POS – The End and The Beginning

The shopping experience has been changing significantly after the use of internet and, therefore, the merchandising campaigns have been also reinventing their approaches to fit into the 3.0 Digital Era – actually, 4.0

We used to consider the Point of Sales (POS) as the end of the consumption cycle, but why not considering it the beginning of the engagement with the shoppers, instead? A promotional campaign can become the first step to get to know better your shopper or consumer, and being attractive in the POS can highlight your brand among the others and promote a real link with the target.

Among thousands of brands creating innovative campaigns, Kellogs and Danone surprise me through their promotional approach. They developed a very smart way to unveil the profile of their shoppers while engaging with them. The knowledge goes beyond of tracking their purchases and favorite products, but also provides a scan of their life habits and entertainment preferences.

Kellogg’s – Customization and Data Base

Kellogg’s uses the packaging of the product to communicate 3-month promotions where it rewards its consumers with custom gifts.

Kellogg’s – Packaging communicating the promotion

But to be eligible for the promotion, the consumers need to purchase 3 products of the portfolio (of their choice), keep the code that is inside the packaging and write them down on a webpage. Because the gift must be sent to the client’s homes, when registering for the promotion the person must add an identification and an address.

Kellogg’s – registering on the promotion webpage

In LATAM markets, most of the purchase rewards still occur inside the stores, which means that there is no real control of the gifts – they disappear in the Customer Service areas or get stolen. The company many times does not register any increase on sales after investing money on the campaigns and neither get to know the profile of the shoppers that purchased the products nor the “the best seller SKUs”.  

The cross-channel campaigns are a smart way of building data bases with client’s information and, at the same time, knowing their purchase preferences – once each code is related to a SKU. At the end, everyone is happy: the company and the client.

Kellogg’s – Customizing the gif

Danone – Engagement, fun and a lot more

Danone is the master of engagement among the FMCG companies  – at least in the Iberian market. We can’t deny they have expertise in offering a wide variety of awards and gifts, and what is more important, they promote fun experiences within their platform.

Danone – scanning points for the membership program

Each product of their portfolio contains a code (number + QR code) that can be introduced or scanned once you log in to their App “Alimenta Sonrisas”, and those codes assign you points –premium SKUs give you more points. Again, the company collects personal information from their customers and track what product they are purchasing. While the customers, with their points, are invited to:

• play
• support good causes
• try new products with discount
• go to the movies
• participate in contests

Danone – Choosing your gift by exchanging points

Through the loyalty platform described above, the brand knows what is more important for its target. It knows exactly what kind of event entertains them the most, what are their values, what motivates them.

The engagement starts with the purchase. The package becomes the initial point of contact of a long and lasting relationship – that will continue to add value in the digital world. Again, if the purchase process is now multichannel, the engagement follows the same path.

Any other great example of engaging merchandising campaigns to be shared? Don’t keep it just for you, share it!

Written by Fernanda Accorsi