Downsizing Can Shrink Your Brand

Downsizing is a term that has become too familiar in recent years.  Most people associate it with company layoffs as corporate America has tried to cut costs.  After the cuts the remaining staff has to do the work of the previous larger size team.  “Do more with less” has been the request.  Cutting staff is a large disruption to business as usual and the morale of a company.  Can you more effectively use your team to drive growth by aligning and prioritizing a single growth initiative? 

Another frequent demonstration of downsizing is packaging downsizing.  Once more this is “Do more with less.”  The consumer gets a smaller package, “less” for the price of the previously larger one.  The brand gets to convince both their retailers and the consumer this is a good value. 

You may have noticed packages getting smaller once again in recent months.  From ice cream, to cereal, candy bars and canned goods, packages are smaller while prices stay the same or increase.  Here are some examples noted recently in the news:  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/40915489/ns/today-money/t/shrinking-feeling-downsized-products/

While both of these forms of downsizing can boost company profits in the short term, downsizing is not growth.  It is a defensive tactic.  Before you pursue this path, fully explore the options to grow your way to success rather than trying to save your way there.

Downsizing a package saves cost, but the consumers usually see it for what it is…a price increase and a reduction in the volume they buy from you.  Try to create value.  Make your package the size that consumers’ value most and give them reasons to buy from you more frequently.

If you downsize your consumer’s packaging, you also diminish your relationship with them and in time, your brand.  Upsize your value, your relationship and in time, your market share, by offering consumers more value when your competition chooses to give them less.

Part 2 - A Shopper Marketer's View On Thursday's Early Start To Black Friday

Key Lessons From Black Thursday Midnight Openings at

Walmart, Target and Best Buy

What Worked:

• Holiday spirit was present as most shoppers were courteous and friendly to each other even when lines got long and product ran out.  At Target, shoppers talked peacefully to help work out who was next in line at intersections of aisles.
• Target's and Best Buy's choice to open the store at midnight without pre-shopping hours ensured true doorbuster opportunities for shoppers.  Those who waited in line to be there early were satisfied.
• Best Buy handed tickets to shoppers wanting the hottest doorbusters who then picked them up after paying.
• Target was well stocked.  Discounted videos, a hot item in all stores, were plentiful.
• Walmart had a map identifying where the hottest specials were located.
• Registered worked and staff was well trained at all stores.
• Specials were clearly marked.
• Shoppers picked up impulse items off aisle displays as they waited in line.  Even items discarded in a bin by one shopper were often picked up by another shopper behind them in line.
• Stores were packed and the registers rang--at least for the first couple hours.

What Can Be Improved:

• Walmart allowing pre-shopping hours resulting in doorbusters being gone by the official start time--waiting in carts across the store.  The early birds stole the worms in this case.  They also took every cart so there was not a single free cart, in the store or parking lot, at 10:00PM.  Opening the store at 10:00 would have worked smoother.
• Walmart did not have enough inventory in store to satisfy demand for many of their specials.
• At both Walmart and Target, many of the special items were not located in the department for those items causing shoppers to have to go hunting for where to find an item.  This caused frustration and more traffic in the aisles.
• Target had product packed too tight in many departments making it difficult to impossible to get a cart in that space for shopping.
• Target had trouble handling the hundreds of shoppers who were trying to get to the checkout at the same time.
• Checkout lines at Target quickly made it impossible for many shoppers to continue to shop.  It was difficult to cross the store and it became evident that the longer one shopped, the later you would be waiting to check out.  By 12:40, most shoppers were in line to check out.
• Departments without specials were often ignored at Walmart and Target.  The midnight shopper picked up the advertised items first and added a few additional items.  The building lines appeared to limit shopping.  Several in line commented that they did not pursue their entire shopping list to avoid being there all night.  These shoppers might end up buying those items in another store.
• Shoppers coming to these 3 stores early this morning to start their Black Friday shopping will be disappointed.  The specials were mostly gone.  Hopefully the stores were picked up in the middle of the night so shoppers would find a clean store this morning.

