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Marketing Archives - NVISION, A BradyPLUS Company

NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In CMO, Marketing Trends, Print Marketing, Direct Mail, E-Commerce

Top Marketing Trends to Watch for 2020

girl looking through her fingers-full

With 2020 on the horizon, the accessibility of innovative and disruptive technologies are driving marketers to acknowledge, assess, and prepare for emerging marketing trends to remain profitable.

According to John Hall from Forbes, “The world is changing a mile a minute, and it’s hard to scale, differentiate yourself, and maintain trust in the ever-changing marketing world.”

The more you can plan forward, the better equipped you feel to managing those changes when they happen. Here are three top marketing trends that marketers should embrace and prepared for.

woman shopping on tablet - CPG

Social Shopping

Social media, which used to be a network for friends and family sharing emotional input, now becomes an effective sales platform for many brands.

With nearly 25% of brands are selling through social media, it offers brands the ability to reach new customers quickly on users’ own terms. Equipped with a frictionless checkout process, it enables brands to create a seamless shopping experience to build a long-term relationship with their customers for retention. It also allows brands to shorten the sales cycle tremendously for short-term profits.

According to AddThis, 60% of people discover products on Instagram, and 78% of Americans use Facebook to find new products. Social shopping is not just another buzz word. It will shift the way customers find and purchase products, accompanying high expectations of the entire customer journey being frictionless.

Virtual Interaction

Today’s consumers expect new experiences when they are online, and for the majority, this means more interactivity. In fact, augmented reality (AR) is expected to become the most popular interactive technology for engaging consumers in 2020.

Well developed interactive content can keep your consumers on your page longer, increasing your brand exposure. It is highly shareable, meaning you are growing your brand awareness. Consumers enjoy experiencing virtual interaction are more engaging. It is also highly personalizable to fit the customer’s lifestyle, which adds value.

Virtual interactive technologies offer higher emotional intensity and add a new layer of customer experience by placing your brand image close to the eyes of customers.

professional meeting-growth

Content is Still the King

Continuing a steady trend from this year, content marketing will remain as one of the top trends in marketing for 2020. There are advantages of well-crafted content that will bring to your brand. Delivering valuable, relevant, and consistent content attracts and acquires a more clearly-qualified audience with potential conversion in the long-run. Creating and sharing compelling content will build your reputation as an industry authority and influencer. Informative content helps customers to make educated decisions.

Your content is what search engines provide to searchers online; it is critical to produce high-quality content continuously for your inbound and outbound marketing effort. By producing authentic content that adds real value to your target audience, brand marketers will nurture stronger and longer-lasting customer relationships.

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Marketing trends are constantly evolving. And brand marketers need to be aware of emerging trends to leverage efforts to be successful in 2020.

Utilizing social media effectively to create a seamless customer journey, engaging users with meaningful virtual interaction, and creating valuable content that speaks consumer’s language are effective ways to leverage new trends, generate demand, and drive sales for the coming years.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In Marketing Trends, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Retail Trends, CPG, Direct Mail

Three Key Tips to Gain Competitive Advantage in CPG

man looking at consumer product at a grocery store

Undeniably, the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry faces unique challenges. Over the past five years, many CPG brands have experienced a decline in revenue and profits. Brands are struggling to keep up with changes in the industry, and some are consequently falling behind as the broader retail landscape changes.

According to Bain & Company’s Matthew Meacham, François Faelli, Eduardo Giménez, and John Blasberg in their article, “When we analyzed the performance of 34 of the world’s top 50 consumer goods companies in the last few years, we made the unsettling discovery that 85% of those big companies had seen a decline in either revenues, profits or both.”

In order to ensure future success, brands need to find ways to combat the current challenges in the industry. So, what can CPG brands do to overcome the current crisis in the industry?

shadowed people with bubbles - account management

Be Agile with Emerging Trends

With advances in technology and the emergence of a new generation of shoppers, the CPG industry is constantly evolving. The wants and needs of customers are changing, along with the ways they shop. Brands that hope to survive in this ever-changing market need to keep up with the new trends.

One of the most significant trends is rapidly shifting in consumer behavior as they become more socially, environmentally, and health-conscious. This fast-growing trend contributed to the considerable disruption caused by small insurgent brands in many product categories, making the competition even more intense.

