DDi - January/February 2011 - (Page 16)

16 | Quick Tips O ver the past decade or so, retail marketing has become paramount to many fast-moving consumer goods brands, and even more important than advertising in driving consumer trial and loyalty. Research into shopper behavior has expanded to find out how to be successful at retail. A new study from Grey Group and G2 Asia Pacific into shopper behavior, “Eye on Asia – Retail,” defines six critical steps that will help any marketer succeed in the world of Asian shoppers. combination has to be communicated either on the package, on the shelf or in other key areas where the shopper will stop and compare. Photo: © William Stall | Dreamstime.com steps to retail success in Asia Mix the right balance. According to the Eye on Asia – Retail data, less than one-third of Asian shoppers plan their shopping before entering the store. This does not mean to split up your marketing budget in the same proportion, but the marketer needs to find the right balance of messages and allocations. Advertising will still drive shoppers to the store, but without the accompanied closing messages in-store (with the appropriate budgetary support) that initial success will go for naught. Market the winning combination. Asians spend almost an hour (52 minutes) in hypermarkets/supermarkets on average, and about 58 percent of those same shoppers like to compare products on the shelves all the time. Any marketer letting the Asian shopper compare package-to-package without highlighting the “winning” assets of the product in some way is not doing his or her job. The winning Train the face of the brand. Providing free product training to retail staff on a continual basis is not a wasted practice, and this is not just for beauty products. The more product training that staff receives, the better the “face” of the brand will perform for you, especially given that more than 77 percent of Asian shoppers simply do not mind receiving advice on their purchase decisions. Staff turnover is an obvious problem here, and that is why product training must be done continually and frequently. Pick your promotions. Never do discount or free-gift promotions just for the sake of driving short-term volumes. The promotion cycle can become a trap of your own making, weaning consumers into expecting them, and affecting your overall brand value. Eye on Asia – Retail data reveals that only 38 percent of Asian shoppers buy products on promotion, and 40 percent of those that do so would buy it even if it was not on promotion. The best promotions are often the standard holiday ones, because they are simply more sincere in explaining the discounts in the first place. demonstrations always have an entertainment quality to them and are easy to conduct. Some even create child-friendly carts and playrooms to make the shopping experience more pleasurable for families. Technology allows us to bring audiovisual feeds onto the shelves, and promotions can be more than just about discounts, but perhaps promoting local neighborhood achievements or anniversaries in some way. Define your shopper class. Above all, there is a distinct need to define your marketing target by shopping behavior, and plan accordingly. Eye on Asia – Retail defines four large shopper classes in this manner, finding that each country typically has dominating classes. For example, the vast majority of Indians are in the “Loyal Listers” class, which means that this group is all about pre-planning, finding the trusted brand and efficiency shopping. If you are the marketer of a lesstrusted brand, it compels you to create “favorable comparison” communications against the trusted brand on all levels (from home to store). Defining your shopper is going to determine your marketing blueprint that will allow steps 1-5 to become that much more effective. —Steve Yi is chief strategy officer for Grey Group in Korea and a member of Grey Group Asia Pacific’s Regional Strategic Planning Council. Grey Group ranks among the largest global communications companies, and its total offering includes Grey (advertising) and G2 (brand activation). www.greygroupasiapacific.com. www.ddionline.com Create new experiences. Asian hypermarkets often provide entertainment services beyond just rows and rows of products. Product | January/February 2011 http://www.Dreamstime.com http://www.greygroupasiapacific.com http://www.ddionline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DDi - January/February 2011

DDi - January/February 2011
Table of Contents
From the Editor
Newsworthy
Shopper Insights
Quick Tips
Greentailing
Editor’s Choice
Swatch Shanghai
Printemps Paris
OPSM’s EyeHub
Sugamo Shinkin Bank
Right Light
Product Spotlight
GlobalShop Preview
Calendar
Advertisers
Classifieds
Think Tank

DDi - January/February 2011