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AUGUST 2005












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Promotion Redux


How has the nature of consumer promotion changed in your company or clients since 1997? (Please check all that apply)

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Now must meet much more stringent ROI objectives
43 24.3%
Now every promotion must carry the brand's message through the store to the point of sale
39 22.0%
We consciously attempt to link consumer promotion with trade promotion to synergize our spending
29 16.4%
Outstanding creative is no longer enough: Every promotion must now be grounded in either a carefully-researched consumer or shopper objective
40 22.6%
Basically the same: our objective is simply to move big volume - all else is secondary
18 10.2%
Other
10 5.6%
Total
177



How has your Company's resource allocation to consumer promotion budgets changed since 1997?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Much Higher
17 12.7%
Somewhat Higher
52 38.8%
Same
28 20.9%
Somewhat Lower
13 9.7%
Much Lower
8 6.0%
Don't Know
10 7.5%
Other
6 4.5%
Total
134



How has your Company's resource allocation to consumer promotion staffing changed since 1997?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Significantly more
11 8.1%
Slightly more
39 28.9%
Same
39 28.9%
Slightly fewer
23 17.0%
Significantly fewer
14 10.4%
Don't Know
7 5.2%
Other
2 1.5%
Total
135



How many of the promotions that your company launches per year do you get really excited about vs. "business as usual"?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
All or almost all of them
18 13.3%
About half of them
25 18.5%
About 1/4 of them
35 25.9%
One a year
40 29.6%
One every couple of years
10 7.4%
None
3 2.2%
Other
4 3.0%
Total
135



Which attribute is the most important determinant in your company on whether or not a promotion was successful?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Moved volume
48 35.3%
Came in within budget
6 4.4%
Positive ROI
52 38.2%
Increased brand awareness
14 10.3%
Improved customer relations
2 1.5%
Other
14 10.3%
Total
136



How would you assess the quality and effectiveness of the promotions your company or agency has developed and executed over the past 8 years (since 1997)?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Dramatically better
28 20.7%
Better, but we have a long way to go
79 58.5%
About the same
16 11.9%
Worse
6 4.4%
Much worse
3 2.2%
Other
3 2.2%
Total
135



How would you assess the efficiency of the promotions your company or agency have developed and executed over the past 8 years (since 1997)?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Dramatically better
30 22.1%
Better, but we have a long way to go
74 54.4%
About the same
18 13.2%
Worse
8 5.9%
Much worse
3 2.2%
Other
3 2.2%
Total
136



How important is it to your company or clients to take retail considerations into account (for top accounts) during the promotion development process? (Pick one that represents the predominant feeling)

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Very important - we strive for maximum top retailer support on every promotion and routinely customize our promotions to achieve this objective
50 37.6%
Important - we try to blend both brand and retailer objectives into every promotion on a general basis but leave it up to the Customer Marketing and/or Sales Department to tailor the promotion to our top retailers' needs and priorities
61 45.9%
Unimportant - our first priority is to achieve brand consumer objectives: if this helps retailers achieve their own objectives simultaneously, so much the better - but we will not compromise or redirect the promotion to accomplish this
14 10.5%
Not at all important - we believe that "Marketing stops at the door of the store" because the retailer's role in achieving our brand's objectives is peripheral at best and remains to be proven
2 1.5%
Other
6 4.5%
Total
133



How many of your top 20 retailers does your company or agency currently work with to develop completely customized promotions?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
1-2
13 9.5%
3-5
43 31.4%
6-8
21 15.3%
9+
30 21.9%
None - we recognize the importance of this but current budgets will not accommodate it
12 8.8%
None - We really have no interest in this; we spend enough against the trade
7 5.1%
Other
11 8.0%
Total
137



When your company or agency develops promotions, what parties regularly have input to the development process? (Check all that apply)

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Brand groups
57 20.7%
Agency
47 17.1%
Customer Marketing
52 18.9%
Category Management
25 9.1%
Sales Department (i.e., Sales Teams, KAMs)
48 17.5%
Retailers themselves
33 12.0%
Other
8 2.9%
Total
275



What does your company or client think of shopper marketing as a potentially productive promotion platform (shopper marketing defined as promoting to leverage various shopper need states)?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Has potential and we are definitely pursuing it
45 33.8%
Interesting concept but too many variables to be manageable or consistently effective
38 28.6%
Takes resources to pursue that are beyond the reach of most companies, our own included
25 18.8%
Another CPG industry fad
12 9.0%
Other
13 9.8%
Total
133



When your company or agency researches a promotion concept for your company's most important retailers, what type of research does it conduct? (Check all that apply)

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Consumer research
46 24.9%
Account-specific consumer research
40 21.6%
Shopper research
28 15.1%
Retailer research
28 15.1%
None of the above - we just do it!
34 18.4%
Other
11 5.9%
Total
185



Given your knowledge of the current CPG competitive environment, what is your assessment of the role that Consumer Promotion should play in your company's or client's overall marketing mix over the next five years?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Extremely important - a top priority! Consumer promotion is the most important and potentially effective tool we have to help our Company differentiate in the eyes of our key retailers and help these retailers differentiate from one another on a non-price basis.
52 38.2%
Important - more important than it is today in terms of the growing need to become better at target marketing, message integration and securing key retailer cooperation
64 47.1%
Same as at present - There is nothing we see in the present competitive environment that will change our approach to consumer promotion or cause us to increase promotion budgets vs. other priorities
12 8.8%
Less important - Spending trends on consumer promotion have been declining for the past 20 years and we see no reason that this trend should stabilize or reverse. CPG manufacturers as a whole are not dumb and have done this for a reason.
3 2.2%
Other
5 3.7%
Total
136



What do you view as the principal impediment in your company or clients to maximizing the potential of consumer promotion over the next 5 years?

Responses Number of
Responses
 
 Percentage
Budget constraints
51 37.5%
Siloed approach
46 33.8%
We're doing fine as as -- No need to change
7 5.1%
Inconsistent and spotty retailer execution