Digital marketing recasts emotional interaction with brands

Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the monthly e-zine, CPGmatters.

How are shoppers’ perceptions of and emotional interaction with brands being altered by digital marketing?

Grocery shoppers are being trained to hunt for their favorite brand coupons in the pre-shop phase. Downloaded coupons get up to an 85 percent redemption rate with current brand users but they are failing to persuade switchers or recruit new users.

That means that true pre-shop consideration — that is, buying a new brand or switching — is moving outside of the coupon hunt to another media platform. Evidence shows at least some attention is being drawn by social media.

Meanwhile, what is the future of innovations such as Google Glass and the Apple Watch?

Google isn’t really supporting Glass at this point. However, augmented reality — digital text and images overlaid onto the viewer’s real world — will likely be brought back in a different and more sophisticated form. As one of first "Explorers," I can say that Glass was clunky and socially awkward, but fun.

Wearables

Source: Apple

Apple Watch will probably end up as a more useful wearable "platform" which connects to a user’s other wearable devices. A connected earbud, watch and a contact lens together could enable a wide-variety of digital interfaces for the user.

But, unlike a smartphone, the watch only allows one hand to be used. The watch doesn’t overlay on the user’s field of vision like Glass did, and it needs an earbud to speak "privately." The ideal is a completely hands-free experience, which offers visual and auditory interaction without undesired social signals.

As for the future of digital in grocery, the forces at work changing the dynamics of the food consumption include:

  • Shrinking household size due to lower birth rates and lower marriage rates;
  • Urbanization;
  • On-demand attitude toward purchasing goods and services.

This implies that the digital aspect of interacting with stores (in whatever form) in the future will be opt-in, in the context of time and place and personalized to each buyer.

There will be stores that offer a highly personalized experience, and near-fanatical users. There will be less personalized and digitized stores, which will have older shoppers and those who are less digitally-enabled and perhaps poorer. Finally, I believe it’s nearly inevitable that those who are not digitally empowered will in fact be "disabled" in the future.

BrainTrust

"To effectively cater to consumers in today’s digital, omnichannel world, both retail and CPG companies need to build brand enthusiasm, not just brand loyalty or repeat purchases. Augmented reality, digital coupons, etc., can all help drive that enthusiasm."

Ralph Jacobson

Global Retail & CPG Sales Strategist, IBM


"Augmented reality certainly enhances a shoppers brand experience. The fact that shoppers are adapting an "on-demand attitude toward purchasing goods and services," as Liz Crawford mentions, is a key driver for brands and retailers to explore AR."

Karen S. Herman

CEO and Disruptive Retail Specialist, Gustie Creative LLC


Discussion Questions

How do you see augmented reality and digital coupons altering the grocery experience? Do you see a dichotomy of those looking for “highly personalized” versus impersonalized grocery shopping experiences?

Poll

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Ralph Jacobson
Ralph Jacobson
8 years ago

To effectively cater to consumers in today’s digital, omnichannel world, both retail and CPG companies need to build brand enthusiasm, not just brand loyalty or repeat purchases. Augmented reality, digital coupons, etc., can all help drive that enthusiasm. Since consumer willingness to share personal data is a rising norm, companies need to leverage this desire for brand connections and make the relationship even more “personalized.” Disassociated shoppers, that is, ones who have no brand/merchant preference, tend to want to be left alone. With new capabilities available in the marketplace, brands can touch those disassociated shoppers in meaningful ways to capture their attention and increase brand growth.

Adrian Weidmann
Adrian Weidmann
8 years ago

I am currently working with a client (not a grocer, but a retailer with franchisees) where the discussion has been around the inevitable chasm that will begin to occur between the brand meeting the expectations of the digitally-empowered shopper and those franchisees that will not invest in the infrastructure to deliver the future digital engagement. This is due to a number of reasons including market size, revenue, culture and simply maintaining the status quo.

The brand can’t force the changes or the investment but must move forward with those that will embrace the future. This will create a different brand experience across the brand’s franchisee network. The brand cannot plan the future for the laggards but must forge ahead with the adopters and innovators. Creating a highly personalized, contextual and localized experience is a key component to this strategy and its resulting “fork in the road.”

Ken Lonyai
Ken Lonyai
8 years ago

“Digital” is much more than augmented reality. The thing about the use of augmented reality in a shopping experience that few consider is time. This is especially true for grocery. Imagine that every time a consumer glances at the myriad of items on a grocery shelf, it triggers an augmented reality experience via their device. Going down the cereal aisle would be either a very slow procession or one where the shopper completely tunes out. If it’s only used for currently purchased brands it’s a time waster, and if it’s used for alternative brands it can easily cross the line into an annoyance. It’s a very fine thread to weave.

Anne Howe
Anne Howe
8 years ago

Frankly, I’ve never been a fan of using digital coupons or saying that digital coupons can help create more emotional resonance between a shopper and a retailer. Rather, what is created is dependency on price and lower margins for all.

Augmented reality, in my view, has enormous potential to deliver more experiences that create emotional resonance for shoppers. Visual storytelling is a medium that is ripe with promise for creating emotional pull and response. Retailers are wise to begin testing and learning what can work to create shopper conversion be it visits, basket size, sharing or some other measured KPI.

There is so much upside to using the mirror neuron principles within the retail environment that it’s inevitable that those shoppers not digitally enabled will be disabled to some degree. But retailers do have options to use real humans to deliver emotional and relevant stimulus to shoppers in stores. There is still incredible power in putting human-to-human contact to good use! That is, after all, the most effective form of purchase influence on the planet.

