Talking Solutions

Dr. Phil has nothing on CPG marketers when it comes to solving problems. Procter & Gamble's Everyday Solutions website, for example, now includes everything from customized hair treatments to spring cleaning tips to a "Sniff Me" quiz that uncovers personality traits based on how people do their laundry.Over in the food industry, meal solutions have gained considerable traction in the last few years as grocery retailers have become more adept at addressing the needs of shoppers who are perplexed by weeknight meals and seasonal entertaining. Target, meanwhile, features a Mobile Solutions program that claims to provide everything customers need for their wireless shopping experience.Clearly, "solutions" is becoming a ubiquitous buzzword, if not the basis for an entire marketing platform.Evolution of SolutionsThe concept of meal solutions, for one, began to take shape after the last recession in 2002 as budget-conscious consumers strived to come up with creative ways to save money while dining out less frequently. The rising popularity of casual dining restaurants forced supermarkets to further compete for shoppers' attention, giving rise to the rather clunky sounding home meal replacement (HMR) market. More recently, major supermarkets (such as Publix with its successful Apron's program) began offering shoppers solutions in the form of recipe booklets, entertaining tips and sampling programs.Today the strategy is evolving rapidly, with CPG manufacturers and retailers looking to integrate meal solutions into their overall marketing plans. While experts are hard-pressed to put a dollar figure on the market potential for meal solutions, most agree that a successful program can add incremental sales and increase overall basket size as well as enhance customer loyalty."Timing is critical, along with execution," says Ken Harris, CEO of Kantar Retail Americas, Evanston, Ill. "A meal solution has to have that sense of 'right now.' It has to resonate with shoppers at the point-of-purchase at a time when they are most interested in what you're offering, whether it's a quick weeknight meal or an entire holiday menu."Jim Fuqua, director of shopper marketing at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Supervalu, says that in the mid-2000s, competition from the likes of Boston Market forced the supermarket industry to more acutely address the convenience needs of time-starved shoppers. However, he says that the early attempts at meal replacements fell well short of expectations and failed to adequately meet shoppers' needs."Those programs just didn't have the steam behind them. It was more industry speak than a true solution," says Fuqua. "Now, there are a number of retailers who are doing a good job at offering shoppers ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a variety of snacking occasions." Tim Miller, senior director of shopper insights at Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods, says that retail execution has been an ongoing issue in making these programs stick. However, he says it's incumbent upon both manufacturers and retailers to better understand consumers' needs when developing ideas for meal solutions. For example, ConAgra's recent research uncovered the insight that moms struggle with planning weeknight dinners for a variety of reasons, and the company used the analysis to inform a meal solutions program that is currently in test markets."Time was the No. 1 barrier. But a close No. 2 was pleasing the family," notes Miller. "[Mom] tends to stick with what she normally purchases but would like to do something new and different. She seeks variety. There's a huge opportunity to convert people who are going out to eat by providing a meal solution with the right mix of products and messaging."Where Ideas Come FromThe development of meal solutions typically requires a thorough exchange of ideas between retailers and CPG companies, although the source of ideas may come from either side of the aisle. "It goes both ways," says Fuqua. "With traditional shopper marketing, manufacturers brought the insights to the table. Nowadays, it's often a collaborative approach. You can rely on larger vendors to know what's important for their customers. But in some cases, ideas come out of our own upper-level meetings." Mary Sagripanti, senior director of integrated shopper marketing for Kraft Foods, says that her company seeks to understand shopper needs in different retail channels and will work with complementary food manufacturers to develop the optimal approach to meal solutions. "We will often create concepts and bring them to the retailer to define and develop further, customizing them for a launch," notes Sagripanti. "Other programs are developed in a more collaborative way from the start."Even one's own employees, she adds, can provide behavioral cues that lead to ideas for meal solutions. "Staff from a retailer and from Kraft Foods were talking one day about how a lot of the retailer's employees were brown-bagging lunch to save money," recalls