- Start with the consumer
- Start with the retailer
- Start with the shopper
- Start with the trends
- So start with trends and insights based on consumer, shopper and retailer: at the same time!
- Clarify what the real insights are
- Insights can be about consumption and/or purchase
- Combine data from different sources
- Google is your best friend for additional information
- Follow your target group on social media, you are not the consumer/shopper
- Combine consumer and shopper research results into one
- Purchase frequency does not equal consumption frequency (and you can learn a lot from that)
- The cook is not always the consumer
- The shopper is not always the consumer
- Your category is not the only one bought during a shopping trip
- Needs, motivations and occasions are often very big drivers
- If you have an insight that no one wants to believe, you are often in the right place
- Sometimes you need more time and different ways of convincing your stakeholders of that specific insight
- Calculate what your vision will bring in turnover/profit
- Find out about the needs of your contact person at the retailer’s
- Immerse yourself in the formula (regulations) of your customer
- Think category, not brand
- Find a good balance between solo work and co-creating in a group
- Determine in time what you don’t know and research it as soon as possible
- Make it concrete
- Take your time
- Growth drivers are always about penetration x frequency x volume x value
- Growth drivers are always about inspiration, activation, education and optimization
- So go a step deeper to formulate really appealing, clear and applicable growth drivers
- Preferably focus on penetration ór frequency ór volume (and not all at once), with less focus, you get less results
- Make sure the growth drivers are aligned with your category (and would not apply to others)
- You don’t necessarily have to formulate growth drivers to determine good growth strategies
- Growth strategies can be based on target groups
- Growth strategies can be based on occasions
- Growth strategies can be based on adjacent categories
- Growth strategies can always be quantified (as impossible as it may seem)
- You don’t always need a consumer/shopper decision tree
- It’s not just about the shelf
- Please stop using cliches, like those in 28 and 29
- You don’t always need a category vision
- Don’t forget your category definition
- Consider the role of the category for the retailer
- Make sure your category vision can land with your retailer
- Come up with a communication plan for your category vision
- Create a short version of your category vision
- It is perfectly fine to use market research from 10 years ago
- Make sure you validate outdated facts in a smart survey
- Set KPIs to monitor the progress of your category vision
- Let outsiders look at your category vision
- Let someone with experience think along
- Most trade marketers make a category plan less than ten times in their career
- Be inspired by completely different categories
- Evaluate and adjust, both internally and with the retailer
- Identify the core issue in your category
- A core issue arises from consumer behaviour
- Steady decline in usage is an example of a core issue
- Unfamiliarity with the category is an example of a core issue
- A major shift to other occasions is an example of a core issue
- Needing the category very infrequently is an example of a core issue
- An incorrect price house is not a core issue (it’s a result of one)
- Low-profit promotions are not a core issue (they are a result of one)
- Make sure your tactics align with your growth strategies
- This could imply that your entire promotional strategy needs to be changed
- Be fair about your own position in the category
- Don’t be afraid to withdraw an NPD if it really doesn’t fit the vision
- A consumer decision tree is quite different from a shopper decision tree
- Not every market research agency knows that, some do
- Make sure you know which research method is needed to determine the tree
- A decision tree often has very little to do with deciding
- Involve your marketing and sales colleagues
- There is no optimal shelf layout for the category
- The optimal shelf layout depends on what you want to achieve
- Two competitor manufacturers can therefore make a very different shelf proposal to the retailer
- What matters most to the retailer is what your vision will deliver to them
- You are not the consumer and you are not the shopper either
- Think in advance what you want to achieve when you create a category vision
- Practice your presentation before doing it at the retailer (several times)
- Take the development of the population into account (see Bureaus of Statistics)
- Respect your competitor’s position
- Take care of the retailer
- Let the retailer think along, but don’t ask for too much time
- Grab at least your fair share of broadcasting time
- Create a promotion plan for the entire category, including your competitors
- Be realistic in what time frame you can achieve things
- Test out highly innovative retail concepts first
- Visualize your ideas
- Take into account the retailer’s boundary conditions
- Make sure it’s easy to understand
- Put the core message and core supporter on your slide
- Provide all additional information “under water” in PPT or a separate FAQ document
- Take into account your role in the category (challenger or market leader)
- Tactics: assortment, shelf and promotions deliver 80% of the result.
- All tactics should be perfectly aligned
- Many NPDs ask for a different promotional strategy
- Make sure each growth strategy has one clear KPI
- Speak in simple language: people buy about once a month instead of 11,3 times a year.
- If you have good hypotheses in advance, you will get sharper insights
- Visit stores often (and don’t limit the visits to your own shelf)
- If necessary look way beyond your own category vision/segment
- Develop your category vision with me, it’s a lot of fun, and it will deliver growth!
Skip to content