The Nielsen Global Liquor Symposium and Global Wine Forum

Last week, the Liquor Merchants Association of Australia (LMAA) in association with Nielsen presented the inaugural Nielsen Global Liquor Symposium and Global Wine Forum at Doltone House in Pyrmont, Sydney.

With key liquor industry representatives from Australia, New Zealand, the UK and America, it was a great opportunity for Shopaholic to gain some valuable market intelligence about the current state of play and emerging trends in the liquor industry.

Highlighted are a few key points worth pondering for any liquor marketer.

Consumer spending habits
“While alcohol beverages are sometimes thought to be ‘recession proof’, we’re seeing significant evidence of changes in consumers’ dining and buying habits,” said Danny Brager, Nielsen Beverage Alcohol Team US. As a marketer, we need to understand those changes.

Job security is still a concern looming over most consumers’ heads, and they are changing their purchasing behaviour accordingly. 30% of those surveyed by Nielsen claimed to have cut down on purchases of alcohol, and almost half have cut back on nights out. This trend was visible across all four markets represented at the Symposium.

Why then do Australian consumers continue to ‘trade up’? BarScan data indicates that the average price per serve has grown in the last year across all categories. Off premise also experienced much stronger growth in the categories of premium spirits, RTDs and beers than in their standard counterparts.

Perhaps more important than price to a shopper, is perceived value. With alcohol there is a degree of status consumption involved, and so shoppers are more open to paying a premium for something they perceive to completely meet their needs. With the strong shift to off premise, retail media has never been better placed to influence shoppers at the point of sale.

Promotional reliance
Overseas shoppers have become conditioned to buy only on price promotion. While price promotion accounts for over half of Australia’s beer and wine sales, this rises to close to 80% in New Zealand. In Australia, while most categories have experienced an increased reliance on promotion for sales, beer has actually experienced a slight decrease. With beer claiming over half of the past year’s new product development sales in Australia, it would seem that shoppers are willing to pay a premium for innovation. Brands should take care to avoid the pitfalls of relying solely on price promotion and consider other activation strategies such as in-store advertising.

Government
Although RTDs now look to be back on track for growth, the 30% short-term decline in the category value (post-excise increase) illustrates how the Australian Government can be a real driver of structural change. Of significance is the current call for the ban of broadcast advertising of alcohol. A ban on television and radio advertising could lead to retail media becoming an even more integral part of the marketing mix.

Wine
The majority of consumers have a real lack of knowledge on wine, but are thirsty to learn. A lot of wine shoppers buy the brand, or the packaging. With the extraordinary success of NZ Sauvignon Blanc worldwide, the question was raised at the Symposium whether the comparative decline of Australian wines was down to the product, or the marketing.

A 2009 report by Miller Zell on effective in-store triggers found that 43% of shoppers want more information on product details. A similar percentage of shoppers want product comparisons. Tesco in the UK provided this in the form of an online wine selector, advising consumers which wines went with which meals. This type of communication needs to be followed through in-store to speak to these consumers as shoppers.

Guest Post: Understanding shopper behaviour

By Shopportunity.

http://www..sh-opportunity.com.au/

Shopportunity are specialists in shopper research and behaviour. They provide Shopper, FMCG and Retail intelligence, strategies and training for major clients including Foster’s Group, Nestle, Sony and Coca Cola. Shopportunity works closely with TorchMedia, providing channel intelligence and shopper behaviour insights to underpin effective retail media solutions.

A shopper is not a consumer is not a shopper.

‘Consumer Marketing’, the traditional approaches associated with brand campaigns and driving demand, are still as important as ever in the Retail & FMCG marketing mix.

But are consumers the same as shoppers? And is ‘Shopper Marketing’ different?

Often consumers and shoppers are not the same. Basic examples such as pet food and children’s products demonstrate this point, as well as the concept of the ‘main grocery buyer’ buying for the whole family.

Whilst not always so clear cut, in can be helpful to think of Consumer Marketing as ‘before store’ and Shopper Marketing as ‘in store’.

Consumer Marketing is about building awareness and demand. Shopper Marketing is about converting the sale once you’re in store.

Understanding and communicating with shoppers can be broken down in to three key points:

1. Solve their Problem
2. Make it Easy for them
3. Make it nice (or even FUN, if your category allows

Let’s look at each.

Solve Their Problem
Shoppers are most often trying to solve a problem, as quickly as possible. ‘What will we have for dinner tonight?’, ‘How can I feed the family economically for a week’, ‘What will we get John for his birthday’, ‘I’m thirsty’, etc.

Key points to remember in shopper marketing:

• Know what primary shopper problem you are solving
  
• Communicate how you solve that problem simply at point of purchase e.g. ‘Healthy dinner in ten minutes!
  
• Think about the kind of shopper that has this problem you help them solve. Who are they? Who are they buying for (the consumer)? Make up a consumer profile and a shopper profile to really understand the differences in how you need to communicate before store versus in store.

Make it Easy
Your average supermarket has about 40,000 different product lines. It’s a minefield, and it can be confusing and annoying trying to find what you want as a shopper.

Some key points:

• Use retail media for directional assistance to help them find your product / brand quickly and easily, and again communicate the problem you are solving.
  
• This goes with that: think carefully about the locations and category adjacencies for your product. Does where you are in the store actually make sense from a shopper perspective? Are you where people would expect to find you? If not, conduct some research to back up your case to the retailer about where you think your product should be in the store, what secondary locations you should be in etc. Some retailers are ‘getting with the program’ about occasion-based in store areas (such as ‘dinner tonight’), which more truly reflects how shoppers shop.
  
• Keep your packaging and point of sale marketing pieces SIMPLE. Focus on your primary selling proposition (how you solve their problem better than anyone else). Most point of sale should have no more than four words on it. Just a picture is even better.

Make it Nice
Whilst some shopping (such as fashion) can be a recreational activity, the majority of day-to-day shopping such as groceries are essentially a GRUDGE task. People don’t actually enjoy it. Shopping for things is often nowhere near as much fun as consuming them.

How to make it nicer for them:

• Within the parameters of your retailer store policies, think about how you can introduce theatre, entertainment and sensory experience to the shopper experience of your product. Make it fun!
  
• Reward your shoppers. An extra 25% free, loyalty programs, gift with purchase, competitions with meaningful prizes – it all helps take the drudgery out of shopping.

So in summary, the key to successful shopper marketing is MAKING SHOPPERS' LIVES EASIER, BETTER AND MORE FUN. It’s not rocket science – but far too easily (and frequently) forgotten!

We hope this article has been useful. Feedback and questions are welcome: enquiries@sh-opportunity.com.au