Digital CPG Blog

We talked yesterday how consumers want Facebook and coupons in their online interactions with a brand. But I wouldn’t recommend putting up a Facebook page and littering it with coupons. Because while consumers say that’s what they value most, the real thing that consumers want is an entire brand experience.

In the Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index, consumers defined brand value ‘not through the narrow lens of price but in terms of the total experience that consumers have when they interact with a given brand,’ said Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys founder and president.

So make sure the Facebook and coupons are not the end in and of themselves, but pieces of  your larger strategy to show how your product can create a meaningful experience in the consumer’s lives, not just how it can help their pocketbooks.

“This year consumers’ skyrocketing desire for experience and authentic innovation are exerting the strongest impact on customer decision-making and profitable engagement with the brand. Brands able to meet or exceed these expectations become category leaders. ‘This only matters, of course, if you’re keeping score by counting sales and profits,’ Passikoff argues, ‘and not merely tracking awareness levels.’”

“Products that respond with a truly consumer-centric view of their category – delighting the customer – based on predictive loyalty metrics, stand to gain the most and establish themselves as this decade’s brand leaders.”

Mostly, consumers want Facebook.

In a new Ad Age/Ipsos Observer survey of digital-media habits, “41% of respondents said they want to receive communications from marketers on Facebook — more than double any other digital platform. One in three said it was their “preferred” platform.”

“Nearly three-quarters of Facebook users have ‘liked’ at least one brand on the platform and more than a third of users have liked six or more.”

What do they want once they’re on Facebook?

You guessed it – coupons.

“nearly two-thirds of consumers in our survey said they want brands to offer them discounts online,” reports AdAge. “In fact, the first reason they gave for friending a brand was ‘I hoped to get discounts.’ Other reasons included consumers following recommendations from friends: ‘I looked up the brand on Facebook and liked it,’ ‘I saw an ad for the brand that suggested I go the fan page,’ and ‘Suggestion from a friend on Facebook.’”

We’ll talk tomorrow about how putting up a Facebook page and offering a ton of coupons might not be the best strategy, however.

For some companies, an online coupon is social enough. Huggies recently took it one step further, however, with an innovative offer: “Instead of just the traditional online coupon to drive more diapers off the shelf, Huggies is offering parents a 2-for-1 choice.  More precisely – that is a choice between a $3.00 or $1.50 incentive.  The “catch” is simple and pleasant – just tell 3 friends about the Huggies deal.  They also offer customers the choice of how to spread the news to other fellow parents:  via social networking sites like Facebook, via instant messaging or via a good old-fashioned email,” reports Colloquy.

Their research shows that child care is the most important category for advice and referrals from friends and family, which makes the Huggies promotion all the more critical and smart.

The offer is clear, engaging and compelling – word of mouth at it’s best.

Should retailers offer coupons on their website?

“I think it has a future [because] retailers continue to drive consumers to their websites. I think a brand manager will want to keep in front of their consumers as they plan shopping trips. It really is in early stages,” said Bob Cristofono, vice president-sales at Marx, a Kantar Media solution.

CPG coupons on retailer websites take several forms:

• Links to national coupon sites; consumers can redeem these coupons at any store
• Coupon offers downloadable to loyalty cards, specific to the retailer
• Direct-to-mobile coupon offers, which are also specific to the retailer.

The latter two kinds of digital coupons turn websites into destinations, noted Cristofono, adding CPG marketers that do this “can be key drivers in aligning with key retailers and securing merchandising support. Destination websites provide direct exposure to shoppers when they’re planning trips and making purchase decisions.”

Besides leading consumers to the stores, manufacturers could also use digital offers and coupons to form a direct relationship and hold onto all of the data.

“More than three of four coupon users (77.3%) report that they ‘search the Internet for CPG coupons ahead of their next shopping trip, with7.4% doing so always and 50.6% with regularity,’ details the NCH 2010 Consumer Survey.”

Making those coupons available at the point of sale online would also be a powerful way to build loyalty and more and more manufacturers are going in this direction.

“AOL and media and marketing services company Valassis have partnered to create a digital coupon service that will enable more than 7,500 grocery stores to distribute deals through the two companies’ online and mobile networks,” reports DM News.

Consumers will be able to download coupons to their loyalty and grocery cards and then browse, select and save at specific participating retailers.

“This partnership is all about distribution and finding eyeballs to reach a mass audience,” said John Lieblang, president of Livonia, MI-based Valassis Digital Media. “If we add up our networks, it allows us to touch 127 million active, frequent shoppers…and in turn it saves time for the consumer.”

