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BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE IN RETAIL MARKETING

CREATING EFFECTIVE CAMPAIGNS THAT ACTUALLY WORK

THE RETAIL MARKETING EXPERTS

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CREATINGCOMPELLINGCAMPAIGNS

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LOOKING FOR THE CREATION AND EXECUTION OF COMPELLING AND COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL RETAIL CAMPAIGNS? WELCOME TO COMMUNISIS.

Every year, we find ourselves at the heart of hundreds of global retail campaigns, working with the biggest brands and the most reputable retailers.

It doesn’t happen by accident and it takes some thinking about, but we believe our success in this field comes down to a heady mix of four tasty ingredients:

1. Understanding human behaviour

2. Appropriate use of technology

3. Wow-factor design

4. Pitch perfect execution

By the time you’ve thought about the wants and needs of everyone in your team with a (hopefully) professional opinion, your original vision will likely have been diluted down to a somewhat watery remnant of its former self. We’re here to remind you that when it comes down to it, in physical retail, only two key stakeholders matter: The teams who work in your stores, and the shoppers who visit them.

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INSIGHTS

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AT THE HEART OF EVERY SUCCESSFUL MARKETING CAMPAIGN SHOULD BE AN INSIGHT. SOMETHING OF SUBSTANCE. SOMETHING OF VALUE.

IN SHOPPER MARKETING, THESE INSIGHTS CAN BE DESCRIBED AS EITHER BARRIERS OR TRIGGERS.

YOU NEED TO REMOVE THE BARRIERS - AND CREATE THE TRIGGERS.

IN DOING THIS, YOU’LL ENTICE YOUR SHOPPERS.

Now, go back to your two most important stakeholders and add their needs into the mix… and bang! You have a terrific platform from which to launch your retail marketing campaign.

Operational, inspirational or just plain common sense; marrying insight with the needs of staff and shoppers will be a recipe for your success.

Generating those insights in the first place doesn’t have to be a lengthy or costly process and rather than feeling like you have to come up with something ground-breaking, you can look to existing (and proven) theories within behavioural science to help you out. No need to reinvent the round spokey thing.

We’ve (figuratively) travelled the world of behavioural science and highlighted 10 areas that just might help you shape your thinking next time you’re creating a campaign.

We’ll go into detail for five of them, but go ahead and get in touch if you want us to detail how the other ones could work for you too!

“MARRYING INSIGHT WITH THE NEEDS OF

STAFF AND SHOPPERS WILL BE YOUR RECIPE

FOR SUCCESS”

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WHYBEHAVIOURALSCIENCE?

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BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE MIGHT SOUND SCARY, BUT IT’S THE VERY CORE OF HOW EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US IS INFLUENCED AND HOW WE MAKE DECISIONS.

Shoppers are often time-pressured, stressed and distracted, which makes them challenging to engage. The better we understand how shoppers become buyers, the more likely we are to create successful campaigns that target them.

Despite several highly respected academics like Daniel Kahneman (of Nobel Prize winning fame) and some of the world’s greatest advertising and marketing gurus (hello Rory Sutherland and Rich Shotton) championing its power and utility, behavioural science is still not common place in the planning process – generally speaking. Having said that, there are some amazing examples from some top brands and retailers where the theory has well and truly been put into practice.

OF EVERYTHING A SHOPPER SEES IN STORE IS A MARKETING MESSAGE

70%

SECONDS IN WHICH RETAILERS HAVE TO ATTRACT A SHOPPER TO THEIR WINDOW3

SECONDS TO TELL YOUR BRAND STORY

30

WORDS - THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF WORDS THAT A SHOPPER READS DURING EACH SHOPPING TRIP8

SOURCE: KANTAR

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OUR TOP TEN INSIGHTS

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JUST FOR FUNThe presence of humour and opportunity for laughter reduces people’s resistance to action.

MAKE IT SIMPLEPre-store priming can bypass a shopper’s barriers and increase their attention at the shelves.

PLAY THE GAMEThe immersive and competitive nature of games makes us pay attention to things and can help us establish habits.

CHANGE THE CONTEXTExperiencing a brand in a ‘brand new’ way can make us view it in a more positive or flattering new light.

DANGLE A CARROTRewards are motivating, but the fear of losing or missing out on something can be even more powerful.

STRIKE A CHORDPeople are emotional. Emotion is always more powerful than reason. Get people to feel something (so to speak).

MAKE YOUR CHOICEThe way in which we’re offered something can make us more (or less) likely to choose it. Choose wisely.

MAKE IT PERSONAL Making something ‘more you’ makes it instantly more attractive, desirable and covetable.

CREATE A MEMORYIt’s not all about ‘big events’. Small, interactive tweaks and gestures can transform a brand experience in retail.

