Over the course of the recession, consumers have made significant changes to their daily rituals. Across a wide range of daily tasks, today’s consumers have become quite self-reliant. And they have turned to CPG marketers to help them get it done. From this perspective, it is a time of great opportunity for the packaged goods industry.
But the road to success is not easy. Today’s CPG environment is quite different from days gone by. Old marketing tricks, it seems, just don’t work anymore. It’s time for a new playbook.
In this new playbook, the shopper will play the lead role. Tomorrow’s most effective marketing programs will be based upon a 360 degree view of the shopper. And, that shopper perspective will be at the individual level, rather than aggregate level.
The good news is that the information necessary to write this playbook already exists. Now, the challenge is to harness that information, cultivate it into knowledge, and use that knowledge to develop and execute programs that drive not only purchase behavior, but also true shopper loyalty.
This issue of Times & Trends provides insights into the consumer mindset throughout each stage of the purchase cycle, from planning to purchase. Insights such as these provide a critical foundation for marketing strategies aimed at delivering the right products, to the right place, at the right price, at the right time, and creating a shopping experience that keeps the best shoppers coming back for more.
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