In order to support the new wave of consumers and to compete in the current market, brands should focus on establishing a robust multi-channel presence to connect with the target consumers where they are comfortable to interact and share.

When brands are aware of emerging market trends, they can come up with a plan to prepare for them ahead of time. By serving the consumer in the way they want to be served on par with the current trends, brands can outsmart the competition to be successful in the marketplace.

Reinvent Brand’s Image

Brand marketers need to start thinking “outside the box” when it comes to engaging with customers. Instead of relying solely on legacy marketing tactics, brands should consider ways to draw in customers that they haven’t used before.

Meacham, Faelli, Giménez, and Blasberg explain: “Winning companies will innovate their way out with new products, new systems, and new needs that help elevate their categories to premium status while increasing product and assortment penetration.”

If keeping up with the current trends is “today forward” strategy, brands also will need to take “future back” approach to set their own destiny and progressing toward it.

By redefining the vision for your brand, and your company – future back approach – to rearticulate a meaningful, sustainable, and consumer-driven purposes will inspire to reset the brand’s sense of urgency and to become the frontline innovator.

woman shopping on tablet - CPG

Directly Engage with Customers

Traditionally, most CPG brands don’t maintain a relationship with customers after they make a purchase. However, if brands take the initiative to connect and develop lasting relationships with their shoppers, they will drive sales and increase their opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.

Adding the data-driven personalization in every customer touchpoint will significantly improve customer commitment to the brands, especially when a customer feels connected, understood, and valued by the brand.

One way is direct mail follow-ups with customers after they’ve purchased your product. Consumers typically respond positively to direct communication because they appreciate feeling that their feedback is important.

Also, brands should consider opening pop-up brick-and-mortar stores to improve engagement with consumers. Brands can more easily establish impactful connections with their shoppers in a physical store, where the entire consumer experience is curated by the brand.

There is no sales method more effective than good old-fashioned, positive, face-to-face interactions. When a customer leaves your store feeling like they’ve had a good experience, they are more likely to come back and also to encourage their friends and family members to shop there.

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The current crisis in the CPG industry doesn’t mean that your brand is doomed to struggle. Instead, brand marketers should see these market challenges as opportunities to redefine their business by thinking of new, creative ways to engage with customers and drive sales.

Making sure you stay in the know regarding new market trends, coming up with innovative ideas for products and marketing tactics, and putting in the effort to reach out and directly engage with your customers are important steps you can take as a CPG brand marketer in order to flourish in today’s challenging market. By understanding these useful actions, CPG brands are more likely to remain profitable and ensure a successful future for their business.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In Marketing Trends, Marketing Strategy, Retail Trends, CPG, Food for thought

How Wine Industry is Shifting to Connect with Customers

Wine companies invest significant resources in conducting studies to learn what customers look for when shopping for their ideal wine.

However, it’s becoming more and more evident that many wine consumers don’t actually know what they want in a bottle of wine. Consequently, these efforts usually bring wine brands with little useful insight and only wasted money.

According to Gregory Carpenter and Ashlee Humphreys at Harvard Business Review, there is a more effective approach to gearing your brand towards consumers – educating and engaging with them. If most customers don’t know enough about wine to know what they want to buy, wine brands need to take the initiative and proactively inform them.

So, how can wine companies successfully engage with their customers?

Wine glasses

Influence Customers’ Tastes

Many businesses aim to meet customers’ needs through their products. However, in the wine industry, many customers don’t know enough about wine to have predictable preferences. So, how can wine companies know what to produce to satisfy consumers’ desires?

Wine companies can use their expertise in the industry to give shoppers what they want before they even realize they want it. Brands can put a personal touch on their products by producing wines that they want to bring to market, rather than reacting to consumers’ preferences.

The most effective approach to success for winemakers is to influence the tastes of their customers. By coming up with innovative labels, branding and marketing planning, and products, wine brands can attract customers and drive sales for their products.

Develop Relationships with Industry Influencers

Certain critics and influencers have strong product views that can affect buyers’ decision-making processes. So, what’s the best way to capitalize on critics’ positions of power in the market? Impress them with a truly superior brand experience.

