Flat design with people. CPG – Consumer Packaged Goods acronym. business concept background. Vector … [+]
2024 is shaping up to be a year of innovation for marketing activity in the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry says Mediaocean in a new report. Despite macroeconomic headwinds holding over from 2023, optimism pervades the advertising industry. Marketers are gearing up for an active year, expressing their intent to maintain or increase spending in nearly every media channel.
Background
CPG marketing historically has revolved around a focus on the company’s brands. A brand is a name, logo, word, mark, tagline, or any other identifying characteristic that separates a company’s product or service from other competitive offerings on the market. A brand is among the most important assets that a company has because it differentiates the company and helps keep the company in consumers’ minds. Brands are normally protected by using trademarks.
So, it is not surprising that companies invest a lot of time and money to create brand recognition. It is successful when people are able to recognize a brand through visual or auditory cues such as logos, slogans, packaging, colors, or jingles rather than being explicitly exposed to a company’s name. Logos like the Nike
NKE
A company’s marketing department works hard to come up with those cues and often conducts market research to determine the success of their brand recognition strategies. These brand recognition strategies are then used in advertising and marketing to drive customer purchases.
In the past, these advertising and marketing plans typically relied on multiple tactics. Popular programs use assorted printed materials (including mailings of all kinds, outdoor signage, etc.) radio messages, product placements, and television ads. As the digital world has advanced, these new platforms have been added to the mix.
What’s ahead for 2024
Mediaocean recently completed an industry survey among CPG companies that found that brand strategies must evolve; these companies must respond to changing consumer behavior and the advancements in technology that have changed business data and reporting.
Mediaocean noted that CPG companies rated e-commerce as the most critical consumer technology and media trend, a reminder for the CPG industry to focus on omnichannel solutions. These companies must work to optimize their digital presence and leverage data-driven insights. Generative AI, particularly ChatGPT, has captured everyone’s attention, leading to a shift in focus and resources allocation. 2024 promises to be the year that AI moves from speculative use cases to practical day-to-day applications – particularly in the areas of data analysis and market research.
Mediaocean also believes that the importance of measurement and attribution capabilities in advertising investments has steadily increased. CPG marketers today consider it indispensable as part of a full-funnel approach to advertising. Concerns are steadily arising regarding the decline of measuring campaign effectiveness on tech platforms and the open web, highlighting the need for innovative solutions and advanced analytics. As the industry prepares for a cookie less future, marketers are urged to evaluate and test available measurement solutions and proactively adapt before market forces dictate their actions.
Mediaocean concludes that, from an operational standpoint, a prevalent gap between creative and media execution persists. This gap negatively impacts team workflow and messaging relevance, so closing it means an opportunity for brands in a year that will be marked by data deprecation, antitrust regulation, and privacy protection. This sets the stage for adoption of Creative Ad Tech, benefiting all stakeholders in the upcoming year.
POSTSCRIPT: CPG companies represent the bulk of American companies. While the current economic environment has shifted the emphasis of some companies to more private label merchandise, I believe that key marketing principles are basically the same. The brand identification is always valuable to both the customer and the company. The customer looks for quality assurance which is implied in the national brand name and reinforced by the brand’s identity. It is hard to recreate that valuable relationship.
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Pioneering a New Path to Startup Success through Strategic Sweat Equity Investment
MIAMI, Oct. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Building on the success of DTC darling LVPR, a PR and Social Media agency, industry veterans Ali Karsch and Nikole Flores proudly announce the launch of The Littles, a unique CPG startup advisory poised to reshape the landscape of PR and Marketing for emerging brands.
Traditional agency fees can often hinder the growth of direct-to-consumer startups, impending their access to top-tier PR and Marketing talent. The Littles aims to change this by providing high-growth potential CPG startups with access to decades of expertise in exchange for equity in their brand or other mixed offering.
Aspiring brands that meet specific criteria will have the opportunity to apply to work with The Littles. If selected, The Littles will work with the brand’s specific goals and budget to customize a detailed work plan, regularly analyzing the effectiveness of marketing efforts which will help startups refine their strategy over time and position themselves as challengers in their competitive landscape.
