Shopper Culture

Brand Experiences Come to Life at the Sweets and Snacks Expo

Walking into the 2013 Sweets and Snacks Expo was eye-popping fun. The Expo was full of color, design, giant characters, and treats to taste. But, while the Expo was not lacking in variety, popular trends could be detected at the show. Innovation and health and wellness were brought to life through a sense of discovery, which allowed attendees to truly experience differences across brands.

Innovation Alley was home to unique treats including peppermint-chocolate flavored popcorn from 479° Popcorn or the reverse popcorn flavored chocolate from Chuao Chocolatier®. The combination of different flavors and sampling showcased how manufacturers are using temptation and taste to encourage exploration and discovery.

The shift to a more health-conscious culture was also popular at the Expo. The sweets and snacks category is helping shoppers tap in to healthier options—despite that it’s a category not typically described as healthy—by labeling products with key words such as non-GMO, gluten-free, and allergen-free and always allowing the option for miniature sized bars and bags so consumers can indulge with less guilt.

Through innovation, taste, texture, and brand presentation, the Sweets and Snacks Expo attendees were able to experience brands first hand. It will be interesting to see how these manufacturers continue to bring their brands to life in store to maintain the stopping power at shelf that they had at the Expo. Have you been tempted by a new flavor in store lately?

Lagerfeld’s Concept Store Provides Holistic Digital Experience

March 2013 saw the Kaiser of Fashion unveil a brand new concept store in Paris that offers ready-to-wear collections for men and women, along with a selection of limited-edition accessories, design, and photography books.

The 200 square meter black and white shop cleverly mixes baroque-inspired and state-of-the-art digital features, paying tribute to the off-the-wall personality of the high-profile fashion designer.

Burberry Introduces Smart Personalization for Shoppers

For the launch of its new Fall/Winter 2013 womenswear collection, the London fashion house Burberry created a seamless digital shopping experience. Following a similar principle to the Topshop “Enter the Catwalk” campaign, which provided viewers with live-streamed footage of the show and customization features, The Burberry smart personalization allows shoppers to browse and shop for items they like straight from the catwalk via their mobile devices.

Once an order is placed, shoppers receive tailor-made outerwear and bags with personalized, engraved nameplates. Shoppers are also invited to virtually

Shopping in your PJs: How a Children's Hospital understands Shopper vs Consumer

If any of you readers have elementary aged children, you’re well aware of Pajama Day at school. Wake up and wear your jammies to school all day. Of course Moms don’t allow their girls to just wake up and go. No. They wake up, change them into new, freshly pressed pajamas, brush their hair, doll them up and then send them to school. Boys? Boys just wake up and go. Bedhead and all. But this post into about the reasons why parents want their girls looking their best and boys looking like…

This post highlights how marketing to the shopper was applied to a children’s hospital -- a top ten hospital in the country. I, for unfortunate circumstances, spent the last three days at this children’s hospital with my son, who had a serious runaway bacteria in his stomach. The first morning, after a long night at the hospital caring for my son, I woke up, showered, shaved, deodorized, combed, changed and wandered off to find some food and fresh air. What I witnessed was nothing less than Parent Pajama Day at the hospital. Are all rules of public dress and hygiene suspended at this hospital? Did I not get the memo?

As I spent the next couple days becoming more familiar with my environment, I, too felt okay milling about in my flannel bottoms and two-sizes-too-large t-shirt. The hospital obviously took great care of children, but they knew who the shopper was. The Parents. They created an environment filled with places, spaces and activities for the adults to take care of their children and themselves.

The Unofficial Brand Olympics, London 2012

As the final wisps of smoke from the Paralympic flame dissipate over East London, and the gates to the Olympic Park close (until 2014), London after the London 2012 euphoria finds itself in a period of reflection. While the media and the government reflect on the golden summer, and Brazilian Olympic organizers reflect on learnings to apply to their plans; we at Integer London have reflected on the brands that decided that official status wasn’t for them. An unofficial Brand Olympics, if you will.

 

For guerrilla product placement, the gold medal goes to Dr Dre and The Beats 

Athletes from the top 20 countries in the last Olympics were invited to The Beats store in Shoreditch, not far from the Olympic Village where, after having their photos taken in front of the “b” logo they received a free pair of headphones in their team colors.

Open Sell, A New Trend in Retailing

Recently, the Wall Street Journal reported that Clinique, a top cosmetics brand, has revised its in-store selling strategy. The brand changed from a high-service, pressure-selling approach to a softer, hands-on approach that lets the shopper play. This new type of shopping environment is known as an “open-sell” environment. This approach was made popular by Sephora, the specialty beauty chain whose hands-on product displays attract a lot of shoppers seeking experiential play with products. Clinique now displays its products in open shelves and drawers for people to interact with rather than being stocked behind the counter. This allows shoppers to easily pick products up, sample, and help themselves. 

