P2PI Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight

ShoptoCook

A Q&A with Al Jones, VP, Advertising Sales and Marketing, for the consumer-facing digital tech company

ShoptoCook and Adsta to the CPG community. The Adsta digital network is structured to make it easy for CPGs to partner with independent retailers and leverage a network representing more than $20 billion in grocery sales.

How has your company’s work been a ected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

JONES: The pandemic impacted our business primarily as a result of the strain on the supply chain and the reduction in advertising and promotion that resulted. With that said, our network continued to grow as the consumer transitioned to digital media for information and planning of their shopping at brick-andmortar stores as well as e-commerce.

Tell us about your latest solution.

JONES: ShoptoCook and its partners have created Adsta, a digital media platform with a focus on connecting independent grocers and their CPG partners directly with consumers. With more than 3,000 retail locations and growing, the Adsta platform can deliver more than 45 million advertising impressions a month across our network using a multi-channel approach. Ad creative can be featured within grocers’ digital assets, including apps and loyalty-targeted programs. Adsta performs with 100% retail compliance.

How does your company use its P2PI membership resources?

JONES: Our focus for P2PI is to introduce Every CPG should get excited about this national opportunity to digitally target millions of shoppers who shop at independent retailers. Whether it’s targeting these shoppers via the web, mobile, e-circulars, in-store media or all of the above, Adsta is the answer. above, Adsta is the answer.

– FRANK PULEO, FORMER INDEPENDENT GROCER EXECUTIVE What role do you see retail media playing in the future of marketing?

JONES: We believe retail media has emerged as the primary source of information for the consumer. As a result, providing a fully integrated and seamless digital platform for our retail partners has become our primary focus. Looking ahead, our development will focus on emerging technology and media platforms. This includes social, mobile initiatives and transforming the in-store experience into a digital media center allowing consumers to engage whenever they are in shopping mode. IQ

MEMBER UPDATE

Path to Purchase Institute is delighted to welcome new and returning members to our community: Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, Dorel Juvenile, The Krazy Coupon Lady, PromoteIQ, Sargento Foods, Snipp Interactive, The Wine Group and Ubisoft. Join the hundreds of companies that benefi t from P2PI every day with strategies and best practices on succeeding in today’s chaotic omnicommerce environment. For more information, contact Katrina Lopez at klopez@ensembleiq.com.

Industry Seeks to Understand, Leverage Retail Media Networks

BY INSTITUTE STAFF

Attendees learned a lot of hard facts about retail media networks during the Path to Purchase Institute’s Retail Media Forum, a virtual event held March 30-31. They received actionable takeaways about what to consider when planning their activity, what to do when executing their programs, and how to evaluate their performance at the end. (Recordings of every Retail Media Forum session are available to members of the Institute in the presentation library at P2PI.org.)

How to Navigate the Retail Media Landscape

Reid Greenberg, EVP, Global Digital & E-Commerce Practice, Kantar Several trends taking place right now make retail media more important than ever. Verifying direct results is now a media imperative. Retail media networks are growing in size, number and use, spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. New cookie policies are ushering in a world with no (or much less) thirdparty data, so retailers are looking for ways to use their firstparty shopper information to attract advertisers who still want to target personalized ads. Focusing on the big four players will be critical: • Walmart has a massive system behind its Walmart Connect platform, but execution and transparency need improvement. • Kroger is very hungry to figure out how to become a disruptive advertiser outside of its own assets to drive sales back to the 84.51-managed platform. Measurement is more holistic than at other media providers and connects to broader marketing efforts. • Amazon Advertising is a behemoth in terms of capabilities, offering advanced measurement techniques and tools along with massive reach and high shopping frequencies, but it provides limited engagement with its advertising team. • Target’s Roundel allows media buyers to use their own demandside platform and is very conscious of where ads are placed, promising “brand-safe” placement.

Connecting the Retail Media Ecosystem

David Peterson, VP, Sales, Roundel, Target; Sherry Smith, Managing Director, Retail Media, Americas, Criteo Retail media isn’t just a shopper marketing play anymore. It’s delivering full-funnel marketing solutions. Recognizing this, Target renamed its in-house media company Roundel in 2019, signaling plans to be a more aggressive player in the sector. Since doubling down on its media network, the retailer has seen growth in its e-commerce business – fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic – and most notably in its alternative fulfillment services such as Drive Up curbside pickup, which grew 600% in 2020. As shoppers embrace more ways to shop at the retailer across digital and in-store, brand marketers need to adapt their strategies to reach shoppers wherever they David Peterson are and, according to Peterson, retail media is in a great position to do that. Among other key takeaways: • Omnichannel shoppers at Target spend four times more than in-store-only shoppers and 10 times more than online-only shoppers. • Retailer media networks have the ability to measure results that help inform not only if a campaign was successful, but how it can be improved in the future.

Retail Media: Overview, Comparisons

Mindy Fashaw, COO, Pacvue; Karen Satterlie, E-Commerce Manager, Henkel Amazon and Walmart own and operate their own platforms, while Instacart (a third-party marketplace) and Criteo (a platform provider) place advertisements for retailers. Amazon generally has the highest amount of paid placements, and that number has continued to increase in the past year. Walmart, in contrast, has fewer paid placements on the first page of search results, but Walmart category buyers have the capability to manually push or pin certain SKUs to top placements. Amazon’s platform offers huge scale but is complex, competitive and expensive. Walmart’s is growing fast, but it has a low clickthrough rate. Instacart delivers high conversion but no store- or region-specific data. And Criteo covers a wide range of retailers but no keyword-based targeting. Among other key takeaways: • The number of paid placements on the first page of search varies across platforms. Retailers are really aware of the prime real estate these search results represent, and therefore they’re changing the placements in which advertisers have opportunities to invest. • While paid keyword search is important, brands shouldn’t get stuck on that alone. It’s also important to show up anywhere on the retailer site where people are shopping.

Retail Media 3.0: Retail Marketing Networks

Spencer Baird, EVP & President, Martech, Inmar Intelligence The evolution of retail media networks has involved three phases: 1. Retail ad networks, “which was kind of code for, if there’s a way to monetize it, let’s figure it out, let’s get the logo slapped on and let’s make some cash,” said Baird, whose career includes time at H.J. Heinz, Dannon, Kellogg and Ahold

Delhaize/Peapod. 2. Retail media networks, which is “the here and now … age of retailers stepping forward, enabled by ad tech companies, putting their stake in the ground,” he said. “It’s much more integrated between marketing and merchandising on the retail side, and you’re seeing a lot of good behavior on the CPG side.” 3. Retail marketing networks, which is the “next generation,” according to Baird. “We think media is too narrow, and frankly creates a lot of confusion. In the world of retail marketing networks, it’s a high degree of integration between marketing and merchandising, it’s monetization in the context of shopper needs, and it’s a whole new territory of opportunities.”

The difference between media networks and marketing networks is “monetizing hoping you meet shopper needs” vs. “meeting needs trusting that you’ll sell a lot more and [then] be able to monetize on a much higher level,” he explained. “Those two things send you in very, very different directions.”

Retail Media and Macro Shopper Strategies

Moderator: Ethan Goodman, SVP of Commerce Media, The Mars Agency; panelists: Marie Catanzaro, Team Lead, Shopper Activation, Mars Petcare; Stephen Chriss, Customer VP, Shopper & Omnichannel Marketing, Campbell Soup Co.; Lisa Matos, VP, Sales Capabilities and Commerce, Conagra Brands This panel discussion addressed retail media topics such as which discipline/functional team should own it, how it should be funded, which KPIs should be reported, how it fits into joint business planning, and even if it should include instore offerings. Panelists suggested retail media needs to be handled in a hybrid manner internally, which requires the need to remove silos. Companies should treat their activity as one demand-connected commerce experience across trade and sales, and can lean on the media team for execution. In regard to pushing back on retailer demands, panelists suggested there needs to be a bit of a balance. “They respect us, we respect them. We’re trying to grow each other’s business,” Chriss said. Other takeaways included: • Not all retailer platforms are created equal, both from an inventory standpoint and the data they provide. In regard to JBP alignment, every retailer is different. Some isolate their networks so they aren’t included in strategic planning. • Brands ideally need consistent measurement across platforms, and often want a hard-core ROI perspective. Return on advertising spend (ROAS) needs to evolve as a metric. An unbiased third-party measurement provider could be the answer.

Challenger Brands Leveraging Retail Media

John Denny, VP, E-Commerce & Digital, Cavu Ventures Physical store distribution has dominated CPG strategy for the last century, but digital is now influencing the vast majority of sales even if they still occur in stores. The tools that have been created to influence today’s consumers are more powerful than anything that has previously existed, and challenger brands are far more likely than larger companies to leverage them in innovative new ways to accelerate quickly. Challenger brands: • Understand that e-commerce success drives retail demand. Their strategy is to launch through their own channel first and then follow with physical retail. • Go all in on digital strategies. They prioritize the new digital platforms and invest at aggressive levels. • Zig when everybody is zagging. They leverage e-commerce and retail media to build the brand while everyone else focuses merely on ROAS and performance.

The entire industry believes that retail media is about return on ad spend and performance marketing, but it can be a brand-building platform from day one. The idea that performance advertising is all that matters is a myth. The reality is that brand messaging outperforms performance messaging 80% of the time.

Kellogg & Omnichannel Sales at Kroger

Gail Horwood, Chief Marketing Officer, Kellogg North America; Cara Pratt, SVP, Kroger Precision Marketing, 84.51 It’s hard to ignore the rise of gaming. More than 50% of the U.S. population is engaging in some form of gaming, and core gamers spend more than 15 hours a week on the activity. Recognizing this consumer behavior, Kellogg Gail Horwood identified multiple brands in its portfolio, such as Cheez-It and Pringles, that over index as go-to snacks for gaming. Armed with the insight of this emerging gaming/snacking occasion, the manufacturer teamed with Kroger for a program with Xbox that leveraged the grocer’s Kroger Precision Marketing media platform. Horwood noted that working with retail media networks is a learning journey because “if we simply evaluate retail media only through the ways we’ve evaluated our traditional media investments ... we’re missing a larger opportunity.” Among other key ways Kellogg approaches retail media: • It looks at holistic measurements. Traditionally, Kellogg has used marketing mix modeling, but now it’s augmenting that with new tools and measurement strategies. • It leverages data. The company is always game to mine new sets of data, such as KPM’s loyalty and consumer data, to unlock unique activations for shoppers. • It has dedicated resources. The manufacturer is allocating the resources needed to understand and unlock value through measurement in retail media. “This is not a part-time job for a couple of people,” said Horwood.

Oreo Thins: Mondelez’s Recipe for Success

Steven Boal, CEO and Co-Founder, Quotient Technology; Anne Martin – Customer Director, Shopper Marketing, and Steve McGowan, RVP, OmniShopper Activation & Strategic Partnerships, Mondelez International The emergence of retail media doesn’t necessarily mean “Out with the old and in with the new,” especially when the old is in-store merchandising. However, in Mondelez’s experience, it does mean marketers should adjust the old so it works in tandem with the new. In other words, creating a truly omnichannel experience. The CPG giant is doing that, most recently through a program with Albertsons Companies aimed at driving trips and increasing awareness of Oreo Thins that started with a digital coupon. The partners leveraged the retailer’s Quotient-powered retail media network, Albertsons Performance Media, to target shoppers that aligned with Oreo’s brand segments and used incremental in-store displays to match the online experience and drive users to the digital coupon. Among the key aspects of the program’s success: • Strong retailer relationships. While retail media data and metrics are obviously important, the relationship with the retailer allows for effective collaboration on test campaigns. • Linking digital and in-store. Amplifying the digital consumer experience with in-store merchandising is key to driving meaningful and measurable in-store sales velocity. • Accelerating digital spending. Mondelez fully acknowledges that, as it increases investments in search marketing, digital content and media, it becomes even more critical to maximize efficiencies and campaign outcomes.