Creating a smart and innovative atmosphere where critics and social media influencers can experience and taste your brand’s wines will increase brand awareness and demand for your products. At the same time, it will enable you to develop long-lasting, profitable business relationships with influential figures.

As a result of the growing relationships with wine-industry critics, wine companies can use those reviews and ratings to better market their products and drive sales for their brand.

influencer marketing

Build Brand Loyalty with Shared Customer Experiences

Consumers seek advice by reading reviews and ratings. If wine companies want to wow shoppers, they need to focus on displaying these factors that can sway customers’ decision-making process.

The trick is creating a brand experience that is truly superior to the competition. As Carpenter and Humphreys explain, “Consumers become fans and pay premium prices, despite the availability of literally thousands of excellent alternatives.” When your customers believe that they are purchasing the best of the best, they will be willing to pay more.

The in-store display can be an excellent way to promote your products. Having a vibrant yet elegant display stating positive reviews and comments by influencers and customers will help accelerate your product sales by swaying the purchase decisions of customers. Sometimes too much information is better than lack of one, especially not many customers have expert knowledge when it comes to selecting a bottle of wine.

And they will keep coming back for the same brand and products in the future, hence, growing brand loyalty.

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Wine brands are discovering new ways to reach their customers. Instead of wasting money and resources surveying shoppers to learn about their wine preferences, they are focusing on influencing consumers with innovative products and creative packaging, and through influencer marketing.

Recommendations and strong reviews by influencers are an essential part of the decision-making process for modern-day consumers. By understanding the thought processes of shoppers, wine brands can help navigate them to make the right decision. As a result, it will create a fan base of customers who will remain loyal to your brand and increase your brand’s footprint in the market.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

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NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In Marketing Trends, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Gaming, Online shopping, E-Commerce

There’s a New Sheriff in Town: How to Market to Generation Z

gen-z-holding arms together

Predictions indicate that by 2020, Generation Z (Gen Z) shoppers will make up 40% of the consumer industry. This generation, comprised of people who were born after 1995, are a new breed of customers.

Consequently, brands need to take specific consideration when it comes to marketing strategies that will effectively target this group.

According to the Forbes Expert Panel and Business Development Council in their article, “This powerful consumer base is the next group of consumers that can help your business grow its revenue, as long as you take note of them now and prepare your marketing strategies to cater to their needs.”

In order to ensure future success, brands need to begin implementing strategies to draw in Gen Z shoppers. By not doing so, you could miss the mark on future profits from this emerging consumer group.

So, what marketing strategies can brands employ to effectively draw in and engage with Gen Z?

woman shopping on tablet

Meet Them in Their Natural Habitat

Generation Z is highly detached and tech-centric. The online is their comfort zone, so brands should start their marketing efforts on social platforms with clean and straight forward brand messaging; utilizing various touch points and forms of media along the way.

Gen Z shoppers spend time doing their research on products. They read multiple reviews of a product before making a purchasing decision. The user-generated content (UGC) by other customers significantly impact the decision-making process of the Gen Z shoppers.

So, it is important to ensure that your product has positive reviews and comments that are contributed by previous users on popular online platforms. It is a powerful way to not only increase your brand awareness but also impact Gen Z shoppers’ opinions regarding the value of your product and brand.

Entertain Them

Because technology has largely impacted the nature of their upbringing, many Gen Z shoppers have a shorter attention span than previous generations. In order to draw them in and keep them engaged, brand marketers need to focus on providing authentic interactions that will keep these shoppers coming back.

Forbes’ expert panel member Lisa Box explains, “To win with Gen Z, marketers have to evolve from informing to delighting, from celebrity to authenticity, and from generic to predictive.” This consumer group looks for brands that grab their attention and identify what they need for them.

Develop fun and catchy marketing assets that will simultaneously entertain and dazzle them into your store to make a purchase. A useful method is to come up with interactive games to play with Gen Z shoppers in-store and advertise them using vibrant and interactive signage. Then awarding them with personalized reward toward purchasing would be even more ideal. This will attract and entice this growing group of consumers to interact with your brand.

customer-satisfaction on ipad

Advertise Based on Benefits and Results

Gen Z shoppers don’t trust a product simply because the brand says it’s a good product. They are mostly driven by results that they can see. To generate demand among this group of consumers, brand marketers need to clearly and effectively show them the benefits of a product.

