In-store and "active advocates" marketing

Two articles caught my attention, each about very different areas of marketing: in-store promotions and “active advocates”. Both made me wonder how these techniques are used to reach older audiences.

The first is so good that I have added it to my web site. "Will in-store ads hurt industry?" By Sian Harrington.

In-store marketing. Heinz’s global marketing spend is up 8 per cent this year, most of which is accounted for by a rise in expenditure with its retail customers (e.g. of Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour). Traditional above-the-line marketing is flat. ”It’s a case of consumer versus trade, the pot of money is broadly fixed and the trade environment is more of a battleground every year,” says Scott Garrett, brand director of Heinz UK and Ireland, which spends between a third and half of its total marketing budget on below-the-line activity, most of which is in-store.

At Procter Gamble’s investment, on what it calls “emerging media” is growing at more than double the rate of traditional media spend. ”The store environment is becoming an ever more important way to communicate the brand message to the consumer. Total marketing spend is up, but spend has accelerated faster in some newer media,” says Gary Coombe, P&G director of customer business development.

Heinz and P&G are not unique, the trend to increase trade funding or trade marketing - is being repeated across the FMCG world. The article goes on to discuss the implications of the move from above the line to new innovative ways of store related promotions.

The second article is about “Active Advocates” and “Influencials". Much of this thinking is taken from Tipping Point theory and the use of celebrities but it is still worth restating.

Active Advocates are customers who regularly use your products, turning them into a reliable and credible source of information to the market. These customers’ lifestyles reflect the values of your brand. They talk about you and influence non or indifferent customers into buying your products.

The second group, the Influentials, perform this role more widely. As defined by research company NOP World, they are the 10 per cent of the population who lead trends, shape public opinion and influence the buying of the other 90 per cent. People look to them for advice on how to vote, what to wear, where to eat or any aspect of life where there is choice.

There are stark differences between the success rates of different industries in exploiting them. Car makers tend to enjoy high levels of advocacy. They have a big ticket product, which makes a good topic for conversation, enjoys wide media exposure, and is commonly seen as an extension of the buyer’s personality. How do the different care companies compare? These are the percentages of the brand’s customers who count as active brand advocates, personally endorsing the values of their chosen brand to others, Mercedes Benz comes out top with 59 per cent, followed by BMW (53), Toyota (51) and Ford (41).

So how important are both of these techniques in reaching older audiences? The subject was not covered in either of the articles but my guess is very – on both accounts and especially the use of “Active Advocates”.

If anybody has any views about either of these techniques please get in contact. Dick Stroud: www.20plus30.com