This can be a big year for retailers if they put themselves in the minds of their shoppers.  Take actions to not only make it easy to shop your stores and buy products, but to also delight shoppers with their shopping experience.  You can build loyal shoppers this holiday season if you do it right. 

A Shopper Marketer's View On Thursday's Early Start To Black Friday - Part 1

I decided to join the crowds in the late Thanksgiving shopping start to Black Friday.  I was curious to see how this approach would vary from last year's early morning opening at big box retailers.  I also had some shopping to do...

Overall, I would call the night a mixed success for the 3 big box retailers I visited. 

Walmart
I started at Walmart who started many specials at 10:00 and others at midnight -although the stores were open before both official start times.  The store was packed.  There was not a cart (or buggy as they are called here in South Carolina) to be found in the store or the overflowing parking lot.  As I expected, the specials were mostly pre-shopped before the official "bargain" start times.  While greeters passed out maps to find specials, many were picked clean.  Pallets of goods shrinkwrapped and marked that the price would be honored until midnight were ripped apart and empty long before that time.  Shoppers were huddled in aisle with full carts waiting for the hours to pass.  Others grabbed the appropriate time products and waited in lines at registers across the store to check out.  It was fairly well organized, but those who showed up at the posted time for specials were likely disappointed by those who pre-shopped.  I heard more than one frustrated shopper who missed out.

Target
The theme for the night at Target was lines.  The line to get in was 4-5 people wide and ran the length of the shopping center.  The picture above shows about 1/3 of this crowd.  At midnight, entering the store was an orderly rush to get specials, but quickly aisles reached gridlock with shoppers and carts trying to reach different parts of the store.  Departments were so packed with product and people that carts often could not pass.  Shoppers repeatedly bumped into each other and displays.  After 15-20 minutes of shopping frenzy, the aisles started to fill with shoppers moving toward the registers.  The front register set up was well run, but little planning seemed evident on where to line up the check out line as it began to build.  Lines of shoppers soon wrapped back and forth using all major aisle of the store.  For a while, there was some chaos as shoppers pushed to merge at intersections.  Eventually some employees started working as traffic cops at intersections and order was restored.  Many shoppers would end up waiting over 2 hours in line to checkout.  This was the busiest store of the night and the worst shopping line experience.

Best Buy
I ended my night at Best Buy.  They had a midnight waiting line that was about 75% of Target's line at opening.  The rush was over by the time I reached there, but the store was still busy.  Many specials were gone, but the staff was orderly and helped identify where remaining discounted product could be found.  The store was well staffed and it was still easy to get help with locating product or answering a technical question.  The checkout line again snaked through the store, but the path was well marked and there was a man with helium balloons marking the end of the line.  While checkout took longer than Walmart, this was the best run shopping experience of the night - and an improvement at Best Buy over the previous year.

Was it worth going shopping?  Yes - for both the bargains and the experience.  Long night.  Learning from this experience is shared in Part 2.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday for many.  It is a family gathering; a time to share a meal and a day together.  It also launches the end of the year holiday season.  From this day to New Year’s Day, diets are set aside, stores are full with busy shoppers, people put on holiday cheer and take a little more time for family and friends.

This year, look at how you can give thanksgiving for your customers, suppliers and business partners.  Take time to say thanks—or give thanks by delivering added value or just holiday cheer to those who buy from you and work with you all year.  It is both a holiday gift and a way to be remembered in the New Year.

Alignment

I have been a Boy Scout Leader for many outings.  When we hike or backpack, we are most effective when we have a boy leader up front who knows where we need to go, when we need to be there and what path we are taking to get there.  If that scout leads well, the rest of the crew is aligned to the plan, follows him and we get to our destination on time.  If each scout has different plans or priorities, we will move slowly, wander or get lost along the way. 

Alignment issues are also evident when tires are not aligned on a vehicle.  A tire out of alignment can cause vibrations that are heard and felt throughout the entire car.  All the tires can wear faster, the car burns fuel faster and it puts stress on the car.  A car in good alignment is efficient and effective.

