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For CPG brands, bulletproof brand planning and promotion strategies are critical success factors. Among changing consumer expectations and marketing best practices, it’s clear that organizations must adapt their planning processes to survive. Without a strong promotion strategy, organizations may struggle to gain notice or loyal new customer relationships.
Only 37% of modern customers strongly trust CPG brands. Building trust and authority among skeptical consumers is a key challenge to successful marketing. Similarly, organizations must adapt to shifting new platforms. Mashable writes that, for grocery brands, custom “content is the new television spot.” This evolution in effective marketing tactics illustrates just how significantly technology has disrupted consumer behaviors.
CPG marketing teams are at a tipping point. It’s clear that traditional marketing methods are no longer successful, but there’s a wide array of digital platforms and mediums for promotion method. Join us as we review common mistakes that can lead to failed CPG promotion campaigns, as well as some insight into how to avoid these mistakes.
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Not Using “Deep” Demographic Data
Customers segments are no longer defined by just age, gender, or parental status. With a wealth of data into consumer lifestyles, brands can incorporate more insights on preferences and behavior patterns. By understanding your client’s preference for fast-and-healthy options, or budget-friendly family meals, you can refine your product innovation and promotions to fit their actual lifestyles.
Deep demographic data can be mined from customer surveys and research panels, but it can also be sourced from mobile and web analytics, and social media data. By expanding your data collection, you can develop 360-degree customer profiles.
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Failing to Use Skilled Analysts
Bigger data equals more challenging quality concerns, more complex analyses, and more sophisticated tools. To properly (and efficiently) mine insights from big data, brand planning may require the skills of talented data scientists.
User-generated content on social media and other forms of semi-structured data can hold a wealth of insight into your customer’s preferences, needs, and lifestyles. CPG brands who use all available insights will gain the benefit of broader and more accurate customer knowledge.
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Not Taking an Agile Approach
Brand planning for CPG shouldn’t be an annual event. It should be an ongoing approach to measuring, evaluating, and implementing improvements. Annual marathon planning sessions may lead to mediocre results for months on end. By treating your brand planning like a living document, organizations can reduce their risk and improve their metrics.
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Tracking the Wrong Metrics
With a new wealth of tools for analytics and tracking, businesses can find themselves “drowning in data.” Adopting measurement makes sense, but too many meaningless measurements can confuse. By focusing on a few key metrics, teams can clearly draw connections between promotions and real results.
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Poor Climate Assessment
The Emm Group writes that, too often, brand planning is based on “perfunctory situation assessment,” or building a plan that’s essentially the same as last years. While reviewing your prior promotion metrics is certainly better than brand planning that’s not based on performance data, it’s still dangerous. In a quickly-changing CPG marketing climate, promotion planning should be based on performance data, competitive analysis, customer research, and breaking trends.
Poor brand planning and marketing strategy development is a likely recipe for mediocre promotion results in the CPG industry. In light of rapidly-changing consumer behaviors, organizations must view brand planning as an ongoing project instead of a once-yearly event. By leveraging all available data insights to develop deeper customer understanding, investing in a few key metrics, and understanding your climate, you can greatly increase your chances of success.
Topics cpg