What it Takes to Win with Retail Media

Mike Ellgass, EVP, Retail Marketing Solutions, IRI; Abishake Subramanian - Senior Director and Head of Advertising & Partnerships, Sam’s Club Media Group The COVID-19 pandemic has without question spurred a massive shift in shopper behavior, and the rise of retail media has been a major part of the ripple effect it has had on shopper marketing and e-commerce. But while many retailers have come out as winners amid the Abishake Subramanian pandemic, some brand marketers are still evaluating how they feel about the growing retailer-led media opportunity. Subramanian helps Sam’s Club address that by giving brand marketers what he says they need to succeed, and pushing the Sam’s Club Media Group team to think like performance marketers to better target the retailer’s members. That often means targeting members across touch points. For example, some marketers use print ads to promote an offer in an instant savings booklet and amplify the deal through digital touchpoints for deeper targeting. The goal is learning how to drive consumption and draw new consumers to a category. Providing brands with in-campaign data and insights is also becoming more critical. In terms of the future of retail media, Subramanian has his eye on: • Machine learning to enhance one-to-one personalization at scale. • Data partnerships to provide enhanced relevance. • Campaign optimization via algorithms. • Self-service tools for advertisers.

Non-Endemic Opportunities for Partnerships

Janine Flaccavento, New Stream Media Solution Lead, Merkle; Brent Rosso, Former VP, Digital Media, Target Non-endemic advertisers are brands that don’t sell directly through a particular retailer but offer complementary products or services. Retail media networks offer an opportunity for non-endemic brands to connect with shoppers that might be similar to their own consumer demographic. In defining the non-endemic advertiser at a big-box retailer, the range starts at brands in a “category sold but product not listed” (such as DTC brands). Then it continues to “consumer adjacent” (paint and appliance brands), “connected through partnership” (Redbox, MasterCard) and “connected through behavior” (Molly Maid, Mass Mutual). It concludes at “not connected but aligned to audience/mindset” (Ford, Hulu) and “not connected or aligned to mindset” (financial and home security). A total of 76% of CPG brands plan to have to non-endemic spending, and 19% of those already are doing so, according to research from Merkle.

Noteworthy use cases include a co-branded effort between CVS Media Exchange and PayPal that ran on a dedicated web page, product display pages and sponsored social media updates; and Amazon’s monetization of its owned-and-operated spaces, such as on-box advertising, lockers, Prime Now and Amazon Go, Treasure Truck and Amazon Books.

Best Practices for Shopper Marketers

Moderator: Jason Young, Digital Industry Expert; panelists: Kasey Moss, Brand Director, CHOMPS; Katie Neil, Director, Connected Commerce, Coca-Cola Co.; Nicole Rainey, Shopper Marketing Manager, Mars Wrigley Brand marketing organizations are utilizing retail media networks as both an advertising tool and a sales driver. When looking at a network’s suite of product solutions, brands have to “learn by doing” to determine where and how to best deploy the capabilities. As some networks are able to provide data in near- or real time, brands could test anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks to decide how to use the solutions. At the outset, marketers have to frame up and connect with the consumer in the right place with the right message at the right time. Depending on the end goals, they can either seek to drive shopper conversion or brand awareness. As the brand journey evolves, they should establish benchmarking and decide, “What do we want to learn out of this?” And once they learn it, ask, “What’s the path forward?” Brand marketers have to set the tone with any retailer media network and make clear: • What moves the needle on their business. • What exactly they need to have measured. • What they need to know about the network’s ability to provide what they need as a partner. • Their needs for the network to be as nimble, agile and transparentas possible to optimize performance. IQ

Omnichannel Marketing

Filippo Berio Drives In-Store Purchases During Pandemic

BY SAMANTHA NELSON

Filippo Berio USA had been planning a media campaign for April 2020, but it had to change plans when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The company pushed the e ort back to July to let the initial period of uncertainty and panic buying calm down. But while so many brands were focused on capitalizing on the surge in e-commerce, Filippo Berio wanted to drive shoppers to stores.

“At the time the campaign would be running, shipping carriers were overwhelmed and some retailers’ online ordering systems had kinks to be worked out,” Filippo Berio marketing manager Meghan Boyd says. “Some retailer sites had no appointments for pickup or delivery for months out, so consumers had to go in-store. Some consumers were taking this omnichannel approach because if there was an out-of-stock at the local-store level, they might be going online to nd it elsewhere and, vice versa, still requiring that trip to the store. Finally, that trip to the grocery store for many people might have been their only time in the week to escape their homes due to lockdowns or other COVID restrictions. It became a lifeline to the outside world.”

Working with Norwalk, Connecticut-based agencies Media Horizons and Colangelo as well as Vericast’s Valassis, Filippo Berio launched a heavily researched campaign to target the Midwest and Southeast regions, where shoppers were very aware of the olive oil category but weren’t buying the brand. A second ight of the campaign, which kicked o in October, added the Northeast, where the brand wanted to defend its strong position.

“We found through some internal research that the brand is underdeveloped,” Boyd says. “Our brand is very tied to the Italian ‘nonnas,’ and we love that, but we need to plan for the health of the brand.”

The campaign used Valassis’ Illumis intelligence platform to target 25- to 44-year-old shoppers through a mix of digital display, social media and connected TV advertising that spotlighted the brand’s extra virgin olive oil. Consumers were targeted when activity like recipe lookups indicated they were in a buying mindset. Dynamic creative optimization meant that the streaming TV spots were customized to show the consumer the nearest store where they could buy the brand. That function was based on Valassis’ dynamic radius trade area, which measures how far shoppers in an area are typically willing to travel, something that varies strongly across city centers and suburban markets.

Valassis set up impact studies using POS data from key retailers to test where the digital media drove sales. The e ort resulted in a 6% sales lift on the featured product at the store level during both ights with a 3% brand halo lift in the rst ight and 5.5% lift in the second. The gains were especially strong at Publix, where the extra virgin olive oil saw a 46% sales lift in the rst ight and a 10.1% increase in the second. Most of the buyers there were ages 35-44.

“I think we learned a lot about consumer mindset,” says Boyd. “At the time, people were brand shifting as they were dealing with out-of-stocks. We saw that there was a 3.4% brand halo that included all of our other olive oil products. That was huge because we always want not just the product but the brand to gain from any campaign we run. Seeing that really showed us the power of this targeted media and how it can drive those sales.”

Kevin Leary, executive director of CPG at Valassis, says that connected TV advertising has become increasingly in demand over the past year as brands try to reach younger audiences where they are. “A lot of our agency partners who historically have been broadcast buyers [are shifting a lot of those dollars]to connected TV,” he says. “I think a big part of that is you can get so much more targeted, so much more granular in terms of the consumers whom you want to reach with your brand to truly minimize waste.” IQ

More at P2PI.org

Read other case studies about how brands have adjusted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SPECIAL REPORT: GROCERY TRIP PURCHASE INFLUENCES

AISLES OF OPTIONS

Institute research finds that even the best-laid shopping plans can be swayed in-store

BY PETER BREEN

In cooperation with

FACT: The path to purchase for consumer packaged goods has become a lot more complex in the last decade as digital technologies have provided shoppers with an ever-growing supply of touchpoints and sales channels for learning about, and buying, products. FACT: Nearly all trips to buy groceries are now infl uenced to some degree by the use of these digital technologies. FACT: Despite those two facts, product marketers still have plenty of opportunities to infl uence purchase decisions within the brick-and-mortar store – where the vast majority of grocery trips are still taking place.

That fi nal fact is derived directly from the fi ndings of the Path to Purchase Institute’s latest proprietary research, which surveyed 1,000 consumers from across the U.S. about their most recent trip to buy groceries.

While the shopper commerce industry has been – quite understandably – focused on the pandemic-fueled shift to online shopping and ordering that has taken place since March 2020 and the corresponding rise in importance of retail media networks within the marketing playbook, the traditional store clearly remains the destination of choice for most grocery needs and very fertile ground for infl uencing purchase decisions.

How clearly? Respondents were asked at the outset of the survey if their most recent eff orts to buy groceries took place online or in a store, and the latter was the case for 86% of them. What’s more, a signifi cant number of respondents who did shop online ended up going into the store when they went to pick up their orders. (More about that later.)

And once they’re in the store, shoppers are being infl uenced by many of the standard

AISLES OF OPTIONS

Institute research finds that even the best-laid shopping plans can be swayed in-store

P-O-P materials that have been driving purchase decisions since long before the term “shopper marketing” was even coined. So as marketers keep pace with evolving consumer behavior by enhancing their ability to engage with shoppers and drive sales through digital channels, they also need to maintain the in-store presence that, according to the research, remains critical to brand success.

The following article evaluates some of the more noteworthy highlights from the survey, the latest in a series of special reports that the Institute will conduct in 2021. Institute members have access to a more comprehensive set of results, including data at the channel, product and retailer level.

PLANNING THE TRIP

For anyone who might glance at the survey’s methodology (page 20) and dismiss the dominance of brick-and-mortar trips on the fact that 63% of survey respondents were oldschool Baby Boomers and their parents, consider this: only 25% of younger shoppers overall – and just 11% of Generation Z respondents – conducted their most recent trips online.

But while physical stores continue to dominate as the destination of choice, supermarkets no longer corner the market on grocery trips like they once did. Still, the “OG” channel was the chosen format for 55% of shoppers, followed by mass merchants at 27% (Chart 1, page 16).

And by “mass merchant,” we mean “Walmart.” The world’s largest retailer gained 23% of all the shopping trips captured in the survey, the latest evidence of its superiority in the CPG world. The only other retailer getting more than 10% of the action was Kroger, which earned 11% across its fl agship, Harris Teeter, King Soopers and Smith’s chains. Walmart’s nearest massmerchant rival, Target, trailed by 300 shoppers (Chart 2, page 16).

1. CHANNELS OF CHOICE

Supermarket

Mass

27%

Club

5%

Dollar

3%

Online-only Retailer

3%

Online Delivery Service

Drugstore

Convenience

2%

1%

1%

Other

7% 55%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55%

Q: From which type of store did you make your most recent grocery purchase?

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

That leaves 14% of shoppers who made their most recent grocery purchase online, as noted earlier. Within that group, 60% opted to take complete advantage of the channel by fulfilling their order through home delivery. Among the 40% who instead ventured to the store to pick up their items, 28% (roughly 16 shoppers, for perspective) used the opportunity to keep shopping – and not just to quickly grab milk or eggs, apparently: the average purchase was an additional 7.2 items (Chart 3, below).

