Increasing penetration by attracting the most profitable new customers

Attracting new customers and taking market share from the competition is an obvious growth opportunity. However, the question of which consumers to target, and how to target them, is a complex business. Consumer behaviour and brand choice can be habitual or highly considered, rational or emotive. A precise understanding of how people approach decisions in your category is vital to winning new customers profitably.

TNS develops solutions to deliver just such an understanding, with precision growth strategies that identify the most valuable opportunities, and the most effective approaches to them.

Our insight-driven solutions have helped clients to:

• Increase sales by targeting non-purchasers and encouraging impulse buying

  Business issue

  Our client, a global confectionery brand, wanted to drive growth through increased sales in convenience stores by helping retailers to improve their sales by attracting new buyers. They needed a detailed understanding of how point of sale material and packaging could be used to stimulate impulse purchasing in the category and how to improve merchandising.

  Precise insight

  A combined approach of in-store observation and interviews at the aisle revealed that over a third of shoppers who visited the confectionery fixture did not buy anything, often due to too much variety. Point of sale material focused on price, but in convenience stores price was not the most influential purchase trigger. A further opportunity identified that most confectionery impulse buyers visited the store to buy a beverage.

  We recommended that the confectionery aisle be located on the way to the beverage fixture. To simplify consumers’ purchase decisions and reduce shopper confusion we advised the client on how to reduce the number of SKUs so as to focus on high volume lines. We also suggested they should display the lines vertically. Guidance on how point of sale material could trigger impulse purchasing provided clear focus on craving and indulgence messaging and less emphasis on price.

  Precise plans for growth

  Our recommendations were implemented in a controlled store test and category sales soon increased by over five percent. The recommendations that led to success were promoted across the convenience store network.

  For more information please contact Barry Lemmon.

• Take greater market share by re-positioning brands for more emotional connections

  Business issue

  Our client, a leader in the food industry, with a strong presence in a number of chilled food categories, was specifically looking for ways to grow their meat brands by attracting new customers. They were looking for both short term solutions as well as a roadmap for long term growth.

  Precise insights

  The category had previously been thought of as largely functional, so efforts had been made to differentiate the brands at the product level. A strategic NeedScope study was commissioned to find new ways to differentiate the brands both within the portfolio and against the competition to generate real growth.

  NeedScope unlocked a new understanding of the category and, for the first time, the client understood the importance of emotion in their market and saw how emotional needs such as contentment, adventure and playfulness played a role.

  Indeed, the research identified that, at an emotive level, the client’s two leading meat brands, were competing head to head with a high degree of overlap.

  Plans for growth

  The new strategy was to pull the brands apart at an emotive level and the decision was made to re-launch one of the meat brands with a new positioning, targeting playful needs across key consumer touch points, including a new communications campaign. Market share for the portfolio and both leading brands has increased significantly since re-launch in early 2010.

  For more information please contact Rosie Hawkins.