A Wellness Marketing Strategy That Works Well

Wellness is alive and well in consumers’ minds, but what does that mean for retailers? And what do consumers mean when they shop with wellness on their mind?

According to research firm The Hartman Group, people have a broad view of the definition of wellness. When polled, 67 percent of participants defined wellness as “not being ill” and “being able to deal with stress.” More than 70 percent described wellness as “being physically fit” and “feeling good about myself.”

In an interview with Adweek, Shelley Balanko, VP of Ethnographic Research at The Hartman Group explains what retailers can take away from this study‘s results.

“While the notion of quality of life is very broad, consumers are still looking to markers of quality on a category-by-category basis.” Balanko said. “Consumers are becoming more attuned to authenticity cues to discern the ‘real’ from the ‘fake.’ Authenticity is communicated through compelling product/company narratives with products containing whole, real and clean ingredients created by knowledgeable people who genuinely care.”

In short, consumers largely base wellness on coming first from the notion of “you are what you eat.” Food companies, especially, take note. Brand development and marketing strategies should focus on promoting wellness, but just making a sticker for a product that exclaims, “Promotes wellness!” won’t convince a consumer that the product is worth buying. Instead, companies must convince consumers their product is real and authentically good. Be warned: consumers do not like being treated like children. Food companies should stay away from being preachy or overly complimentary: You don’t know how amazing you are! If only you knew after trying our product!

“When spoken to as a peer, and presented with high-quality products (regardless of health-and-wellness positioning), consumers respond with interest as they seek high-quality experiences for a quality life.”

Target Sells a Service Experience with its Electronics

Even during the recession, the electronics business continues to be hot as customers consider things like cell phones a necessity.

As the electronics business gets more competitive with discount stores like Target and Walmart fighting specialized stores like Best Buy for a larger customer base, stores realize they need to do a lot more than just stock shelves with the products customers want–and need. In an effort to become more of a destination electronic store, Target announced new services for electronics shoppers.

Among the new offerings, Target is adding a free telephone technical support service for purchases, an electronics recycling program that offers store gift cards and more wireless phone choices.

“Electronics are getting more complicated and more of us are connected to the Internet and wireless,” Senior Vice President Mark Schindele said. “Guests want a seamless experience.”

Like Best Buy’s Geek Squad and Apple’s Genius Bar, Target’s new services hope to bring more traffic to the store. Time will tell whether consumers will buy what Target is selling.

Wal-Mart’s Project Impact has a Positive Impact on Sales

Wal-Mart remains the world’s largest retailer, even after cutting back on the amount of items stocked on its shelves.

The retailer that boasted more than $400 billion in store revenues in 2009 launched a store remodeling initiative named Project Impact in an effort to boost efficiency and sales. The project started in 2008 and is on track to have reached about 32 percent of its stores by the end of 2010. Forbes reports that the remaining stores should be remodeled by 2014.

Project Impact was put in place to declutter stores and highlight popular merchandise while discontinuing unpopular items. Reduced inventory and improved inventory turnover supports Wal-Mart’s goal to be the low price leader and helps attract customers and increase sales. Many believe the remodeling strategy was a way to appeal to consumers who frequent the retail stores Target and Costco.

Project Impact is reportedly yielding positive results. New customer data shows that Wal-Mart is attracting more upscale customers with higher household incomes and has driven a sales boost of between 1.2 percent and 1.5 percent. Even after bringing back several product categories that were initially cut, Wal-Mart still decreased its inventory volume by 6 to 8 percent, improving its working capital position.

In this volatile economy and fast-paced digital age, retailers can’t afford to be static fixtures. Wal-Mart’s renewed attention to customer service, consumer experience and store management has proved to be a winning combination for the retailer, reinforcing the idea that not all change is bad.

Is Apple’s brand successful at Wal-Mart?

Earlier this year, discount retailer Wal-Mart started selling the iPhone. Starting to surface is the discussion on whether or not Apple will expand it’s product line on the retail shelves of Wal-Mart. Considering Apple has established it’s brand as the innovative, upscale brand and Wal-Mart is the biggest discounter, the pairing brings up branding concerns. The first concern is how the match up will effect the Apple brand.