2. RETAILERS OF CHOICE

Walmart Kroger (net) Kroger Albertsons (net)* Ahold Delhaize (net) Aldi Publix Costco Amazon

23% 11% 8% 6% 5% 4% 4% 3% 3%

Q: From which retailer did you make your most recent grocery purchase? 2%: Albertsons, Food Lion, H-E-B, Safeway, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Whole Foods, Target, Sam’s Club, Dollar General 1%: Giant, Harris Teeter, Jewel-Osco, King Soopers, Shaw’s, Smith’s, Vons, Walgreens, 7-Eleven, Instacart

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

Pre-trip planning is, naturally, common for grocery trips that encompass significantly large basket sizes in most cases (see FAST FACT more later). More than half of all shoppers (online or in-store) assessed their inventory beforehand, and 44% 86% prepared a written shopping list. That of grocery trips take behavior is significantly more likely place in a physical among in-store shoppers than it is for their store. online counterparts – who, quite logically, are instead creating digital lists (Chart 4, page 18).

Similarly, and not surprisingly, pre-trip behavior does vary substantially between online and in-store shoppers. The online cohort is far more likely to conduct “research” by checking out ratings and reviews, comparing prices, searching for recipes, specifically looking for product information or scanning the digital

PURCHASE METHOD

3. GENERAL GROCERY TRIP BEHAVIOR

METHOD OF FULFILLMENT IN-STORE PURCHASES DURING ONLINE PICKUP*

Online 14%

In-store 86%

Pick-up in-store 8%

Delivery 60%

Pick-up curbside 32%

No 78%

Yes 28%

Average=7.2

additional items purchased when picking up online order

*Q: When you went to the store to pick up your order, did you go into the store to pick up any extra items?

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

4. PRE-GROCERY TRIP ACTIVITY

Checked inventory at home Added items to a written shopping list Reviewed a printed store flyer Looked at a store flyer online Looked at and/or clipped digital/online coupons Added items to my digital/online shopping list Looked at the retailer’s website* Cut out/collected physical coupons Looked online for recipes Compared prices across different store flyers Looked through recipes in cookbooks or recipe cards Did price comparisons online Looked at the retailer’s app* Looked online to browse/shop* Got recommendations from family/friends Did a Google or other browser search Researched brand/variety/flavor online Reviewed product ratings/reviews online None of the above

Total (n=1,000) In-store (n=856) Online (n=144)

56% 55% 57% 44% 46% 33% 27% 28% 22% 24% 23% 33% 20% 19% 26% 19% 16% 39% 17% 17% n/a 15% 16% 10% 14% 12% 26% 14% 13% 16% 13% 11% 22% 13% 11% 28% 13% 13% n/a 11% 11% n/a 9% 8% 15% 8% 7% 15% 8% 6% 24% 7% 5% 22% 7% 8% 3%

Q: Which of the following did you do before or during your grocery shopping ‘trip’? *Asked of in-store shoppers only (n=856)

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

6. PRE-PURCHASE MEDIA EXPOSURE

Television Ad

Store Email

Social Media

Mobile App Ad Email

Magazine Digital Ad Billboard

Radio Ad

Total (n=1,000) In-store (n=856) Online (n=144)

17% 16% 24%

14% 14% 19%

11% 9% 27%

10% 8% 24%

8% 7% 17%

7% 6% 12%

6% 5% 14%

4% 3% 6%

4% 3% 8%

Q: How were you exposed to the products that you purchased before or during your most recent shopping trip?

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021) circular. In general, online shoppers do more planning than their brick-andmortar brethren, who only undertook two other behaviors more often: reading print circulars and collecting print coupons. In-store stoppers also are more likely to do “nothing” before starting their trip (Chart 4.) FAST FACT Although almost none of 28% of these actions BOPIS/curbside were employed shoppers purchased by a majority of more products when shoppers (aside they got to the from the pantry store. check), they all had a significant effect on the ultimate purchase decisions of those who did partake. At least 40% of shoppers claimed “a lot of influence” from any of the activities they undertook, which suggests that these behaviors are likely habits that have already proved to be helpful (Chart 5, page 19).

Meanwhile, shoppers did not recall being exposed to much media advertising before or during their trip, with exactly half professing to have seen anything related to the products they ultimately purchased. However, the more task-oriented online shoppers were somewhat more likely to have encountered messages via social media, TV, mobile apps and digital ads in general. (Chart 6, left).

THE BEST LAID PLANS … CHANGE

Shoppers bought an average of 23.3 items during their most recent grocery trip, which gives this survey a greater focus on classic “stock-up” grocery shopping behavior as opposed to the single-purchase “spearfishing” habits that are such an integral part of e-commerce.

On average, in-store shoppers put three more items in their basket than did online shoppers, who conversely were significantly more likely to buy only a few products (Chart 7, page 19).

It would seem that many shoppers

still find a store visit well worth it when a trunk-load of products is needed, but might be using e-commerce to save them a trip for just a few things. One of the most important data points emerging from the survey is that 78% of shoppers attest to making decisions about which products to buy during their trip. While “the last mile” of product delivery has garnered most of the industry discussion lately, it would appear that “the last three feet” remains important as well. These “unplanned” shopper purchases encompass an array of different actions: • Choosing a different size or variety of the product they intended to buy. • Buying a larger quantity of the product. • Substituting the intended purchase with an alternative product (like choosing ground turkey instead of ground beef). • Switching brands. On top of all those decisions, 62% of shoppers say they bought at least one product that they hadn’t at all intended to purchase. In fact, shoppers added an average of nearly three (2.9) impulse purchases to their baskets (Chart 8, page 20). Overall, roughly 40% of the items purchased were unplanned in some form.

While the average amount was relatively the same in-store and online (8.9 vs. 9.2 items), brick-and-mortar shoppers bought FAST FACT more impulse items (3.1 vs. 1.8). That 62% fact validates the concerns of grocery shoppers of marketers in impulse purchase categories about the impact that the bought products they didn’t intend to buy. e-commerce shift is having on their sales. The reasons for these switches are numerous, and start with the more obvious ones: 46% of shoppers changed their minds when they encountered

5. INFLUENCE OF PRE-TRIP ACTIVITIES ON FINAL PURCHASE DECISIONS

Inventory at Home (n=555) Written Shopping List (n=440) Physical Coupons (n=154) Online Recipe Search (n=141) Recommendations from Family/Friends (n=93) Digital/Online Shopping List (n=194) Researching Brand/Variety/Flavor Online (n=85) Digital/Online Coupons (n=200) Printed Store Flyer (n=271) Price Comparisons Using Store Flyers (n=137) Cookbooks or Recipe Cards (n=127) Online Price Comparisons (n=134) Product Ratings/Reviews Online (n=70) “Pre-shopping” Online (n=90) Store Flyer Online (n=242) Google or Other Browser Search (n=85)

21%

23%

44%

40%

41%

49%

65%

51%

46%

57%

50%

48%

44%

49%

66%

66%

Q: How much influence did each activity have on your final purchase decisions?

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021) A little

77%

74%

52%

52%

52%

51%

49%

47%

45%

45%

44%

44%

43%

43%

40%

40%

A lot

7. BASKET SIZE FOR MOST RECENT GROCERY TRIP

Total (n=1,000)

>20

40%

11-20

30%

6-10

18%

2-5 1 Average

11% 1%

23.3

In-store (n=856)

41% 30% 18% 10% 1%

23.7

Online (n=144)

37% 28% 15%

Q: How many products did you purchase overall during your most recent trip?

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

18% 1%

20.7

a different product on sale, and 40% selected an alternative when finding their planned purchase out of stock (Chart 9, page 20 ).

But rest assured, dear readers, that marketing is having an impact as well. Online, almost one-third of shoppers (27%) responded to a recommendation made at checkout and 11% by ads on the retailer’s website, in addition to sales and special offers.

8. LEVEL OF UNPLANNED PURCHASES, BY TYPE

62%

39% 39%

Total Shoppers Making

Unplanned

Purchases 78%

Di erent Brand

31%

Substitution/ AlternateProduct

Di erent Variety/Size

Q: Approximately how many of the products you purchased were…

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

43%

Larger Quantity Unplanned Product

FAST FACT

In stores, almost half of shoppers 46% of all shoppers (46%) who changed their purchase deviated from plans after encountering their original plans sales on alternative were persuaded to products. do so, at least in part, by a display or sign. The highly coveted endcap display topped the options in terms of impact from P-O-P materials at 30%, but displays in other locations also made their mark (Chart 11, page 22).

Among the shoppers who identified displays as a purchase influencer, equal numbers (40%) were influenced by endcaps and secondary displays in the same aisle as the product’s category set. In general, displays had a slightly greater impact at mass merchants (again, mostly Walmart)

9. PURCHASE VARIATION TRIGGERS

Other product was on sale Planned product was out of stock Special offer Endcap display * Recommended by website/app during checkout ** Coupon Store flyer/ad Secondary display * Personalized offer

Shelf sign * Attractive packaging Advertised on website/app Recipe specification Sign in store (not at shelf)* Store associate recommendation

Sweepstakes opportunity Floor decal *

Free sample in store *

21% 19% 19%

15%

32% 30% 27% 40% 46%

15% 12% 11% 11% 12% 9%

6% 7% 7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Q. For which of the following reasons did you purchase products/brands/varieties that you hadn’t intended to buy? *asked among shoppers that shopped in store or picked up order in store (n=678) **asked among shoppers that shopped online only (n=116)

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021)

METHODOLOGY

The Path to Purchase Institute fielded an online survey of 1,000 shoppers from March 16–21, 2021. To qualify, participants had to be the primary shopper for their household and have shopped for groceries at least once in the prior week, either online or in a store.

The demographic breakdown is as follows:

Gen Z .................................................. 4% Millennial ..........................................15% Gen X .................................................18% Baby Boomer ..................................51% Mature ...............................................12%

Survey participants were asked questions about their most recent shopping experience, beginning with the actions they took to help plan their trip and then the actions they took during the trip itself. A key determinant for some of the answer options given respondents was whether the “trip” took place online or in a physical store location.

A Good Read on IN-STORE BEHAVIOR

Great Northern Instore was very excited to participate with the Path to Purchase Institute on this timely research project. We strive to bring the latest retail insights to our clients and translate those insights into successful retail activations. This past year, our course has been very diff erent, and we felt the need to get an up-to-date read on shopping behavior.

Here are some of the key fi ndings from our perspective:

The physical store clearly plays a critical role in the path to purchase. As the research shows, 86% of shoppers made their most recent purchase in-store. Another 6% headed to the store to pick up their online order – so over 90% of shoppers went to the store.

If you feel that the 6% of pickup shoppers should not count, remember that over a quarter of shoppers picking up an online order purchased additional items in the store. And it was not just one cold beverage for the road: Respondents who made incremental purchases averaged over seven additional items. We conclude there are still great opportunities to drive incremental impulse purchase at the physical store to build baskets for retailers, drive item trial and garner extra sales lifts.

This is bolstered by the fact that grocery shoppers placed an additional 2.9 unplanned items into their basket, an increase of 14% from the number of products they planned to purchase. And these don’t just represent an isolated, single buy. Of the shoppers who made unplanned purchases or deviated from their original intent by buying a diff erent item, 90% said they will repurchase at least one of those products. So these impulse buys drive longer-term purchase decisions. Thus, winning on the in-store battlefi eld delivers both short-term gains and long-term results.

