Deliver Unprecedented Growth by Finding your Super Consumers [INSIGHT]

Finding ways to grow sales has never been tougher. Despite obstacles like robust competition, a fragmented media environment and growing piles of data, a handful of companies are still finding growth opportunities within their existing customer bases. In fact, by identifying a category’s ‘Super Consumers’ – those consumers that spend a lot and engage a lot, companies are tailoring their marketing and sales efforts to boost incremental sales—even when category sales are flat.

According to Eddie Yoon, Principal at the Cambridge Group, finding and delighting your super consumers is a way of growing your business without any more complexity. “The opportunity is right there, and companies can tap into their super consumers using the data and information they already have and are working with,” says Yoon.
SUPER CONSUMERS ARE THE SWEET SPOT BETWEEN THOSE THAT SPEND A LOT AND THOSE THAT CARE A LOT

Super consumers sit at the intersection of heavy users and highly involved consumers, which means they’re both emotionally and economically involved in the category.

According to Nielsen research, this group of consumers in the US account for 10 percent of a category’s customers and anywhere from 30 to 70 percent of a brand’s sales. They represent a key opportunity for brands looking for growth when growth is elusive.

Super consumers are just as lucrative in the Australian market. Greg Dring, Nielsen’s Head of Demand Strategy for the Pacific says, “Looking across all FMCG categories in Australia we found there is a group of consumers in every category that spend a lot and care a lot. On average, they make up 10-15 percent of households and more than double that in sales. They have a hidden appetite to buy more even in the most unlikely product categories.”

“When companies target these super consumers they see unprecedented growth, with a direct correlation between brand share of category dollars and brand share of super consumer spend,” says Dring.

By flipping the lens to look at super consumers, rather than the more ‘traditionally used’ category users, lapsed users or switchers, companies open up a whole slew of possibilities and insights that hadn’t previously been recognized to drive growth.
CASE EXAMPLE: CHEESY LOVE MELTS HEARTS OF KRAFT’S SUPER CONSUMERS

In 2014, Nielsen was engaged by Kraft’s senior leadership to help rejuvenate growth for its cheese/dairy business unit, worth $4 billion for the company. Velveeta, a processed, unrefrigerated ‘cheese food’, was experiencing flat to declining sales as demand shifted towards natural, organic non processed cheese.

    Identifying the super consumer: By recognizing a strong super consumer base that hadn’t been previously tapped into – the ‘hot melted cheese Super Consumer’, Velveeta cheese was identified as a growth platform. This super consumer represented 10 percent of Velveeta’s consumers, but drove 30-40 percent of sales and more than 50 percent of profit. Their unifying characteristic? A love and passion for the product and a diverse range of uses for it.
    Innovating through the lens of the super consumer: Those super consumers had unmet needs – they craved more usage inspiration for their beloved cheese. They wanted smaller pack sizes for easy snacking as well as full-meal inspirations. By viewing Velveeta in the melted cheese category rather than the narrowly viewed cheese loaf, Kraft was able to reinvent the way Velveeta could be used, which informed product development. Concepts were optimized with super consumers first and then balanced for the mass market. As a result, NPD initiatives delivered more than $100 million in sales for Kraft.
    Improved go-to-market strategy: Nielsen and Kraft worked to identify media usage habits of super consumers to guide media buying and drive creative strategy for advertising. New messaging was geared specifically towards super consumers and was delivered at the right place and right time. By identifying and activating their most passionate consumer, Kraft was able to obtain growth without spending any additional media money.
    Retail optimisation: Activating against the super consumer also drove in-store decision making. Velveeta had been split between centre of store and the dairy case. However, based on a Super Consumer insight, a business case was built to move all of the Velveeta to the refrigerated cases. This action drove a significant increase in profits over the course of 12 months.

Not only did Velveeta see a notable uplift in brand growth – ahead of the competition and category. Resource have also shifted to further support its growth, and Velveeta is now positioned as an investment brand in Kraft’s portfolio.
THE SUPER CONSUMER IN ONE CATEGORY IS THE SUPER CONSUMER IN AT LEAST NINE OTHER CATEGORIES

When manufacturers and retailers work together to activate the super consumer; the benefits go beyond just the category a brand plays in. There is clear insight into action that the retailer can take to win across at least nine other categories.

This is incredibly powerful for mega brands; brands that span multiple categories such as Dove, Maggi and Kraft. For these brands, rather than having a different target consumer for every category, companies can identify a single super consumer that cares a lot and spends a lot across all of their categories. Finding and delighting this super consumer enables a mega brand to effectively develop loyalty strategies and optimise growth across not just one, but multiple categories they play in.

Activating against the group of consumers who are already engaged and listening can be the key to unlocking a layer of growth that might otherwise remain elusive.

Hear these insights presented live on stage at Nielsen’s upcoming Consumer 360 conference (July 31 – Aug. 1, Fairmont Resort, Blue Mountains). Eddie Yoon, Principal at the Cambridge Group, will be on the mainstage presenting his views on the big challenges for brands in the future. Does globalisation help or hinder brand development? How do we find the consumers and audiences for existing brands? And who is doing a good job of creating big outcomes for their brands?

By Rachael Powell, Associate Director – Shopper, Nielsen; and Greg Dring Head of Demand Strategy, Nielsen