When it comes to sales, marketing, and advertising, knowing the needs of consumers is imperative, and there are now many avenues that can be used to understand these needs better.
Matthew Clews, general manager at HOOP, said that from his perspective, it came down to utilising insights from data analytics to ensure brands were targeting consumers in engaging, relevant ways.
"You must get into the data and peel back the layers to fully understand what is happening," said Clews.
Market research expert Kantar said that the old ways of tracking brand health were off-putting as sample sizes were scarce and restrictive, the possibility of error was high, and analytics were limited. This is not the case anymore, with the last decade incorporating survey and non-survey data of behaviour and neuroscience to help better understand consumers. The accessibility, ease, and enjoyment of answering mobile-ready questions increased for consumers and tracker users alike with the help of automated back-end and dashboard solutions.
Continuous tracking is the key to creating effective marketing strategies developed with an acute understanding of brand consumers. Continuous tracking allows brands a motion picture overview that tracks the activities and interaction between consumers and brands with a definition that cannot be achieved with generic monthly updates.
Playing into this is AI, which can filter out random surveys and analytics that are impacted by seasonality, outliers and more to forecast how functional and direct metrics measure behaviours over a three-month trajectory. Advancements in AI will mean that this will transform into notification alerts of these forecasts.
Clews detailed that there were multiple sources of where data can come from, including quantitive, which entails sales, margin, and shopper analytics, to qualitative, which includes customer observations, trial and awareness studies, instore observations from a compliance and promotional perspective and on-shelf availability.
"In doing so, brands can target what engages consumers and drive the right in-store activations to complement their campaigns."
Data will also allow brands to hold retailers accountable for performing their required tasks, as brands have less control and visibility in-store.
In-store, bringing personality to brand activations is also key. However, a key challenge arises as retailers often limit in-store activation, which often doesn't allow much more than standard displays.
In-store activations for brands are an investment made on the brand's behalf, with supermarkets offering up aisle-end placements and more for promotion. However, Woolworth NZ shared that the relevance of products and what kind of consumer engagement they can capture is also essential for retailers to consider when promoting products.
From a retailer's perspective, technological advancements and data analytics allow them to create personalised shopping experiences, promoting products in alignment with which consumer groups it would be relevant to promote.
"We wouldn't show a new dog food to a member that's never bought dog food," said a Mark Wolfenden from Woolworths.
Consumers hold power in the success and promotions of brands, and social media consumption and advertising play a vital role in the products and trends consumers lean towards. Peter Erceg from Achiever explained that leveraging social media advertising is essential for brands to invest in.
"Traditional media is waning from the mainstream audiences," said Erceg.
Navigating this space effectively and efficiently is imperative for business growth and success. It includes managing retailer relationships, field sales, merchandising, warehousing and distribution, establishing and understanding sales forecasting and planning, sales reporting, and data and insights.
Another key part of this is understanding what the industry changes mean for the sales and marketing of brands and how to leverage these to benefit brand and business growth. Scott Cameron, general manager at Selling Solutions, shared that businesses such as Selling Solutions can provide an advantage to brands with regard to the changes in how retailers operate based on longstanding expertise and knowledge of the ins and outs of the industry.
"We love sharing our insights and experience to help brands build plans that work," said Cameron.
“Given our coverage across multiple categories, we are quick to see how things are changing and how to capture opportunities."
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