This Month in Data-Led Marketing

Hello and Happy New Year from all of us at Response Media! As we welcome a brand-new year, it’s the perfect time to reset, refocus, and ensure we kick things off on the right foot.

To thrive in today’s fast-paced market, CPG brands must embrace agility and keep consumers at the center of every decision. The ability to pivot quickly and respond to changing consumer needs is a hallmark of successful marketing strategies. The key is using data – particularly first-party data to identify trends, understand shifting preferences, and adjust strategies quickly.

Here are a few key priorities to keep in mind this year:

• Consumer-Centricity: Keeping consumers at the heart of every decision to ensure relevance and loyalty. What steps can you take to better understand and respond to your consumers’ evolving needs?
• First-Party Data Integration: Leveraging proprietary data to identify trends, anticipate needs, and deliver personalized experiences—providing a competitive edge and consistent value. How will you unlock deeper insights from your data to create more personalized customer experiences?
• Innovation: Proactively spotting emerging trends and consumer needs to maintain leadership within your category. How can your brand stay ahead of the curve and quickly adapt to new market opportunities?

By aligning with these principles, brands can move beyond merely surviving challenges and thrive in an increasingly complex market.

Wishing you a prosperous and exciting New Year!

Ami Sirlin

Chief Client Officer, Response Media

Transforming CPG Marketing with First-Party Data

WHAT HAPPENED: The Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG) industry is rapidly transforming, driven by shifting consumer behaviors. With consumers becoming more cost-conscious than ever and private-label brands surging ahead—growing three times faster than branded products—traditional loyalty and pricing strategies are proving insufficient. For many CPG professionals, it feels like navigating uncharted waters in an increasingly competitive landscape. Read more...

WHY IT MATTERS: mid these challenges lies a significant opportunity: leveraging first-party data. Unlike third-party insights, first-party #data provides #brands with a direct connection to their consumers, enabling tailored strategies that build trust, foster loyalty, and deliver real value.

Data-Driven Without A Steering Wheel? Here's Help

WHAT HAPPENED: The volume of data created and stored globally has increased by over 1,000% in the last 10 years, and experts predict that it will double again in just three years. In marketing, the rapid expansion of retail media networks, connected TV, and additional ad-tech platforms has only exacerbated the issue, adding more channels and measurement systems to an already overloaded ecosystem. Read more...

WHY IT MATTERS: Data was supposed to make marketing smarter and more efficient. Instead, it’s become a burden for many brands struggling to extract actionable insights. The solution lies not in collecting more data, but in simplifying it.

Loyalty Programs Are Growing—So Are Customer Expectations

WHAT HAPPENED: The US is becoming heavily saturated with loyalty programs, and the average US consumer belongs to more than 15 programs — a 10% increase from 2022. According to 波士顿谘询公司 and their recently released second annual global survey of loyalty program trends, offering solely tangible rewards no longer creates stickiness or loyalty to the extent it did in the past. Their findings reveal that the US is becoming saturated with loyalty programs. As a result, competition between programs is intensifying. Read more...

WHY IT MATTERS: Offering points and cash back isn’t enough. In exchange for their continued patronage, people want programs to deliver a differentiated experience beyond monetary value, with personalized benefits, free content, and relevant partnerships. The expectation is stronger with younger consumers, who are increasingly willing to switch brands and loyalty programs compared to older generations.

Why Syncing Email and SMS is Critical to Marketing Success

WHAT HAPPENED: About 65% of the world’s population uses text messaging, so it’s no wonder SMS marketing is growing at a staggering rate. And, there are projected to be an estimated 4.73 billion email users in 2026. Having subscribers’ #email and SMS details allows you to collect data based on engagement and purchase history. This helps further segment your audience and understand how customers use both platforms.?Read more...

WHY IT MATTERS: In a time when customers scroll through many platforms, you need to use all tools to boost engagement. The nature of SMS lends itself to more urgent and more direct messaging. Email, on the other hand, allows for more information, which can be digested at a relaxed pace. Both work together and complement each other perfectly.?

Data and Consumer Insights are Essential for CPG Growth

WHAT HAPPENED: Financial pressures have led consumers to shop more mindfully, prompting?brands to adopt a data-driven approach to delivering value. US consumers spent $1.68 trillion on food and beverages in the past year alone. However, as food service traffic continues to decline (-2% year over year through Q2 2024), the share of spending has shifted increasingly toward retail, which now captures 61% of total expenditures, according to Circana data. ?Read more...

WHY IT MATTERS: To sustain top-line growth, brands must prioritize a deeper understanding of category dynamics and evolving consumer preferences. By refocusing on core management capabilities like market analysis and operational efficiency, brands can identify and pursue pockets of demand.

Want to learn how Response Media leverages data-led marketing to grow brands? Contact Marty Kahnle for more information, and check out our website for more insights.