‘Most shopper marketing agencies do not invest enough to study consumers'
Point of Purchase|November 2019
Shopper Marketing as a concept has gone through its cycle of initial euphoria and post reality-check disappointment before finally plateauing into a phase of sober assessment and cautious exploration of new opportunities. This is possibly driven by new market dynamics, consumer behaviour changes and technology driven innovations. And while the definition and parameters continue to be a little fuzzy as far as shopper marketing is concerned, now is perhaps the best time to address the question of whether shopper marketing needs to be redefined. This becomes particularly relevant as brands across segments are getting closer to their customers than ever before, driven by data analytics, cutting edge technology tools and the changing retail eco system. Point of Purchase reached out to Lloyd Mathias, Business Leader/Brand Builder and Growth Driver across the Consumer, Telecom and Technology businesses, to get his views on where shopper marketing stands today, whether it needs to be redefined, the role of technology in making it more relevant, and more. Read on.
‘Most shopper marketing agencies do not invest enough to study consumers'

To begin with, do you think Shopper Marketing as a concept needs to be redefined today? Can you elaborate?

Yes, absolutely. The traditional approach to shopper marketing that most consumer goods companies deployed assumed a consumer to be unidimensional- meaning he would be loyal to a channel either on-line of offline; either traditional trade or modern trade. Today, thanks to technology, most consumers shop omni-channel and many businesses have yet to adapt their store marketing to this consumer. Shopping behaviour is changing from a world where consumer go to stores to get products to one where products come to consumers.

What are the critical factors that can make shopper marketing succeed, especially for an FMCG/CDIT/Service brand ?

Consumers, not retailers or brands, now own the relationship. The power has shifted to socially adept consumers who come fully armed with all information, often knowing as much as the retailer. Businesses need to recognize that every consumer comes in with the ability to make price comparisons on his phone/ read reviews of his peers. Hence the focus in store must shift to enabling the consumer to experience the product, get his queries clarified and build the relationship.

Many shopper marketing agencies in India have failed to make it big. What do you think are the reasons for this?

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