Quick Serve & Fast Casual

Local Marketing – Media

local-marketing-%e2%80%93-media

By: Doug Fergusson
January 7, 2010 | No Comments

Once you’ve determined your goals, messaging and audience, you’ll want to consider how to deliver your Local Marketing to consumers. I use the term Media to broadly describe message delivery tools.

I like to divide media into two groups: (1) Off-premise and (2) On-premise. Off-premise media includes any form of message delivery that is not at the store or restaurant, such as: TV and radio ads; billboards; off-premise signage, such as bus stops; direct mail and email; text messaging; free-standing inserts (FSIs); and door hangers. On-premise media includes: window clings, menu boards, pole signs, roof banners, marquis signs, register toppers, counter mats, table-tents, flyers, brochures, bag stuffers, and any other means of displaying a message in-store.

Any of these media options can be used for national promotions (i.e. the same message everywhere), but not all are effective or practical for Local Marketing. Consider first and foremost your desired level of segmentation. For example, TV and radio ad campaigns developed for a specific market might be feasible for very large cities, but unlikely to be considered for a single store. Any of the on-premise media and some of the off-premise options like direct mail are effective for highly targeted messaging, but be sure you have the right building blocks in place to execute them:

  • Location profile data
  • A means to manage and leverage the data
  • Messaging and graphic strategy designed for Local Marketing
  • Print and fulfillment process that is capable of delivering individualized messages in the desired media form quickly and efficiently

If you don’t have all of these in place, you might want to investigate your options.

Matching the right media to the targeted audience and message can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the campaign. For example, a table-tent might be an effective way of promoting return visits to a QSR, but is unlikely to have much effect on the size of the order of customers walking into a store. The more media options you have that are “local marketing enabled” the more likely you can deploy successful Local Marketing campaigns. Finding partners with the widest range of capabilities in an integrated delivery system can go a long way towards meeting this need.

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Local Marketing – Messaging

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By: Doug Fergusson
November 17, 2009 | No Comments

Consider this: One of our customers changed all of the signage and brochures from English to Spanish-only at selected stores that were located in areas with a large Hispanic population. The change worked as those stores are now among the best performing in the nation. The lesson here is that Local Marketing works if – and only if – the messaging is relevant to the audience.

So how do you make your Local Marketing messaging relevant? I’d begin with Segmentation. In other words, what do you know about the consumers who visit each location? Is there a concentration of one or more ethnic groups? Are there certain age groups that frequent your store or restaurant? Is English a second language to a large number of your customers, and if so, what is their primary language? Are there different groups visiting at different times, such as professionals in the morning or soccer moms at lunch?

Once you collect data about current or potential customers, you can use it to build your Local Marketing campaigns. For example, if you have a large number of Hispanic customers, you may want to have Spanish or bi-lingual signs for a given location. You also may want to promote different products that meet customer preferences, such as ice tea in the south. Alternately, you might want to promote speedy service to busy professionals.

Messaging can be as involved as you would like. It can be one-dimensional, meaning that you speak to just one customer attribute (i.e. customers 18-25) or it can be multi-dimensional (i.e. professionals who are Hispanic). The specific attributes that you target and the level of complexity can change over time; I strongly recommend starting simple and evolving as you gain experience. However, make sure the technology platform that you are building upon is capable of handling more complex messaging.

The process of mapping location and customer attributes to messages can be time consuming. But once the rules are set, the ongoing effort drops significantly. Furthermore, linking data sources, such as POS databases, into the messaging process allows marketing strategies like localized pricing strategies to be implemented without significant management support. Speaking from my direct experience, the technology needed to deliver store-specific signage is surprisingly efficient and effective once it is set up.

Good luck with your Local Marketing efforts. If you’d like to share a success story or ask a question, please email me at dfergusson@synqsolutions.com and I’d be happy to share it on this blog.

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Local Marketing – Setting Goals

local-marketing-setting-goals

By: Doug Fergusson
September 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

Local Marketing programs are intended to get “better results,” but what exactly does that mean to you? Understanding who you are trying to reach and what behavior you are trying to influence, are critical to a successful outcome.

Think of Local Marketing as a series of “Micro-Marketing” events within a single store, where each campaign is targeted at a distinct customer interest. Once you accomplish this, you can start framing your objectives. While you can begin with a broad business target (for example, increasing store sales by X %), don’t count on that type of benchmark to get results. The program goals must be as specific as the local marketing campaigns; micro-marketing efforts require “micro-goals.” The goals must state who you are targeting (which customer attribute) and what behavior you wish to influence among these consumers. The more specific you can be about the who and the what, the more likely you will be able to implement a Local Marketing campaign that works.

