Sense Appeal

Oak Brook, IL-- The best way to build memorable experiences with consumers is to connect through their senses at every available brand touchpoint, and that includes retail, said Brent Willis, president and CEO of InBev Asia Pacific, during his Hall of Fame Luncheon keynote address at the In-Store Marketing Summit held in April 2006.Traditional advertising can build brand equity, but a recent award-winning ad campaign for InBev's Stella Artois beer did little to move the sales needle."These kinds of things just aren't working anymore," Willis said. Consumers are taking in media very differently today, so it's time to rethink ways to connect with them. Increased profit pressures from retail consolidation, better private label and short-term, price-focused competitors means something's got to give, and what's giving is traditional media, Willis said.Willis still sees a role for traditional marketing to put brands in the consideration set for consumers. Television, radio and billboards can provide visual and aural stimulation, but all other connections are happening in-store."We see the shopping experience as a major trend in how to connect with consumers." Willis said. Events and experiential marketing are also evolving new ways to activate consumer passions and build brand recognition.Willis challenged the audience to think with him not as a retailer or manufacturer, but as a consumer. Brand loyalty is created by multiple and consistent sensory stimulation over time, he said. The more senses a brand stimulates, the more powerful the bond, and the more powerful the connection the brand makes. Multi-sensory stimulation can be used to get inside consumers' minds and understand how they process information to make brand choices. Those things, coupled with the right location, can create an experience in-store. Those experiences all work to create a bond that moves consumers to a point of connection or a moment of truth.Achieving these goals requires consistent effort at every level of a company, Willis said. There's a big difference between relationship-based selling and profit-based selling with good relationships. What works is getting a very clear measurement system, he said. Consistent communication is crucial. During a prior tenure at Kraft Foods, Willis took retailer studies and converted them into simple profit-based selling sheets and category management tools that everybody on staff could execute. Without that, and without those basics, no amount of in-store marketing is going to work, he said.Willis concluded with his checklist for successful in-store execution: Get the basics right; Get the facts and the consumer insights; Get the bosses on board; Get smart about retailers; Think like a consumer, not a brand owner; Be customer-focused in structure, processes and compensation systems; And, lastly, drive discipline all the way through the company.

Sense Appeal

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