From the beginning, Apple has successful established it’s brand to be unique. Everything from the product’s innovative designs, accessories, and customer service reps, aka Apple Genius, reinforce the Apple brand. Wal-Mart’s brand is known for low price guarantee, something which is not typically associated with Apple. The iPhone’s arrival to
Wal-Mart’s shelves is one of the higher priced items carried by the retailer.

According the AppleInsider, there are rumors of Apple selling it’s lower priced items in Wal-Mart stores. You won’t see the MacBook Pro, but possible newer cheaper items such as the Mac Mini. A part of Apple’s branding is the use of their own retail storefront and the Apple Genius. It will be interesting to see how Wal-Mart’s displays and associates will extend the brand of Apple which is prevalent in their own stores.

Of course, the bigger question is whether or not extending the Apple line with Wal-Mart will hinder the Apple brand. There are ways Apple can ensure their brand is well represented at the retail shelves. Brand strategy measurement tools include:

1) Visual Merchandising Audits: Photos conducted by a third party auditor can provide Apple a visual quality check of POS marketing and product displays.

2) Shopper Intercept Interviews: Intercept interviews are a great way to find out how the consumer views the brand in the retail setting. Apple can find out whether or not sales associates are knowledgeable on product line and helpful in ensuring a positive shopping experience. The interviews can reveal whether the pricing and marketing is effective with the brand’s consumers.

Measuring the consumer attitude and the merchandising would help Apple determine whether or not it’s brand quality is represented on the shelves of any retail storefront.

What do you think about the Apple expanding it’s product line with Wal-Mart? Do you think pairing with a discount retailer hinder’s the brand?

Customer Experience: Implementing Change

Since the beginning of this year, we have watched consumer shopping behaviors change. Measuring and collecting consumer in sight allows retailers and brands to make strategic changes with the changing trends.

Case #1: Wal-Mart’s Brand Initiative.
Wal-Mart spent a great deal in researching the competitiveness of the Great Value brand against leading competitors. In doing so, Wal-Mart was able to establish areas for the brand to compete and maintain a significant presence in the market share. In Business Week, Wal-Mart’s senior VP Andrea Thomas attributes the Great Value brand strategy to customer feedback. Collecting customer feedback provided ideas from packaging changes to ice cream flavors. If Wal-Mart didn’t ask the customer, they wouldn’t know what changes to make.

Case #2: Campbell Soups
Wall Street Journal reported long-time American favorite Campbell Soups is trying new pricing and in store promotions to attract consumers. Campbell Soups will be pairing coupons with in store displays and adding updated recipes to their website. Why? Campbell consistently measured the trend of their consumers. Campbell noticed coupons and recipe downloads numbers where up, which meant this was where they needed to address consumer demands. Pairing coupons and new recipes in a strategy is a direct response to measuring shopper behavior.

Campbell and Wal-Mart are only two recent examples of a brand and retailer using consumer metrics to develop a course of action. Consistent feedback and metrics of your customer’s experience provides the best information for strategic changes. It’s putting your customer experience measurement tools to work in the best way: implementing change.

Does Gen Y Really Impact Your Industry?

Generation Y is the largest workforce since the baby-boomers. They are also the economy’s replacements as the baby-boomers retire. It’s not a new strategy for retailers or brands to create specific marketing geared towards a specific generation. How much of an impact does Gen Y hold on a singular market such as food?

In an MSNBC article it seems that Gen Y’s eating habits are different than predecessors. In a report from the Center for Culinary Development and Packaged Facts, they conclude Gen Y wants food and beverage brands to be “customized” for their generation. The question is: “How will a retailer or brand know if their in-store marketing or branding campaign was successful with Gen Y?”

You could actually extend that question across the board to all marketing and promotion campaigns. What metrics are your company using to determine if the in-store promotion was effective? Is your packaging attractive? If Gen Y is going to push the envelope with the food and beverage industry, there will need to be some measurement of success to understand the generation’s impact on marketing.