Excelling in shopper communication isn’t easy. Just take a look around a typical store or retail website and its often hard to find even one example that is remarkable. There are so many pitfalls, so many mistakes that can be made. And one of the biggest mistakes is to try to do too many things. One of the key principles of shopper communication that we share in our workshops is that we need to be single-minded in what we are trying to achieve. We must start with a clear shopper behavioral objective. The example of shopper communication shown here is excellent for many reasons but is a brilliant example of being single-minded and focused (the entire store is jammed full of great shopper marketing – check out the full story here!) The retailer smartly avoids the temptation to ‘do more’ and instead focuses on effectively executing a clear strategy to deliver a simple, and single-minded objective.
As a piece of shopper communication, it’s pretty simple: a sign with three core elements. The first element is an image of the product. Then we have the headline (Give it a squeeze!) and then we have the smaller sub-copy, which you might not be able to read in the image. It says, “The juice from citrus fruits is a great way to add zing to marinades and salad dressing”. All these elements are working hard to deliver against one single-minded objective. They want you to buy more oranges. So, let’s break this down and see how it delivers this, as well as avoiding the biggest trap in shopper marketing ‘trying to do too much’.
Shopper Communication Key principles – Location is everything
It’s tempting to get stuck in and discuss what is written on the sign, but with shopper communication, context is everything. Looking at the wide image below (taken from the entrance to the store), we’re in a good traffic location, and the sign can be seen from a distance, with clear lettering and a simple message. I’d argue that the side-display of pineapples partially obscuring the sign doesn’t help, but overall the key message is clear from a distance. But what does it say?
Shopper Communication – engaging from a distance
“Give it a squeeze!” That’s about all you can get from a distance. You can’t even see the picture of the oranges (thanks pineapples!), but that doesn’t matter. From a distance, ‘give it a squeeze’ is engaging. It immediately delivers great fruit connotations: juicy, sweet, fresh. It’s tactile. It uses language that gets the shopper thinking about gorgeous juicy fresh fruit.
Note at this point, we’re not even talking oranges. This sign is working for the entirety of the fruit section. It’s telling me about how fresh the product is, without going all lecturing and scientific. Its saying ‘fresh’ in an emotive way, in a way that inspires the shopper, and makes them think “fresh fruit – great idea – that would be tasty!”
Even from a distance, we’re being inspired. We’re engaging shoppers who might be bypassing the section, or just passing through. We’re priming them to think about fresh and juicy fruit.
Shopper Communication Key Principles – Inspire and suggest
As we get closer, the message is now associated specifically with the oranges. Give it a squeeze means more than just fresh produce. It means fresh juice! It means actually squeezing the oranges to make juice. It is inspiring shoppers by suggesting a different usage and consumption occasion. You don’t just need to eat the fruit; you could juice it!
Shopper communication – keep it simple
I’ve talked about this before, but simple nearly always triumphs in shopper communication. And here we have ALL that inspiration and communication in just four words. Four words! How have they done that? They’ve played with the shopper brain.
Shopper’s filter out (or deselect) a lot of what they see in store. The store environment is jammed with so many messages and so much stimulus, the human brain is conditioned to filter. Anything too complicated, anything irrelevant, runs the risk of being filtered out.
Shopper Communication Key Principles: engage, don’t lecture
But it is a myth to say that the shopper brain doesn’t want to engage. Our brains ‘enjoy’ work, as long as it is worthwhile. These four words entice, but they don’t over explain. They don’t tell you that you could juice the oranges. The image isn’t a step-by-step guide of how to use a juicer. And (thank God!) they haven’t fallen into the trap of putting a juicer next to the display (we’ll come back to that later!) They’ve focused on the inspiration, because they’ve focused on one single-minded objective.
To get you to buy oranges.
Shopper Communication Key principles – Layering the messaging
As the shopper gets close and sees the sub-copy, we get more suggestions and inspirations. This isn’t just orange to eat as fruit. This isn’t just juice to drink with your breakfast. It says, “The juice from citrus fruits is a great way to add zing to marinades and salad dressing”. This is juice that will lift a salad or help marinate some meat. More layers of inspiration! More layers of excitement. But still focused on one simple single-minded objective.
To get you to buy oranges.
So where is the juicer!?
Shopper Communication Key principles – One thing at a time
So, the big question. Why isn’t there a neat display of juicers next to the oranges? We’re encouraging people to buy oranges for juicing, right? So why not sell them a juicer at the same time? This retailer sells juicers, so surely there is an opportunity missed?
Maybe.
But adding the juicer breaks the number one rule of shopper communication.
One objective at a time. Keep it single-minded.
Shopper Communication Key principles – One objective at a time
If you try to achieve more than one objective, you often end up messing things up. You complicate things. You confuse shoppers. You lose focus.
In this example, we’ve agreed that there is a simple, single-minded objective: to sell oranges.
So, what might happen if you put a display of juicers on the display?
True, some shoppers might pick up a juicer. That would be great. But I guarantee you, fewer would pick up oranges.
Why?
Shopper Communication Key Principles: Don’t make it complicated
You’ve just made juicing complicated.
You’ve just focused the shopper on the act of juicing, rather than the idea of fresh juice. And juicing largely sucks.
The joy of juice is in the drinking, not the making.
A display of juicers makes a shopper think about how difficult it is to make fresh juice compared to drinking from the carton. It makes the shopper think about the cost of the juicer. In short it triggers the two things that are likely to get a shopper to STOP. The two most common shopper barriers. You’ve made juice difficult. And you’ve made juice expensive.
Shopper decisions are governed by Shopper Economics™ – a simple model we’ve created to help us understand and predict shopper decisions. Shopper Economics is about the balance between value and cost. When our communication focuses on juice, we are focusing the shopper on value, the consumption value of delicious fresh juice. When we focus our shopper communication on juicing (rather than juice), we risk the shopper thinking about cost: the cost of the juicer and the time-cost for the consumer. The result? We sell fewer oranges.
Shopper Communication Key Principles – Different objective, different communication
Of course, if the objective (the single-minded objective) was to sell juicers, then that would be a different story. Go right ahead. But then change the messaging to overcome the barriers above. Talk about how little fresh juice actually costs. Show how easy it is to make fresh juice. If the goal was to sell juicers, you’d arguably use completely different messaging.
And you’d sell fewer oranges.
But that wouldn’t matter, because that wasn’t the objective!
Shopper communication is tricky to get right, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve developed a clear process which we’ve shared with countless clients through our training workshops and our consulting services. If you want your team to create better shopper communication that really engages shoppers, check out our programs here, or get in touch now.