The Homa Files

Excerpted from Marketing Daily “Understanding, Leveraging Consumers’ Five CPG Mindsets” by Karlene Lukovitz, October 16, 2008

* * * * *

Consumers approach different categories of consumer packaged goods with different mindsets, and marketers that understand and leverage these can enhance their products’ performance.

CPG marketers “don’t want to get it wrong in the fleeting nano-second of purchase decision  … Marketers need to know what buttons to press to influence their shoppers and win on the ultimate marketing battleground–the store aisle.”

Here’s a summary of the five CPG mindsets and how marketers can best exploit these. The insights apply across all retail channels where CPG’s are sold, including grocery, drug stores, convenience stores, mass merchandisers and club stores.

Indifferent auto-pilot and blinkered auto-pilot mindsets: When it comes to products like bathroom cleaners, bar soaps, dishwashing soap and cotton swabs, consumers’ pilot buttons are set to “indifferent.” Rather than spend time on decisions, they automatically reach for the brands they usually buy, generally without comparing prices. Since there’s low brand-attachment, consumers have no problem switching if their usual brands aren’t available.

To avoid such switches, marketers of leading brands in these CPG categories need to ensure against out-of-stocks or visibility and distribution issues … The overall key to influencing consumers on auto pilot lies in knowing when and how that mindset can be disrupted by external stimuli, so that they are ready to consider alternatives and new offers…

Browser mindset: Consumers are more engaged with products such as shampoo and conditioner, body washes, and toothpaste and brushes–they check out labels and packaging, sniff and test these. This means that marketers need to provide a wide product assortment and realize that packaging innovations can be persuasive in decisions.

Buzz mindset: Hand and body lotions, air fresheners and baby toiletries are among the product categories that are “buzz-activated.” Shoppers actively seek out information about these.

Constant innovation in packaging and new product attributes–introduction of attention-grabbers such as “age-defying,” “shimmering,” tanning and aromatherapy, for example–combined with exciting advertising and new product introductions, are the keys for these categories.

Bargain-activated mindset: Unless there’s hot news about some brand, shoppers tend to switch brands on toilet paper, laundry detergent, paper towels, facial tissues, liquid hand soaps and batteries based on which are on sale or appear to be bargains.

Edit by SAC

* * * * *
Full article:
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=92836

Want more from the Homa Files?
Click link => The Homa Files Blog

This entry was posted on December 2, 2008 at 6:30 am and is filed under Mktg - Brands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.