The survey results also show that winning across the entire path to purchase is critical. To accomplish that, it is important that all marketing materials – digital, social, retail media, and in-store assets – should convey a continuous message for maximum recognition and effi ciency. This connects the consumer and shopper personalities, helping to close the sale more eff ectively.

To win in the store environment, breaking through the clutter is critical. Respondents mention that “On Sale” is the No. 1 reason for buying items that diff ered from their intended purchases. Therefore, point-of-sale messaging should clearly call out the value off ered.

Almost half of shoppers who purchased items not on their shopping list were impacted by in-store signs or displays. Of those, 50% realized it was an item that they needed but had not planned to buy. That suggests displays must clearly convey the product they are merchandising. This sounds simple, but understand that a shopper is coming to the grocery store on a mission, focused on fi nding the items on their list. Respondents also stated that display size, images, and colors can help attract them to purchase those unplanned items, so eye-catching creative is vital as well.

The data fi nds some slight diff erences among purchase infl uences depending on the retail environment. Grocery shoppers who said that displays impacted their decisions identifi ed pricing as the most infl uential aspect. In the mass and club channels, however, the leading factor was realizing they needed the product. Messaging, therefore, should be adapted accordingly to drive engagement in these environments.

Most importantly, respondents tell us it’s important to win all elements of the shopper journey. Everything must work together, and it is especially critical to win at the point of purchase – which is still the physical store for about nine out of 10 trips. Brands need to stand out and break through the clutter by showcasing their product and its value.

By Dan Sabanosh

About the author: Dan Sabanosh is Director of Shopper Marketing for Great Northern Instore, a leading designer and manufacturer of merchandising solutions, where he helps clients be more insightful when developing their retail programs. Before joining Great Northern, Sabanosh worked for Colgate-Palmolive in both shopper marketing and brand management roles.

than at supermarkets (Chart 11, below). Of the shoppers influenced by displays and signs, roughly half were swayed either by the communicated price or the simple fact that the FAST FACT that 7% of brick-andmortar shoppers display reminded them of their need for that product (Chart 10, below). were also swayed

Other triggers covered a variety of P-O-P collateral, including signs in multiple Displays and by product locations, product packaging and even the relatively rare floor graphic. The fact signs inspired unplanned samples is a good purchases for 46% indicator that the of in-store tactic is gradually 10. ATTRIBUTES OF SIGNS/DISPLAYS INFLUENCING shoppers. returning to the store environment after UNPLANNED PURCHASES largely disappearing during the height of the pandemic. 51% 50% In addition to the overt impact of P-O-P materials acknowledged by In uenced by shoppers, and while it might be stating a sign/display 46% 27% 17% 15% the obvious, here is another point to consider: There had to be some visible, tangible mechanism through which 46% of shoppers learned about the sale Product Realized I needed Size of display Graphics/ Color(s) and 32% discovered the special offer Price the product (caught my eye) Imagery that ultimately altered their purchase

Q: What aspects of the sign/display attracted you to purchase the other product/brand/variety? (N=355) plans. In an omnichannel world, there

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021) certainly is a chance that the deals were communicated digitally – Institute research published in March, in fact, 11. LOCATION OF DISPLAYS INFLUENCING found that 12% of shoppers utilize the UNPLANNED PURCHASE retailer’s website or app while shopping in the physical store. In most cases, TOTAL Supermarket (n=70) Mass (n=32) however, it’s probably safe to assume there was a display or sign

Display in aisle with similar products 40% 44% 41% involved. There also is at least some FAST FACT Display at end of aisle 40% 40% 47% circumstantial 90% of shoppers who

Display in aisle with different products Near fresh/prepared foods 29% 25% 21% 24% 25% 31% evidence that in-store purchase triggers can lend a hand in driving future sales: Of made an unplanned purchase will consider buying the alternative product again. Store entrance 22% 20% 19% the 78% of shoppers who made some type of

Near front of store (excluding checkout) 20% 16% 22% unplanned purchase during their most recent grocery trip, an eye-popping 90% Checkout counter/line 18% 13% 25% said they will consider repurchasing the alternative rather than the product they Seasonal aisle 18% 13% 25% originally intended to buy. A well-placed display today, therefore, could lead to a Near back of store 17% 21% 12% loyal shopper tomorrow. So while climbing to the top of search Near pharmacy/pharmacy counter 7% 7% 9% results has become critical to success, it’s important for brands to remember that

Q: Where in the store did you see the display for the product you purchased? (N=160) staying prominent within the physical

Source: “Grocery Trip Purchase Influences” (Path to Purchase Institute, March 2021) store remains crucial as well. IQ

Welcome to the New Reality

INTRODUCING THE PATH TO PURCHASE IQ SHOPPER ENGAGEMENT PARTNER SHOWCASE

Explore our all-new, highly-interactive digital experience of product marketing solutions and agencies in an environment unlike anything experienced before on PathtoPurchaseIQ.com. The Shopper Engagement Partner Showcase provides 24/7, year-round access to insights, trends, and valuable tools and services. Not virtual reality, this is the new reality, engaging marketers directly with solution providers and agencies when you can’t meet face-to-face.

THE SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN

Participants can spotlight new products, portfolios, and unique capabilities. Information is seamlessly displayed in a digital environment where visitors can easily click-to-connect.

GET YOUR TOUR TODAY!

PEOPLE to WATCH

Our annual showcase this year shines the spotlight on 12 individuals nominated by their respective companies’ representatives in the Institute’s Commerce Executive Network. These rising stars are making names for themselves by doing the exemplary work their brands need to drive success.

BY ERIKA FLYNN

Grown up in Reno, Nevada, Bronica Banks knew she wanted diversity from her college experience, so she chose to go across the country to Clark Atlanta University in Georgia. Her years at the HBCU (historically black college or university) taught her tenacity and instilled a re that she believes is the reason she’s such a motivated employee today.

After earning a degree in mass communications that included internships at Coca-Cola and GE, she joined Union Paci c, starting in the railroad’s marketing and sales development program – a “standard fresh-out-of-college” training program, she says. She became a commodity manager, working on strategies, programs and services to expand Union Paci c’s presence in relevant markets. She then decided to make a career switch to CPG and searched for openings at Anheuser-Busch.

In April 2016, she landed her rst position at A-B in Boise, Idaho, as a trade marketing manager, at the time a newer role for the brewer that thrust her into the booming craft beer market. She focused on trade execution and led a team of brand activation managers before being promoted to senior manager of onpremise trade programs. That came with a move to New York City, where she was charged with piloting all eld activation programs and eventually supported all high-end imports.

In January 2020, Banks was named the director BRONICA BANKS of event strategy, a short-lived position when the pandemic hit. She then worked on special Company: projects until being named the director of Anheuser-Busch InBev shopper marketing in August 2020 when the Title: Director, Shopper Marketing retail integration team became the shopper Age: 31 The company’s Home Gate program, marketing team with new titles, roles and Education: a response to the disruption in eld responsibilities as well as added support Clark Atlanta University marketing plans at the beginning of through its agency of record. (bachelor’s, mass communications, the pandemic, is one of Banks’ career

Banks now works with all U.S. channel teams to with a concentration in highlights. “Approximately 40% of our deliver omnichannel customized retailer solutions, PR management) sales and marketing package is dedicated leading a team of seven shopper marketing managers. dollars to drive trial and encourage ‘liquid to They manage national cross merchandising and coupon They manage national cross merchandising and coupon lips,’” she says. The Home Gate program consisted strategy to provide retail teams with turnkey programming of sweepstakes, digital and social activity as well as intended to improve rate of sale and provide basket-building sampling (the last handled by Field Agent). retail solutions while encouraging consumers to trade up. It also The trial e ort drove 15,000 samples of Bud Light Seltzer, the collaborates with A-B’s agency to create below the line solutions company’s No. 1 priority brand in 2021. And Field Agent is now rooted in shopper insights to drive category growth and develop utilized as a primary tactic for sampling, especially in the nonshopper media plans to support new innovation brand launches traditional environment, with initial program results showing at retail. 89% rst-time buyers, 82% positive shopper sentiment and 83%

Last year, the team also developed alternative sampling plans repurchase intent. when traditional activity was paused due to COVID-19 and Banks credits her parents for teaching her to never give up, strengthened partnerships with other CPG companies. “We really and bad bosses for teaching her what not to do. “Leading with elevated and stepped our game up when it comes to partnerships empathy is where I’ve seen the most success and where I hadn’t to be much more than just a stand-alone rebate in-store,” she says. had support in the past,” she says. Her current manager – Colleen The team has gotten a lot smarter about creating 360-degree The team has gotten a lot smarter about creating 360-degree Kelly, A-B’s head of trade and shopper marketing – has been omnichannel programs and engaging in the e-commerce space to the mastermind behind setting the vision for the restructured talk to consumers when they’re in an active planning or browsing shopper marketing team. “Her agility and steadfast vision is the mindset, she adds. reason I am where I am today.”

career at Big Lots for two years before joining start-up Zulily in a career at Big Lots for two years before joining start-up Zulily in a satellite o ce, starting as a buyer for several di erent categories satellite o ce, starting as a buyer for several di erent categories and then moving into merchandising. She spent nearly seven and then moving into merchandising. She spent nearly seven years there, ultimately working on macro-level strategic initiatives years there, ultimately working on macro-level strategic initiatives and making Zulily the destination for online shopping for women. and making Zulily the destination for online shopping for women. At the end of 2019, Jaeger joined Scotts Miracle-Gro as a At the end of 2019, Jaeger joined Scotts Miracle-Gro as a business development manager in e-commerce. An avid gardener, business development manager in e-commerce. An avid gardener, she quickly became passionate about the company’s product she quickly became passionate about the company’s product line. Her responsibilities included sales and marketing support for line. Her responsibilities included sales and marketing support for key retailer partners including The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart key retailer partners including The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart and Target, with the goals of optimizing product assortments and Target, with the goals of optimizing product assortments and educating shoppers about the portfolio to drive purchases, and educating shoppers about the portfolio to drive purchases, whether in-store or online. whether in-store or online. “I work[ed] closely with internal and external teams to make “I work[ed] closely with internal and external teams to make sure Scotts Miracle-Gro is top-of-mind for the customer shopping sure Scotts Miracle-Gro is top-of-mind for the customer shopping cycle,” she says, adding that being in this position when the cycle,” she says, adding that being in this position when the COVID-19 pandemic hit was exciting. “Every dream we ever shared COVID-19 pandemic hit was exciting. “Every dream we ever shared with retailers ... they were forced to expedite, and we wanted to with retailers ... they were forced to expedite, and we wanted to be partners to support them.” be partners to support them.” Jaeger was recently promoted to director of sales for Walmart, Jaeger was recently promoted to director of sales for Walmart, managing store and online sales. managing store and online sales. With an estimated 21 million new gardeners created by the With an estimated 21 million new gardeners created by the pandemic, e-commerce has become a stronger focus at the pandemic, e-commerce has become a stronger focus at the company, Jaeger says. “We have all kinds of amazing data for company, Jaeger says. “We have all kinds of amazing data for some of these new customers who never bought online before some of these new customers who never bought online before and [we] supply them with targeted products we know they and [we] supply them with targeted products we know they will want or need to buy based on things they’ve purchased will want or need to buy based on things they’ve purchased in the past,” she explains. “The speed our retailers showed in the past,” she explains. “The speed our retailers showed to support their customers was an amazing thing to witness. to support their customers was an amazing thing to witness. We had retailers transition from all purchasing activity We had retailers transition from all purchasing activity happening in-store, to developing infrastructure to allow for happening in-store, to developing infrastructure to allow for curbside pickup with no employee interaction.” curbside pickup with no employee interaction.” As things move back to the “new normal,” she knows As things move back to the “new normal,” she knows retailers will never be the same. “Customers expect more, they want their shopping experience to JESSICA JAEGER be easier, better, faster – and I will be there to support Scotts Miracle-Gro in this.” Jessica Jaeger had business acumen from Company: Jaeger has a proven track record of a very early age, having used all of her Scotts Miracle-Gro learning new businesses, nding white chore money to buy o ce supplies and Title: space, solving complex issues and then work role playing with her sister. She Director of Sales for Walmart executing solid strategies while exceeding took her rst job at 15 because she wanted to, not because she had to. Age: 35 nancial and pro tability goals, but she says her greatest pleasure has been After graduating from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business with a degree in marketing, Education: Penn State University (bachelor’s, marketing; minor in economics) developing her teams. “There is no greater success than watching someone else succeed she started working at Dick’s Sporting Goods and creating bench strength for the company.” in the retailer’s merchant training program. It was As BOPIS and curbside experiences continue a very competitive but very well organized yearlong to grow, physical stores will still remain the hub of program that sets people up for success, she says. “The ful llment, she predicts, and she sees the space becoming foundation of my success was de nitely built from that.” more optimized to support this evolution. “This space could also

