Brett Goffin from Google spent some time with Bob Houk, Executive Director of Trade Promotion Management Associates (TPMA), discussing how and when the trade promotion discipline will adapt to the digital world. Some very interesting opportunities for sure.
As Bob and Brett discuss, the trade promotion discipline is deeply rooted around driving value for both trading partners — manufacturers gain more prominent placement for their products, while retailers monetize lucrative in-store marketing vehicles. This fair trade has taken place for at least the last century, and even more recently both parties have doubled down their investments to scale shopper marketing initiatives.
But taking this a step further, how do multi-channel retailers monetize available trade dollars in their online storefronts? Will manufacturers realize the same value from a “virtual” end cap as they do for a physical end cap? The industry consensus points to a resounding “yes”, and this model is starting to take shape. Don’t be surprised to see a case study or two on this subject at an upcoming TPMA event.
For a primer on trade promotion marketing, an overview of Bob Houk and the TPMA, and a quick history lesson on the Robinson-Patman Act, check out Part I of the video series.
I love this story: Two unemployed brothers with no formal advertising experience outwit Madison Avenue for the top ranked Super Bowl ad honors. According to the USA Today’s Ad Meter program, the “Free Doritos” spot produced by Joe and Dave Herbert for the Frito Lay ad contest scored an 8.46, beating agencies representing Anheuser Busch, PepsiCo, Coca Cola, Kellogg’s and Taco Bell. Who said consumer generated media couldn’t be taken seriously?
And on a related note, even during this recessionary environment Superbowl ad spending continues to defy all logic. This year we saw record $6MM per minute ($100k/second) rates, among the 28 represented advertisers. While those are some mighty big numbers, I’m fairly certain Frito Lay isn’t complaining about this year’s media spend.
From a CPG manufacturer perspective, Wegman’s has consistently held an open and progressive approach to working with the vendor community. Specifically in the area of pricing and promotion strategy, the upstate New York retailer has been a leader in adopting new approaches that eventually extend out to the mainstream retailers.
In 2007 Wegman’s shifted from a Hi/Lo (higher base price with frequent promoted price points) pricing model to EDLP (everyday low price) program throughout the store. Danny Wegman, CEO of the independent grocery chain, did a little preemptive damage control and had this video posted to YouTube outlining the strategy shift rationale.
His audience is clearly the consumer base and the script is somewhat forced, but I thought Mr. Wegman did a decent job of explaining why the shift is ultimately good for consumers. As added entertainment, pay attention to the Ross Perot-like charts that Wegman creates to drive his points home.
I’m really digging this interactive contest that the Nature Valley team at General Mills recently wrapped up titled “Where’s Yours?”. Consumers were asked to record a video about their favorite outdoor destination and then post to YouTube to receive votes. There were some pretty elaborate and entertaining entries from a passionate group of Nature Valley consumers. The brief video overview pasted above does a nice job of laying out the contest rules and dream vacation prizes.
Two things really impressed me with the design and execution of this activity:
2. The large scale of online media used to support the contest. According to BrandWeek, Mills invested nearly $3MM in display ads to support the campaign and related sweesptakes. The results were equally as impressive, with 1000% increases in search queries and website visits.
We’ve entered an era where big brands are engaging consumers in more meaningful ways and are supporting these activities with pretty sizable digital media investments. It’ll be fun to see how the Nature Valley team follows up on this successful campaign.
Catalina Marketing made a pretty sizable investment upgrading their printer network from black & white to color in 2007. I have to say, the color coupon print outs are more attention-grabbing and engaging. Catalina has since focused their message to brand marketers around the network as a viable alternative to traditional media. Using Catalina as a targeted marketing vehicle is indeed one way to reach a defined demographic more efficiently based on purchase history. My experience is that Catalina coupons can redeem at 5% or higher, vs. the half-point to 1.5% redemption (on a good day) for FSIs, albeit off a much smaller distribution.
This video is a pretty interesting overview of how Catalina is marketing the service to brand folks focusing on the targeted marketing message. My only real question is, what’s up with the caveman harrassing the shopper at 1:03?
