FMCG nerd | Head of Brand Hackers, building fractional marketing teams for brands with big dreams | Marketing Genius (source: unknown)
5 mistakes I see FMCG Brands making again and again: (a brain dump on notes from my roundtable talk at last weeks Up Fest from Up World) 1️⃣ Not talking to customers enough: - Overthinking the process - Making too many assumptions - Not willing to face reality that their customer need might be different to what they thought 2️⃣ Not finding their actual point of difference: - Heroing commodity features like taste, which should be taken as a given - Being unremarkable - Not giving people a reason to care - Not thinking enough about occasion 3️⃣ Underinvesting in top of funnel marketing: - Too much conversion focused comms - Not enough testing of different content - Not enough content that entertains & attracts - Not putting enough or the right people into making content - Being too focused on the product not the consumer and their lives 4️⃣ Struggling to find the right marketing mix for different life stages of the brand: - Not knowing when is right time to focus on different channels - Not understanding what to do pre-and post distribution 5️⃣ Not understanding the importance of incrementality when it comes to securing listings: - Do you add incremental revenue to their category (i.e. not just transfer sales from another brand to yours) - Can you bring in new shoppers to their category - Can you help them tick a box that makes them look good to their bosses - Do you have enough brand awareness to make sure your product actually moves off the shelf - Do you have a budget to put into activating in-store, be that sampling, POS, media or promo fees
TOLU A.
4mo
If proper research isn't carried out where and when necessary, these mistakes may never stop happening.
Mays Elansari
4mo
Amen to the above specifically no 3 !!
Adam Blowfield
4mo
Well said!
Cecilie Olsen
4mo
Thank you for sharing James! I unfortunately missed your talk so great to have the notes.
Blaise Lewis
4mo
I would highlight point 5 within #5 as a totally separate and equally important mistake that SMEs make; it's not enough to sit on a shelf and watch the sales come in, small brands also have to continue to invest instore into consideration and conversion driving activities so that they don't get lost. If you can't afford to support secondary siting and/or promo activity (depending on the retailer) then you're not ready for retail.
Growth Strategy & Execution | Full Service Marketing Agency | Marketing Consultant | Fractional CMO | Interim Management | Available for Projects ✅
4moI would add the following James Hickson 1. Not understanding omnichannel value creation and profit pools (D2C, offline, online retail) and lacking a clear omnichannel strategy 2. Not understanding key consumer entry points 3. Underestimating the importance of offline execution James Hickson