i shopper marketing | Joel Rubinson on Marketing Research
Thoughts by Joel Rubinson, Chief Research Officer of The ARF
VISIT THE ARF | Subscribe via RSS

Over the next few years three of the hottest marketing trends, digital marketing, shopper marketing, and mobile life will all converge to put shopper marketing into the hands of the shopper. Literally.

Digital marketing and shopper marketing will increasingly merge together. Mobile devices will allow people to bring information, offers, and friends (virtually) into the store with them. The internet is no longer only on your desktop, it is everywhere including right in the store.

Marketers want to use brand extension strategies as much as possible today because it is a more affordable way to introduce products but the key is having enough rocket fuel, i.e. brand equity, to get the rocket (i.e. brand extension) off the ground.

Understanding “Path to Purchase” will change marketing and media priorities. In most cases, it is likely to increase the budget for search, comparison shopping, and particularly in-store shopper marketing vs. using a media habits approach because those places don’t have a big share of media time but they are where the “lean-forward” action is.

For consumer insights teams, shopper insights research feels foreign; it requires a different set of approaches and a totally different mindset.  Shopping is about action more than preferences.  It’s about the shopping trip rather than a single product category. Yet, shopper insights are critical for making shopper marketing work for your brand, enhancing your relationships [...]