The Art Of Persuasion

When it comes to new store brand products, retailers that subscribe to the "build it and they will come" philosophy likely are destined to fail. Why? Because risk-averse consumers need a more compelling reason than the mere existence of a product to persuade them to try.

Retailers, therefore, need to master the art of persuasion if they are to boost trial — and ultimately, long-term sales — of store brand products. To help here,Progressive Grocer's Store Brands solicited the advice of some marketing gurus. What follows are their top seven tips for enticing trial.

1 Build a true brand.

Retailers need to start the persuasion process long before a new store brand product hits the stores. According to Greg Feinberg, president of Los Angeles, Calif.-based Aisle 9 Group, that means creating instead of imitating, as well as building brands that boast personality and emotional pull. Moreover, these new products should meet the wants and needs of the specific shoppers who are already shopping in a retailer's stores.

"Make sure your brand has a brand story," Feinberg says. "If you cannot explain what your brand stands for, then keep working. If you do not have incredible creative talent in house, hire someone or some agency that does."

And make sure to involve consumers in that brand's creation, stresses Valla Roth, director of communications for Decision Insight, Kansas City, Mo.

"Several variables come into play here — product formulation, pricing, naming, packaging, aisle location, etc.," she says. "It's best to have consumers react to actual offerings, not just ask them."

2 Package it for success.

Retailers could think of packaging as a 24/7 print ad or a billboard for their brands — without the advertising costs, Roth notes. Another advantage? Packaging speaks to consumers at the point of purchase, which a recent POPAI study says is the place where consumers make 76 percent of purchasing decisions in store.

To be effective, packaging must generate sales in the marketplace. That means "it must break through shelf clutter and be easily found on shelf," Roth says. In addition, it must be aesthetically appealing and enhance the brand message.

"It's important to articulate the new store brand's packaging objectives, create alternative graphics and evaluate them with category shoppers prior to introduction," she adds. "Once the graphics are on the market, they take on a life of their own, and it can be difficult — and risky — to change them."

3 Edit the assortment.

Like a stray sock in a teenager's chaotic bedroom, a new store brand product is easy to miss among cluttered aisles and shelves. For that reason, "winners in retail properly edit product selection for their customers," explains Jeff Edelman, director of retail and consumer advisory services for McGladrey LLP, New York.

The editing process often requires a retailer to invest in consumer research and analyze product turnover by category and store, he notes.

"Narrow the assortment of competing products, [making] it easier for the consumer to choose," Edelman advises.

4 Rethink shelf placement.

The location of a new store brand product on the shelf also counts in terms of encouraging — or discouraging — trial. For that reason, Edelman recommends that retailers place such products in the "most prominent position," augmenting such placement with shelf markings that highlight the products' benefits and make a comparison to other products.

"Contrary to popular belief, a checkerboard strategy — placing private label next to national brands — seldom optimizes sales for strong store brands," Roth adds. "If store brands are constructed correctly and they have their own unique equity, developing a strong store brand block is more likely to optimize sales and increase store loyalty."

But Roth also admits that the checkerboard strategy might accentuate price differences, so she advises retailers to create alternative arrangements and test them to determine which works best to boost store brand trial within their particular stores.

5 Put it on display.

End-cap displays can help to generate immediate awareness — and trial — for new store brand products, Roth notes. When such displays are in the front of the store, retailers could see huge sales lifts — even if the new product is not offered at a discount.

"Shoppers often assume there's an accompanying price reduction, even if there isn't one," she notes. "Display signage also allows the retailer to create messaging to position the brand, so displays are a great way to jumpstart trial."

6 Give shoppers a sample.

When it comes to new store brand offerings, the greatest barrier to trial usually is taste or performance, not price, notes Julie Beck, executive vice president, sales and marketing for Schaumburg, Ill.-based PromoWorks. For that reason, sampling works very well to build trial and sales of a new item — as long as product quality is high.

For retailers that doubt the effectiveness of sampling events in terms of ROI, Beck points to in-depth analysis of store brands that GFK, formerly Knowledge Networks, recently performed for PromoWorks. The analysis showed a 107 percent increase in a new product's sales a full 20 weeks following the sampling event.

To help offset sampling costs, Beck says, retailers could partner with the manufacturer. They even could sample a "shopper solution" — for example, a new store brand hot dog inside a bun and topped with a national brand store brand ketchup and mustard.

And recipes could be part of such solutions, she adds — for both everyday cooking and seasonal or holiday events. For example, as part of its overall fall football marketing strategy, a retailer could sample a "great tailgating sandwich" as a way to introduce a new store brand sandwich component.

"We also have a Perimeter program, which allows retailer to highlight their key perimeter categories," Beck notes. "Also, these areas are differentiators for retailers."

Because sampling relies so much on human interaction to engage shoppers in store, retailers also need to consider the effectiveness of the person behind the sampling table, she adds. To boost in-store engagement, PromoWorks recently invested in technology to match their sampling employees with products or categories that fit their interests.

7 Adjust the message according to category.

In what Decision Insights terms "higher-involvement" (often more expensive) categories, retailers also will want to consider two different types of messaging to get shoppers to try a new store brand item. That's because certain shoppers can be swayed through social influence messaging (e.g., "The razor most women trust") to make a buying decision, Roth notes, while others can be swayed by a benefits message (e.g., "For closer, smoother shaves").

She points to a study the company conducted on consumer messaging across three categories — dry pasta, dish soap and razors — as an example. In the lower-involvement categories of dry pasta and dish soap, brand users and non-users displayed no difference in terms of purchasing behavior or brand perception after hearing both types of messaging. But in the higher-involvement razor category, benefits messaging resonated well with brand users, while social influence messaging struck a chord with non-users.

"To gain potential users in higher-involvement categories, Design Insight advises using a social influence message," Roth says. "But among current users, a benefits message will more likely reinforce the purchase decision."