Coupon Value drops

Some 272 billion free-standing insert (FSI) coupons were distributed in 2011 -- a decline of 6.5% from 2010, according to estimates released today by WPP’s Kantar Media unit.

The 2011 decline follows two consecutive years of annual increases, including a 7.2% gain in 2010 and an 8.0% gain in 2009.

The decrease may be a positive indicator for the advertising marketplace, since marketers historically shift budgets from brand-building advertising into consumer price promotions during periods of weak consumer demand. During 2011, Kantar estimated the value of the coupons distributed was worth more than $421 billion in consumer price incentives.

Another strong indicator: the average “face value” of coupon offers did not increase during 2011. It actually declined slightly from 2010. At $1.55, the average face value per coupon distributed in 2011 was down 0.2% from 2010.

Coupled with declines in another important metric -- the average expiration time per coupon offer, which fell 5.2% from 2010 -- this indicates "that manufacturers are managing their financial exposure by maintaining current offer values, reducing the number of coupons distributed, and shortening the length of time that these offers are available in the market,” Kantar said.


Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/165126/marketers-hold-the-promo-line-in-2011-coupon-volu.html#ixzz1jdeZqY7v

NFL Lockout Threatens In-store Promos for Pepsi, Mars, P&G and More

http://adage.com/article/news/nfl-lockout-threatens-pepsi-mars-p-g-s-store-marketing/227830/

After spending millions in advance on multibrand, in-store promotional deals with the National Football League, Procter & Gamble, Mars and PepsiCo, among others, now find themselves faced with the possibility of a truncated season that could do more damage to their plans and brands than those of the networks and TV buyers.

Networks can schedule alternate programming and marketers can apply media analytics to follow their target audiences wherever they go when they're not watching NFL football. But shopper-marketing events have calendars set a year or more in advance. Product has to be produced and displays have to be filled, regardless of whether games get played.

The Power of Packaging Doesn't Stop at the Store

http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/power-packaging-stop-store/227046/
nfluencing consumers to buy a product is half the battle. Getting consumers to use it when they take it home (and therefore increase the likelihood they'll buy it again) is the other. Packaging can make the difference. If a product looks appealing and is practical to store in a consumer's pantry or freezer, it can easily become part of the "three Rs" -- routines, rituals and regimens.

WPP's Kinetic Launches Shopper-Marketing Practice S2B

http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=148883

Everyday Low Prices Are Moving Merchandise Better Than Coupons, Short-Term Pricing Pacts

http://adage.com/article?article_id=148569

In 70% of package-goods categories last year, at least 30% of merchandise was sold with some kind of promotional support, according to SymphonyIRI; that's up from 60% of categories four years ago. In all, two-thirds of categories saw increased promotional support last year. But average volume lift per merchandising event declined across more than half -- 57% -- of CPG categories last year, according to the research firm.

"We do believe there's a level of promotion fatigue out there," said Susan Viamari, the report's author. "Promotion has been very high in the industry over the past couple of years, even though we did see a moderation in the growth. CPG manufacturers need to evaluate everyday pricing strategies."
The other issue is that consumers remain tightfisted and economically distressed, and promotion isn't changing that, Ms. Viamari said. "Because more than a third of consumers are having trouble buying groceries, that option of stocking up just because something is on special is not a very easy option." More marketers need to tailor their shopper marketing to an individual level, she added, rather than use tactics such as temporary price reductions.

A study by Infegy's Social Radar found on average that 5.3% of social-media mentions of 14 CPG and apparel brands last year referred to deals, discounts or coupons -- and that percentage spiked to 7% to 11% by late in the year, almost double what it had been a year earlier. But all that chatter did not translate into sales gains for most companies.

In the In-Box, More Retail Promotions

Large retailers sent 15 percent more promotional e-mails per subscriber in 2010 than in 2009, according to Responsys, an online marketing firm. Responsys arrived at the figure by setting up dummy accounts to track the e-mail marketing practices of some 100 of the largest online retailers.
Retailers have been stepping up their reliance on promotional e-mail for years; the volume of e-mail sent per subscriber has increased by double-digit percentages every year since 2006, when Chad White, the research director at Responsys, began collecting data.
Mr. White said that some of this increase was offset by a decline in the amount of catalogs and direct mail sent by marketers. But he added that this e-mail blizzard, while profitable in the short term, could be overkill. “Subscribers might either opt out or they’ll tune out, or, worst of all, they might file a spam complaint,” he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/business/media/10drill.html?_r=1&nl=business&emc=ata3&pagewanted=print

How Agencies Are Structuring for Shopper Marketing

http://adage.com/article?article_id=148051
Manufacturer investment in shopper marketing has roughly doubled over the past five years to $35 billion, according to Booz & Co., and it is expected to continue to expand at an annual rate of roughly 15%, with some funding reallocated from traditional media and trade promotion. (See chart, right.)

"Shopper marketing is at the same stage that digital was at in the '90s," said Carl Hartman, WPP global team leader. "Everyone got all hot and bothered about digital, and then it turned out to be banner ads." Today, he said, "Everybody knows that reaching consumers at the point of purchase is an important place to reach them. So you have a video screen on a shopping cart. Is that really the big bang?"

Showing TV, and Commercials, on the Shelves and in the Aisles

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/business/media/16adco.html?_r=1&ref=media

FOR many marketers, advertising in stores is an increasingly important way to influence shoppers at the so-called moment of truth, as they finally make up their minds about which brands of soup, soap or cereal to buy — or not buy. Now, a company is hoping to bring commercials to the retail point of purchase on screens that will be attached to shelves and above aisles.

The company, Automated Media Services, known as A.M.S., has been working for years on a system that would deliver television in retail environments in a way that would allow media agencies to plan and buy commercial time in stores just as they do on the networks, channels and stations watched at home. The system, which the company calls 3GTV, also includes provisions to verify that commercials have actually run.

Safeway's Burd to Suppliers: Lower Prices of We'll Push Private Label

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/progressivegrocer/content_display/features/center-store/e3ib52b2c5e694dca5ab16dd4268b3e07b0
Safeway chairman, president and CEO Steve Burd yesterday told analysts during its earnings conference call yesterday that the company will push more of its private label products -- such as its popular O Organic line -- if manufacturers don't lower their prices.