With a legacy of success at LVPR supporting the trajectory of high-growth brands like Native, VINEBOX, Cloud Paper, State Bags, Bean Box, and many more, co-founders Ali Karsch and Nikole Flores bring specialized expertise to help startups achieve crucial milestones. This includes building brand awareness, new customer acquisition, gaining industry recognition, driving affiliate and trackable sales – all essential steps toward establishing category leadership, securing retail presence, attracting investor attention, and brand acquisition.
Having worked at award-winning agencies in New York, Chicago, and Miami, for consumer brands both large and small, they possess a deep understanding of the challenges that brands with significant potential encounter at every stage. The Littles offers a distinctive partnership model that addresses a vital gap in the market, providing effective PR and marketing strategies including launch strategies, messaging created to influence different audiences, affiliate marketing support, creative concepting, brand partnerships, etc.
“As an agency owner over the past seven years, I’ve had the privilege of working with many incredible direct-to-consumer CPG startups and their founders. These experiences have enabled me to pinpoint key elements that contribute to the success for DTC brands. As a result, I’ve been very selective of the brands we partner with at LVPR,” said Ali Karsch, co-founder of The Littles and Founder + CEO of LVPR. “Through these experiences Nikole and I have developed a strong passion for guiding and mentoring emerging brands that resonate with us. I couldn’t be more excited to introduce this new venture, The Littles, and look forward to the partnerships ahead.”
Nikole Flores, co-founder of The Littles, added, “This has been a true passion project. Our mission is to be more than advisors – we’re dedicated partners invested in the long-term success of each brand we work with. By sharing in the journey through equity, we align our interests with those of the startups we collaborate with, fostering a real partnership that goes beyond traditional agency-client relationships.”
Applications will be accepted through the company’s website, www.TheLittlesAdvisory.com, where founders can learn more about the criteria, selection process, and apply here.
With a deep understanding of the intricacies of the CPG industry, Ali and Nikole are poised to make The Littles a driving force behind the growth and success of the next generation of startup brands. Follow us on LinkedIn for more updates and announcements to come.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Nikole Flores
407-461-6999
366623@email4pr.com
About The Littles
The Littles is a forward-thinking CPG startup advisory founded by Ali Karsch and Nikole Flores. Leveraging decades of expertise in Public Relations and Marketing, The Littles offers a distinct partnership model that empowers high-growth startups through equity-based collaboration. By bridging the gap between potential and success, The Littles is committed to revolutionizing how emerging brands access strategic PR and Marketing support.
Website: www.TheLittlesAdvisory.com
LinkedIn: The Littles Advisory
Instagram: @TheLittlesAdvisory
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SOURCE The Littles Advisory
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CEO and co-founder of Chicory, a leading contextual commerce advertising platform for CPG and grocery brands.
More and more retailers are looking to monetize their data, forming deals with DSPs, creating their own programmatic marketplaces, and promoting pre-optimized audiences. Kroger, one of the nation’s leading retailers, recently made its data available for connected TV (CTV) and Snapchat targeting, for example.
As more retailers follow suit, industry buzz has grown louder, incidentally creating a conundrum in the marketing world: is shopper-targeted media—made possible by retailer data like Kroger’s—the same as shopper marketing? No, and understanding the differences between the two is key to driving commerce growth.
The CPG Advertising Predicament
Since CPG brands usually sell their products through a third-party retailer, they do not have access to customer data. As a result, CPG brands have historically focused their marketing and advertising efforts on strategies that drive brand awareness and affinity. Examples of this type of marketing include Super Bowl ads, billboards in Times Square or broad programmatic buys.
Behavioral and demographic targeting became the norm—using factors like gender, age group, device type and shopping habits to target consumers online. However, with huge customer bases and no customer data, CPG brands remained limited in their targeting abilities, often defaulting to broad audiences, like women ages 25 to 40.
