Weekly Furniture World Media Note #140 from Lance Hanish: Wake Up Before Your Brick & Mortar Dies

Furniture World News Desk on 6/27/2015

Despite advances in media, data and messaging that can make marketing more personal, consumers are wondering why brands are relying on the old tactics of shouting from the rooftops. Because, it seems, the more shouting brands are doing, the less customers are listening.

According Aaron Baar, who wrote in MediaPost (062315) a survey of more than 2,200 consumers worldwide showed that nearly two-thirds (63%) said they are highly annoyed with brands’ continued practice of repeating generic advertising messages. According to the poll commissioned by Marketo (a marketing software maker), brands should show ads less frequently and make the content of advertising more personalized and relevant across different channels and interactions. “Marketers are talking at us rather than engaging with us, and we, as consumers are beginning to tune them out,” Chandar Pattabhiram, group vice president of product and corporate marketing at Marketo, stated. “We demand a level of personalization across our journey. As consumers, we’re more and more attuned to brands talking to us personally.”

More than three-quarters (78.6%) of consumers said they are likely to work with a brand’s coupons or other offers only if those offers are directly tied to how they have previously interacted with the brand.

“People engage with the brand, and [the marketers] don’t connect your engagement history with the brand with all the messages they’re sending,” Pattabhiram says. “They need to adopt a consistent way of communicating with customers across interaction points based on who they are and what they do. And they need to do it across every step of the journey.”

To follow that advice, brand will have to adjust their overall marketing mindset,technology and processes, understand that brand-building is only the first step in what needs to be long-term customer engagement, Pattabhiram says, A lot of marketers still have the mindset of building brand awareness,” Pattabhiram says. “Organizationally, they have not been [structured] to have a one-to-one experience with customers.”

So, make it easy on yourself. Understand what the consumer wants and then design your tactics to entice that consumer with your service and products. Understand the consumer. For instance, if you are dealing in Europe, shoppers rank "easy to quickly find what I need" as the No. 1 influence in their choice of store. In fact, consumers value it almost 2x more than having a wider variety of products. And that is Nielsen talking according to their most recent study (061715). In fact, a recent Western Europe study from Nielsen’s Shopper Trends survey, which measures retail equity and loyalty across more than 50 markets, found the factors highest on consumers' shopping lists were not cost related. Europeans rank convenience, shopping experience and quality products as their top considerations when shopping. And some retailers are already helping shoppers find what they're really looking—using technology.

No matter where we live or work, we are no longer living in the age of our Father. We are in the 21st Century. Where television was their medium of preference, mobile is today’s device of preference.

With a mobile device in nearly every shoppers' pocket, smart retailers are leveraging their mobile savvy to bring them into the store. And it is not by shouting price and item. It is not about a sale which has been extended (consumers know when the retailer is lying…or in ‘retailspeak', extending practicality a bit). Some retailers are rolling out apps that allow customers to build a virtual basket of favorite products before they even get to the store. Once they are in store, the app then helps them navigate the store to find items faster. Shoppers can also scan items on the floor with their smartphone and then pay through their smartphone, reducing checkout times to mere seconds. What? No personal sales person interaction? No chance to up sell the customer?

Get smart! Consumers are no longer the ‘in the forest and can’t see the trees’ shopper.

Shoppers place a high value on the shopping trip itself—as long as they get somethingout of it. Ranking in second position is "providing an enjoyable experience." Comparatively, "convenient to get to" comes in at No. 11, indicating that shoppers are willing to travel for the right store.

Some retailers are improving shoppers' experiences with luxury features such as: concierge-like "click and collect" pick-up counters; complementary tech in stores; and hospitality areas such as wine bars, cafes and restaurants, recognizing that shopping is a social activity and stores are becoming a place to spend time. The in-store experience can help retailers differentiate and fight for market share.

Quality products are also a must to win shopper loyalty. Sorry discounters. But this is war.

The best deal is not always simply getting the lowest price. By focusing on theshopping experience, from convenience to the quality of the trip, and by offeringquality, retailers can compete. You just have to engage with them and tell them your story.

The engagement device of choice is mobile. Make MOBILENow™ your mission statement for your integrated marketing plan.

For more information regarding Integrated Marketing Innovations, read Media Notes Canonical at http://www.cnasophis.com.

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Lance Hanish is Co-Founding Partner in CNA | Sophis Integrated Marketing Communications. 

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