Education better than cash to motivate corner shops : BBDO
View(s):Motivating traditional corner shops to recommend manufacturers’ brands is best accomplished by using more engaging methods of
Pic shows Santosh Menon, Managing Director of BBDO Lanka and Jane Perry General Manager of BBDO Proximity Shop.
educating shop proprietors. In fact, this alternative is better than just offering reduced prices, or even a cash-based incentives, because a competitor can always undercut prices further or offer more cash, but education ultimately leads to a stronger relationship overall as well as improved advocacy, according to Jane Perry, the General Manager of BBDO Proximity Shop, the Singapore-based regional retail and shopper marketing practice affiliated with locally-based BBDO Lanka. Speaking at the recently held, local launch of Proximity Shop, now a part of BBDO’s portfolio of offerings in Sri Lanka, Ms. Perry also advised that the brand manufacturers spend more time building relationships with traditional traders, especially in countries like Sri Lanka which are dominated by traditional trade outlets like corner shops.
She also further commented that shopper marketing proponents usually recommend that at least 15 per cent of campaigns involve sales person training, which is again of particular importance since the local market is mainly made up of traditional outlets. And this is also important in the telco and consumer electronics spaces where sales person knowledge and advocacy are the main factors driving purchase of these products.
Ms. Perry also noted that the trade’s advocacy of the brand must be less about point of sale materials (POSM) like posters, etc. and more about generating interest in the brand. However, if POSM were to be used, it should be structured differently for modern trade outlets like supermarkets compared to traditional “Mom and Pop”-type stores.
(JH)
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