If the purpose of marketing is to get people to buy stuff, why aren’t brands and agencies more focused on the point of purchase (POP)?
POP is the place where all of the combined efforts from all marketing disciplines finally hit the real measure – sales. It is the one stat that sales and marketing teams end up having to answer their boards with, and increasingly it is the place where agencies are being measured. But the vast majority of industry accolades and interest is still based around consumer awareness, not where or how people purchase.
Don’t get me wrong, impactful creative, working from strong brand values and ‘consumer insights’ are as important as they’ve always been. But, and it’s a big but... the fundamental reasons why we shop and the social change that mobile, online and social media have brought are changing the weighting that ‘brand’ has in securing sales.
There’s no doubt that positive brand awareness is the starting point for a product being chosen. We all know that invisible, boring advertising or PR will lead to a company’s demise. However, even if the brand work ticks all of the right boxes and word-of-mouth, independent reviews and brand preference are all high, even if someone likes your product and would consider buying it - you’re still not guaranteed a sale.
So what’s killing the sale? It could be the salesperson who doesn’t know enough about what they’re selling, or knows enough to persuade the shopper to another brand. Or maybe the store is inconveniently located, or the product is not displayed properly, or even available... maybe the website is hard to navigate or not usable on a mobile. These are the type of things that are having a huge impact on the bottom line. And I’d argue that the closer you get to the purchase decision the more important the interaction with the shopper becomes to the brand or retailer.
An example of this is represented in local and international shopper research that shows how people are increasingly shopping for entertainment. How a store entertains the shopper - both on and offline - is becoming as important as the products they sell!
So if the ‘shopper’ is so important and the retail sector is struggling what does this mean for all of us in marketing and agency land?
I believe it means that the ‘shopper’ needs to be elevated in the planning process. I believe the shopper needs to become a third seat at the planning table. So, brand values, media exposure and POP are all represented at the same time, when a company is looking to develop a product launch or business growth strategy.
To me this gets the mix right, it establishes what you stand for and how you will deliver against it. Because, it doesn’t matter how great the creative, or how high the frequency of the messaging - if people can’t or don’t buy the product, then it all counts for nothing.
It’s funny, when a company gets it right – it’s so obvious. It’s why product launches at Apple stores have lines around the corner, despite the same product being available in a huge number of places, including one of the world’s most successful online stores... their own.
It’s how Tesco Korea reinvented grocery shopping (and media), which the rest of the world is now copying.
How locally, Zara and ASOS have become so powerful, why Lorna Jane and Kikki K keep expanding, why Kogan, OPSM, Boost Juice and Deus Ex Machina are all retail beacons. It’s even how Macca’s re-engaged with Australians and how Telstra have been able to increase sales in individual stores fourfold, while engaging both sales teams and shoppers. (And no, I don’t work for/on any of these companies).
All of these companies are very different, but the one thing they all do exceedingly well is answer what today’s shopper is looking for. The shopper is at the heart of their business model and I guess the bottom line is that it is the purchasing decisions people make that will determine all of our futures.
And subsequently, it is the shopper who needs to be hailed as the real power player when it comes to delivering the thing we’re all after – sales.
Jason Bullivant
Planning & Strategy Director
Dynamix
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