Showing them what they can achieve by using the product will maximize the sale of your products as well as elevate your brand’s status as an expert who understands their lifestyle and needs.

Once the relationship is established, Gen Z shoppers will likely become your brand ambassadors by influencing their friends and acquaintances by promoting your products and brands.

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Gen Z shoppers are growing as a segment, and businesses need to prepare for this emerging group of consumers. Because they have different qualities and needs from other consumer groups, brand marketers need to focus on developing new marketing tactics to effectively advertise to them.

Reviews, entertainment, and results are important factors for Gen Z shoppers when it comes to making purchases. Using creative marketing materials, such as signs and POS displays, to show off positive reviews, provide entertainment, and demonstrate product benefits is an effective way to draw in and connect with Gen Z shoppers. By understanding this emerging consumer group, brands can capitalize on new opportunities to directly engage with them.

And by working with a trusted partner who can help you prepare for the emergence of Gen Z shoppers, your brand can increase competitiveness in quality, effectiveness, and providing delightful customer experience.

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

LEARN MORE
NVISION Insights and Innovation Team
In Healthcare, Hospitality, Marketing Trends, Digital Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Retail Trends, Online shopping, E-Commerce

2020 Shopper Marketing: Are You Ready For This New Wave of Consumers?

woman holding mobile phone shopping

Due to advances in technology and society, the way that consumers shop is radically changing. And consequently, according to Robert I. Tomei at IRI, the future is looking up for marketers.

Analysts predict to characterize the 2020 shopper by multicultural diversity, age, and technology.

Hispanic consumers, as well as Millennials, are beginning to dominate the shopping world. And the majority of them are using their smartphones or laptops to do it.

So, how can marketers and businesses prepare for the 2020 shopper?

Millemmial Marketing

Use Digital Platforms to Better Meet the 2020 Shopper’s Needs

More and more 2020 shoppers turn to their smartphones first before making a purchase in order to compare prices and search for different products. However, many of them do still prefer shopping at brick and mortar stores where they can actually see and feel a product before purchasing it.

The best method for marketers is to combine these two experiences. The first step is to build a strong online platform that drives customers into the store. Then, establish a positive connection in store to keep them engaged and satisfied with their purchases, so they’ll keep coming back.

Use digital platforms as well as legacy marketing assets to appeal to the habits of the 2020 shopper. The better in sync your physical and digital marketing efforts are, the stronger your brand will be in their minds.

Employ Marketing Techniques that Relate Specifically to the 2020 Shopper

As Tomei explains, “There is no such thing as a simple, one-size-fits-all marketing and sales strategy in today’s rapidly changing marketplace.”

To succeed, Tomei suggests marketers need to do three things:

  1. Understand the emerging 2020 shopper.
  2. Use their preferred digital platforms and channels to engage with them.
  3. Drive them into retail stores for experiences that convert.

The 2020 shopper is looking for a customized experience, one that’s tailored to their needs. The easier the process is for them to find and purchase what they need, the more satisfied they will be. And the more likely they will return, as a result.

hand holding mobile phone with AR

Remain Up to Speed with Market Changes

The 2020 shopper is shaping up to be different from the kinds of consumer groups that previously dominated the market, and therefore will respond differently to legacy marketing strategies and assets. For this reason, new tactics will need to be employed to reach them.

Marketers must remain agile to the constant changes that occur within the consumer industry and react swiftly by taking advantage of new ways to reach customers as they are made available.

The success of your brand depends on how well you can adapt and utilize these changes. A flexible supply chain and responsive marketing operations will be critical.

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The 2020 shopper is going to be more diverse, younger, and more connected to technology than previous consumers. By taking advantage of these factors, marketers can relate directly to the 2020 shopper and offer a customized, streamlined consumer experience that meets their unique demands and keeps them loyal to your brand.

By working with a partner who can help you prepare for the 2020 shopper and take advantage of new methods to reach them, your brand can compete in the ever-changing consumer market, instead of being left in the dust.

 

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Why NVISION?

For more than three decades we’ve partnered with Fortune 500 companies to deliver marketing operations solutions. Led by a strategic account management team, we’ll help you develop, procure, fulfill and distribute printed collateral, signage, point-of-purchase displays, direct mail, branded merchandise and much more.

LEARN MORE