The Challenge
A major national food and beverage manufacturer who produce a steady stream of product innovation was struggling with consumer awareness and uptake in Tier 2 stores where new SKU’s had limited facings and usually no off-shelf presence. Entirely new formulations or formats are also not easily understood or risked by shoppers.
Brief
Build a medium-term, quality shopper engagement and brand education programme to drive sales in larger Tier 2 stores, primarily through the medium of product sampling. Maximise the investment and geographical coverage by rotating them between stores within a reasonable commuting radius.
1: A full-time national team of well-trained sales-oriented Brand Ambassadors established in 3 major centres, each with a cluster of stores within which to build the clients sales and market share.
2: Immersive training resulted in quality conversations across the client’s wide basket of brands and product types, resulting in cross and upselling opportunities.
3: A 6-days a week focus on talking up new product attributes and conducting tastings drove trial and awareness, shopper conversion from competitor products and built rate of sale in these outlets over a period.
Hundreds of thousands of quality shopper engagements logged, with 83% sampled, almost all went on to purchase. Brand awareness was significantly enhanced with 45% of shoppers leaving with the client’s product vs a product they were browsing.