VALUE OTHERSWe think we are individuals, but evolution has taught us to value what other people think and do, too.

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THESE EXAMPLES ARE ALL ABOUT MAKING THINGS EASY FOR THE SHOPPER, SO THAT THEY’RE MORE LIKELY TO PICK YOUR BRAND OVER ANY OTHER. MARKETING PEOPLE LOVE TO CREATE BIG COMPLEX IDEAS AND MULTI- LAYERED CAMPAIGNS, BUT WITH BEHAVIOUR CHANGE, OFTEN IT’S THE SMALL NUDGES THAT HOLD THE REAL POWER.

Let’s take it back to making things easy for people. Make Your Choice is all about presenting ideas in an irresistible way, so that people almost can’t help but make the right choice – your choice! These displays for Costa and Pringles make you want to reach out and pick up a product. It’s almost like the decision has been taken out of your hands and instinct takes over.

This campaign offers you a healthier choice, so click to reveal the detail. We often look ahead for innovation but it doesn’t have to be a shiny new thing. Some of the best ideas can be developed from doing the same thing but in a different way!

MAKE YOURCHOICE

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MUCH MORE THAN SIMPLY PROVIDING AN ENJOYABLE, ENGAGING CAMPAIGN, AN ELEMENT OF FUN DOES SOMETHING EVEN MORE POWERFUL. IT RELAXES PEOPLE AND MAKES THEM MORE WILLING TO TAKE PART OR ‘BUY IN’. IT MAKES THE THING WE’RE ASKING THEM TO DO FEEL EASIER, LESS HASSLE AND MORE OF A POSITIVE STEP.

This next campaign takes something that people might find difficult - or too much bother - and makes it fun. This makes it more do-able and encourages what we want – for them to make a purchase.

JUST FORFUN

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CREATING MEMORIES OR EXPERIENCES OFTEN BECOMES TRANSLATED AS ‘BIG EVENTS’, BUT SOMETIMES, IT’S THE SMALL DESIGN TWEAKS THAT DRIVE A POSITIVE EMOTIONAL RESPONSE AND CREATE A MORE POWERFUL MEMORY WITHIN SHOPPER ENGAGEMENT.

Who’s never tried a squirt of deodorant into the cap in store – and who’s never felt a bit like they’re not supposed to be doing it? This simple activation takes that observation and makes a powerful experience out of it. Small experience - big effect.

And now for packaging... click the pic to find out more about this simple but genius zesty twist from Orangina. An oldie but a goodie!

CREATE AMEMORY

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WE OFTEN DEVELOP CLAIMS IN ORDER TO OVERCOME SHOPPER BARRIERS. WE THINK HARD ABOUT GETTING THE RIGHT POINT, THE RIGHT LANGUAGE AND THE RIGHT TONE TO COMMUNICATE IT ALL.

The only problem with that, is that shoppers then need to take it in, think about it, decide they like it… and then remember it. That’s a lot of ‘its’. Let’s bypass these things altogether.

This next example contains a health-related product benefit of using a brand of soap. They could have just talked about it, but instead, they created a powerful shortcut that gets to the point, is simple to understand and easy to remember. If we don’t look back at past and proven examples, we could be missing a trick and this example from 2015 holds a huge amount of relevance in this day and age!

MAKE ITSIMPLE

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ALL BUYING DECISIONS ARE BASED ON A MIX OF RATIONAL AND EMOTIONAL FACTORS. THE EMOTIONAL TRIGGERS THAT STRIKE A CHORD IN US ARE KEY IN THE FINAL STAGES OF THE PURCHASE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.

We’re all emotional - let’s not deny it. When it comes to driving conversion in-store, drawing on emotion can be a much more powerful - yet simple - persuasion technique than any rational message.

This film showcases this achievement through innovative labelling. It arguably creates a more positive emotional pull than most ads could ever hope to do. Fancy a piece of positivity to see what we mean?

STRIKE ACHORD

15 | THE RETAIL MARKETING EXPERTS

MAKE IT SIMPLEOUR COMMUNISIS APPROACH USES ALL OF THESE TOOLS AND MORE.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO KNOW HOW BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE COULD HELP YOU SHAPE THE THINKING FOR YOUR NEXT CAMPAIGN, PLEASE FEEL

FREE TO CONTACT US.

BUT, IT’S NOT JUST THE SCIENCE WE’RE GREAT AT.LET OUR TEAM OF EXPERTS TAKE YOUR MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS ON A JOURNEY… FROM IDEA TO EXECUTION.

WE ARE THE RETAIL MARKETING EXPERTS.

Chose to contact us at:e: Matt.Mepham@communisis.com

t: +44 (0)7876 597 174