We talk to CPG companies about shopper insights day in day out. We are used to rooms filled with “category” people, and indeed salespeople. But it's amazing how rarely brand managers come along. I think the shorthand or even subliminal implication to marketing departments is that talking shopper is about retailers, selling, more about execution,
Coaching has come on a long way in recent years. Gone are the days where only gut feel and experience counted. Now a top coach has a huge range of diagnostic data at their fingertips to make better recommendations and come up with more effective plans. What do I mean by diagnostic data? This is
It's an amazing story. The startup of a single tiny side street burger bar that became a $3 billion international company. I listened to the story told by Jerry Murrell, the founder, about the cornerstone of their success. Deceptively simple – they gave customers the best possible product. Early on he allowed his sons (who
Your first job with your buyer is to build a relationship as a trusted advisor. Only then will your ideas and proposals be credible. In a recent Advantage Survey of USA retail buyers in CPG, references to “objective information and advice” came only second to “good communication” in what behaviours make a best practice supplier.
We may not like to think about it, but as humans, we are all subject to a range of unconscious biases. These get in the way of our rational decision making so that we often end up with worse outcomes than we should. Clear, unambiguous, quantitative data, well explained can overcome these “gut feel” problems.
I spend my life in data. I love it. Give me a fact versus a guess any day of the week. I know I may be in a minority in that regard, but I think marketing should be a balanced synthesis of science and art. As a musician, I know and love art. Art is most likely where
We are taught it on our first day in sales training. That the customer only cares about WIFM: “What’s in it for me”. So, whatever we are proposing has to solve the buyer’s problem. Or meet the buyer ’s needs. But how much of what an account manager is provided by his or her business
The recent “Shopper Brain” Conference in Amsterdam saw the gathering of “neuro marketers” from around the world. Essentially these are the people in our Industry that are trying to uncover and then exploit the way consumers/shoppers brains respond to stimuli, rather than just focussing on the reactions of human beings’ 10% of conscious thinking. My first learning
Insights are the new currency in Packaged Goods. As the squeeze on space, the proliferation of promotions and the advance of omnichannel make selling tougher and tougher; one resource will help you meet your goals. Insight has become the currency of the conversation with your buyer. It's about bringing a superior understanding of the shopper.
It just wasn’t possible in the past. We all knew that as a guiding principle, cheaper things were not as good as more expensive things. A tradesperson offering a cheaper deal was probably not as competent or used inferior materials. A piece of hardware wouldn’t last as long if it were a lower price because