Target's New Shops

On Sunday, Target will launch the long-awaited The Shops at Target, the retailer’s latest installment of its design and limited-edition boutiques. But this time around, the retailer took a different approach. Rather than signing a big designer name like in past years (Zac Posen, Missoni, and Calypso St. Barths, to name a few), Target sought out unique specialty stores and boutiques from around the country.  Products from five different boutiques will be featured: The Candy Store (candy, out of San Fransicso), Cos Bar (makeup and skincare, out of Aspen), Polka Dog Bakery (pet items, out of Boston), Privet House (home goods, out of Connecticut), and The Webster (apparel, out of Miami). Each boutique has designed and curated a special selection of items that will be available online and in select stores.

Past design collections have sold out within hours of launching and have shut down the Target website. People are naturally reactive to scarcity. Retailers are tapping in to this human quality by providing limited-edition offerings to drive sales and seek out a point of differentiation in the market. It’s especially relevant among Millennials. Data from our latest issue of The Checkout® shows that Millennials are more likely to make impulse purchases to treat themselves. 

We’ve seen a few teaser ads for The Shops at Target, such as the video below, and some print ads to get shoppers excited for Sunday’s launch, but not much is being advertised in stores. A lot of the buzz about The Shops is online, from shoppers and fashion publications and blogs. Do you think Target’s new design project will be just as popular and successful as previous collections? Do you think they’ve done a good job of building anticipation among shoppers? 

 

 

Tales from Russia - Pride and Consumption

There it was, the new fragrence by Dior^® seen everywhere on the streets, in magazines, and plastered on the side of buildings. It was displayed proudly on the living-room armoire. Still in its box, it sat there like a beaming gold status symbol for anyone entering the room to see. While in Moscow, we visited a woman who took great pride in everything she purchased. From a store full of cosmetics stored in the refrigerator and drawers, to a lineup of body care displayed in the entry way, to that bottle of fragrance proudly sitting in the living room, she took great pride in the items she purchased and wanted the world to see them. This woman, like many others we visited, related products and name brands to social status. Much like her desire to have a larger home, move to a more affluent part of the city, and entertain more friends, she related health and beauty products to being successful and took great pride in her accomplishments.

How can everyday brands use marketing and branding along with packaging that elevates the product to being displayed on the living-room shelf? Beyond the transaction and usage, what other factors are playing a major role in emerging-markets consumption behaviors?

Click here to download the Tales From Russia study.

-Contributed by Stephen Moon

 

Tales From Russia - Luxury

After a day and a half of being delayed by winter storms, we finally arrived in Moscow in the middle of the night. I was greeted by an unpleasant young man asking for my passport. The walls were gray, and a single florescent light flickered above. In a strong Russian accent, the young man uttered one word in English. “Go”. We knew then we were not in the Western world anymore. After spending a few days in Moscow, however, it began to feel a bit more like being at home. Outdoor boards, TV channels, wall postings, magazines in people’s homes, all advertising Audi^®, TAG^®, Gucci^®, BMW^®, Dior^®. But something was different. People’s perception of luxury from Western culture was that of an acheivable lifestyle. After visiting several homes and spending time with consumers and shoppers, we learned that Russians believe people in developed Western markets actually live like the images they see in advertising. Unlike those in developed markets, these consumers have not had the years of experience and exposure to see the marketing and repetition nor have the different levels of financial class to understand how luxury can fit into their current lifestyles.

Before departing on my last day, we spent time with a nice mother of two in her home. We asked her why she had such a facination with luxury.  She then reached on to her top shelf where she proudly displayed her Dior fragrance. She then said “I know the face of Dior [Charlize Theron]. I want to be like her and like you. Rich.”

How can luxury and premium brands reach the mainstream of emerging-market consumers? How can Western brands that are seemingly unobtainable fit into the ordinary lives of “cash only” shoppers? 

Click here to download the Tales From Russia study.

-Contributed by Stephen Moon

 

Subconscious Branding

Ever notice the crates that produce is stacked on? I usually don't. Then these caught my eye:

 

And these too:

Cute. Well-designed. And very evocative of antique produce labels like these. 

Do most people notice them? Probably not. But they're picked up in our peripheral vision and filed away somewhere in our minds. And when we do happen to notice them, they add an unexpected delight to our shopping trip and give us a clear sense of the Whole Foods sensibility.

MOST of our thinking is subconscious. In fact, the brain gets more done by 'automating' our tasks (driving a car is a perfect exmample of this). Shopping is no different. How do we use the subconscious in marketing to build brands and change behavior?

"Yeti's Best." Ha.

It's More Lifestyle Than Shopping

Recently a new breed of supermarket, termed boutique, has grabbed my attention. Take Ole for example, its outlets are set up in several tier-one and tier-two cities nationwide including a new store in Shanghai that opened for business a couple of months ago. Located at Grand Gateway in downtown Xujiahui, it covers a small area, drives relatively small-time traffic (targeting the elite customer), and sells more than 70% import-oriented commodities. Items like organic food, cheese and meat products, fresh seafood and sushi, pastries, wines and spirits, chocolate, and more. The aesthetics of the store environment are high-end and fashionable and can be seen from the moment you step in, with its eye-catching entrance, ornamented by chandeliers and flowers. The feature that impressed me the most was a triangular wine area where various bottles of wines from all over the world are displayed atop shelves along the wall of a huge transparent wine cellar that sits in the middle. Walking through the store, you notice the absence of POS merchandising or promotions, and instead there are friendly shop assistants with nice smiles there to help you navigate the store. It's like shopping in a wine paradise, a snack wonderland, and a really fantastic place to feel happy looking around. Getting myself a bar of imported chocolate or a box of sushi is the perfect treat after a hectic day of work. And during the weekends, a lecture on wine culture or flower arrangement or cooking taught live by experts delivers a brilliant experience I would have never expected in an ordinary supermarket.

