Emerging Trends Changing Grocery Marketing

© 2015 Ignited, LLC. Proprietary and confidential.

CURIOUS TRENDS THAT ARE CHANGING GROCERY MARKETING


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INTRO: TRENDS THROUGH THE GROCERY LENS

Earlier this year, we curated 15 key trends for 2015 from the most relevant and interesting end-of-year predictions. While the trends themselves are thought-provoking, what’s more exciting is how brands can use them to keep their brands relevant in an ever-faster changing world. With this in mind we revisited the trends, looking at them through the lens of how they can be used to benefit the grocery market brands. Selecting 14 we feel are most appropriate, we have developed concepts for the category that bring these trends to life.



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SECRET AND SUDDEN

People are drawn to mystery and have a desire to explore the unknown.

Create a line of packaged food called the “Mystery Meal Box.” Feature various ethnic cuisines from around the world and provide consumers with only one clue as to what this meal might be: the country of the recipe’s origin. Create an “adventure scale” per country, in which consumers can choose a meal based on the exoticism level of ingredients.

For those bakers out there, create a similar concept with a “Mystery Baking Box.”

Here’s a chance to keep your consumer curious. This could be a good reason to get customers to frequent a grocery brand more often than another.


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BRAND SERVICE BLENDING

A large movement towards being healthier and eating more organics has grocery shoppers seeking and demanding tools and services that will assist them in living a healthier lifestyle.

With health and wellness being a priority, grocery brands could partner up with an established and reputable nutrition brand to provide an integrated app that allows shoppers to find meal recommendations, healthy food advice, and step-by-step cooking tips, based on produce shoppers can find right there in the aisles they are shopping.

Add some smart filters like calorie count and cost per meal and you have an invaluable tool that both encourages shopping and wellness.

Shoppers will appreciate the collaboration between nutritional and grocery brands that provide instant and convenient advice.


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JOYNING

In this ever expanding sharing economy, consumers are no longer afraid to share spaces and experiences with total strangers. They are actually seeking serendipitous encounters that open their minds and world.

With this trend in mind, grocery brands could create an app that uses loyalty card information to connect shoppers with similar food interests and set up shared cooking experiences. Instead of leaving consumers alone, grocery brands could encourage connectivity around what these consumers love to do: cook.

By positioning themselves as brands that care about people and their relationships with each other and food, grocery brands could attach a deeper, collective sentiment towards shopping for groceries.


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SINGLETONS

Divorce rates are rising, people are waiting longer to get married, and delaying parenthood has become the norm. This has led to a rising cohort of single, unmarried individuals, and consequently, the decrease of children.

Grocery shopping alone can be depressing and singles will oftentimes bring another person with them if they can. By partnering with an ever popular dating service like Tinder, grocery brands could have a “Grocery Market Mode” on the app, using the products shoppers’ baskets as the criteria to find the perfect match. New “couples,” or friends, could then shop and cook together, making the grocery chore all the more bearable and even exciting.

Grocery brands could position themselves as modern and unique for attracting young singles to meet at their stores.

Source: http://www.supermarket-dating.co.uk/


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META MARKETING

The marketing-savvy Millennials are at it again, forcing yet another rewrite of the marketing handbook. Discontent with over-the-top marketing campaigns that have long been the status quo, they are calling for brands to “drop the act” and “get real” with more “authentic” communication.

Why not change a grocery brand standard. Create witty labeling that accurately defines how consumers feel about products. Next to organics, label “The good stuff,” next to regular products, label “won’t break the bank.” Ultimately, revealing how people perceive these items.

Replace private labels with the “Just range,” after all, if it’s not branded, it is “Just Beef” or “Just Pasta Sauce.”

Honestly signpost produce nearing its expiration date e.g., “Yeah, we put this here because it expires tomorrow” or “I’m dented, not damaged.”

Embrace these supermarket truths because consumers truly appreciate honesty.


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NEW SEMANTICS

New languages, words, and visual means of communication are entering our lives. Our social vernacular is changing to include more stickers, emoticons, emojis, and slang in our daily text conversations.

With this trend in mind, grocery brands could create their own branded dialect by going beyond simple expected language, and creating a new standard in the grocery dictionary.

Grocery brands could create mashups that eloquently describe supermarket struggles that all consumers face. For example, forgetting to pick up milk, but remembering midway through the line could be called “itemnesia.”

A grocery brand that creates their own branded food language in the form of mashups could differentiate themselves and tap into a major cultural trend.


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ESCAPE ARTIST People are craving heightened escapism: chasing excitement and daring exploration. They are fleeing the 9-to-5 humdrum through active, thrilling and adventurous experiences.

The millennial mega generation are known for their love of all things culturally diverse, which has driven a love of new and exotic cuisine. Making use of shopper data, Grocery brands could randomly select and surprise a shopper of ‘interesting ingredients’ with a trip to ‘Find out where their food is from’. For instance, Saffron – ‘the spice beyond price’ costs more than gold, but why? To find out, a grocery brand could take a ‘saffron’ shopper on ‘the trip of a lifetime’ to see the crocus fields of India. Give them a camera and let them create a film about their experience to publish on social channels.

Grocery shopping is not commonly considered exciting or thrilling, despite the evident passion people have for food. The idea suggested, has the potential to inject a sense of adventure to the humble shopping experience, inviting shoppers to try more adventurous cuisine.