Then, retail media networks (RMNs) came onto the scene, offering advertising tactics informed by first-party retailer customer data. A butter brand working with Walmart’s retail media network, for example, could now target shoppers who purchased butter at Walmart. This was a groundbreaking development for CPGs, who were hungrier than ever for more targeted advertising solutions amid growing e-commerce competition.
Confusion Between Shopper-Targeted Media And Shopper Marketing
Industry professionals are confusing shopper-targeted media with shopper marketing for several reasons. The simplest is that the rapid evolution of advertising has created a lot of gray areas between marketing subdivisions that were once more siloed.
This is reflected in CPG ad spend. As RMNs increase their spending requirements on CPGs, brands are forced to eat into their other marketing budgets. For example, CTV advertising is supposed to provide a lift in both brand awareness and sales. Since it satisfies a general awareness need, the brand marketing budget is the first to be cannibalized by this RMN spend.
In addition, shopper marketing, once defined as an in-store tactic used to drive in-store sales, has expanded to include many online and offline media tactics designed to drive omnichannel shopping. As a result, shopper marketing budgets often overlap with national media or commerce budgets.
The overlap between teams and budgets is compounded by the fact that many advertisers are hoping to achieve a similar outcome with shopper-targeted media as they are with shopper marketing: target high-intent shoppers and drive sales. The problem is that these two advertising strategies actually provide different value and therefore need to be evaluated and measured differently, too. Below I break down the key differences between the two strategies.
What is shopper-targeted media?
Shopper-targeted media, as described earlier, involves targeting certain shopper segments using retailer data (e.g., a butter brand targeting those who have purchased butter from the retailer). This solution was primarily a response to CPG demand for more advanced advertising solutions in addition to RMN on-site solutions.
While this type of targeting is more advanced than CPGs were previously accustomed to, it’s essentially another form of behavior-based programmatic advertising. It doesn’t take into account the shopper’s mindset. Following the previous example, the shopper would be served a butter ad while streaming TV. This may increase brand awareness but would be less effective at driving conversions since the consumer isn’t in the shopping mindset and isn’t behaving in a way that would suggest they are likely to re-purchase the butter.
What is shopper marketing?
Shopper marketing, on the other hand, involves making last-minute appeals to shoppers and targeting those that are in a shopping mindset. By nature, it is much closer to the point of sale (POS) than other forms of marketing.
Many shopper marketing tactics, like in-store displays or digital circulars, occur within traditional retail environments — in-store or on the retailer’s site. However, shopper marketing can include non-traditional, off-site environments too if the audience’s mindset is taken into consideration.
For example, in-recipe advertising (e.g., an advertisement for butter within a recipe that calls for butter), is considered shopper marketing because recipe visitors are in an active, meal-planning mindset. By looking at a recipe that calls for your brand’s product, they are high-intent shoppers, or behaving in a way that suggests that they might purchase your product in the near term. For this reason, many forms of contextual commerce advertising are considered strong shopper marketing tactics.
Why Mindset Matters In CPG Advertising
While shopper-targeted media and shopper marketing share an end goal of driving sales, the two should not be conflated. Shopper marketing is more likely to drive conversions than shopper-targeted media because it reaches shoppers that are in an active mindset.
Today, understanding mindset is key to driving growth. Active buyers are those who are already on the buyer’s journey—they’re in the grocery store or meal planning online. Passive buyers, on the other hand, are not meal planning or grocery shopping — they’re watching TV or connecting with friends on social media. Passive buyers do not have a clear goal in mind and are therefore more likely to be indifferent to your advertisement or offerings.
Knowing which audience you’re reaching will help your team be more strategic in evaluating campaign performances, allocating budgets, and reaching high-intent shoppers. Further, differentiating between advertising strategies accordingly will help you maximize your advertising impact, as many active and passive strategies work synergistically.
Contextual commerce advertising—a key shopper marketing tactic today—allows brands to reach new and lapsed shoppers (i.e., those who haven’t bought the butter yet!). With new customers, retailers are able to replenish their first-party data supplies, which fuels more effective programmatic advertising, like shopper-targeted media. By strategically implementing both strategies, your brand can go further and drive commerce growth.
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