Blind dates reinvented

Have you ever gone on a blind date and were clueless where to start a conversation with a stranger that had only a face and a name?

Have you ever logged in your details on an online dating site and wondered what your match would look like?

Of course you did and the outcome was a miss or a hit, right?

Could have been solid potential but you blew it. Simply, you did not know them.

Why are you then not applying to your consumers and shoppers?

Much have been done to the consumer side of things, but not so much to the shoppers.

The integration of both personas can essentially win you a solid place in store. Research cites up to 16% of sales uplift can be achieved if the right focused messaging is communicated.

Do you know who you are talking to? Who is buying you? It may not be the consumer that you spoke to back home and build brand equity with over years. He/she goes into the store and things are more complex and challenging than you think. Your brand may or may not be in that shopping basket after all, despite all that marketing spend.

Sounds like a leaky bucket to me!

It’s simple - build that shopper agenda in your plans. Driver and ownership is the shopper marketing function with the blessing of both the marketing and sales directors and know how with insights team.

Each category has its purchase process with different touch points and a user, a decision maker and an influencer. Once in store, it is your chance to get the right level of communication engagement but how can you when you have chosen to go on a blind date with the shopper?

Sales strategists and shopper marketers, wouldn’t you be happier if you get a better understanding of who you are selling to? by channel and by region? There is an opportunity to optimize your RTM , channel mix and must stock SKU list for sales operation efficiency .

If that sales person standing in a walk- in showroom can quickly run a screener of the shopper and address his needs with the right selling script, wouldn’t he be closing the sale?

And retailers who don’t invest in loyalty card, how about a better understanding of your assortment mix? Assuming you have a retail strategy, map that against your traffic profile and amend to attract the shoppers that give you the highest ROI.

Both brand owners and retailers are looking to grow. Innovation for the former and more branches for the latter. Both tactics are super expensive and take time to yield results.Yet can you just think if you get one extra transaction from that shopper just because you simply understand them better – Just as you finished that blind date and you get a second date.

I recently ran a workshop “ When the brain goes shopping” in Cairo . Some of the top manufacturers and retailers in Egypt attended. They were such an energetic crowd. I enjoyed having them. We started with low engagement scores on how well they knew their shoppers and by the end of the day , they were all committed  to investing in shopper understanding as they saw the returns.

I’m sharing with you extracts of shopper observational research study for Egypt over last 18 months. 3 shopper profiles segments as an example. There are so many ideas of growth that will sure pop out as you read through.

Shoppers are people.

Next time choose to go on a proper date .

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Extracts ;

The Snoozed Shopper

Hussein 16

?      SEC B, daily pocket money 25EGP

?      Totally disengaged in store

?      Top channel is kiosk as it’s the hangout chatty venue

?      He couldn’t care less how you display

?      Clutter gets to him and does not like to wait , listen or read

?      Just grab and go

?      He has high potential for online user later in life

The Care free shopper

Suzy 27

?      Working/ non working

?      HH monthly income 40 K - 60K /m-Upper middle class

?      Busy -likes to delegate tasks as she mostly wants free time for herself

?      Convenience products and added value suits her life style .

?      Show off brands/life style are key shopping drivers vs discounts

?      Likely to shop at high-end .

?      More into ready meal solutions /turn key 3zooma

?      Brands that has a hype / listens to influencers

?      Shops online limited to fashion and house accessories – can be high potential for groceries shopping in the future

The offers hunter

Dalal 31

?      Lower middle class house wife

?      HH income 5K/m

?      Shops 2 to 3 x week to look for offers as well as she has limited cash layout per trip

?      Varies from chains, to discounters to semi-wholesalers.

?      Likely to buy loose by the end of the month for budget reasons

?      Can shop with others to share promos

?      Can call others to share promo news on the spot

?      Unlikely to purchase online

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Dahlia Zayed

18+ years of experience in Brand strategy & Consumer and Shopper insights spanning across many global brands such as the likes of Cadbury Dairy Milk, Trident, Lipton, CocaCola, Blu, Orange.

Her core work entails entry strategies, optimizing portfolios, localizing global brands via understanding local culture - a key to creating relevant consumer and shopper communications, Route to market assessment, and retail category management.

Her last held corporate role was Head of Strategy and Insights EEMEA at Mondelez International – chocolate – a 1.3BUSD category. She now enjoys the entrepreneurial spirit in her own consultancy – FWD- focusing on brand strategy and retail insights in emerging markets – www.fwdegypt.com.

She is a public speaker in different international forums and heads the MarketersOfEgypt community group. A judge in SuperBrands Egypt, a coach at Cheri Blairs foundation empowering women in startups. A mom , a writer, a cook , and a huge rock fan who gets a kick from attending live concerts around the world.

The key to her is “Passion” and if you are not, don’t expect to be part of her inner circle.

You can reach her at: [email protected]