Jaeger became an assistant buyer for baseball at the retailer, a be used for mini-store shipping hubs to be close, quicker and position she held for two years. She then continued her merchant cheaper to deliver to the customer.”

While studying marketing and management at Florida Atlantic leveraging consumer insights about low-income shoppers to University, Van Morris learned the di erent aspects of the “5 P’s” cater to them and meet their needs. That often means developing and how crucial it is to implement the process e ciently to drive custom SKUs with smaller count sizes to meet speci c price points business. But diving heavily into analytics and how to interpret the and being very strategic and creative. 5 P’s at retail quickly became her passion. “I love looking at past Morris learned her work ethic at a young age. Her parents trends and seeing how shoppers shop – and you can see that in emigrated from Vietnam, and with no nancial support from the data,” she says. her family, she had to work a full-time job while in college. “This

Fine-tuning the art of storytelling and taught me to prioritize my time and stay focused on my goals,” supporting those stories with data is she says. “I really applied myself and worked hard to get to something Morris says can’t be learned through school, but her experiences VAN MORRIS where I am today.” Looking ahead, Morris would like to gain experience in working in the industry have Company: Nature’s Bounty/ sales and customer strategy. “I love learning the di erent opened her eyes to opportunities The Bountiful Company aspects of the business and how multiple teams all beyond textbook marketing and Title: come together to execute a plan,” she says, adding that advertising. Category Development Manager her long-term goal is to lead her own channel.

Morris started her career as an Age: 33 analyst at Acosta Sales & Marketing and then moved to serving as a client insights manager for Pinnacle Foods Education: Florida Atlantic University (bachelor’s, marketing) at the agency. It was there she learned basic category management skills and handled many accounts in the Southeast region. Three years later, CDZ Sales recruited her as its category advisor to work in-house at Family Dollar.

“I worked very closely with the beauty care and personal care “I worked very closely with the beauty care and personal care buyer to make strategic recommendations based on Family Dollar’s internal basket data and applied that to current market Dollar’s internal basket data and applied that to current market trends,” she says. While in that role, she developed strong relationships with the buyers and a greater understanding of the relationships with the buyers and a greater understanding of the retailer’s perspective and how it operates.

When Family Dollar and Dollar Tree merged, Morris’ job was When Family Dollar and Dollar Tree merged, Morris’ job was eliminated and she joined Colgate-Palmolive as a category development manager, handling the personal care business at Family Dollar. After three years at Colgate, she decided she at Family Dollar. After three years at Colgate, she decided she wanted to get more exposure at a smaller company and so joined wanted to get more exposure at a smaller company and so joined Nature’s Bounty/The Bountiful Company in late 2018 as a category Nature’s Bounty/The Bountiful Company in late 2018 as a category development manager, the position she holds today.

Morris currently supports Publix and Dollar General for the vitamins and sports nutrition categories, with a focus on getting the right assortments and working with the buyers to make sure it’s easy for shoppers to navigate the shelf. “Everyone is caught up with getting in and out of stores quickly now,” she says. “It’s crucial to get the planogram right and make sure we retain these new shoppers that are entering the category.” She also supports the sales teams as they present to the buyers at these accounts, which involves a they present to the buyers at these accounts, which involves a lot of strategy work, data mining and storytelling.

Understanding the perspective of the retailer, the category and the shopper is crucial in category management. “Of course and the shopper is crucial in category management. “Of course everyone wants to grow their business and sell in new items, but everyone wants to grow their business and sell in new items, but they also want to do what’s right for the retailer and ultimately the they also want to do what’s right for the retailer and ultimately the shopper,” Morris says, adding that she is motivated by e ectively shopper,” Morris says, adding that she is motivated by e ectively

cross-functional partners, including brand, digital commerce, sales and frontline marketing, to deliver integrated connection plans, as well as using digital media to reach shoppers along their journey. Her team drives omnichannel solutions across shared, earned, owned and paid connection points for the company’s beverage portfolio. “We’re trying to see our whole consumer and all the touchpoints they go through until they purchase our product,” she says. “If we can insert ourselves across that consumer journey in the right way, to build brand equity, [sell] more products more often or deliver new and surprising product they’ve not heard of based on what we know about them, that is our goal.” The trick is to translate big brand marketing campaigns, coming up with ways to drive actual purchase of the products being promoted, she says. In response to the massive e-commerce growth sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the team quickly needed to pivot its media investment strategy to address the shift in consumer behavior, Kerins says. “As part of this cross-functional task force, we were responsible for building and managing digital investments on behalf of our operating units and brands. We built a prioritized digital commerce strategy in order to drive share and revenue growth across key e-commerce and retailer platforms. This ‘connected commerce’ – how we rede ne our shopper investment team – is the evolution of how we think of our digital marketing in a digital world.” Kerins credits her parents with instilling in her a drive and strong work ethic. “I learned at a very young age that nothing comes easy, so you need to work hard,” she says. Her current manager, Katie Neil, connected COLLEEN KERINS commerce lead for North America, has also Company: in uenced her signi cantly. “She is an Colleen Kerins was an avid sports fan The Coca-Cola Co. amazing leader who enables and empowers growing up in Western Pennsylvania. She Title: individuals on her team to show up every chose to attend the University of Florida Manager, Connected Commerce day being their best self,” Kerins says, not only for its business school but also because of its strong football tradition. Her rst job out of college was at Fox Age: 33 Education: adding that peers in her various roles have been instrumental in blocking and tackling obstacles along the way to achieve success. Sports in Atlanta, a tting move given her marketing degree. She began focusing on University of Florida (bachelor’s, marketing) She believes there will always be value for consumers visiting a physical location to brand and media activation, both for TV and buy their products. The pandemic just pushed digital as the latter medium took o , and ultimately consumers to plan ahead more when it comes to moved to New York City after she accepted a media what beverage they want to consume and when. planner role at Fox Sports, along the way contributing to the rst “In order for us to be more human-centric, we need to live-streamed Super Bowl. After nearly ve years, she moved to solve how our digital commerce strategy can reach the hyperIBM, where she was tasked with leveraging complex data sets to connected consumer,” Kerins says. Developing a truly personal, deliver better digital personalization. She spent ve years there, authentic connection with shoppers is key. “We need to stay ending in a media strategy and brand partnerships role. focused on delivering a seamless shopping experience – both

Ultimately wanting to apply her skillset on the brand side, online and o ine – across all touchpoints to drive repeat Kerins made the move back to Atlanta and joined the Coca-Cola purchase and brand discovery of our products,” she adds. “I’m team in late 2019 as manager of connected commerce. con dent that the work we’re doing today will make sure we win

Kerins now focuses on leading strategy and planning with in this space.”

on a variety of projects in category management, marketing and analytics. “The research, analytics and category leadership work I was doing in the beauty/skin care space quickly ignited a passion for shopper and category insights and demonstrated the intimacy these categories have with their consumers,” she says. In January 2020, Zabrodsky joined Beiersdorf as category development manager. She focuses heavily on new categories, identifying the vision, strategy, trends and white space opportunities at play. She leads category research, creating consumer decision trees and path to purchase studies and doing a lot of analytical work including developing dashboards to help understand assortment, innovation, and brand and category performance. “A lot of my responsibilities are also centered on being an expert storyteller, infusing data, research, consumer insights and category trends into unbiased recommendations and strategy that will unlock category growth for both brands and retailers and deliver on unmet consumer needs,” she says. One of her rst projects after joining Beiersdorf was coleading a new “distribution and assortment process” to de ne core assortment priorities by category and retailer across the company. Previously, Beiersdorf didn’t have many di erent sources of information the cross-functional teams consider when assessing the portfolio or a clear de nition of OLIVIA ZABRODSKY assortment success that considered both brand performance and category benchmarks important Company: Beiersdorf U.S. to retailers. Title: “We wanted to not only streamline information Category Development Manager sources but also create a tool that the Age: 26 organization could use as one source of truth Olivia Zabrodsky has always had Education: infusing many types of data and metrics that a passion for the art of storytelling Case Western Reserve University would help us make relevant and insight-driven and the way it can in uence and (bachelor’s, management, decisions,” Zabrodsky says. The tool was created inspire people. She studied marketing marketing major; bachelor’s, with a unique weighted analytical methodology and theatre at Case Western Reserve theatre) that incorporates many sources of information into a University, a combination that she says nal ranking system. o ered complementary skill sets, both “The analytical methodologies in this tool provide centered on compelling stories. “It taught me how our cross-functional teams with a deep understanding of our to approach problems and stories through facts, evidence, categories, brand performance, and direction on decisions [before detailed analytics and creativity to inspire an outcome,” she line] reviews that will result in bene cial outcomes for our brands, says. “It laid the groundwork for identifying insights that might retailers and consumers,” she says. It also has helped the team serve as white space or ‘reason to believe’ in an unmet consumer quickly make data-driven decisions and understand the state of need, which is imperative to the work we do in category the company’s portfolio benchmarked against the competition, management.” she explains.

Zabrodsky says the CPG industry excited her from an early While many believe the physical store is losing importance in age. She spent a lot of time reading about brands and looking at the digital media era, Zabrodsky thinks it will still play a critical product marketing, and then interned at a lab where she focused role in the future, especially in the beauty and skin care space. on food science, speci cally testing the viscosity of peanut butter “Digital and omnichannel strategy can’t be ignored as we have cups. “I quickly realized that what excited me most was not the seen the accelerated role online is playing, especially throughout R&D side of CPG, but rather consumer trends and needs that COVID-19 for many categories,” she says. But consumers are still in uenced categories and brand marketing,” she says. seeking elevated experiences when shopping for skin care and

She began her career at Cadent Consulting Group, working beauty and – now more than ever – they will seek to escape in food, beverage and beauty/skin care and providing solutions through meaningful in-store experiences, she predicts.

