The shopping environment is challenging – both inside and outside the store. Shoppers are faced with a multitude of messages, the majority of which they don’t see or care about! Follow these six steps when developing creative for shopper marketing and you’ll make your shoppers’ lives easier and your products fly off the shelf.
1. Sympathize with shoppers
Reaching shoppers today requires an understanding of their world, life and shopping experience. Start by seeing the retail environment through their eyes—they have a reason for being at a specific retailer, a budget and a time limit; they know what they want and need to have; and they typically give themselves 20 minutes to get it, pay for it and pack it in the car.
Great shopper marketing creative requires a keen understanding of shopper needs, the retail environment, marketing vehicles and messaging.
2. Understand purchase barriers
Identifying barriers is a critical step in shopper marketing. Creative development should address both consideration and conversion barriers in a specific channel, category and on a specific brand. Messaging outside of the store often times must address a poor shopping experience or selection perceptions at a retailer to even be considered for a shopping trip. Enabling de-selection is a common solution to aid conversion of brands in cluttered categories and education helps when a product has usage uncertainty or poor value perception.
Great shopper marketing creative acknowledges and overcomes consideration and conversion barriers.
3. Match the message to the vehicle based on shopper expectations
Communications priorities should be based on the most relevant consumer communication for a particular marketing vehicle. But remember that shoppers have pre-determined expectations, so choose messages accordingly and let the vehicle dictate the lead. For example, shoppers expect circulars to feature items on sale this week, so lead messaging should focus on price to drive them to a specific retailer. They look at displays (endcaps or floor stands) for what’s new, what’s on sale and reminders to buy, so focus lead messaging on the product benefits to drive incremental (planned or unplanned) purchases.
Great shopper marketing creative leverages expectations to increase acceptance.
4. Create an intuitive retail experience
Stopping power is necessary to get noticed in-store, but shoppers often dismiss messaging and visual stimuli that are not relevant to them. Creating an intuitive environment means delivering both recognizable relevance and unexpected difference to create disruption. Balancing these opposing forces requires making strategic and orchestrated choices. Clarity in in-store communications means going beyond simple to compelling. When done correctly, intuitive retail instantly connects the dots of the messaging hierarchy in a split second.
Great shopper marketing creative should act as retail shorthand.
5. Collaborate with retailers
The retailer owns the environment and has final approval, so establish expectations for the balance between a brand’s equity and the retailer’s from the get go. Include the retailer in your planning and shopper research (e.g., focus groups, shopalongs, competitive store audits, etc.). Create multifunctional teams (from the beginning) to ensure seamless execution that is transparent to the shopper. When appropriate, present a couple of creative options (for larger scale events vs. smaller programs).
Great shopper marketing creative aligns mutual business goals through execution.
6. Inspire Shoppers to Act
Finally, shopper marketing needs to inspire shoppers to act. The creative product should fan the flames of inspiration. It’s too simplistic to think that people will only find something valuable if it is presented in a rational and tangible way. Intangibles are part of life and should be embraced. People don’t walk through life calculating its benefits. They experience life. To deliver real value to people, shopper marketing needs to connect with them emotionally. And give them a reason to act—using value PLUS emotion, education, entertainment and engagement.
Great shopper marketing creative engages shoppers emotionally.
