Shopper & CatMan: Let's Play Nice

Two years ago, as the In-Store Marketing Institute's "Retail Commission on Shopper Marketing" was just ramping up, Chris Hoyt, a veteran marketing expert, fired off a salvo: The Commission and other industry groups, he charged, were "championing the idea that shopper marketing should be integrated into the ... category management process" and that "retailers ought to be seriously concerned with the major push ... to fold this 'marketing stuff' into business-as-usual category management."Clearly, a nerve was struck, although as the Commission's work progressed, no such rough mash-up was ever proposed. "Shopper marketing and category management are not the same," says Brian Harris, founder of The Partnering Group and a Commission chairman. "They come from different roots and from different perspectives."Separate, yes, but as a practical matter, are they equal? When asked if category management and shopper marketing conflict with or complement each other inside Nestlé USA, 2011 Hall of Fame inductee Joe Radabaugh said, "We definitely wrestle with this one. And I love getting into this discussion with folks, since one's answer can quickly reveal their perspective – on many fronts."Roles & Responsibilities"Where the train goes off the tracks is the ambiguity of who owns what and who does what," says Joe Beier, principal at Westport, Conn.-based GfK Interscope. "Organizations churn and start tripping over themselves."Don Baker, vice president of pricing and category selling strategies at Sara Lee, Downers Grove, Ill., says that while the disciplines are separate at his company, the intention is for them to overlap. All practices are driven through Sara Lee's category management practices, and the company coordinates brand strategies to the category strategies. Category strategies are defined separately and objectively from brand strategies, he says, using a cross-functional team. "Every activity we do below that will then align, including the shopper marketing approach."Baker believes that if the path to purchase "is truly to come to life, it has to be planned organically – not just 'bolted on' after the category management work is done." In consumer marketing, he says, a strategy must be devised that's central to the consumer before any tactical activities take place. "Similarly with shopper marketing, category shoppers must be defined and the strategic approach must be developed before the tactics of activation are developed."The two disciplines also are in different groups at Morris Plains, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, but they are aligned, says Charles Meyer-Hanover, director of the U.S. shopper team. Category management is within the company's sales strategy department, a trade-marketing group. Since sales strategy is responsible for working with the company's marketing organization and its field sales group to launch new items, the category management group can stay connected to that, he says. "They put together either gold standard recommendations or the 30,000-foot recommendations, which the customer team can then adjust for their assortment and their shelf space."The teams connect on a daily basis, he says, adding that whenever a new member joins either team, they are given a document laying out how the two coexist. "It will say, 'Here's what you're responsible for and shopper [marketing] follows, and here's what shopper is responsible for and here's where you follow." It's centered around the "Four P's," he says. The straight-up planogramming is category management, and shopper marketing then overlays onto that, with insights, learnings and educational messaging."If a shelf is set as X, it's not just because we want J&J products to be at eye level," Meyer-Hanover says. "It's because we did this shopper work that showed that this brand within our portfolio is a beacon brand and as such, should be here. That's where we link."Traditions EvolveAt Neenah, Wis.-based Kimberly-Clark, Anne Jones, vice president of shopper marketing and business development, oversees both disciplines. "They are two distinct areas of expertise, but the insights coming out of category management inform great shopper marketing execution, so they work collaboratively and there's a lot of joint sharing of knowledge."She believes the "strong interaction" between the two will continue to grow because of the greater demand from retailers to provide a higher level of total shopper and consumer insights. "That's an area we're trying to ramp up," she says. "We can't walk away from the traditional tenets of category management, which are still very critical. But now we also have to be bringing stronger insights about how the consumer shops the category and, importantly, make that relevant to the retailer by putting it into a solution they can act on."As the vice president of North America customer marketing for Shelton, Conn.-based Energizer Personal Care, Frank Coughlin oversees both category management and shopper insights. The company's primary vision, he says, is to be the preferred partner for developing in-store solutions that will grow both the category and the store.His internal teams work with their own external category development personnel, who provide information on the key strategic drivers within customer organizations. "Our job is determining how to align on the best ways to drive the category based on shopper and category dynamics," says Coughlin. "A lot of the work is done internally, but then we face up to the customer with our internal and external groups together in terms of bringing those in-store solutions forward. We don't just come up with a solution, hand it to the external people and tell them to go."While the teams "complement each other greatly," there isn't unnecessary overlap, Coughlin says. "There's an understanding of roles. We're the ones providing the insights to plug into the customers' category strategy, based on research or other data requirements. When we build a learning plan, we build it in conjunction with the customer, even as their strategies are evolving."Identifying untapped needs through the process has proven an effective "opportunity to provide a way in," Coughlin says, noting that initially the category development people were skeptical because traditionally they owned that interface with the customer. "What we really had to impress upon the teams is that this will continue, but there is now additional benefit. I think we'll continue to see the greater value that will be driven by it."The groups will succeed or fail together, he notes. "We've created a relationship of dependency for success. There may be different parts along the development of any project, whether short- or long-term, where one team may have a greater