After completing St. Joseph’s University’s food marketing cooperative program, Michael Fulton found his passion: working in the CPG industry with an eye on healthcare. His schooling included three semesters of real-life, industry-speci c experiences working full-time with two companies in the U.S. and one in Ireland, where he learned from former food industry leaders.

After graduation Fulton entered Johnson & Johnson’s sales and leadership development program, where he called on Walmart. Starting in sales analytics and quickly moving into category management in support of Walmart buyers, he was propelled into numerous customer-facing roles.

He spent more than three years in the consumer medical devices industry with J&J Vision Care in customer marketing. With that experience, Fulton says, shopper marketing was a natural t for his aspirations to connect consumers and shoppers with brands across omnichannel retail environments.

Today, as senior manager of shopper marketing at Sano Consumer Healthcare, Fulton is responsible for developing insights-led, customer-speci c plans that will distinguish the company’s portfolio of brands from the competition while connecting with shoppers. “In doing so, I’ve had to be nimble in order to traverse the challenges of starting a new function while blazing new opportunities for connection with consumers via the retailer experience,” he says, adding that he was hired virtually via Zoom calls and has yet to visit the company’s o ces.

Since coming on board, Fulton has built the shopper marketing function from the ground up with director of shopper marketing Nellson, establishing best practices while revolutionizing how the organization creates connections with consumers. “With many folks MICHAEL FULTON communicates through retailers to shoppers in coming from diverse work experiences, there the long run. were varying degrees of knowledge about Company: Fulton’s passion for the industry has and adoption of the shopper marketing Sanofi Consumer Healthcare now expanded to include working on function,” Fulton says. “As the value has Title: brands at companies that seek to improve been showcased and programs begin to Senior Manager of Shopper Marketing the quality of life for consumers as well elevate how we go to market, more and Age: 36 as working for organizations that are more colleagues are becoming strong Education: St. Joseph’s University environmentally and socially responsible. believers in shopper marketing.” (bachelor’s, business administration, “Having worked in CPG for more than 13

The team has worked tirelessly, in food marketing cooperative program; years, you get to see how much goes into conjunction with The Mars Agency, to build and begin to execute cohesive, insights-fueled minor in international business) the end-to-end process and how organizations can do their part to better the community and customer- rst shopper activation plans, he says. It has the world both ethically and sustainably,” he says. begun to elevate and amplify programs around tent-pole “I will continue to push these upward as part of the art of windows while leveraging pre-existing consumer promotions continuous improvement.” and national media to incorporate retailer media network plans Fulton also plans to continue to eliminate friction in the along with customized shopper activation plans. “In short, we’re shopping experience for shoppers while growing market share creating maximized engagement with shoppers and ensuring through targeted activations. With the COVID-19 impact in they cannot shop, browse or think about a need state without mind, the roadmap has been “completely thrown up in the air,” knowing Sano Consumer Healthcare has the right solution for he says. He hopes to one day be running integrated shopper them,” he says. The team’s e orts have taken Sano to a new marketing across a speci c group of retailers and leading place in terms of how it works with retailers as well as how it industry-wide change.

Since her college days at Michigan State, Rielly Whims has been fascinated by the grocery shopping experience. She likes to explore new stores and discover products on-shelf, walk every aisle and take pictures to better understand each retailer’s strategies as well as how brands are representing themselves to shoppers. “What we do in-store in uences the way people think about our products,” she says. Such journeys started during her school days, when during a six-week advertising program at the University of Rome she and her classmates learned about international business, walked the streets of Rome and studied Italian advertisements.

After her time overseas, Whims started an internship at shopper agency Mosaic in Chicago, focusing mainly on retailtainment events for Walmart. She agreed to stay on part-time, working remotely, while she went back to East Lansing, Michigan, to nish her degree. After graduating, she joined the agency full-time in account management. Three years later, she moved over to Kraft Heinz as a shopper marketing analyst for Walmart, and then, in February 2020, joined Bimbo Bakeries as an associate brand

manager in shopper marketing supporting multiple retailers. Today, Whims leads the shopper marketing e orts at Publix and Meijer, working between Bimbo’s brand teams and customer teams on brand initiatives and innovation updates while keeping the retailers and their priorities top-of-mind. She is currently transitioning Target and H-E-B to a new colleague as the company’s shopper marketing team continues to grow. Julie Haferkamp, a senior director at Mosaic, was instrumental in shaping Whims’ early career, as well as her vision for the future. “She was the kindest leader who worked incredibly hard and inspired others to do so as well,” she says. “You’d never know she was leading the charge because she worked just as hard as anyone and no task was beneath her. She wasn’t the intimidating leader I originally thought came along with success and experience.” Whims is proud of all the brands she’s worked on during her career and feels she already brings a unique perspective, having started at an agency and now has experience with two large CPG organizations. “I’ve gotten to work for some amazing brands,” she RIELLY WHIMS Company: Bimbo Bakeries USA says. “It’s been a real asset to see how di erent CPG companies are utilizing shopper marketing and have those Title: Associate Brand Manager, conversations about what is best in Shopper Marketing class and how we can continue to Age: 27 be excellent.” Education: She sees herself diving deeper

Michigan State University into the CPG industry, eventually (bachelor’s, advertising, with a working in innovation or gaining focus on media and management) the experience of managing a speci c brand. “You have to unlock a whole new set of skills from the shopper marketing perspective within brand management,” she says. “I think that would help me be a more well-rounded marketer as I learn to put the brand me be a more well-rounded marketer as I learn to put the brand rst as opposed to the retailer.” rst as opposed to the retailer.” Whims predicts time in stores will continue to decrease as Whims predicts time in stores will continue to decrease as shoppers adopt new behaviors post-pandemic, making product shoppers adopt new behaviors post-pandemic, making product placement in-store even more important and valuable as they placement in-store even more important and valuable as they focus on perimeter departments. “Retailers are prioritizing focus on perimeter departments. “Retailers are prioritizing meal solutions and items you can grab and go, and it’s meal solutions and items you can grab and go, and it’s getting shoppers out of the routine of [preparing food] getting shoppers out of the routine of [preparing food] at home more than we ever thought possible,” she says. at home more than we ever thought possible,” she says. Bimbo products are staples, and she believes the company Bimbo products are staples, and she believes the company has the opportunity to incorporate them into those has the opportunity to incorporate them into those solutions. solutions. “We’ll continue to market in-store and will also increase funds on our [DTC] platform since so many increase funds on our [DTC] platform since so many platforms have made that plunge,” Whims says. “People platforms have made that plunge,” Whims says. “People have learned a new and convenient way to shop, and have learned a new and convenient way to shop, and the ‘purchase again’ feature makes things so easy that the ‘purchase again’ feature makes things so easy that shoppers can continue to be reinspired.” shoppers can continue to be reinspired.”

Following internships at NBC News and “The Late Show with David Letterman,” Kelly Taylor planned for a career in broadcast journalism or television production. But she pivoted while nishing her degree at the University of Notre Dame to pursue a career at E. & J. Gallo because she was drawn to the company’s culture and the promise of building a long-term career.

She was recruited into Gallo’s Sales Leadership Development Program, starting as a retail sales representative in Detroit inside Great Lakes Wine & Spirits, a Gallo distributor, followed by district manager and key account analyst positions. She then transitioned to roles working directly for Gallo, calling on retail customers as a project analyst and regional account manager in Chicago, and has been its manager of e-commerce sales since July 2019.

Taylor is tasked with maximizing alcohol e-commerce sales across external sites and platforms. “I partner with the Gallo sales organization to consult with grocery retailers, specialty chains and independents on their e-commerce business,” she says. “Our team is committed to delivering datadriven recommendations to retailers to improve online alcohol availability, increase category visibility and optimize the online shopping experience for wine and spirits.” As consumer adoption of e-commerce KELLY TAYLOR Company: E. & J. Gallo Winery accelerated tremendously in 2020, Title: Taylor’s team heavily shifted its Manager, E-Commerce Sales marketing spend toward digital and Age: 29 experienced substantial e-commerce Education: revenue growth as new stores and University of Notre Dame restaurants began selling alcohol online. (bachelor’s, American studies, “We partnered with winery sales to consult television studies) my roles independently, contributing to an distributors, retailers and restaurants on best entrepreneurial culture that is rooted in Gallo’s practices for online category growth,” she says. company values of integrity, commitment, teamwork, As a result, online alcohol sales gained greater share humility and respect.” of mind across merchants, leading to increased category Persevering through the early days as a retail sales availability, visibility and prioritization. “We strengthened our representative and district manager led Taylor to where she partnership with both retail and on-premise partners as we is today. “Pushing through the holiday season as a wine sales provided suggestions on navigating the changing landscape representative is no easy task, but it’s entirely rewarding once and capitalizing on e-commerce sales.” you re ect on the hard work and sweat equity.”

Taylor has also been focused on developing retailer-facing Understanding entry-level sales responsibilities is crucial to insights, resources and best practices that help accounts succeeding in future roles at the Winery, she notes, since so improve the online shopping experience and maximize sales. much of what the company accomplishes is dependent upon “We also build sales-facing resources that enable our sales force the sales representatives at the store level. to identify opportunities for a customer’s e-commerce business,” Being on the e-commerce team in the midst of the COVID-19 she says. “As a result, we’ve encouraged sales to increase their pandemic has been immensely challenging but extremely e-commerce uency to accomplish e-commerce and digital rewarding. “Our team was thrust into the spotlight in 2020 and objectives.” rose to the challenge to support our sales organization quickly

Taylor points to the managers she has worked with since and e ectively,” she says. moving into roles inside Gallo as being instrumental in The team operates with an entrepreneurial spirit that allows it fostering her professional development. “They have all to seek out untapped opportunities and create solutions that set struck an impressive balance of providing ample support it up for success in the e-commerce sphere. Says Taylor: “I’m very while simultaneously allowing for personal autonomy,” proud of the body of work and the e-commerce wins we were she says. “My managers have put trust in me to execute able to accomplish.”

