Archive for the 'Competitive Advantage' Category
Can Neuromarketing Improve Campbell’s Soup?
By Marty Neumeier
In today’s Wall Street Journal (February 17, 2010), reporter Ilan Brat describes how Campbell’s is employing “neuromarketing” techniques to peel back the mysteries of label design. Using biometric tools such as eye-tracking, videotaping, and special vests that capture skin-moisture levels, heart rates, breathing patterns, and posture, researchers were able to compare the emotional responses of various consumers to the existing package line.
Among other things, they found that the Campbell’s logo, positioned against a red background on every package, made the varieties look so much alike that customers’ eyes glazed over when they scanned the offerings. They also found that the standard photo of a spoon lifting the soup from the bowl provoked zero emotional response. Finally, they heard from customers that the soup didn’t look warm enough.
The design response? Add color-coded bands at the top of each package to break the monotony; move the logo to the bottom; ditch the spoon; and add steam to the photo. Totally logical. Totally beautiful. Totally defensible. And totally inadequate. People don’t buy soup for the steam.
A 2005 analysis by Campbell’s showed that the usual techniques for testing advertising did little or nothing to improve sales, largely because they were asking people what they thought. Neuromarketing techniques, by contrast, are designed to measure what people feel. While this gets the company closer to understanding the actual drivers of shelf appeal, there’s only the tiniest of problems: it ignores the real reason people buy Campbell’s.
People buy Campbell’s not because of the steam but because they feel comfortable in the Campbell’s “tribe.” They simply believe that Campbell’s is the “right” product for them. And no amount of package tweaking will move the needle on that belief.
So what can Campbell’s do to improve sales? Improve the reasons to believe. Refocus the brand from the vision on out, then let the package designers express that vision with the skills they already have. When you find yourself using biometrics to test the emotional value of steam, you’ve already lost.
6 commentsAlfredo Muccino to speak at GlobalShop09.
Alfredo Muccino, Liquid Agency’s CCO, is scheduled to deliver a seminar about using technology to drive sales at retail.
GlobalShop is the largest annual tradeshow of its kind in the world, featuring more than 800 exhibitors of fixtures, digital signage, visual merchandising and in-store marketing products. GlobalShop’s conference program which has hosted more than 50,000 attendees features experts in store design and shopper marketing…and Alfredo Muccino, the Chief Creative Officer is amongst the speakers at this year’s conference.
As part of GlobalShop 09, Alfredo will be delivering a presentation on March 24th at The Sands Expo in Las Vegas titled “Technology, Brands and Retail: The New Landscape”. The one hour seminar will address the many different ways that brands are leveraging technology to make a bigger impact at retail. Using real case studies and current examples, Alfredo will explore how savvy brands are connecting with customers online and in-store using new technologies—ranging from social media to mobile devices. The presentation will focus on how brand managers and retailers can leverage the opportunities inherent in this new marketing landscape to create traffic, drive sales and build more loyalty from customers.
Last year Alfredo delivered a seminar on “Building Brands at Retail”, which was very well received and was attended by over 300 retail professionals, including retailers, brand marketers, creative agencies and merchandising fabricators.
Due to the difficult economic landscape, everyone expects that attendance at this year’s show will not be as high as last year’s event - however the folks that will attend will be the ones that are serious about their business. According to Alfredo, “The retail industry is being gravely affected by the economic downturn, and every brand and every retailer is interested in ways to drive sales. This seminar will help people understand how they can leverage technology to do just that - and do it cost-effectively”.
For more information visit www.globalshop.com
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