Retail Activations

• 1
  While understanding consumer need states is very important, it isn’t enough – the path to purchase is rife with several complex dynamics/factors that can alter a decision at the last minute in the retail scenario. Hence, there is a need to demarcate the consumer needs (why, when, where, how someone consumes the category/brand) from the shopper needs (how/when/where/why someone shops/buys the category/brand) – triggers/motivators/barriers along the shopping process like convenience, variety, experience etc.
• 2
  Given the amount of exposure at the point of purchase and the accompanying ‘noise’, it can be a struggle to make people aware of your brand(s)& affect choice/decisions. The sheer amount of stimulation produced by the number of brands and alternate categories can lead to trade-offs which may not always be advantageous to your brand.
• 3
  In addition, beyond influencing the shopper at the point of purchase, there is a need to engage the shopper even before the decision is made and to affect the level of satisfaction after.
• 4
  Finally, one needs to affect decisions in a way that the purchase driver(s) goes beyond price – the way your brand is presented in the retail scenario is in complete sync with the shopping needs of the consumer.

RETAIL ACTIVATIONS is Vox Populi’s research-cum-workshop product that helps you connect consumer insights to shopper activations and promotions by understanding and diagnosing the category – the way it is shopped (both within the same category and with regards to the trade-offs within the basket), the drivers around the category and also the barriers to the category. This product also helps you make sure that these activations are in tandem with your brand’s positioning.

• 1
  You are struggling to convert consumer understanding into strong retail activations.
• 2
  Beyond communication and positioning, you need inputs from shopper marketing in order to facilitate quick wins.
• 3
  When the shopping occasion is driven by strong motivators both for purchase and consumption on-premise (e.g. as in the case of alcoholic beverages, Quick Service Restaurants etc.) and you need to understand how to affect them.

• There are two phases to the product:
• 1
  Through various creative techniques and methods focused on targeted objectives around shopper insights, we identify the dynamics and influences around decision making – how the trip is planned and what influences the trip, the point of purchase and consumption, the kind of decisions made in-store, the triggers, motivators and the barriers.
• 2
  We then convene in a 1 (or a half) day cross-functional and highly structured workshop consisting of the client teams from Marketing, Research, Ad Agency, Trade Marketing and Product Development, along with the research agency, where we convert the aforementioned insights into Shopping Missions i.e. a particular kind of shopping trip that is in turn driven by a specific set of needs.
  • A Shopping Mission is a mixture of consumer and shopper needs, or more specifically, defining the Mission is what helps translates need states around consumption into a detailed understanding of dynamics around buying – the reasons around buying, what drivers influence purchase, the occasion and the channels bought from.
  • The same shopper will have different needs from mission to mission. If we understand a shopper’s mission, we can have a comprehensive understanding of the product and store drivers, which in turn tell us what activation levers can influence the drivers.
  • So, as a final step of the workshop, we convert these missions into the correct levers or activations to influence shopper purchase.

This workshop is moderated by Directors with over 26 years of experience on the client and agency sides, with a vast experience in conducting workshops across innovation, communication & retail activations across categories. In the past, we have conducted the Retail Activation workshops for multiple categories and brands across beverages & confectionery.