communities across geographies, cultural divides and commercial channels; As consumers (and shoppers) we want to create, share and PARTICIPATE in unique brand experiences that transform our lives and deliver a significant return on time, money and involvement. PERSONALISATION is pretty much table stakes now as we exist in a matrix like world, where the data we generate from our browsing and buying behaviours is translated, traded and (ideally) transformed into predictive, intelligent and respectful marketing that inspires and anticipates our needs, wants and deepest desires. Finally every step we take and every move we make can be monitored, tracked and ‘activated’ along the PURCHASE DECISION JOURNEY. We have the ability to step backwards and forwards over ‘the line’ change behavior and ‘move’ shoppers effortlessly towards a buying decision, whether they realise it or not. In real-time.

These are the new 4Ps of the new world that brand teams and agencies will need to re-configure planning, strategy, resources and structures around to design and deliver cross-channel campaigns that seamlessly integrate brands, ideas, data, design, user experiences and communications. Convinced?

Well you should be because this simple campaign on a lowly soup can from Heinz perfectly illustrates the model.

It has purpose – making people feel better – that transcends the category. It invites participation – by getting people to like it on facebook and send it to their mates. At its core is personalisation – The Get Well Soup campaign lets Facebook users select a flavour – Cream of Chicken or Cream of Tomato – and enter the name of their unwell friend. They can then send the can of soup, with the usual Heinz label altered with a message saying ‘Get well soon Bob’. Bob will receive his soup in three to four working days. And last but not least, it cleverly activates brand equity to get people to buy (for other people, thereby driving household penetration) without going anywhere near a supermarket shelf.

Heinz  and we are social I love you.

And now I have  to go and satisfy my sudden yearning for croutons.

According to Mashable it’s a shopper discovery engine built on the twitter platform. To you and I it’s a nifty little gadget that aggregates all the best offers and deals floating around on twitter to help you make the most out of your shopping budget.

It makes total sense. The info-lusting, realtime nature of twitter makes it the perfect platform to fanfare deals of the day locally and gives brands and retailers the ability to respond to trends, insights and tactical opportunities with tremendous speed and efficiency from the shop floor. ( I would imagine)

CMO Harrison Lee says ; ‘Users can give offers a thumbs up to help Tweetalicious better understand what they like, as well as save deals to a wishlist for later perusal. Deals are refreshed every few days to make sure they are up to date and relevant.’ “We don’t just want [Tweetalicious] to be a community of online shoppers,” Lee says. “We also want to reach people who primarily shop within [their own] general vicinity.”

The tills will be alive with the sound of tweeting, I have no doubt.

One definitely worth following

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Walmart admitted today that it has been hiding a secret underground laboratory where meatloaf has been subjected to all sorts of unthinkable modifications. They have been focred to come clean after a particularly aggressive batch of the loaf, laced wth a strain of steroid infused walnuts, broke out of their baking trays and proceeded to cause havoc and masquerade as fruit loaf.

If only it were true. I’d buy it.

Arguably in shopper-retailer land, something even more exciting has happened. Walmart has in fact launched their own social & mobile commerce lab. “Through the innovative fusion of retail, social and mobile, @WalmartLabs is redefining Commerce for the largest retailer worldwide.” (Thanks to my colleague Eric for the heads up on this.)

In Eric’s own wise words;

“@WalmartLabs aims to redefine commerce for the world’s biggest retailer. Using social media and mobile technology, the group of technologists and business people behind it will be guiding Walmart as it ventures into social retail. @WalmartLabs will help define the inventory of stores by tracking the interests and social conversations of the customers who live nearby. With custom technology that organizes and filters social media feeds, they will be able to monitor people’s interests and use this information to predict demand for certain products in different areas.

Another plan for the future is for Walmart to interact with its customers on their social networks. Using their knowledge of people’s interests and connections, the store will make gift recommendations for friends and offer deals around the holiday season. @WalmartLabs also plans to use social media to enhance customers’ in-store experience. With 30% of their customers taking a smartphone with them while shopping, there’s an opportunity for Walmart to utilize that device more fully. Mobile app building and data harvesting could also be used to give customers information, such as what brands their friends bought and how much they liked a certain product.”

