Seven-Point Shopper Marketing Manifesto

Based on research released on May 21, “The PMA Survey on Managing and Measuring Shopper Marketing,” the PMA is providing manufacturers and retailers a prescription for successful shopper marketing practices: The PMA Seven-Point Shopper Marketing Manifesto.

“PMA is committed to Shopper Marketing, and sees it as one of its fastest growing centers of excellence,” said PMA president Bonnie Carlson. “Based on our recent research with Nielsen Business Media, we made recommendations to help retailers and manufacturers reach the level of collaboration they need to ensure successful with shopper marketing.”

The PMA Seven-Point Shopper Marketing Manifesto:

1. TURN THE WAR ROOM INTO THE WIN ROOM.
This means: Align planning timetables. Get key decision makers from the retailer and manufacturer teams together in one place and plan jointly. Agree on objectives. Share the successes and lessons learned through other programs. Include agency representatives from core account teams.

2. SCHEDULE THE CELEBRATION NOW.
Set the date for the post-program evaluation at the beginning of the joint planning process and be insistent that this critical meeting take place, and all key learnings are shared.

3. LEAD WITH INSIGHTS.
Both retailers and manufacturers need to contribute meaningful, relevant understanding of the shopper that invites action – the “aha!” behind every powerful insight. Consider joint focus groups, or investing together in primary research to validate insights.

4. SPEAK A COMMON LANGUAGE.
If the retailer has a shopper segmentation model, use it–these are the retailer’s shoppers, after all. If a manufacturer is able to further define or improve on the retailer’s version, so much the better. A “translation tool” for overlaying retailer and manufacturer segmentation models could increase shopper marketing effectiveness, as often the shopper and brand targets overlap substantially and have similar insights.

5. FORGE A SHARED VISION OF SUCCESS.
It’s true: You can’t market what you can’t measure and what gets measured gets funded. So be sure the metrics are in place for every program and that all parties are on board. Some best-practitioner manufacturers are taking it even further and aligning the bonus objectives of their teams to the retail customer’s objectives.

6. DON’T WAIT—INTEGRATE.
Adopt a rolling 15-18 month planning schedule. Shopper marketing programs are even more effective and efficient when they are planned and implemented as a core element of the entire marketing mix. Align them with your larger planning cycle and insist that they are locked down as early as needed for maximum integration.

7. DOUBLE DOWN ON SURE BETS.
Shopper marketing has already proven to be the better investment over the long term, so take the lead from best practitioners and make a strong commitment to ensure the maximum return. A true win-win approach, which improves equity for both retailers and manufacturers, should take into consideration mutual “pain points” and assign contributions accordingly.

“The PMA Survey on Managing and Measuring Shopper Marketing” is new research commissioned by the PMA Shopper Marketing Center of Excellence with Nielsen Business Media. The comprehensive online survey, fielded in March of this year with Brandweek, Progressive Grocer and Convenience Store News, polled manufacturers and retailers as well as the agencies and marketing service organizations working with them. The study revealed that better collaboration is critical to the success of shopper marketing for both retailers and manufacturers.

For more information at http://www.pmalink.org/>

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