How specific can you be about who you are targeting? Do you have customer attributes collected that help you identify their interests and preferences? (For example, “parents with young children” would be a much more useful attribute than just “parents” or “customers”) You may be limited in the amount of data that you have collected about your customers, but don’t worry. It takes time, patience and determination to accumulate this type of information. Just start with the data that you have and continue to build upon it.

Do you know exactly what behavior you are trying to influence? For example, are you trying to:

  • Attract new customers into a store
  • Entice old customers back to the store
  • Motivate customers to return more frequently
  • Encourage customers to spend more each visit
  • Drive customers to buy specific items
  • Encourage customers to say positive things about you
  • Raise customer satisfaction

Once you have defined a list of specific Local Marketing goals for each store, you are ready to start the process of determining the how of Local Marketing: Messaging and Media. In my next posts, I will explore a range of strategies for getting real results.

As a final note, please keep in mind that Local Marketing is not an event, but instead is a process of defining the who, what and how of targeting the interests and preferences that drive customers to act. Developing this process into a business routine with the right tools can make your efforts easier to accomplish – and prove to be a significant competitive advantage.

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Local Marketing – Profiling

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By: Doug Fergusson
September 3, 2009 | No Comments

Store profiling is a critical part of local marketing. As you may know, store profiling is the process of collecting information about a retail location with the purpose of creating more targeted and relevant messaging.

There are an endless number of attributes that can be profiled for this purpose, such as:

  • Physical Attributes – Store type (free-standing, mall, in-line), drive-thru capabilities, store size, layout type, etc.
  • Merchandising Attributes – The types of signs, fixtures and sizes
  • Product Offering – Details regarding specific product lines or menu offerings
  • Price Points – Specific product prices by store
  • Consumer Demographics
    • interests
    • age groups
    • ethnic groups
    • language
  • Regional – Weather, landscape, seasonal
  • Local Signage Ordinances – Laws on exterior banners, posters, yard signs and other marketing materials
  • Location – Proximity to high school, hospital, office buildings, highway

 

Collecting this information is a gradual process. I have found that most clients have some of this information; however, the data often is scattered or incomplete. It is amazing how much information is available if you collect all the data held in spreadsheets and departmental databases throughout your organization. This data can be gathered and loaded into a location profiling database (Synq Solutions calls this process Intelligent Profiling) that can be leveraged immediately for marketing purposes. The idea that you can use the data that you already have, and then work to improve and expand the depth of your location profiling data is a key concept of successful local marketing.

Building your profile database is an evolutionary process. It is also one where you have to weigh the cost of collecting and maintaining data against the marketing benefits. For example, if you want to obtain a very accurate picture of the merchandising configuration of each of your stores, you could have a team of specialists visit each location and collect that data; however the cost of this approach could exceed $500 per location. Alternately, you could mail paper surveys or conduct telephone interviews to store managers at a much lower cost. While this approach wouldn’t be as accurate or complete, it may make the most business sense.

Demographic data on your customers can be obtained by analyzing population data from third-party sources or it can be collected through direct surveying of your customers. The trade-off between data quality and cost is the deciding factor.

I generally recommend that clients start by using the data they have or obtaining it at a low cost. Then, as you learn to use the information to build and execute effective marketing programs, the value of improving the data quality will be more than offset by the cost of collecting the information.

This evolutionary approach requires flexible tools, so make sure you have partners with capabilities that allow you to quickly adapt your profiling database to new approaches as your needs change.

I have explored the concept of Location Segmentation and the many ways that you can collect information for Profiling; however, doing any of this without a goal in mind is likely to end up with bad results. In my next post, I will talk about the goals of Local Marketing and how they can affect your approach to Segmentation and Profiling.

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Local Marketing – Segmentation

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By: Doug Fergusson
August 20, 2009 | No Comments

I’d like to explore the various components of Local Marketing by beginning with Segmentation. If leveraged correctly, Segmentation can open a windfall of Local Marketing opportunities for retailers.

Before I go any further though, I’d like to define Segmentation as the set of attributes that separates one consumer (or group of consumers) from another. This whole subject can become very confusing if we don’t separate the two major forms of Segmentation that are applicable in the retail world:

  • Location (or Store) Segmentation refers to the collection of information about the population of consumers that might visit a particular retail location and leveraging this data to drive sales at that store.
  • Consumer Segmentation refers to the collection of information about a specific individual and using that data to target messages to that person.

In this post, I’d like to focus on Location Segmentation, which is an emerging trend within the retail industry. In practice, many QSRs, fast casual restaurants and retailers still address their customers at the store level as a single, unified group of consumers with identical tastes and interests. However, they do so knowing that the consumers who visit each location are different from one site to another. They have plenty of data that supports this fact, so the question I am always asking myself is, why?

