Hyper local intelligence is being used by CPGs to optimize brand and retail performance. Brands are working to know their consumers in the context of their environment by understanding the trending topics of their neighborhood and the product inventory and sales data of the stores within their neighborhood. They are studying their consumers at the zip-code level, analyzing the characteristics of the very street they live on in addition to regional characteristics, such as weather and locally occurring events, in order  to create deep layered contextual insights that drive real-time media spend and targeted advertisement delivery.

At the Path to Purchase Expo 2016, Mindy Rickert, Customer Director of Shopper Marketing for Value & Convenience Channels at Mondelez International and Anne Martin, Customer Director of Shopper Marketing for Mondelez, gave a seminar entitled “Improving Shopper Targeting.” The seminar shared a case study story of Mondelez’s partnership with MaxPoint, a digital advertising company that they recruited to assist them in the strategic product launch of their new snack product, Oreo Thins, at national retailer Ahold.

Given that this was a very different type of snacking product for their brand portfolio, intended for a more health conscious consumer in search of healthier snack options, they had to think differently about where and who they were selling it to, and thus looked to MaxPoint to help deliver the data and insights required to do so.

In partnering with MaxPoint, Mondelez missioned to achieve three key initiatives:

1. Reach a new consumer
2. Integrate with supply chain
3. Drive to the right stores

The path to identifying the right store locations, shoppers and times to push their new product began by working with MaxPoint to map region-level intelligence of key consumer segments against a map of retailer competition and population concentration.

Mondelez worked in partnership with MaxPoint to identify the zip codes with the highest healthy product interest in proximity to their Ahold retail customers in order to pinpoint the best locations to drive their product to. This was achieved by having MaxPoint collect and analyze scan data from registers. When they noticed a particular zip code had their product on shelf and was actively being scanned, they began to immediately push out targeted digital banners to that region—using real-time sales data to optimize their media toward the highest opportunity stores. These dynamic banner ads featured retailer- and geo-specific imagery and content that drew consumers in through increased relevancy, in addition to a coupon for the product at the individual’s nearest retail location.

In delivering targeted promotions to locations exactly when they observed their product being scanned, Mondelez was able to significantly optimize their media spend and lift their daily average Oreo Thin sales by 13% in comparison to control stores not supported by the digital campaign. The positive sales momentum generated by the campaign extended well beyond the final impression, however. The geo-targeted digital ads brought shoppers to the store, but once there, shoppers often purchased other products located next to the new snack. Daily average sales for related SKUs within the brand’s portfolio increased by 7%.

Additionally, in observing and mapping product scan data across high concentration retail supply chain locations, they began to determine which programs drive the greatest sales where, and build campaign responder profiles. They identified the Oreo Thin consumer profile as a woman under 35 who makes 40-60K, is interested in fitness and has a history of purchasing similar snack products. They began to know this woman in the context of her environment, defining her interests, ethnicity, education, shopper patterns and more to support continuous program targeting enhancement by segment as their contextual and behavioral database grew. In doing so, they drove development in previously low Brand Development Index (BDI) stores.

Through such detailed store segmentation, Mondelez was able to achieve more efficient marketing of their line extension and:

• Increased sales across the compete category line
• Drove incremental shoppers to the channel
• Developed a new foundation for new programs

Mondelz now uses this push and pull strategy across other product lines and has been able to build a comprehensive database of location-based shopper intelligence that enables them to plug in specific KPIs and get intelligent starting points for new programs.

Through hyperlocal program placement driven by store-level data, CPG companies can ensure the right message is delivered to the right consumer at the most optimal times, enhancing media spend across retailers while deepening brand equity among the consumers that matter most.

To explore the shopper marketing program execution technology Cierant can offer to your business to turn your real-time data into real-time placement of localized offline and online program media, please call 203-731-3540 or email inquiries@cierant.com.