• by Nina Lentini  @Nina_Lentini, May 2, 2008

Procter & Gamble came in first in The Hub magazine's first-ever ranking of excellence in Shopper Marketing.

Shopper Marketing is an emerging discipline in which brand marketers and their agencies collaborate with retailers to drive growth by focusing primarily on the quality of the shopping experience itself.

The Hub's report is based on a survey instrument designed by Hoyt & Company, a sales and marketing consulting firm, and fielded to subscribers of The Hub, an industry magazine, and Cool News of the Day, an industry newsletter, as well as members of the Promotion Marketing Association.

"To ensure maximum objectivity, we simply asked agencies to rate brand marketers, and vice versa, against 10 key areas critical to success," said Tim Manners, editor of The Hub, adding that 735 marketing executives responded to the survey.

Chris Hoyt of Hoyt & Company says that the relationship between brand marketers and their agencies is critical to success in Shopper Marketing. "To be 'best practice,' both brand marketers and agencies must walk in lockstep, and each must be capable of filling the voids where the other is weak until the weaknesses are addressed," he said.

The Hub is published by the editors of Reveries.com and Cool News of the Day, and is dedicated to exploring insights, ideas and innovation as the ultimate drivers of success in marketing.