Shopper Marketing

Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

The new IRI New Product Pacesetters report is out. And although their findings indicate mass market is still in decline overall, it seems that smartly targeted markets are growing. And that has more to do with how accurately the opportunity has been forecast than the size (and depth of the pockets) of the company bringing it to market. Small Companies (annual sales under $1 billion) are doing a better job of understanding how consumer wants and buying practices are evolving, targeting an opportunity, then moving quickly to deliver the right product to the right audience at the right time.
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Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

Can social responsibility truly build sales for your brand? In a word, YES.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Price promotions. I like to refer to them as the race to the bottom. Who can win the competition of having the lowest price and commoditizing their brand?
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Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

As food marketers, we tend to think that telling potential customers how delicious our products are is enough. It’s why most new product launches and ad campaigns simply feature high-appetite food photography showing products at their mouthwatering best. Add a headline calling out product attributes and a few lines of aspirational body copy, slap “New” on it, and call it a day.
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Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

Want to win in the frozen aisle?
Be dull.

During a recent shopping trip to the frozen section at my local Walmart, I was struck by how difficult it was to find the products I was looking for, even when I had a general idea of where they should be.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

I hope there’s no one reading this article who is still targeting women 25-54, to advertise their food or beverage brand. If you are, please call me. I can help.
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Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

Love is cheap. Desire sells products.

Okay, we’ve written about Love and Love Brands before (spoiler alert: it’s really just ‘like’). Truth be told, love is not what you’re after.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Marketing vs. Sales—an age-old rivalry. “Sales are down because ‘marketing’ isn’t supporting our brand with the consumer.” “The new product launch failed because ‘sales’ didn’t do their job!”
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Having been in CPG marketing, and primarily working with food brands, for nearly 30 years, there have always been certain constant pivotal drivers in consumer purchasing — the “go-to”s that always drive consumer response. Well, things are changing. In fact, there has been a definitive paradigm shift that all marketers should be paying close attention to.
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Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

According to popular belief (and many old studies), millennials are not particularly brand loyal, with theories ranging from low attention spans to price-sensitivity due to lower income levels as being the cause. However, according to a new study just released by the National Retail Federation, all that begins to change once millennials become parents themselves and start shopping for their own families.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

“Our target audience is women, ages 25-54!”

For decades CPG food and beverage brands have used this key demographic targeting the primary, kingpin shopper of every household. So, why change? After all, women still do all the shopping, right? Sounds kinda stupid when you say it out loud.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

When it comes to marketing food and beverage, there are many nuances to an effective program. However, I have found that there are two foundational cornerstones that every successful brand has in common: MENTAL and PHYSICAL AVAILABILITY. Do consumers know and remember you, when they are ready to purchase—and can they find you, in-store when they are looking.
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Todd Bergey President

While the answers to this question may differ dramatically, the reality is that this is a very fair and warranted question. If you’ve done any research on this topic or have personal experience on how this question can be answered, you are keenly aware that the answer is very much related to the strategy and execution of the advertising campaign – aka, this is a loaded question. The truth is, every brand manager should be prepared with a strong rationale for how to answer this question.
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Todd Bergey President

Getting your marketing strategy right is crucial for the success of your overall marketing plan. However, strategy development is not a straightforward process and requires continuous evaluation. Whether you’re in the discovery or execution phase, your approach to the process greatly impacts your chances of success.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

The pathway to purchase for moms buying snacks can be an emotional, trying journey. The struggle is real. Moms are on the frontlines, fighting the fight, battling against what her family wants vs what she feels is best or “better” for them, what will make her life easier vs what they will enjoy, and so on.

It can be a real quest.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

We all love a good cliché. Especially in marketing. And, if we repeat it enough, it becomes gospel. For instance, the 80/20 rule (the Pareto Principle). Have you ever said something like; “80% of my brand sales are coming from 20% of my consumers, so we need to focus on the loyalist”? Or “we need a better customer loyalty program”? Or better yet, “I want to focus more marketing dollars on my brand advocates, ambassadors, loyalists, yada, yada, yada”?
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Todd Bergey President

In a recent article, I discussed how to better understand what your data is telling you, which leads in to the important topic of market selection.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

How often have you been under fire at a meeting with questions like these: “What’s going to be the ROI from this marketing program?” “How can you expect me to invest in those markets without a definitive ROI?” Or statements like: “There’s no ROI from TV, radio, and outdoor.” Mostly from well-meaning executives who want to make sure that marketing dollars are being stewarded and invested in the most effective way.
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Todd Bergey President

Wading through CPG Data can be daunting, so find what’s important.
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Scott Cooter Creative Director / Senior Copywriter

What’s the sweet spot for snack sales?

In a word, Millennials.

According to the latest Mintel¹ report, 15% of snackers are always hungry. But the real sweet spot is 18-34 year-olds, where one in four (25%) say they’re hungry all day, every day, seven days a week.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

#3 Consumers Are Snacking More & More & More
IRI data shows that there has been a 3% increase in the number of consumers snacking more than five times per day. Currently, 14% of people snack five or more times a day in addition to their regular mealtimes. IRI predicts this will continue to rise in 2017.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Brands can market to their consumers in two major ways: TARGETED MARKETING, which is selling to a specific segment of buyers, and MASS MARKETING, which is selling to all buyers. So which of the two ways is most effective? Read more…

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Anyone who has worked in marketing for even a few weeks knows the following 3 “written in stone” dictums:Read more…

Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Okay, it’s a great song (and, coincidentally, great YouTube video of a dancing baby in diapers). But why do I bring it up here?
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Marketing research firm, MarketingSherpa asked consumers how they would prefer to receive communications from brands and retailers. For those of us in the ad biz who are lustily embracing every new social/digital media that flies down the WorldWide InterWeb SuperHighway @ us, its insights are surprising. Stunning, even.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

Couponing remains one of the most effective ways to drive trial and create loyalty among consumers. However, finding the best vehicle to reach a consumer can be a challenge.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

In our first influencer marketing blog we introduced you to the fundamentals, now it’s time to step up your game.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

It happened with the explosion of social media… new marketing trends & tactics come in hot and a wave of “experts” pop out of the woodwork. As we head into 2016, we’ll see it continue with the rise of influencer marketing.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

As everyone knows, millennials not only grew up online, they did it with cell phones tucked into their back pockets. And now that the two have merged to become the mobile world, it’s only natural that millennials are leading the way in all things mobile, including mobile purchases. And their purchasing power is growing.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

In 2015, television remains the most results-successful advertising medium, according to new research conducted by marketing-analytics company MarketShare (Download full report). From 2009 to 2014, TV beat digital and offline channels in driving sales and new business for major advertisers.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

In 1988, the longest running #1 single on the Billboard music charts was “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood, which topped the charts for 4 weeks.
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Jamie Allebach Chief Executive & Creative Officer

More and more, consumers are Googling food brands they hear about and shopping online.

Here are 10 very vital statistics having to do with marketing food & beverages to increasingly health-conscious buyers in the digital age.
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