Bill Davis
Bill Davis
8 years ago

Augmented reality is anyone’s guess right now as while there’s some cool technology, its not really taking root. Digital coupons on the other hand should eventually make the shopper’s experience easier because if I have a digital shopping list created, I should be able to append digital coupons to the appropriate item(s) in my list or possibly have the retailer do it for me. However, so retailers don’t start a race to the bottom, they need to better understand when the coupon is necessary to tip someone into buying and those insights are few and far between today.

From where I sit, I would think every shopper wants a personalized experience, its just a matter of to what degree it can be enabled.

Shep Hyken
Shep Hyken
8 years ago

The more important the coupon (and discount) is to the consumer, the less important the personal relationship. Consumers interested in just the lowest price or best deal will go to the store that provides it. Now the smart digital marketers will figure out a way to tie the discounts and deals to the relationship that the consumer has with the store. For example, the consumer that buys lots of dog food from a store will get a personalized promotion that they couldn’t get anywhere else.

Lawrence Wiken
Lawrence Wiken
8 years ago

Today, digital offers have reached their tipping point. The lesson learned is, we now must recognize that consumers/customers are in control. Did someone say that 30 years ago? She or he will “pull” what they want, when they want it and where the want it while ignoring the noise being pushed through the omnichannel.

Karen S. Herman
Karen S. Herman
8 years ago

Augmented reality certainly enhances a shoppers brand experience. The fact that shoppers are adapting an “on-demand attitude toward purchasing goods and services,” as Liz Crawford mentions, is a key driver for brands and retailers to explore AR.

I see augmented reality enhancing our brand experiences in many delightful ways. As a fellow Glass Explorer, I’ve tried and still love to use many Glassware apps. This video for Tesco Groceries Glassware is quite interesting and shows how easy and highly personalized a grocery shopping experience can be.

As Glass is now out of beta and Glass 2 is under development, one thing is clear. For AR to be widely adapted by shoppers, it must be easy for them to acquire and use.

This has been figured out by another fellow Explorer, Karthees Waran, who recently launched an AR app called XploreAR on Google play. This app has a few verticals, including advertising and education, and is simple to download and use. It allows the user to experience a real-time virtual world on their smartphone and, most likely, leads them to make purchasing decisions.

This is the future. For some of us, it is our present. For retailers, it is a sign to get on board with AR.

Joel Rubinson
Joel Rubinson
8 years ago

I feel that the real home run is the simplicity that comes from integrating in-home trip planning with streamlined shopping. When digital delivers on this, it will hit the tipping point.

Gordon Arnold
Gordon Arnold
8 years ago

As corporations reroute investment dollars from sales and marketing to the internet via social media and company sites, the ability to personalize any shopping experience is more and more put into the hands of the consumer. In the golden age of airwaves and printed advertising we were force fed where and what to buy with three syllable phrases, jingles and rhymes. The means to discover pertinent information like what’s in it, how’s it made, and so on and so forth was laborious to say the least. Pricing required miles of travel experience and personal word of mouth.

Not so for today’s consumer who believes everything they see and read on the internet. The problem is getting in front of them and extrapolating relevant true information. This is made more difficult simply because there is absolutely no ability to prove with certainty evidence or authorship. This results in levels of consumer information authenticity and reliability being lower and lower in much shorter periods of time. This places pressure on retailers to create a meaningful store experience with the ability to identify consumer opportunities as a priority equal to customer service.

Likewise e-commerce retail must attempt the same, starting with sight design capable of detecting device-type inquiry with appropriate site disclosure. More important to the effort is the understanding of the cost for personalized account membership along with the maintenance of the accounts against the recommended level of return. A lot of money is being spent for fewer returns than are necessary to expand and grow the effort. A customer recognition plan or market plan must know what returns are needed and if they can be achieved prior to any endeavor.

Quentin Smelzer
Quentin Smelzer
8 years ago

I think there is huge upside for personalized marketing for grocery, but also, as with the rest of retail, significant pitfalls to be avoided. Bill Maher recently complained about Facebook ads for shoes popping up after he just bought a pair of shoes. First of all, he just bought a pair of shoes! Why send him ads for shoes? Second, there is the creepiness factor driven in part by a lack of transparency regarding how Facebook got this information, what else they might know, and how it all might be used. Retail needs to be very careful about this and a lot smarter than I’ve seen so far.

Ian Price
Ian Price
8 years ago

In 2015 65 percent of the world’s population will have a smartphone and a total of 83 percent of the world’s population will access the Internet via handheld Wi-Fi devices including smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.

Online payments will play an increasingly important role in everyday retail and in the next three years global sales via e-commerce using Wi-Fi devices is estimated to hit the $695 billion mark.

82 percent of smartphone users turn to their device to help them make a product decision.

Retailers should with these facts in mind consider offering free Wi-Fi in stores and more user-friendly facilities such as logins and websites so that purchasing using Wi-Fi devices becomes faster and easier.

Creativity is needed in the retail market. Retailers who are able and ready to adapt and who are innovative have a much bigger chance of success. Studies indicate that the future boundaries between retailer and consumer are becoming increasingly blurred.

Shopping of the future will become more and more about experience rather than just about selling a product. Shopping of the future will consist of entertainment, education, emotion, engagement and awareness. The buying experience will be explored in many new ways like social media campaigns, loyalty programs, etc.

The great expectations of customers/consumers will definitely not decrease over the years to come and therefore retailers must be willing to experiment and think about new ways of integrating technology into their businesses.