This new brand of boutique supermarkets seamlessly integrates luxury shopping, catering, and recreation into a category traditionally designed for form and function. Can this hybrid of function and fashion, necessity and exploration become the supermarket of the future, a place of fulfillment and lifestyle experiences in the supermarket channel? Or will the premium price that comes along with the high-end experience detract from the idea of shopping the supermarket for day-to-day needs, making it a secondary choice for everyday needs, and become more of an occasional indulgence? Boutique supermarkets may not become the store of the future for the everyday shopper; however, retailers like Ole have certainly made an impact on the culture of shopping in Shanghai. It's deeply embedded into the minds, hearts, and wallets of the younger and more affluent generations.

-Contributed by Annie Wang, Integer Shanghai  

All The Coffee in Brazil

While on a recent visit to the Integer Group office in Sao Paulo, I took some time out to visit a bit of Brazilian retail.

Brazil has some interesting things going on, and the retail landscape is far less concentrated than it is in more developed markets. Having said that though, it felt very familiar.

In a high-end mall, I stumbled across this McCafe format.

Somewhat incongruent to my western eyes, there were a couple of interesting observations. First,this is a stand-alone, coffee only McDonald's format. Second, the context in which it sat surrounded, by high-end fashion stores. I found it interesting that the brand is in a position to be accepted in that context and in a high-end location.

Continuing on the coffee theme, Nespresso has some very cool outlets for their coffee machines and for the cartridges that go within them.

I have to confess, this is not a retailer I have noticed in the U.S. (are they sold through branded stores?), but the environment they created is very cool, selling only their range of machines and the coffee cartridges they take. I particularly love the colour coding of these and how they create a huge wall of colour that you cannot help find appealing, making selecting your favourite coffee style really simple. This is terrific merchandising.

So what to conclude? Apart from the obvious fact that coffee is an important part of Brazilian culture, I think it shows how global brands are tailoring their offerings to the context of the local market and how they are using global strategy implemented with cultural nuance in local markets. Something for every brand to consider is how to use the local retail environment and culture in different ways, in different markets, to achieve overall global brand objectives.

The Psychology Of Color At Retail

Recently we executed some in-market research for developing in-store POS pieces  to be used in a busy supermarkets. Wanting to make sure we caught the shopper's attention with the right in store media, we took a series of shelf extenders into a retail environment, affixed them to a store shelf and asked shoppers to shop the aisle without telling them what they were looking for. 

It was an interesting real-life test - shoppers denied seeing the extender in every instance except for one - when the extender was mostly yellow. In that instance, shoppers recalled either the sign or the messaging more than 65% of the time. Even a neon green sign, much loved in a sterile conference room, seemingly disappeared into the background once it was affixed to a store shelf.

Why? It wasn't that the design was different. The design, with the exception of color, was exactly the same. It's because people are conditionally programmed to respond to color in certain ways.

For example, in car-loving America, green means go. We're driving along see a green light and don't think or pause. When we see a yellow light on the other hand, drivers are conditioned to slow down, some even stop. By using a predominately yellow sign, we were able to tap into a shopper's psychological conditioning - we were able to get her to slow down and look.

Findings from NACS/Coca-Cola Convenience Store Pilot Test

 

The NACS/Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council's has released their findings from the latest convenience store pilot initiative. Testing supports the Shopper Hierarchy of Needs Model that was revealed last year which identified a shoppers' basic, fundamental, and emotional needs. The test aimed to further previous findings by testing solution-oriented merchandising fixtures designed to increase simplicity and ease of shopping to see if it, in turn, engaged shoppers and increased sales. The report reveals that:

• 78% of shoppers say they choose a c-store based on whether or not the store "always has what they need"
• Cravings drive impulse purchases
• Brand specific purchases can be influenced

To read more of the findings you may download the full report here. 

How Iconic Is Your Figure?

It's hard enough to have a recognizable silhouette. But what do you do when you find that your iconic shape just isn't that functional? Heinz had this experience when it redesigned its iconic bottle in 2002:

 

It's eminently functional: no drips, no liquid pouring out first, easy to grip, shatter-proof, holds more product, stacks face-out, fits the fridge door, etc. But did the designers include "unique" or "iconic" as criteria? Did they want to evoke the timeless curves of a cello? (They could have.) Given that Hunt's, A&P's, and other brands looks almost the same, probably not. (Interestingly, Heinz's new packets echo the new bottles).

How many cues are we using to help shoppers find our products in the Sea of 50,000 SKUs? Shoppers usually spend only a few seconds scanning the shelf for CPGs. Next time you're in a store, play the silhouette game: see how shapes define categories or products, and see which brands are recognizable by shape alone.