There is a trend that seems to be gathering more momentum amongst retail marketers.

• According to a U.K. mannequin supplier, Displaysense, an increasing number of merchants plan to remove (traditional) rail thin models from stores and replace them with fuller figured versions.
• Dove is now ‘famous’ for their ‘real’ models used in the soap advertisements.

If this continues, we will soon have a lot of ugly people in our ads and male and female mannequins with love-handles, beer bellies and dimply thighs.

I am no picture; maybe that is why I don’t mind being surrounded by a bit of ‘beauty’ – after all that is what we aspire to.

• I wonder if the trend towards ‘authenticity’ can be taken too far?
• How will that impact your brand image?
• Where do you stand?

Have fun

Dennis

PS: Have you checked out your invitation below?

Cumberland Newspapers are sponsoring a shopping centre team breakfast meeting. The first one will be held at the Hills Lodge (Castle Hill) on the 13^th November 2007 and  local shopping centre teams are invited to attend.

The aim of the breakfast meeting is simply a get together: relationships and networking. I will be a guest speaker on The Psychology of Buying, which promises to be interesting and relevant.

The event is FREE and you can simply RSVP to:

Haley Dummett on (02) 9689 5264 or

dummetth@cumberlandnewspapers.com.au

by Monday, November 5, 2007

If you live/work in a shopping centre in the Northwest, you are invited. I would love to meet you and continue these ocassional debates in person

Take care

Dennis

... and its is called 'Shopper Marketing'

Finally, the marketers are learning something that retailers have always known. Sarah Mahoney writes at MediaPost and draws attention to the explosion in shopper marketing tactics. That is marketing aimed at the shopper (in the store) as opposed to other channels (traditional media).

Consider these stats:

• About 70% of purchase decisions are made in grocery stores.
• About 68% of purchases are made on impulse
• Just 5% of shoppers are loyal to one brand.
• Only 26% of shoppers are loyal to one store,
• And 73% of consumers shop in five or more channels.

The major US Brands (Coke, P&G etc) are expecting to increase marketing budgets by about 2% per annum, but shopper marketing activities will increase by 21% over the next few years. The New York Times report that Nike alone has reduced its marketing spend on TV by 55% and is currently only spending 33% of its budget on TV. (They are increasingly sponsoring small local events, web-based running forums etc.)

The drift towards internet-based advertising is also continuing unabated as Web 2.0 is providing manufacturers with opportunities to build meaningful relationships with real communities.

Worrying news for the mainstream media (if they are slow to adapt) and good news for retailers. Owning the ‘last yard’ of real estate is becoming more invaluable (not less) and good retailers will capitalise. The question is how you can ride the wave if you are not a major chain (with concomitant supplier bullying power)?

The answer is in the ‘long tail’…

More about that next time

Take care

Dennis

Apropos my previous post about Aldi (see below) - I found this story on the net.

It is a great piece that explores why people choose to shop in particular supermarkets. Much of it can be applied to other stores - and it is a powerful illustration of the power of the brand.

Have a great day.

Dennis

I have blogged previously about the Coles/Woolworths responses to the development at Stockland Baulkham Hills. At the time my family started shopping at Aldi. We then realised that we’re shaving about $100 off the weekly food shopping bills – which translates into a very nice free holiday at the end of the year – and we haven’t been back.

I must admit I was initially slightly embarrassed, which was why I never seriously considered shopping at Aldi. (Someone you know might just think you are poor, right?) I started observing the customers in Aldi a bit more carefully – and thought I noticed some very a-typical Aldi shoppers.

My initial thoughts were that there must be an emerging secondary market of relatively affluent people who:

Appreciate the quick shop that results from smaller stores and fewer choices

Are smart enough to know that the biscuits come from Arnotts anyway

Couldn’t give a hoot as to what other people thought

But then I thought I was post-rationalising my decisions and maybe I am just a tight ar**.

I subsequently had a discussion with my MBA class at MGSM, and one student who hails from Germany confirmed that there has definitely been a big shift in perception about Aldi and that the Aldi bag wasn’t a stigma any more.

Then I read an article published in the Cincinnati Enquirer yesterday. (Isn’t the internet great?) Dan Gavin, a divisional vice president for the limited assortment grocery chain, told The Cincinnati Enquirer that they were previously ‘in class B real estate market,’ but in the past year have moved our real estate to Class A sites. He also says that ‘all types of incomes like to save money.’

That confirms it for me. Aldi is going to evolve as major threat for Woolworths (and Coles) in the next decade. They will increasingly appeal to time-poor, but marketing savvy consumers and as the secondary market grows, they will start hurting the major supermarkets a lot more.