Thanks Eric. Have you tried any of that meatloaf?

@walmartlabs

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Why are consumer goods companies reducing their product ranges and why are retailers overhauling their category merchandising and range assortments? Well, in part it’s down to too much choice. But don’t take my word for it.

Effective shopper marketing relies on brutal simplicity to cut through the clutter of the average supermarket (over 50,000 product lines) while being reductive and choiceful about the message that is most likely to tip the balance and motive shoppers to buy. The same should apply to the number of products on offer, but this is rarely the case.

In fact one of the biggest barriers to purchase at shelf (as we all know from personal experience) is ‘choice confusion.’ The agency I work for recently did some research for a client who makes a well known line of toothbrushes in Mexico and witnessed a lady get so frustrated trying to choose the best toothbrush and decipher the jargon printed on the pack, she actually threw the toothbrush on the floor and stormed out of the aisle. And it’s a similar story in a category like nappies. Retailers often reward sleep deprived, first time mums who feel overwhelmed, vulnerable and unsure by presenting them with a wall of nappies laden with indistinguishable ‘bells and whistles’ – just to make them feel even more stupid and ill-equipped to decide what’s best their babies! Choice confusion can be incredibly stressful.

And if you’re a little more pathalogical – sorry – i mean quantitively minded, a retailer reduced unique SKUs by 18 – 22 percent, which resulted in sales increases of 6 – 12 percent, improved turns of 9 percent, and improved GMROI of more than 9 percent. (Symphony IRI Group)

Retailers have always tended to flex the value equation ( price x convenience x choice x innovation \ product quality or performance) in lots of different ways to reflect their own brand positioning and commercial objectives but this still tends to create un-necessary complexity for the shopper. The fundamental paradox is that the number of trips and products bought to stock up in the pantry is de-creasing while the number of product line innovations and assortments is still trending in the opposite direction.

Deals and not choice is the main driver in the decision making process. In fact a recent piece of research by the Symphony IRI Group in the US suggests that the weaker economy has caused shoppers to drop pantry stocking by 25 percent, removing nice to have items while purchasing on a needs must basis much closer to consumption, as well as paydays. One shopper said on CNNMoney (July 29): ‘When it comes to grocery shopping, if it isn’t on sale, I’m not buying it’. Deals erode brand commitment but they are instant, tangible and telegraphic and we’ve spent billions training shoppers to notice and respond to them. No use crying over split milk.

What is quite interesting though is the amount of time that is being spent planning and searching on-line or via mobile now rather than buying and this is particularly true in more involved categories such as travel, automotive, insurance and consumer electronics.

By 2020 we’ll all be connecting at speeds of around one gigabyte per second – that’s more than 500 times faster than today, and with the advent of predictive marketing based on historic purchasing data from the likes of loyalty cards scheme etc. shoppers aren’t going to want to spend time too much time hanging around in front of the shelf making choices. If retailers still insist on making shoppers trudge around pre-fabricated mazes, bombarding them with daily deals that feed the need and dull the senses, arranged into meaningless categories that bare no resemblance to how groceries are planned prepared or consumed, they’d bloody well better try making it simpler, more straightforward and dare i say, a more enjoyable shopping experience.

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Rubbish title I know but it’s friday.

According to WARC, Frito-Lay set a new record for generating the most “likes” on Facebook in 24 hours, adding 1.5m fans, thanks to creating a branded farm on FarmVille so players could make healthy “virtual goods”. It also live streamed a Flavour Kitchen event in Times Square NYC, providing cooking demonstrations and tips for busy mums, on its Facebook page, rising 159 places in the charts as a result. There;’s that 3-step disruption, experience and socialise model again.

An here’s another nice little ‘likey likey’ case from IKEA. I like.

IKEA “The world’s most liked showroom” from Jeena van der Heul on Vimeo.

ps. If you haven’t checked it out already, then visit Shopper360 . It’s the blog behind the shopper insights conference in Prague from 12-14th October. That’s where the IKEA case study came from, courtesy of Valerie M. Russo is a Senior Social Media Strategist at IIR USA. I likey.

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