A Conjoint Analysis of Chicken Salad

For me, one of the consistently remarkable aspects of shopper marketing is how seemingly simple the end result can be. No matter how complicated the process behind it, an effective shopper marketing program can often inspire more reactions of "Well, duh," than it does "aha" moments.That's because the fundamental goal of shopper marketing itself is pretty simple: to identify shopper needs and fulfill them, without being restricted by conflicting brand objectives, marketing strategies, volume goals, trade deals or other business practices that, frankly, have often worked to distance the shopper from both brand and retailer. (In some respects, the main benefit of shopper marketing could be course-correcting the retailer-manufacturer dynamic, not "delighting the shopper.")Speaking at the Shopper Marketing Expo earlier this month, Campbell Soup Co.'s Geoff Jackson mentioned a program for the company's Swanson brand that used a partnership with Kraft Foods to gain endcap space at Walmart. The creative theme? A recipe for chicken salad sandwiches.By no means am I suggesting that the process involved in executing such a simple creative concept is effortless. In fact, Jackson's presentation detailed the amount of work that Campbell is conducting to reach a strategic level of collaboration with retailers. And even before that step is possible, many companies find that adopting a shopper-centric focus truly is a case of bringing the Mountain to Mohammed -- after the Mountain has been restructured and all its inhabitants reconditioned.Likewise, the development of actionable shopper insights is not an easy task, and requires significant resources that many companies have long been reluctant to devote. But when it comes to the insights themselves, sometimes marketers will be analyzing the trees to help them identify the forest that's been there all along.In a first-day symposium, Kimberly-Clark's Deborah Hannah explained the "simple" concept behind the manufacturer's successful launch of U by Kotex: speak to teens about menstruation openly and honestly, rather than in the disingenuous ad-speak that has dominated the category's marketing for decades. Here, it would seem, is another great example of marketing that doesn't make someone ask, "How did they ever think of that," but rather "Why didn't anyone think of that before?"At the same symposium, Walgreens vice president-retail marketing Catherine Lindner suggested that the process of aligning a brand's consumer segments with a retailer's shopper segments "doesn't have to be picture perfect." While conducting a pilot collaborative program with Hershey Co. for the Retail Commission on Shopper Marketing, Walgreens found that the partners were able to achieve strong results "without a lot of crazy math," Lindner explained.In his keynote address at Expo, Kroger vice president of corporate marketing and advertising Evan Anthony explained that one of the four "keys" in the retailer's blueprint for success is giving shoppers the products they want "plus a little more" -- not a lot more, or a dramatically different more, but just a few surprises that make them want to frequent Kroger instead of the grocer down the road.A lot of research may inform those surprises, and a lot of hard work may be necessary to plan and execute them. But there's a good chance that, in hindsight, the concepts will seem intuitive -- maybe even obvious.Because, in the world of shopper marketing, not every meal has to be a five-star, five-course feast. Sometimes, a chicken salad sandwich is exactly what's required.Peter BreenManaging Director, ContentIn-Store Marketing Institute

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

You May Also Like

Can AI Build a Better Marketer?

Designing Retail Media for Discovery and Trial