I believe these marketers perceive obstacles to executing Local Marketing programs, such as:

  1. How do you segment your customers?
  2. How do you collect data about these customers?
  3. How do you categorize, store and manage data on a location basis (profiling)?
  4. How do you leverage this data to deliver relevant messaging?
  5. How do you execute a Local Marketing campaign store by store?

Together these questions seem overwhelming and lead these marketers to oversimplify their marketing approach. This generally translates into a “one-size-fits-all” approach or store categorization approach (i.e. soccer-mom store, young geek store, etc.), both of which are very limiting. The key point is that Location Segmentation does not have to be one-dimensional; multiple and independent customer attributes can be collected and leveraged differently for each location.

Once marketers embrace the idea that an endless range of consumer attributes can be associated with a location, including age groups, ethnicity, product preferences, general interests, lifestyle, price points and any combination of these attributes, they can be leveraged for marketing on a store-by-store basis. As a result, some very interesting marketing possibilities will emerge.

All of the technology and processes needed to deliver store-specific messaging exist and are proven. They include:

  • Online store profiling database tools (we call Intelligent Profiling),
  • Dynamic page composition tools that can build store-specific POP
  • Digital printing technology that makes it cost effective to print one sign
  • Fulfillment processes that efficiently and quickly assemble store-specific kits of POP elements.

The only thing missing is the commitment to shift to a new way of thinking about marketing to customers. If marketers can make the leap of faith that the obstacles aren’t as big as they appear, the rest is very straightforward.

In my next blog, I will discuss how store profiling data can be used in practical Local Marketing efforts.

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What is “Local Marketing”?

what-is-local-marketing

By: Doug Fergusson
July 23, 2009 | No Comments

While I’ve heard the term “Local Marketing” used widely in our industry, there isn’t a consensus as to what it means. Generally, retail marketers define their Local Marketing initiatives based on the specific tactic they are using, such as local media advertising, local charities, store-specific promotions or direct marketing. Some organizations even have complete departments or field organizations dedicated to this purpose; however, whenever I ask about the details of these programs, I am met with wide-ranging descriptions of what constitutes Local Marketing. Almost always, these interpretations are far too limiting and ultimately, hamper the programs’ effectiveness.

I define Local Marketing as the strategy and actions that communicate to your customers in a manner, and with a message, that is relevant and meaningful based upon localized differences. The goal of Local Marketing is to drive favorable customer behavior as a result of this more targeted communication.

The key dimensions of Local Marketing are: Segmentation, Media and Messaging. Segmentation refers to how one group of customers is differentiated from another. Media refers to the form of communication to be used – local advertising, POP signage, coupons, direct marketing, etc. Messaging is what you say and how you say it in a manner that compels the targeted customers to act.

The success of any Local Marketing initiative depends on these elements working together, yet the sequence by which each is developed plays a key role in the initiative’s long-term effectiveness. Segmentation comes first, followed by Media selection, and then Messaging. A fourth dimension, Measurement, is essential to drive the growth and evolution of the Local Marketing effort.

  1. Segmentation identifies “who” you are targeting.
  2. Media selection determines “how” you will deliver your message.
  3. Messaging establishes “what” you are communicating.
  4. Measurement collects data that can be used to guide future cycles of the program.

Local Marketing programs can be initiated without complex segmentation and messaging, while using a single media type. However, these programs should be designed to support a more sophisticated, data-driven messaging system that will evolve over time.

Too many companies are failing in their Local Marketing initiatives because they start with mass-marketing tools and processes but can’t support further segmentation as the need becomes apparent. Local Marketing is not an event or a campaign, but instead should be a continual and evolving process.

In my next blog post, I will explore each of the Local Marketing dimensions, along with my thoughts about state-of-the-art of Local Marketing tools and processes.

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Welcome to Executing Innovation

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By: Doug Fergusson
July 10, 2009 | No Comments

Welcome to Executing Innovation, the Synq Solutions blog. This feature will be used to share ideas, answer questions and provide information about innovation in our industry. Look for updates on industry trends like cost reduction, localization and shifting marketing media. We’ll also address business problems, as well as specific uses of technology to drive solutions for your company. If you have a specific question or topic that you’d like to know more about, please email us at blog@synqsolutions.com, and we’ll try to address it in our next blog post.

We hope you will find this blog to be a valuable tool in your quest to stay informed about our industry. Our company is founded on technological innovation, and we strive to bring the latest ideas to you so that your company can save time and money on the execution of your marketing campaigns. Before you leave our site today, please visit the Synq Advantage, which explains how we use innovation in our QSR and retail solutions, as well as in the production of our training materials. We also will continue to publish new case studies and white papers. Please bookmark this blog and check back soon for our new series on Local Marketing, which we’ll begin posting next week. This series will explore the various meanings of “local marketing” and all of the issues that stand in the way of real business results.

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