Retail News|December 2018|www.retailnews.ie|41
ECR Awards CEO of Glacier Consulting, Understanding Customer Expectations and the theme of his The point Hughes makes is that presentation, ‘Digital technology has changed us because Values: A New Reality’ it has changed our expectations. For was echoed by almost all a brand, meeting the expectations of the presenters on the day. consumers is critical; if you fail to meet Ken painted a fascinating their expectations, you will pay the picture of where we consequences. So for brands operating are and where we are in any part of the FMCG sector, it has going. The generation become vital to understand where the growing up at the moment expectations of your customers are now is set to become the and how you can meet or exceed them. highest consuming It is the same strategy that has generation in human always worked in marketing, but the history, consuming difference is everything moves at a much more products, more faster pace now. For brands looking to information, faster and go the extra mile, the data is now easier easier than ever. to access than ever. That notion of more, For the finalists in the Awards this The keynote speaker was consumer and shopper faster, easier, could be year, getting to know and understand behaviouralist, Ken Hughes, CEO of Glacier set to radically disrupt their target market was a cornerstone Consulting. the way the FMCG in each of their campaigns. For any sector works. As Ken explained, our brand looking to succeed in the highly Ice Cool Campaign from HB expectations as A better than average summer was consumers are always going to help a brand like HB, higher than they but the Snaps Up the Summer campaign have ever been, from Unilever made sure that sales driven largely during a fine summer were as strong by advances in as they possibly could be. Unilever technology. We conducted extensive research on their expect to get picked target audience before implementing up within minutes the campaign, which allowed them of using an app to quickly and effectively engage with to summon a taxi their audience. The activation created or other driver. a very digital campaign to connect with Some readers may its audience, including geo-targeted remember the days digital marketing, and ‘the connected when competition cabinet’, an in-store element allowing Colm Rooney, Shopper Intelligence, and Barry Carty, BWG entrants were instant wins for some lucky customers, Foods. expected to wait with prizes ranging from ice-creams to 90 days to receive competitive FMCG sector, it is time to festival tickets. prizes; some understand that relationship between The campaign included significant companies now offer delivery in less real and digital has changed forever, and online exposure and employed Snapchat than 90 minutes. forever changed us as a result. influencer James Kavanagh @jamesksnaps to connect with customers in app or online on websites such as joe.ie and her.ie. HB recorded an increase in volume of just over one third and an increase in value of 42%, demonstrating that the campaign connected quickly and easily with its intended audience and yet again showed how digital and real are increasingly the same thing. The five finalists on the day all represented their brand and their organisations with distinction and the quality of the 2018 awards was extremely high. The event also featured an array of excellent speakers, providing insights around the day’s theme of ‘Think Digital - Act Real’. Digital Values: A New Reality The keynote speaker was consumer and shopper behaviouralist, Ken Hughes,
Paul Corcoran, Range & Space Planning Manager, Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland, and Declan Carolan, General Manager, ECR Ireland.