Bridget Nordlund believes that lasting solutions to our to switch paths into marketing by joining the admission team at greatest environmental issues are found through collaborating her alma mater, Saint Benedict’s and Saint John’s University. “That’s purposefully, asking questions and not being afraid to test new when I decided marketing was my future,” she says. approaches. While her degree in environmental studies from Wanting to be back on the brand side, Nordlund moved to the College of Saint Benedict didn’t lead her into the eld of startup City Girl Co ee Co. as head of brand development. She corporate sustainability like she had at once planned, she’s found stayed there for two years before taking an opportunity on the that the same mindset holds true for nding solutions to the e-commerce team at General Mills. She has served as senior largest business issues. “The best answers are found when you’re planner – brand experience, e-commerce, since March 2020. not afraid to strip the problem down to hundreds of questions, As part of the e-commerce pure-play unit mainly focusing admit you alone don’t have the single key, and then work as a on the company’s Instacart business, Nordlund partners closely team with full humility to build something that’s never been built with other planners on the e-commerce shopper team while before,” she says. collaborating with their sales counterparts. “Together we ask

Nordlund started her career as a business analyst at Target, tough questions and set the bar high for what we want to focusing on the retailer’s private-label sleepwear lines. She achieve,” she says. “The weight that e-commerce has on the was promoted to senior business analyst in the shoe growth of General Mills as a whole has evolved and department and then became a sourcing manager more eyes are on e-commerce,” she explains. “So responsible for negotiating costs and building the retailer’s vendor matrix. BRIDGET NORDLUND we’ve had to navigate new waters almost daily and ensure that methods and processes ... are

Just a few years into her career, she decided Just a few years into her career, she decided Company: General Mills best in class so our e orts meet the needs Title: Senior Planner – of the company and what we believe the Brand Experience, E-Commerce future holds.” Age: 35 Nordlund points to several individuals Education: College of Saint Benedict (bachelor’s, environmental studies, who have helped her in her career thus far. While in her last position at Saint political science); Gonzaga University Benedict’s and Saint John’s, she reported (masters, communication and to Tammy Moore, the CMO, who “has this leadership studies) unprecedented ability to immediately see to the core of complicated issues, and she made them instantly uncomplicated,” she says. “More than that, her superpower was bringing teams together than that, her superpower was bringing teams together to solve those issues.” to solve those issues.” While at General Mills, her mentor Christine Wicker has made a While at General Mills, her mentor Christine Wicker has made a signi cant impact as well. “Her trust, the challenges she tasked me signi cant impact as well. “Her trust, the challenges she tasked me with, and her guidance allowed me to own the business at a far with, and her guidance allowed me to own the business at a far quicker pace than I thought possible,” she says. quicker pace than I thought possible,” she says. Nordlund has e ectively built relationships with her team Nordlund has e ectively built relationships with her team and the broader cross-functional team. “It’s been a wild and and the broader cross-functional team. “It’s been a wild and crazy year for all of us with the pandemic and the growth of crazy year for all of us with the pandemic and the growth of e-commerce,” she says. “But if anything, it’s accelerated us.” e-commerce,” she says. “But if anything, it’s accelerated us.” She’s also capitalized on opportunities to drive e ciency and She’s also capitalized on opportunities to drive e ciency and consistency. consistency. “If I find what I believe to be an answer to an issue on “If I find what I believe to be an answer to an issue on my particular business and projects, I don’t let it stop my particular business and projects, I don’t let it stop there,” says Nordlund. Instead, she works to share her there,” says Nordlund. Instead, she works to share her learnings with the team and understand if the tool or learnings with the team and understand if the tool or process she has adopted can fit broader needs outside process she has adopted can fit broader needs outside of her immediate business. “By doing so, it allows for of her immediate business. “By doing so, it allows for strategic conversation and is a welcome reminder that strategic conversation and is a welcome reminder that we’re climbing the same mountain. I try to be that we’re climbing the same mountain. I try to be that bridge that thinks through how the process and tools bridge that thinks through how the process and tools can allow us to break down unnecessary barriers to be a can allow us to break down unnecessary barriers to be a larger force together.” larger force together.”

A native of Bentonville, Arkansas, Hannah Manchester understands what the growth of Walmart has meant to her hometown. She watched it happen during her younger years, and when it came time to go to college, she looked no further than the business school in which the Walton family had invested so much. “The Walton College of Business emphasized the importance of hands-on application, real-life experience and learning from industry leaders,” she says, thinking back to courses that brought in executives from the community working in and for the Walmart ecosystem.

Having topics brought to life by leadership in the business community across Northwest Arkansas gave them a tangibility that would have otherwise been lost, she says. “I also couldn’t do what I do today without the knowledge of how to work across a team, united to the common goal and drawing upon each person’s individual strengths to drive the business forward in a meaningful way.” Manchester’s career began at Tyson Foods as an intern while still attending the University of Arkansas. The position was important to her HANNAH MANCHESTER not only for the career potential but also Company: J.M. Smucker Co. because the company had deep roots in Title: Manager, Commerce Marketing, Arkansas. After she graduated, she became Walmart & Sam’s Club Pet a Tyson marketing assistant and ultimately Age: 32 worked her way up to associate product manager on the innovation team. After ve years at Tyson, she moved to Sam’s Club and Education: University of Arkansas, Walton College of Business (bachelor’s, retail marketing) led the retailer’s Tier 1 national programming and co-led holiday executions and campaigns for Easter and summer grilling.

Following time o to have her rst child, Manchester became a marketing manager focused on corporate marketing and insights for George’s, a local family-owned and operated The Doggie Days of Summer program recognized that dog food business. Less than a year later, with the desire to get back food treats aren’t the consumable categories that likely come to to shopper marketing, she transitioned to J.M. Smucker Co. as mind when someone thinks “summertime,” Manchester says. So manager of commerce marketing for pet at Walmart & Sam’s Club. the team wanted to create a program that would capitalize on a

Manchester is responsible for collaborating across sales, seasonal opportunity to drive sales and share of Smucker brands merchants and retailer media groups to build marketing at Walmart. campaigns that foster emotional connections between shoppers “The program had an amazing inaugural year [in 2019], pairing and Smucker pet brands such as Rachael Ray Nutrish, Meow each dog food brand with social in uencers who could best bring Mix and Milk-Bone. The ultimate goal is driving conversion and the speci c brand promises to life,” she says. Video and static delivering against the joint business plans for the Walmart and visual content was featured both on Walmart.com and o -site, Sam’s Club accounts. “I own all phases of the planning process, leading to curated, shoppable experiences that allowed shoppers including analyzing shopper, category and POS trends, aligning to connect to each brand in a meaningful way. key brand and customer priorities, and executing best-in-class “After seeing how the campaign drove conversion and marketing campaigns that drive tra c and conversion for my [brand share] at Walmart during this time, we decided to accounts,” she says. expand year two to include dog treats,” Manchester says. The

Campaigns such as “Doggie Days of Summer” and “Treat the effort paired food and treat brands together based on target Snuggle Season” have proven to drive demand in white space audience and messaging, creating a total solution for Walmart seasons, and programs for new innovation like Meow Mix Tasty dog owners. “We were able to capitalize on a season that didn’t Layers and Rachael Ray Nutrish Savory Bites have aligned to have a lot of pet talk,” she says. “We were able to own that national media for maximum reach and e ciency. timeframe at Walmart.”

her career. She spent ve years at FreshDirect, rising to vice president of merchandising for the grocery, dairy and frozen categories. In early 2020, Mesing took a position at Danone to oversee e-commerce, strategy and marketing, and that came with another move, this time to Broom eld, Colorado. A recent company restructuring gave Mesing responsibility for all aspects of the e-commerce consumer experience at Danone, including strategy, which she says is in place to evolve internal capabilities to adapt to the rise of grocery delivery and click-andcollect channels. “My role to date has been focused on developing the acceleration roadmap, including the sta ng plan, data and analytics infrastructure, demand generation and marketing strategy, and phased investment approach,” she says, noting that all digital content falls under her purview as well as search marketing. In her time at Danone, which consisted of just two weeks in the o ces before the pandemic hit, Mesing has been able to build and evolve the company’s data infrastructure by collaborating with cross-functional teams. That has provided a foundational data source supporting all CARRIE MESING e-business initiatives. “When I joined Danone, it was Company: Danone very challenging for us to piece together the full picture of our e-commerce universe,” she says. “By Title: Director, E-Commerce collaborating with partners across the organization Consumer Experience – including nance, sales, shopper marketing and Age: 32 business intelligence – we were able to centralize Education: University of Pittsburgh inputs and build data visualization tools that have (bachelor’s, business administration, helped us leverage data for storytelling versus marketing; minor in economics) simply ‘reporting the news.’” Not surprisingly, e-commerce at Danone exploded A self-proclaimed food fanatic who as a result of the pandemic. Despite heavy consumer thrives in fast-paced, entrepreneurial adoption, the channel was still foreign to Danone, Mesing environments, Carrie Mesing was studying says. “As people across the organization became more interested, developmental economics in college when she fell our role expanded to include internal education.” in love with the food industry and took an internship at Giant On a more general note, she points to the major adjustment Eagle. A native of Pittsburgh, Mesing stayed in her hometown needed to continue fostering a strong culture in a virtual to earn a degree in business administration and marketing with environment. “Beyond virtual happy hours and Zoom meetings, a minor in economics, with several of her courses focusing on encouraging open communication and feedback and connecting consumer psychology, buyer patterns and the art and science of on a personal level has helped us keep the positive momentum uncovering trends in data. during a challenging time.”

Upon graduation, she accepted a job with Daymon Worldwide David McInerney, the CEO of FreshDirect and Mesing’s previous in San Antonio, Texas, rst as a management development boss/current mentor and friend, has had the biggest impact on associate and a year later taking a position with the local H-E-B her career. “David has been on a ‘tastes great’ crusade for the past team. She was then asked to be a founding team member for 20 years and has informed my food philosophy,” she says. FreshDirect, part of the new e-commerce channel of trade, still Mesing believes consumers will continue to push retailers to working for Daymon but based in New York City. embrace an omnichannel approach to commerce, which will

Mesing joined the FreshDirect team in early 2015 and oversaw strengthen the role of digital/e-commerce. “My role will continue the building of its private-label program from scratch, which to evolve as retailers embrace and integrate interactive displays, she considers a career highlight. “It was a private brand that was augmented reality and other forms of technology into the mission-based,” she says. It was there that her passion for being consumer experience – both in-store and online,” she says. “We transparent with consumers – about where food comes from and need to connect the in-store and online environments into one what’s in it – began and became a constant thread throughout cohesive experience.”

Finding a passion around food as both an essential need and something that consumers have an innate emotional connection with, Catie Ho man entered into the world of food marketing while at St. Joseph’s University. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the school’s esteemed program while also studying in its Leadership, Ethics and Organizational Sustainability major.

Frequent interaction with the CPG companies that worked with students to solve real-life problems in their businesses sparked how she wanted to shape her career path. And an internship program through Mars Wrigley – in which she was placed on an actual team and in the o ce every day working on real solutions – gave her the ultimate preparation for what a full-time role would require at the confectionery giant.

Hired as an associate shopper marketing manager in August 2019, Ho man has been back lling a manager for several months, with a focus on program strategy, planning and execution for key grocery customers. Working with the sales teams and crossfunctional partners on customer strategy, she strives to determine how shopper marketing can be a strategic lever to pull when trying to accomplish overall customer goals. “We look at our retailer’s CATIE HOFFMAN priorities and how those intersect with our Company: Mars Wrigley priorities so that we can identify the right Title: Associate Shopper levers to drive an intended outcome,” she Marketing Manager says. “Shopper marketing plays a critical Age: 23 role in how we bring our brands to life instore and online and drives conversion with Education: St. Joseph’s University (bachelor’s, food marketing and shoppers.” leadership, ethics and organizational

Day to day, Ho man concentrates on sustainability) building omnichannel approaches to hitting overall company business goals, managing the challenges of growing the Mars Wrigley grocery shopper budget as well as the team of agency business while simultaneously working with new partners, and communicating with internal stakeholders retailer media groups to drive shopper marketing on how to execute shopper-facing systems more e ciently. “I’m initiatives and how those two go hand in hand. “I’m proud planning our overall strategy, the programming that ladders back of how we’ve been able to grow those relationships with to the strategy and then executing all the programs at six major our retailer media groups across the grocery landscape,” she grocery retailers,” she explains. says. “The results of that have been really driving the Mars

Ho man says three individuals have already in uenced Wrigley business.” She also works closely with cross-functional her during her time at Mars. Hannah McKee, former shopper teams internally and with third-party groups to bring thought marketing manager, taught her to be tenacious and have leadership to retailers in the digital space, which has been con dence with internal and external stakeholders. “She ensured pivotal during the pandemic, she notes. we had that North Star of where Mars Wrigley is moving and how In an e ort that DeVleeschouwer says has brought clarity to the that a ects shopper marketing,” she says. importance and value of the shopper marketing team, Ho man

Darren DeVleeschouwer, Mars’ director of shopper marketing partnered with another associate to create Mars’ Shopper Marketing and consumer promotions, has helped her understand the Playbook, a set of guiding principles that ladder back to the overall importance of bringing the full vision of the organization down team strategy. “We saw the gap for the shopper marketing ethos to a shopper marketing level. And Sue Barkalow, head of strategic and the pillars of shopper marketing to be explained to the overall channel solutions, has been a role model for how to balance work organization,” she says. The playbook is used to inform planning, and family. “Having a really strong woman in a leadership position strategy and has been so important for me as I’m trying to see what my future execution and as More at P2PI.org could look like,” she says. a reference during Profi les of our People to Watch,

Ho man says she’s pleased with her ability to balance the annual planning. IQ named annually since 2005.

DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER: A VIABLE OPTION

Lured by stronger consumer engagement and the data it brings, CPGs increasingly focus on DTC sales – and retailers on DTC brands.

BY SAMANTHA NELSON

The COVID-19 pandemic didn’t revolutionize retail or CPG marketing so much as it accelerated retail or CPG marketing so much as it accelerated shifts toward digital shopping that had been shifts toward digital shopping that had been building for years. One of the clearest examples building for years. One of the clearest examples of the impact can be seen in direct-to-consumer of the impact can be seen in direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, which has piqued the interest of (DTC) sales, which has piqued the interest of major brands for years, leading them to test the major brands for years, leading them to test the waters primarily through acquisitions of digital waters primarily through acquisitions of digital natives or tests with personalized products, natives or tests with personalized products, experimental brands, unique pack sizes or experimental brands, unique pack sizes or subscription services. subscription services. But as pandemic restrictions led to a But as pandemic restrictions led to a massive surge in shopping from home, some massive surge in shopping from home, some CPGs decided it was time to really take the CPGs decided it was time to really take the plunge into the DTC space. plunge into the DTC space. Omar Haque, vice president of Omar Haque, vice president of e-commerce for Bimbo Bakeries’ Acelerada e-commerce for Bimbo Bakeries’ Acelerada unit, says that DTC had been on the unit, says that DTC had been on the company’s radar for the past three years, company’s radar for the past three years, but it had been “backburnered” due to but it had been “backburnered” due to budgetary constraints. When COVID-19 budgetary constraints. When COVID-19 hit, the company took note of insights hit, the company took note of insights fi nding that screen time had increased fi nding that screen time had increased and consumers concerned about their and consumers concerned about their safety were browsing more brand safety were browsing more brand and DTC websites than before as they and DTC websites than before as they searched for delivery options. PepsiCo/ searched for delivery options. PepsiCo/ Frito-Lay had launched the DTC websites PantryShop.com and Snacks. com in May 2020 based on those same insights, and Bimbo didn’t want to be left behind. insights, and Bimbo didn’t want to be left behind.

“We wanted to create that direct connection with “We wanted to create that direct connection with

the consumer,” Haque says. “Retailers today know more about consumers than us. We wanted to get more data and insights. We wanted to know what products people were searching for. We are the leaders in our categories. We wanted to be thought leaders.”

Bimbo launched SweetSnacking.com right before Thanksgiving to capitalize on holiday gifting sales. New York-based digital engagement agency NX3 designed the website, which is powered by Shopify plugins. Haque says relying on partners and taking a plug-and-play approach let the company get the website up in three months. Now he’s working on increasing traffic through spending on paid search.

While Haque acknowledges that he doesn’t expect DTC to ever be a huge revenue play for Bimbo, he says the goal is to use the website for product innovation. “Instead of going to a retail channel where it’s more commercialized [and requires] bigger batches, this is a great testing ground.”

Bold Strategies president Allan Peretz led DTC for Procter & Gamble eight years ago. Back then, many big CPGs were worried that launching DTC stores would disrupt their relationships with major retailer partners, so the potential benefits didn’t outweigh the risk. Small companies that didn’t have to worry about their partnerships with Walmart or Target turned to DTC, and some like Harry’s Inc. wound up becoming retail darlings.

“Today, you’ve got retailer buyers out there scouting for upand-coming DTC brands,” Peretz says. “They’re doing that because they want to understand trends and they want to potentially bring those brands in-store. I think everyone’s acknowledged that there’s a lot of exciting stuff going on online given the competitive nature and the low barriers to entry. For that reason, competing online in different and unique ways becomes more acceptable – even in those big relationships.”

While big CPGs might feel more freedom now to experiment with DTC, Peretz notes that they often are at a disadvantage compared to digital natives because they’re siloed by channel and often have long lead times for marketing and innovation. “The small companies that are coming up in DTC, they take a much more integrated view of things,” he says. “They’re also more data-based in terms of understanding what’s happening in the e-commerce channel than a lot of the big companies. They’re always out there trying things, trying new concepts. They do it

“What we’ve been able to do sometimes is launch first on DTC and then use those learnings and insights to more effectively launch at retail.”

— Andrew Feldman, director of e-commerce, Hello Products

“You’ve got retailer buyers out there scouting for up-andcoming DTC brands. They’re doing that because they want to understand trends and they want to potentially bring those brands in-store.”

— Allan Peretz, president, Bold Strategies

very quickly and fail fast.”

Oral care company Hello Products launched its DTC business in 2017 and was purchased by Colgate-Palmolive in January 2020. Hello director of e-commerce Andrew Feldman says he expects to see more big CPGs buying companies to gain their DTC expertise.

“Companies like Hello have proven that we can be more nimble and often form deeper and more resonant connections with people, and that just allows us to gain insights faster and go to market quicker than typical CPGs have been able to do historically,” he says. “I think companies like that look to brands like Hello to teach them how to pivot and innovate on a rapid scale.”

The brand has an online community called Hello Friends that provides product ideas. And while Hello products are also available in a wide range of retailers including Dollar General and Whole Foods, the DTC site offers exclusive SKUs and provides a testing ground for innovation. “What we’ve been able to do sometimes is launch first on DTC and then use those learnings and insights to more effectively launch at retail,” Feldman says. “We’re able to demonstrate to our retailer partners that the high level of interest and engagement will be there because we have the real data from DTC.”

Keith Anderson, Profitero senior vice president, strategy & partnerships, suggests that depth of consumer engagement is one reason that big CPGs are looking to buy DTC brands. “Part of what you’re buying ... is innovation that emerged from somebody who was paying better attention to certain consumers,” he says.

The number of DTC businesses has surged in the past decade because of the increase in digital shopping platforms like Shopify and targeted advertising that makes it easier to reach shoppers, Anderson says. According to him, the new growth model for DTC brands is: “Launch one to maybe three products in a category ripe for disruption, really focus on the quality of those products, set up a beautiful DTC site, and then use Instagram, Pinterest, increasingly TikTok, and some of the other emerging visual social media platforms to reach the audience that you want to reach, and they can buy these individual items almost as seamlessly as Amazon’s one-click model.”

According to the Path to Purchase Institute’s Trends 2021 report, which examined strategic/tactical changes caused by

“Brands are frustrated. They’re worried that, at some point, they could be completely replaced [by retailers]. That’s why they’re trying to dip their toes in the water right now and figure it out because they see a long-term risk.”

— Mike Mullen, co-founder, Analog Commerce the pandemic, 17% of CPGs temporarily increased DTC sales due to COVID-19 and another 24% permanently increased their activity. One of the main drivers was concern over supply chain disruption, but Peretz says he expects the growth to continue because DTC sites have gotten so much easier to launch.

“You’ve got solutions that really make it a one-step, two-step process for brands like Shopify and Shopify Plus,” he says. “I see even big companies using those packaged solutions to experiment with DTC because it’s quick and easy and it doesn’t turn into a major IT project for months and years like it did in the past. ... For that reason I think more brands are going to say, ‘Why not?’”

Although 95% of major CPGs have yet to try DTC, that’s changing as brands grow more concerned about how their products are being sold online by retailers, particularly Amazon,” according to Mike Mullen, co-founder of DTC solution company Analog Commerce. “You go to the brand site and you click over to Amazon, and Amazon shows you competitive stuff and private label stuff,” he says. “A small percentage of brands are frustrated. They’re worried that, at some point, they could be completely replaced. That’s why they’re trying to dip their toes in the water right now and figure it out because they see a long-term risk there.”

DTC sales are typically more expensive than selling through traditional retail because of shipping costs, Mullen says, but established brands can still win in the space by differentiating their product and the experience. That’s especially relevant as retailers focused on SKU rationalization have pushed CPGs to reduce the number of flavors and formats they sell in stores. “You can use your limited retail distribution as a way to introduce the brand to people and have them also see that there’s more that you can do,” he says. “I think the future of DTC for traditional CPG becomes a long tail play.”

That strategy has also been embraced by DTC companies that have begun

selling their products through brick-andmortar retail. “A lot of [DTC brands] see retail as a way to drive sampling and trial,” Peretz says. “It’s no longer only a volume driver for them. It’s a way to scale up their business. Someone’s going to go to the big box retailer and buy their product for the fi rst time, but they hope that the second purchase comes through their DTC site where they actually have more control and more profi tability.”

Major retailers are still eager to get DTC brands into stores to bolster their selection of exclusive and on-trend products. Peretz says he expects that to continue because DTC brands are fi nding stronger ways to innovate than major CPGs, who are more prone to small changes like new scents or packaging.

“A lot of the DTC brands have tapped into things that consumers care about like sustainability and social responsibility,” he says. “The retailers see that and they bring these brands in because that gives them a cool factor. Consumers want that and the big brands aren’t always off ering it.” IQ

Target Keeps Thinx-ing DTC

Target regularly partners with digitally native brands to give them an in-store presence. Among recent examples was an exclusive, budget-friendly line of period underwear from Thinx.

Thinx for All recently rolled out to Target.com and Target stores in brief, bikini and high-waist styles, which the brand boasts have the absorbency of up to three or five tampons, depending on the style. Priced at $17, the underwear are available in sizes ranging from XS to 4X and, according to reports, will be available at other major retailers later this year.

In Target stores, Thinx for All SKUs enjoy secondary merchandising space via endcaps outfitted with signage positioning the brand as “underwear that absorbs your period” and promoting the line as “new and only at” Target. A Target.com promotional page detailing how the line works and a March 1 Instagram update from Thinx support.

Thinx’s products made their brick-and-mortar debut through a partnership with Nordstrom in 2019. However, the new line debuting at Target both expands the brand’s in-store presence and makes it more accessible to cost-conscious shoppers. (One Thinx undergarment can cost up to $42 on direct-to-consumer website SheThinx.com, or at retailers such as Nordstrom and Amazon.)

“Thinx for All is here to bring better period protection to even more people,” the brand noted in its Instagram update. “Inclusive sizing, more accessible price point. See ya in the underwear aisle at Target.”

— Cyndi Loza