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FLATTENING SOCIAL NORMS

Norms are changing, resulting in a homogenization of culture, gender, and family views. We live in a grayscale world, and this year we will see a major increase in the blurring of cultural borders.

It’s time to discard the shopper stereotype. Present the world as we want to see it rather than as it is. Consider whether featuring the “traditional” family and presenting grocery shopping as a woman’s responsibility is really creating an image that has appeal.

Brands that embrace this trend will appear more in touch with today’s world and could leave a lasting impression in consumers’ minds.

DOWNY “RIP YOUR CLOTHES ON”

Downy dared to shake up the entire Laundry category with a campaign that didn’t feature a mom joyfully doing the laundry. The provocative spot showed that ripping your clothes on can be even more irresistible than taking them off, a far cry from the traditional mom campaigns that dominate the category.


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GEN Z TAKEOVER The 0–18 demographic, aka Generation Z, are the next recruiting sweet spot for brands. Similar to their millennial counterparts they like all things fresh, only to a greater degree.

Reports from NPD* suggest that this emerging generation is eager to make meals using fresh ingredients and are neither interested or contented with ready-to-eat or microwaveable food. With all that said, this generation is just as time pushed and impatient as the previous two.

Grocers can appeal to this rising generation by sourcing and creating quick assembly meals, that indulge their penchant for all things fresh, while also catering to their fleeting attention spans.

At currently 23% of the U.S population, Gen Z is a sizable audience, especially when we consider their influence on their parents’ purchase behavior. In the short term grocers should look to leverage this influence and in the long term they should plan to satisfy their ‘fresh’ fetish and cries for convenience.

Source: *NPD


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LOCAL LOVE/’SMALL IS THE NEW BIG’ In a trend called ‘Local Love’ consumers are looking for brands to be more directly involved and connected with them by showing effort locally. It’s related to a trend we saw surface in 2014 called ‘Small Is the New Big,’ where consumers seek brands who are transparent, authentic, and honest, qualities they are finding from small/local businesses.

When large format grocery brands open their doors in a community, a near catastrophic effect on traditional local commerce often follows. The closure of butchers, bakeries and fishmongers, who have long been part of a fabric of a community, is met with a sense of sadness and despondency.

Grocery brands could consider a scenario where instead of competing with beloved local retailers, they partner and take them into the new branch as a specialized supplier.

This type of initiative would help integrate them into the community, demonstrate an honest desire to support local commerce, and from a pure strategic play, give them a ready-made customer base from day one.


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BEING REAL, AND EVEN FLAWED

Society doesn’t reward defeat, but there is a growing understanding that failure is one of life’s greatest teachers and a necessary stepping stone to later and greater success.

All food is precious, even if it is nearing its expiration date. Grocery brands could be transparent on how much food goes to waste daily. Create a tracker on social media to monitor and update the extra electricity usage and food wastage that goes on in stores daily. Consumers strive to be much more conscious of waste today and so it would be wise of grocers to link near-expired foods with promotions, encouraging consumers to help brands in a shared effort for sustainability.

By being honest in its sustainability efforts, grocery brands could appeal to consumers who care about the environment as well and build brand loyalty with them.


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PURSUIT OF BETTERMENT We are taking control of our personal well-being, looking for ways to break free from poor lifestyle habits in pursuit of betterment and self-improvement.

Grocery brands should consider how they can support this trend, set to stand the test of time. For instance, why not tap in to existing health initiatives like heart month in February, with a promotion of items that aid in the prevention of heart disease, e.g., walnuts, plums, and chickpeas. This could be part of a wider ‘Pursuit of betterment’ initiative.

Pushing products that promote a healthier lifestyle shows the world that grocery brands are directly supporting health and wellness.


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JOMO & DIGITAL DIETING

There was a time, not so long ago, when people suffered from FOMO, the fear of missing out. But today, we see people willingly withdrawing from social-media engagements and realizing JOMO, the joy of missing out.

With this trend in mind, grocery brands could launch #jomoweek; a week-long campaign that encourages eating in and enjoying the company of friends and family in the traditional sense, without being distracted by the digital world. Grocery stores could provide an assortment of healthy, easy-to-prepare recipes and meal boxes for each day of the week.

By incorporating #jomoweek, grocery brands could re-prioritize the importance of spending uninterrupted time with others in this digitally-distracting age.


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PHYGITAL

The convergence of the digital and physical worlds is nothing new, however marketers are still only on the cusp of fully embracing this phenomenon.

As consumers become increasingly accustomed to shopping online, Grocery brands could take advantage of their lessening need to touch and feel produce, while still catering for the need to have their groceries instantly.

Consider the benefits of a Phygital retail presence, one where the shelves of a traditional grocery store are stocked with virtual products. Shoppers browse the store as they would normally, but place virtual products into a virtual basket via an app. At checkout, they simply make the transaction on their app and pick up their groceries, which have been already packed for them.

This evolution of the grocery store format would allow shoppers to get in and out quickly, while still being able to browse the aisles, maintaining the prospect of impulse purchases. The removal of physical produce, baskets and trollies reduces process, freeing employees to concentrate on customer service.


THANK YOU If you'd like to learn more about our experience with Fresh & Easy and other retail brands click here or call us directly. Bill Rosenthal 310.773.3120 2221 Park Place, El Segundo, CA 90245 www.ignitedusa.com

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Emerging Trends Changing Grocery Marketing