It can also be evident when a company’s leadership team is not in alignment.   If leadership does not share goals and priorities, how can the organization?  Like the scout hike, the team can wander or get lost in the woods by trying to go different directions.  Like the car, the vibrations of leaders out of alignment can be felt throughout the organization and the company runs far less effectively and efficiently than it could.

Take time several times a year to give your leadership team a tune up and align your goals and priorities.  You will run faster when you are all running in the same direction.

4 Ways to Win Shopper Hide and Seek

Most of us played Hide and Seek as a child.  You hide and try not to be found by the person playing with you.  It can be a fun game if you are a child.  It is not a good game if you are a consumer product sitting on a shelf hoping someone will buy you.

Is your product hiding? Sometimes products hide in plain sight.  Other times, no one is searching for them.  To win the retail game of hide and seek, consider the following:

1.       First, be in the game.  Make sure you are making a product that people value and will seek out in store.  Make what the market wants rather than making what you can market.

2.       Be easy to find.  The easiest place to be found is to be right in front of the seeker.  When possible, work with your retailer to get secondary placement for your product.  Pursue endcaps, special displays, in-store features, shippers or retail merchandising / POP signage that get you noticed. 

3.       Make your package stand out from your competition on shelf so you can be easily found.  If the consumer has to seek your product out on the regular shelf, do not hide by looking the same as the others in the category.  Clearly make sure you are visually differentiated on the shelf.  Is your package a different color, shape, size, material than your key competition next to you?  Can you make your package look high value and make theirs look blah by comparison?  Don’t hide; shout so you can be found.

4.       Let shoppers know which game your product is playing.  Does your packaging clearly communicate what your product is; what is uniquely better about it than any other product and who is this product for?  Once they find your package, let them know why to buy you.

Remember, your competitor is playing the same game.  If you play the game better, you will be the one to make it to “home” first—in the shopping bag.

4 Pathways to Growth

What is your top strategy for growth? Do you have written goals and a plan to get you there? Have you considered the different growth pathways available to you? Perhaps there is another growth path that could be even more effective for you.

You should be prioritizing one of these 4 pathways for strategic growth. Each can be effective; however, pursuing multiple paths at the same time can dilute your efforts and introduce risk. Which path are you following?

1. Sell more current products to your current customers—can you increase the frequency with which your customers buy your product or services? Can you get them to buy more than one of your products from you? Do they know all that you offer today?

2. Sell current products to new customers—who would benefit by becoming your customer? Who buys from you today? Why did they start to buy from you? Can you find similar people and introduce your product or service to them? How can you get more of the right people to try you?

3. Sell new products to your current customers—how can you add more value and build a stronger relationship with your current customers? Are the products or services you can offer them that would make current customers more loyal and perhaps even become an advocate for your product with their friends? Don’t launch a new product just to launch one. Launch a new product that will delight your current customer base. Think of the lines waiting to buy each new iPhone. Can you do that?

4. Sell new products to new customers—create a new category, a new market, a new business that is different from your current. This is the most difficult approach. You leverage fewer existing strengths and take on more risk. It can be done well, but even Steve Jobs tended to sell new products to existing customers first before seeking out entirely new markets.

When planning any important journey, it is good to have a plan before you depart. What is your plan and which path will you follow?

GrowthSpring Group is a market research, marketing strategy and innovation firm focused on accelerating your sales and profit growth. We help you identify new business growth insights & opportunities and execute winning strategies & plans. www.GrowthSpringGroup.com

Spring

Spring is a powerful word with many meanings. Two that are relevant to business include: to rise, move or act swiftly and to be released from a constrained position. Spring is also the season of new growth following winter.

In each of these, there is action and change. Abraham Maslow said, “You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.”

As you look to grow your business or are you stuck in a business winter? Are your sales constrained more than you would like? Are you playing it too safe in this challenging financial climate?

Look at how you can put some spring in your efforts to grow your sales. You can step forward into growth if you target and engage the market new products and programs that truly differentiate you. But first…you have to choose to spring.