Most of us know that to be really effective at shopper marketing, we need to know about and understand our shoppers. Without an ability to identify our target shoppers, and to understand about their motivations and behaviors, our shopper marketing strategies and programs are likely to be generic. But for really good shopper marketing, understanding shoppers isn’t enough. Shopper marketers also need to understand consumers and consumption.
Before we go any further, let’s just make sure we’re clear. Consumers and shoppers aren’t necessarily the same. In many cases, the consumer and the shopper are completely different people. But even when they are the same people, consumers and shoppers act as if they are quite different beings. Just because we understand someone as a consumer, doesn’t mean we understand them as a shopper. And, of course, vice versa.
Why do shopper marketers need to understand consumers and what do they need to know?
Shoppers buy to meet consumer needs, or at least the needs that they perceive exist. Shoppers rarely buy things without some idea of the consumption. Most shopper missions have an element of consumption in them (something for Jonny’s lunchbox, for tonight’s family meal, something to eat on the way home): therefore unless we really understand that consumer need, we’re really not understanding the shopper fully! So if that is the case, what do shopper marketers need to understand about consumers? It would be tempting to say that the more we understand, the better, but let’s focus on the key elements.
What opportunities exist to grow consumption? As a business we need to grow our brands, so that means that consumption has to grow. Brands or categories need either new consumers, or for a segment of existing consumers to consume more (more often, or a higher value product, or more volume per consumption occasion). For each consumption opportunity, shopper marketers need to know the following:
Which consumers are we targeting? Allied to this; shopper marketers need to know which consumers will change their behavior. Not all consumers will be the focus for a given consumption opportunity. Its really hard to focus our marketing efforts without understanding who we are targeting. An opportunity to drive penetration of a category would target consumers not currently using the category. An opportunity to drive frequency would of course target current users.
For shopper marketers, knowing who the consumer is is critical to helping them through the first step of shopper marketing: identifying who the target shopper is! Note that when we refer to ‘target consumer’ here, we’re not talking about the broad (often generic) target consumer that we describe in brand plans (active young adults, SES ABC1, etc.). Shopper marketers need to know about the consumers we are targeting for this specific opportunity.
Which consumer needs are we targeting. Shopper buy to meet a perceived consumption need. Mom buys meals to feed her family. A teenager buys an energy drink because they need that boost after the soccer match. If we are to understand shoppers, we need to understand the consumption need that they are aiming to satisfy. The more a shopper believes that our solution meets that consumption need, the more the shopper is likely to buy.
Which consumption occasions are we targeting? Shopper marketers need to understand where and when a consumption opportunity might lie too. The occasion is key to help the shopper marketer identify which channel is a potential channel to activate this opportunity. A consumption occasion at home, in the morning, may best be activated in a hypermarket or supermarket, via online channels, or any channel used for in-home stock up. An occasion in an office, at lunchtime, however, may require a different channel for activation – perhaps convenience stores near commercial areas.
What do consumers do now, and what do we want them to do? Shopper marketers need a focus on behavior. If they understand what is the desired change to consumption behavior, they can then work out what needs to happen to shopping behavior. Any increase in consumption must be preceded by an increase in purchase.
Why the consumer currently doesn’t use the brand or category for this need or occasion. Getting down to the nuts and bolts of the marketing task, and my favorite marketing question: why not? Understanding ‘why not’ helps shopper marketers understand the barriers that they may need to overcome to encourage a shopper to buy. Is it a lack of awareness, a lack of understanding, or maybe simply that the brand isn’t available at the point of consumption? All of this is high value to the shopper marketer when they begin to plan their activity.
Of course, the list could go on, and close dialog and sharing of data and information between consumer marketing and shopper marketing teams is encouraged. But in our experience the above list represents the information which is of highest value.
Sharing information like this is key to ensuring that a shopper marketer’s plans are based on a genuine understanding of an important part of any shopper mission: the consumption that the shopper is trying to provide for. It also creates the opportunity for a much higher level of alignment between consumer marketing and shopper marketing plans: both sets of plans are ultimately doing the same thing: both aiming to drive brand consumption.
To learn more about making shopper marketing work for your business, whether you are in consumer marketing, shopper marketing, or sales, check out Shopper Marketing Experts, a brand new platform designed to help marketers, sales people, agencies and retailers get the most out of their shopper marketing efforts.
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