Independents on frontline as brands take to battlefield

Brand owners are taking advantage of real-time feedback by focusing on the convenience store sector as they seek to maximise their return on field marketing investment.

Convenience stores are the new battlegrounds for brand owners using field marketing to reach local consumers across the fragmented but potentially lucrative independent sector.
There are more than 33,000 independents that marketers need to think about when they are creating field marketing campaigns for their brands, according to the Association of Convenience Stores.
Supermarket chains are also well established in this space, with an increasing number of Tesco and Sainsbury's Local outlets on the high street, while The Co-operative's £1.57bn purchase of Somerfield two years ago has created a convenience retail giant.
There is great potential to appeal to a wide audience by channelling budget into convenience stores, argues Laurence Clube, managing director of REL Field Marketing. He says: "This channel is worth about £29bn in the UK and is growing, so it represents a massive opportunity for brand owners. However, the route to market can be complicated and field marketing techniques are needed to realise this opportunity in a cost-effective way."
The core field marketing sector has been hijacked in recent years by experiential work, but more traditional activities can still grow market share, improve short-term sales and raise brand awareness in an economic downturn.
Marketers are going back to basics to get the retail fundamentals right. They need reassuring that their products are visible on the shelves. Whether it's an independent or a multiple, brands also need to know that branch managers at a local level are complying with the promotional merchandising activity paid for and agreed at the retailer's head office.
Some specialist agencies such as REL Field Marketing are providing one-stop shops for the complex convenience shop market, providing brands with campaign advice, face-to-face visits to strategically important stores as well as traditional sampling activity. This is supported with direct marketing and telemarketing if the budget allows.
Simon Couch, director of field marketing at RPM, says brands are also embracing new and more cost-effective initiatives to engage with the independent sector. One popular idea is to offer store managers a £5 voucher if they can prove that they have promoted a particular brand in store.
"There is not a field operative in sight and the redemption level has been about 40%, suggesting the convenience sector is responsive and ready for these methods," claims Couch.
Such ideas will not replace traditional face-to-face techniques, but they are helping brands to get additional fixtures into independent outlets at a time when budgets remain tight, he adds.
The larger supermarkets are more structured and tend to control their in-store activities centrally. However, the autonomy that independent store owners have to cherry-pick which promotions they support is quite refreshing for many brand owners, Couch suggests.
Core brand
Britvic, for instance, has asked agency Cosine UK to employ field marketing techniques to drive awareness and sales of its brands with potential but which currently have a small presence in the UK, such as global brand Lipton Ice Tea. Cosine UK's sales and marketing director Jacqui Sheldon says: "We have a team of 15 people travelling to different conurbations making a big noise about this brand. The aim is to see if Lipton Ice Tea can become a core UK brand for Britvic."
Competitive markets such as soft drinks can certainly benefit from field marketing. Another cut-throat sector is mobile smartphones where it is vital that brands educate the sales staff in the mobile operators' local branches.
Avril Murphy, director of Microsoft's mobile communications business for Western Europe, says educating retailers about phones using the Windows operating system is crucial. "Some 70% of smartphone sales go through the phone operators' retail outlets. Field marketing helps us to get our message out in store through training, promotions and incentives. We use a fleet of merchandisers to make sure that Windows phones are prominently displayed in retail outlets."
Another client who has experienced the benefits of using field marketing is Pete Markey, marketing director at insurance business More Than.
He explains: "The key is to set tight metrics around what success looks like and brands must be prepared to remunerate agencies for the right things to avoid campaigns that fail to engage with consumers."
He suggests that brands can engage with the field teams by providing incentives based on the number of leads generated.
Convincing retailers that a brand's field marketing should be seen in store works best when they can see the benefits. For example, Service Innovation Group's (SIG) work on Conair Group's BaByliss brands involves its merchandisers visiting Boots and Superdrug outlets to deliver and maintain the fixtures, install new ranges, manage and replenish stock, implement promotions, merchandise to an agreed planogram and display point-of-sale material. The field marketing team also educates store staff by giving brand presentations. As a result, SIG has earned enough trust to take charge of re-ordering BaByliss stock for Superdrug.