CPGmatters: Schering-Plough Aims to Develop Custom Shopper Marketing Programs
By John Karolefski
Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of a current article from CPGmatters, a monthly e-zine, presented here for discussion.
Schering-Plough Consumer Healthcare aims to maintain the loyalty of shoppers by developing special promotions for them with the help of retail partners.
As part of the process, the firm wants to take trade relationships beyond transactional conversations about price to a higher level discussion about total value to the shopper. Aggregating data from new sources would also be part of the new shopper marketing for the maker of Claritin, Dr. Scholl's, Coppertone, and a host of other over-the-counter (OTC) brands.
"Americans shop everywhere. Most retailers recognize that it's a lot more expensive to steal trips from somebody across the street than it is to increase the value of the trip they already have. So they ask manufacturers what special offers or programs they have to create a unique shopping experience in their stores. Anybody in manufacturing can imagine the challenges that places on operations, strategy and budgets," said Mark Reynolds, director of category management and shopper marketing for Schering Plough Consumer Health Care, Summit, N.J.
In working with trade partners, Reynolds and his team of six managers focus on three key areas:
- Changing the conversation with retailers
- Data aggregation and interpretation
- Targeted shopper programs for retailers
Mr. Reynolds outlined this approach as part of a panel presentation at a recent category management conference hosted by the Institute for International Research (IIR) and officially supported by the Association for Category Management Professionals (CPG CatNet).
"The conversation with retailers has changed over the last 20 years, especially regarding the last 10 feet of the marketing plan," said Mr. Reynolds. "In the '80s, we were called Sales Planning. In the early '90s, Trade Marketing. In the middle '90s, we called it Category Management, then customer marketing. Now we've added Shopper Marketing.
"All these are attempts to describe the conversation we are having or desire to have with our valued retail partners," he explained. "It's really about providing value beyond just the product and the price."
Mr. Reynolds acknowledged the new sources of data today such as loyalty marketing programs. He singled out the first-class program managed by Dunhummby for Kroger's frequent shopper program. "The challenge is aggregating that data," he said.
Another challenge for Schering-Plough and other manufacturers, he said, is the persistent request by retailers to make their stores different and special by deploying custom programs and promotions.
"It's a notion that I hear from our customers all the time, particularly at the higher level of their organizations," he said. "What could be? I'd love to see the day when my team could have conversations with our retail partners where we talk about some great offerings targeted only at their shoppers."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of Schering-Plough's push to work closer with retailers on "the last 10 feet of the marketing plan"? What are some of the challenges of moving vendor/retail conversations towards "total value to the consumer" over "price?"