Marketers are finally beginning to understand that, like any intimate relationship, a dialogue works better than "talking at" someone. When a marketer has a deep understanding of people's habits and
needs, it's a pretty intimate thing. Who else knows about the double fudge ice cream buried in the grocery cart under the reduced calorie, low-fat frozen dinners?
If you are a shopper at one of
the leading grocery store chains and a member of its loyalty card program, we know you occasionally splurge on impulse items. It's not voyeurism -- it is delivering value to increase the standard of
service people have come to expect.
Through an anthropological approach to consumer market research, creativity, insight and cutting-edge analytical tools, thought-leading companies in
our industry are able to uncover clues in customer behavior that translate to customer-centric marketing for shoppers and increased market share for clients, including top CPG companies and major
retailers.
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Being invited into homes across the country rather than invading them is becoming the standard norm. Something amazing happens when marketing efforts are actually relevant to
people. We see this step as initiating that crucial dialogue. And shoppers, for their part, are replying; essentially giving permission to marketers to learn their habits and respond accordingly.
When a message is perceived as useful, it is not advertising. When the right content is delivered at the appropriate time, people are motivated to put out the welcome mat for marketers and brands.
Offers that reflect consumers' specific shopping habits will be more successful than an annoying flood of mail-in surveys, trial offers and other coupons that inevitably find their way in the garbage.
Companies can initiate ongoing conversations with people by closely tracking and analyzing the shopping habits of loyalty card shoppers, which enables marketers to reach the customers
they already have and reward them. One leading grocers invested in the skills, processes and technologies necessary to boost loyalty and was inspired to develop a loyal customer mailer (LCM) unlike
any other.
Once a quarter, millions of LCMs are mailed out to households containing customized messages specifically for them, a thank-you for their business and offers reflecting a specific
household's previous shopping experiences, thus recognizing and rewarding their loyalty. That weakness for double fudge ice cream amid a cart full of low calorie, low-fat choices? Just another
idiosyncrasy that can easily be tracked and targeted, resulting in offers that make each shopping experience unique.
An envelope filled with relevant content and the right offers that
reflect a shopper's actual shopping list isn't considered junk mail when it's the result of a dialogue between consumer and marketer. Again and again, people say they feel like their LCM was designed
or customized just for them, and they look forward to the correspondence, whether it is in their mailbox or in their inbox. This dramatic shift in perception translates directly to motivating
consumers to act. Over 30% of households redeem an average of five offers.
As the consumer-marketer relationship continues to evolve, customization will be critical not only in message,
but in delivery. Without dialogue initiated by the marketer but controlled by the customer, the connection will be lost. In fact, the industry talks about that futuristic day when consumers decide
what advertising they want to see, when they want it, and in what medium. Technology and honed strategies are already allowing us to develop the future as we uniquely get to that level and move with
the consumer on this extraordinary journey.
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