A sobering, directional study from Mintel again confirms that trust issues drive purchase and govern brand relationships – retail or product – for the influential Millennial generation.
Put yourself in your shoppers’ shoes:
Have you ever stood in front of a grocery shelf or case and had trouble making a selection because they all looked the same and made similar claims?
Cheese, milk, vegetables, eggs, fruits and proteins face a similar challenge. As commodities, the distinctions between forms and varieties are often slender in the minds of consumers – and choice often defaults to price.
Fortune Magazine’s special report “The war on big food,” cited an astonishing fact: the top 25 food and beverage companies have lost a collective $18 billion in market share since 2009. Repeat: $18 BILLION in 6 years.
Inside supermarkets the evidence is there for all to see as smaller more nimble niche players like Annie’s (now owned by General Mills) and Boulder Brands’ Evol frozen entrees secure more and more in-store real estate.
Is your supermarket about cans and boxes or food experiences?
Relevance should guide retail brand value propositions…
By Bob Wheatley
Research shows that home cooks typically learn and establish expertise around 10 menus. And while these may evolve or modify over time, the number of them tends to remain the same. Thus the items purchased – while also varying here and there – will retain a measure of continuity.
Relevant: food brands that enable their customer’s desire for learning, creativity in the kitchen…
Optimizing relevance in a marketing environment where relevant is everything
By Bob Wheatley
We have come to a place where brands‐that‐matter have relationships with their best users that look increasingly like those we have with our closest friends and family. They look human: Trust. Reciprocity. Care. Helpfulness. Listening. All are markers, icons of human relationship qualities. Now the same can be said of brand connections that transcend the merely transactional to the incredibly meaningful.
And what’s lies at the intersection of commerce and relationship? Relevance. When brands work overtime (baked into the mission) to align themselves with their core users’ passions, concerns, interests and pain points, they are on the hunt for relevance.