When digital coupons become so easy for the consumer, I think the next wave we’ll see from companies are more creative and meaningful loyalty programs. After all, a discount can only go so low.

There’s no doubt about it. Couponing made a huge comeback in 2010 when most of us thought it was out for good.

New research shows that “the number of digital coupon events increased by 59.9 percent for the year ending Sept. 30,” and “267 manufacturers distributed digital coupon offers, an increase of 23 percent compared to the 217 manufacturers that were active in 2009 across key websites.”

As consumers habits change, so too is the couponing industry. “Digital coupons are becoming a core component within the overall promotion mix for consumer packaged-goods manufacturers,” said Mark Nesbitt, president of Kantar Media.

“Digital coupon events on retailer websites are becoming an attractive opportunity for manufacturers to align with their strategic retail partners in order to drive shopping trips and increase sales,” said Bob Cristofono, Marx VP of sales.

Coupons becoming digital is only the start of how manufacturers can use this great marketing opportunity. Can you think of other creative ways to extend digital coupon offers?

Brands are increasingly incentivizing consumers to “like” them on Facebook.

Brandweek reports that marketers are trying a new approach “when it comes to winning followers: Online coupons and incentives that grow in value as more consumers “like” a brand on Facebook.”

Take Healthy Choice which offered deep discounts to become a fan and stay a fan.

“Users who ‘liked’ the brand received a coupon for 75 cents off their next Healthy Choice purchase. ConAgra then coaxed more consumers to join its Facebook page by dangling a ‘buy one, get one free’ coupon offer. Within 25 hours after launching the promotion, the Healthy Choice Facebook fan base nearly tripled and it ‘continues to grow,’ the company said. (It currently has 53,000 fans.)”

Healthy Choice explains their reasoning in part for wanting so many friends was to “to engage with the [target consumer—mom] and truly start a dialogue about how Healthy Choice is a great value for the money.” Although I’m not sure how they’re actually capturing and using that data on a social network platform.

It’s great to be where your customers are, but brands should be careful they’re not offering deals just for inflated (friendship) numbers.

The recession was good for one industry – coupon clipping. And while the newspaper industry can thank the deals for holding off their eventual defeat, the part of the industry that is really seeing growth in coupons is the digital side.

“Newspaper inserts still prevail,” reports AdAge, “but as a younger generation gets hooked on print coupons, they’ll likely be ones that arrive in the mail or from their own printers. And that doesn’t even factor in the harder-to-quantify growth of mobile coupons, which don’t go through clearinghouses.”

And that means there’s a lot of opportunity for internet coupons, which still only account for 1% of the distribution.

“I think we’re seeing this whole recession really helped us pick up those millennials who were not as focused on money management and savings and now have entered the marketplace with a real savings mentality,” said Suzie Brown, chief marketing officer of Valassis.

How is your brand responding? Will you offer deep discounts to lure Gen Y attention and loyalty?

Photo Credit: James Vaughan.

Mom is shopping for just about everybody this holiday season, but it’s not always easy figuring out what to buy. Brands “should note that this gift idea quandary is solved by websites and blogs, with 71% of Moms relying on websites and 62% using blogs to find the “perfect” gift. If your product or brand is unique and fits the “in-laws” demographic, reach out to top bloggers and websites with a sample of your product. Many bloggers publish gift guides or suggested gift lists. Remember to seek out bloggers who have a popular social media presence, as almost 70% of Moms will look for product reviews on Facebook or LinkedIn,” reports BSM Media.

Other key findings;

- A whopping 90% of Moms have not started shopping for holiday gifts, or have only picked up a few things. Almost 40% indicated that they would shop after Halloween and on Black Friday, which means there is still time to place ads, recruit bloggers for product reviews or schedule a Twitter party.

- An overwhelming majority of moms in our survey are planning to buy online. An even 66% of Moms surveyed said they plan on purchasing more than half of their gift items through online retailers, with Amazon and eBay leading the list.

- Presents aren’t the only items on Mom’s Holiday Shopping List. Don’t forget the holiday dinners, office parties and get-togethers. Food retailers should take note that the majority of Moms will try a new product when offered a coupon. Fifty-six percent of Moms would “always” try a new product with a coupon and 40.9% would “sometimes” try a new product when enticed with a coupon.

Is your brand approaching moms this holiday season?