Ferocious battles for the shelf 'sweet spot'

By DITA DE BONI

The "bum effect" is possibly not as worthy-sounding as "customer relationship management" or as overworked as "leveraging your exposure." But it is potent.

In marketing jargon, the "bum effect" is female supermarket shoppers' reluctance to reach down to lower shelves, sticking out their backsides in the process.

As a result, such demure shoppers consider only products at eye-level or higher.

Not too high, presumably, or that might trigger the shirt-riding-up-leaving-gut-hanging-out effect, one might think.

Research from the United States revealed the existence of the "bum effect" and - whether you consider such findings spurious or not - there is ample evidence to suggest that goods at eye level on supermarket shelves are indeed the ones consumers most often choose.

The placement of certain products at child's-eye level, for example, is responsible for kids arriving at checkouts clutching fists full of lollies, much to the despair of their parents.

Research from Point of Purchase Advertising International in the US suggests that 70 per cent of all supermarket sales are based on some form of impulse decision in-store, and the basket of "preferred" brands is growing exponentially.

Therefore, attracting the attention of a consumer in store is extremely important, as is the "emotional imprint" of a product's brand, packaging and prices.

All of which leaves Grant Leach, managing director of the Parnell-based Revo Group, rubbing his hands in glee.

He believes that Revo has devised a way for companies to better manage the relationship with "category managers" - the supermarket staff who can make or break a product by deciding where it goes on the shelf.

"In-store category management is absolutely vital, and it's where every [marketing agency] in New Zealand falls down, as far as I am concerned," he says.

"We aim to work with the category buyer to get facings [product labels facing consumers at eye-level] in excess of the client's market share, because facings directly correlate to extent of sales."

Mr Leach says brand advertising is still important but is not enough to ensure success.

Since the average consumer is bombarded with 2000 advertising messages daily, products must create emotional differentiation as well as stressing benefits. A big failing is offering "features only" without further enhancing the experience of the brand. Revo insists that the in-store component of a marketing campaign must be an integral part of a client's lead strategy, since shoppers spend only 8.5 seconds on each category.

In-store promotions are also important, says Mr Leach, although they can be "short-term stimulants and long-term depressants."

And you have to have a result in mind, he says.

"New products don't have a lot of facings so we will do a promotion to create a story that we can take to a category buyer [about the product]. And it is best to show the new product will not cannibalise the existing product, but [add to] the category as a whole, meaning more money in supermarket tills."

Essentially, any piece of signage or information that comes into a consumer's visibility has around two seconds to work, according to one researcher. The researcher, who did not want to be named as he is working on a confidential supermarket project, says the most effective signs are those on the roads, and companies should construct their packaging and signage with that in mind.

"And remember, the packaging that looks super-effective under boardroom lights is not going to look the same under fluorescent supermarket lights, viewed for only two seconds," he says.

"With over 400 categories for shoppers to get through in 54 minutes per average female shopper, not a lot of the buying is a logical process."

Which is why placement is a key issue. The idea is to get your product into the best position on a category manager's "planogram," the plan that maps, for example, where all the types of bottled water will go. A carefully crafted planogram seeks to maximise the supermarket's profitability, with the best-selling products in the "sweet spot" (above waist level) and the slower-moving or new products lower down in the "dead spot."

Supermarkets are increasingly putting their house-label products in the sweet spot. So what can be done if your products are not yet commanding a decent share of the best positions?

Most agree that the first thing to do is increase exposure, as well as looking at pricing on both an everyday and promotional basis. Then, information on the viability of your product and its point of difference can be presented to the category manager to justify a better place on his or her planogram.

Stuart Jeffcote, director of the marketing research and strategy company Mobius, says in-store promotions can establish a point of difference, which is important both to the consumer and to the category manager and therefore very important in promoting a new product.

Mr Jeffcote says that to differentiate themselves, product makers must mollify increasing consumer cynicism.

"Added-value, added benefit, added vitamins ... People are sick of me-too products," he says. "First, then, is to establish credibility and honesty, reinforcing the functionality of your product in a believable way."

He says Mobius is working with a product which is, according to independent tests, 1000 per cent more effective than competitors'. But will the company end up using this line? No, he says, as it would be viewed too sceptically.

In-store promotions can help to enhance a product's credibility, and if successful, can help to make buyers feel they are taking less of a risk.

Mr Leach says all factors lending credibility to a product will ease discussions with the category manager, who must be treated with absolute respect - but often is not.

"The category manager is willing to listen to product makers and their marketers if they are approached with new and innovative ways for both parties to make money," he says.

"We think we've got a unique way of bringing together the best way to bring together the client's view of the consumer, and the category buyer's view, which tends to be based more on rational and logic."