Sagripanti. "This simple observation led to an idea to centralize items to make a brown bag lunch in the retailer's stores, literally creating a one-stop shopping location for a make-at-home lunch. Rotating themes and recipe ideas completed the 'lunch solution' center for this retailer."Going Beyond MealsAs the appeal of solutions continues to grow, marketers are extending the concept into other categories and casting a wide net for cross-promotional partners. In 2010, movie rental distributor Redbox teamed up with packaged goods companies ConAgra, Hershey Co. and PepsiCo/Frito-Lay on a yearlong "Make it a Movie Night" promotion that represented an effective entertainment solution. Using Redbox kiosks at Kroger stores, the retailer offered a free DVD rental with the purchase of at least three products from the participating manufacturers."The program insight was that folks were staying in more in order to save money," explains Jeff Klein, director of marketing at Plano, Texas-based Frito-Lay North America. "Our target shopper [mom] viewed movies as a powerful way to gather the family together for an evening. The opportunity for us was the wide variety of snacks and beverages that PepsiCo offers that are complementary to the occasion."The program was promoted in store circulars, on displays and on shelf signs near participating products. "In this case, the communication was strictly in-store. We worked directly with Kroger to produce in-store signage and shelf blades," says Klein. "However, the communication plan varies with the execution. For a recipe/appetizer solution, we would leverage digital assets and thematic circulars. For more targeted solutions, we leverage our retailer's direct mail programs. Looking forward, I am seeing a much bigger appetite on the part of the retailer to leverage assets from both company's media plans."New PartnershipsWhile marketers are reluctant to talk openly about their solutions programs that fell flat, they tout the successful ones as having paved the way for a variety of strategic partnerships.In 2010, Diageo North America, Norwalk, Conn., unveiled a cocktail solutions center as the centerpiece of its "Simply Cocktails" program, a U.S. retail merchandising effort aimed at giving shoppers all the necessary ingredients to spur at-home trial of mixed drinks. The spirits maker has since expanded the program to markets in Europe and Asia. As a byproduct of its success, Diageo is partnering with food and beverage companies -- for example, to launch co-packs of Smirnoff vodka and Ocean Spray cranberry juice. The company is also continuing a partnership between its Red Stripe Jamaican beer and Jack Link's beef jerky. New counter units and floor displays combine the two brands as part of an ongoing Super Bowl tie-in. "Once retailers got excited about our cocktail solutions approach such as the 'Simply Cocktails' program, it opened the door for new partnerships," says Jim Green, vice president of marketing at Diageo. "Weekend planning to get together with friends often starts early in the week and begins a chain of events where consumers purchase food, beverages, plates, cups and so forth. That leads to a number of cross-promotional opportunities." Diageo is driving consumers to the store through its website, Thebar.com, which features promotional offers, recipe ideas and expert advice. In addition to a mobile site, there is an iPhone app, and tests are being conducted with 2-D bar codes and Google Goggles that use visual search methods to send users to the site. In stores, the company has rolled out some 500 interactive plasma displays dubbed "The Virtual Bartender," where shoppers can search for information on brands, drink recipes and party-planning tips. "The Virtual Bartender provides a wealth of data for retailers based on what customers are searching for," notes Green. In thinking of new solutions, marketers are limited only by their imagination. Kraft, for example, looked outside its own sphere of influence in sponsoring Saturday health screenings at a grocery retailer with a large Hispanic customer base. This program was part of Kraft's ongoing efforts to promote a healthy diet for diabetics. "Once diagnosed with diabetes, a consumer can be overwhelmed with how to manage their diet," says Sagripanti. "Kraft Foods has a range of products that are [appropriate for diabetics] and we put displays right in the pharmacy to provide diabetic food solutions to consumers." Retailers, too, could stand to think a bit further outside the box in creating new solutions, argues Supervalu's Fuqua. "Grocers are typically good at retaining a market but not as good at creating a new market," he says. "If you have the breadth of product, you could do a number of solutions on the health and beauty side -- say, a solution for summer skin care -- or in the household cleaning area. It's not that the idea of a solution is new. It's just that we haven't put all of our resources behind it in the way we are now."

Talking Solutions

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