role, but both teams own it from beginning to end. To try to tease them apart would be disastrous."Some executives believe that the basic skill sets differ, with a mix of science and creativity required for shopper marketing and heavy-duty analytical thinking for CatMan. Sara Lee's Baker, however, doesn't see much of a difference. "They're just broader for two reasons [that are holdovers] from the 'pre-shopper marketing' era," he says. "First, category management is now broader than just the four P's right at the shelf. It's the defining blueprint for unlocking the path to purchase, which requires a deeper understanding than first-generation category management. Second, data and research about shoppers and the ever-growing toolbox (digital, store clustering, etc.) for attacking the insights that are uncovered is deeper and better."Baker believes that whatever approach is adopted, organizational alignment must be a priority: "Giving license to separate disciplines without an organizational mechanism will cause different execution in the marketplace, [resulting in] mixed messages and wasted resources."Shoppers FirstCasting aside some of the technical definitions and constraints of category management, The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, instead focuses on the task at hand. "We believe that you have to worry about how products are merchandised and displayed, and make sure they're provided in an efficient way," says Sarah Lonorgan, knowledge and insights director, based in London. "But at the end of the day, if you don't do it with an eye on the shopper, it's irrelevant."The beverage giant's term for how category management and shopper marketing coexist is a flashy one – "shopper-driven category management" – but the principles are pretty simple. "It's our way of helping our businesses better understand and respond to the needs of our consumers, shoppers and retailers," says Lonorgan. "If you don't put the consumer, shopper and customer needs at the heart of everything you do, it doesn't matter what you call the technical discipline."The company launched shopper-driven category management globally about three years ago, and Lonorgan says the principles of category management still apply, but there's an increased focus on pulling that need all the way through the path to purchase. The company focuses on enhancing the shopping experience through practical ways of leveraging its shopper insights to optimize assortment and availability, on- and off-shelf space, and its promotion effectiveness, irrespective of the type of store or location in the world, she says."Instead of looking at the basic elements of pure volume and value, we delve into a deep understanding of shopper preferences to ensure that our in-store execution is really tailored against what they need," she says, adding that it doesn't matter whether they have basic or advanced data from different parts of the world; the principles are the same. "They're all focused on how the company can deliver excellent in-store execution that better improves the shopping experience for shoppers while also improving the efficiency and category growth for retailers."Thinking vs. DoingLike Coca-Cola, Hostess Brands focuses on the category through the lens of the consumer. Its category management functions fall under what it has termed "category leadership" because it sees it as a bigger entity than traditional category management, also incorporating shopper marketing or brand marketing insights against two things: how a consumer thinks about cake and bread, and also how a consumer purchases those items.Rob Colarossi, vice president of category leadership, says the main goal is to leverage the best of traditional category management with the best of shopper marketing, working "very closely with the marketing team in everything we do." He admits his philosophy of talking category over individual brands is an aggressive one, but he believes his brands will win if the company does what's right for the category. In the past 18 months, with a strong focus on driving solutions with insights, the company has seen success."I work with the senior vice president of marketing, Stephany Verstraete, leveraging all of her proprietary studies, consumer segmentation, market structure and all the consumer trends," Colarossi says. He estimates that 80% of his insights come from marketing. "I convert them into something meaningful so a salesperson can go in and sell."The future is in bringing the two together, he believes. "We're absolutely blending the two when we go to a retailer with our category leadership capabilities. That's really important." As retailers continue to bring stronger P-O-P insights, research on purchase patterns and even local knowledge the manufacturer doesn't have access to, and when the knowledge from both perspectives is combined, the teams at Hostess believe a stronger and more cost-efficient plan can be developed and executed."We have realized that shopper marketing is critical to category management success, and marketing has realized that it's critical to their success," Colarossi says. "That's the linkage: Shopper marketing has brought marketing and category management together under what we call category leadership."Mike DuBoise, senior vice president, customer marketing and category management, for NBCUniversal's Universal Studios Home Entertainment in Universal City, Calif., agrees that when it comes to role clarity and go-to-market, "it takes a few years to find your way." In his mind, the ideal relationship coordinates objectives around what needs to be accomplished with shoppers and at retail, as well as clear communication. "In terms of goals, roles and responsibilities, we need to be really clear on our objectives and, importantly, whose role it is to deliver it."Under one umbrella, the groups complement each other more. "I think we're much more effective and seamless in how we interface with the customer and the end-to-end solution of the programs we bring to retail," he says. "We hear it from our customers. That's how we know it's working. We're getting very positive feedback because things work more efficiently and more seamlessly, and it's allowed us to be viewed much more as a thought leader in this space as well.""Preaching and practicing one message through category management and shopper marketing is key to success," says Sara Lee's Baker. "I think when the same category insights and strategies drive our brand shopper fundamentals, they will drive all of our key decisions: How to innovate, price, promote, shelve and activate in-store. The idea of joint business planning is really starting to penetrate our company."

Shopper & CatMan: Let's Play Nice

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