Effective marketing has to gain the customer's interest, even if for a brief period, for sales to consolidate. Chandra Lahiri
Though their functions are completely different, marketing and sales are often confused, as they have the same objective - a share of the consumer's mind. Simplistically, sales puts the product on the shelf and marketing moves it off. However, it is a jungle out there, and achieving this involves a constant, relentless, subliminal battle of wits.
The initial hurdle is acceptance by the sales channel. With thousands of brands noisily beleaguering the consumer, the newcomer's share-of-voice (SOV) barely at, or even below threshold, is unlikely to earn the attention of the harried channel, juggling the multitudes into limited retail space. Effective marketing has to open a breach, briefly gaining the channel's interest, for sales to quickly consolidate physical foothold.
A toe in the door, the next hurdle is the channel's margin demand (or mark-up or co-efficient). Smaller brands are compelled to offer larger earnings per unit, to subsist alongside small-margin large-turnover giants. These steep sales costs can often be offset by focusing most efforts on the point of purchase, where the consumer takes the final decision on the brand to pick. Especially true of high-profile impulse brands, such as perfumes, it is even true of commodities, where an enticing display of tomatoes gains over the lacklustre pile at the back.
The war really hots up on big battlefields, such as supermarkets, where brands survive purely on their own merits. Studies show consumers tend to follow well-charted paths around supermarket shelves (usually right to left), and supermarkets themselves follow a rationale in laying out specific items in their space. The challenge is to waylay the buyer before she reaches the generic space of the product, and fill her trolley before competition can. This second placement takes the form of islands, end-displays, pyramids, or just about anything that sets it eye-catchingly apart from the mass of its category.
Consumers often enter the store intent on a specific brand, but change their minds on seeing a particularly alluring display. Curiosity is a powerful trait, and the smart salesman positions his display to catch the customer's eye the moment she walks in, and draws her to it, already winning much of the battle for her mind and heart. One small regional luxury brand outwit giant competitors with displays using a mesh on its boxes to slightly obscure its contents, and then used lighting to intensify the mystery, drawing curious customers like moths to a flame. Curiosity frequently leads to conversion. At the generic shelf, size and dominance have a significant impact. Again, it is not only the biggest brands that can achieve this, but the smartest, able to garner maximum shelf life, with as many 'faces' on display as possible. A massed display of well-designed packs immediately draws attention and even subconscious respect. Achieving this is not unlike the shoving and elbowing of suburban commuters onto subway trains, and field-forces are constantly alert to competitors' efforts at increasing shelf presence, overtly or covertly.
Even the exact position of the product on the shelf is significant. People avoid bending or stretching, as that causes discomfort. Products on upper or lower shelves tend to a significantly longer dwell-time than do those on middle shelves. Similarly, products for the elderly need placement in well-lit areas, as lighting crucially impacts their visual spectrum. Even attractively packaged products look less than appealing to elderly eyes in a poorly lit environment. In seconds, expensive marketing campaigns can flounder, simply for lack of light, or proper shelf placement.
Effective, adequate in-store signage makes a dramatic difference in winning a share of the consumer's jaded mind. Innovation and differentiation in design, as well as effective placement, are crucial, as is constant change, to stay one step ahead of the pack. The introduction of the talking shelf-strip gained immediate attention, till the entire market jumped the bandwagon. Then, Johnny Walker innovated with the LCD shelf display, adding video to sound. When mass-production of LCDs enabled the pack to catch up again, it was time for the next new idea.
The battle for the consumer is unceasing, relentless, and ever more intense. In this confrontation, sales techniques are constantly updated, taught. But, from yesterday's snake-oil purveyor on his soapbox to today's sophisticates, a truly great salesman is born, rarely bred.
Chandra Lahiri ihas spent over 30 years, much of it at board level, at Unilever, Nivea, Wella, etc. Among his major achievements is his storied turnaround of Amouage. You can reach to him at chandralahiri@yahoo.co.uk
© businesstoday 2008
