Storytelling

Who loves stories? I sure do. Good stories tap into the deepest part of who we are and the very things that make us human. Stories are memorable and inspiring. For those among us who make and see a lot of presentations in a business context, do you see a need to tell more stories? Much of what we do is really not storytelling, but a recitation of various factoids. We say things like: "27% of people say they do this" and "The current state of the business is that", and so one (and most of the time on and on and on!) The human mind cannot possibly retain such a litany of data. It's almost like when you meet someone for the first time. When you think about it, don't people who can tell you their story make a much more positive impression on you than the one who rattles off lists of things they've done or places they've been without anything interesting to say about those things?

Is there a place in the world of supplier and retailer relationship to tell more stories? Can it be possible to introduce emotion in a context where none exists, nor is expected to exist? If so, what does this look like? Tell your stories of great storytelling in the business context here!

Moving Beyond the Obvious

Are you a curious person? Are you always searching for deeper meaning? Well, I am. One of the things I am on a quest to find, and admittedly do not know how to yet is deeper motivation of shopping behavior. Over the years, lots of "attitudinal" and behavioral surveys have been conducted on why people selected the store they ended up buying a particular product. I get frustrated that, almost without exception, the reasons are always "prices", good sales", "location of the store". We need to get to deeper meaning. How can we tap into true motivations? My theory is that for most routine, grocery store type products is that consumers do not know what really motivates them and "price" becomes and easy answer. Will you help me? Post comments!

Provide Your Feedback on a Shopper Insights Community

I am in the process of developing an interactive and engaging online community for Shopper Insights and Shopper Marketing Professionals. In order to make it useful to you, it would be great to get your feedback on what you would like to have in an online community. Would you mind taking this short survey?

Click here to take the survey now. The survey was created with eSurveysPro.com, a free online survey software.

The Shopper Insights In Action Conference

Storytelling, Retail Design, Need State Shelving, Category Reinvention...these are but a few of the topics that ignighted new passions and sparked creative ideas, all from last year's Shopper Insights in Action Conference hosted by IIR in Chicago. Not only was there great learning, but there are always really smart and cool people to get to know...people like Vania Tashjian who was with Levi Straus at the time. A Smart, intuitive, really great storyteller who was able to show how Levi's was using observational and ethnographic research to radically change the shopping experience in their stores.

This year I am really excited about Dan Hill's Keynote address. He's going to be talking about REACHING GUT LEVEL EMOTIONS.

Hill's book Body of Truth is especially intriguing. I am pushing myself, my team and my partners to go beyond the obvious, so Hill's insight looks really promising in that endeavor.

Finally, the folks at IIR are really incredible. They have been very supportive of the group, so much so we have worked out an opportunity for all of the LinkedIn Group members to get a 15% discount on the conference.

To view the Conference Details click here:

http://www.shopperinsightsevent.com/





To receive the discount, register using this link:

https://www.iirusa.com/insights/registration.xml?state=select_event&priority=XM2015linkedin


Be sure the Priority Code: XM2015linkedin is entered.



All the best, hope to see you in Chicago this July!

It's Officially A Fact!

One thing I continuously strive for is creating insights and not simply facts. Don't get me wrong, facts are important, but they rarely are inspire great marketing.

So, I am officially putting an end to calling this statement an insight, it is now forever...a fact; Here it is..."Moms are Time Starved". Or Time Crunched, busy or my most favorite, "Time Famined"!

Can we all agree that this is the state of the American society? This is no longer an "a-ha moment". It is now time to move on to deeper, more meaningful insights.

Gotta go now, I'm famined for time and have to get ready for another time starved day at the office!

My frustration with the Quick Trip

My kids drink too much...Milk, Juice and whatever else they are allowed to get their hands on.

I've heard that all kids are thirsty creatures. I find myself having to make a lot of late night quick trips to the store so there is milk in the fridge for breakfast the next morning. Tonight was one of those nights. I actually look forward to my wife asking me to go pick up more drinks for one simple reason...Haagen Daaz Butter Pecan ice cream. There is nothing else like it and I am happy to pay just about whatever they ask for it. It's that good!

Within driving distance to my house, there are two stores I can easily choose from. Tonight I went to the further store because the closest one was closed. My mouth was watering for the Haagen Daaz...like the whole pint...in one sitting! This particular store did not have my flavor, it wasn't out of stock, they just didn't stock it. They had other Haagen Daaz flavors, like Mango, but no Butter Pecan (which is the 3rd most popular flavor of ice cream).

So I walked out with a total ring of $7 instead of $11. Futhermore, I know that since my wife never buys this indulgence for me, I can sneak it past her during these quick trips.

Retailers can do a much better job of understanding my needs and how profitable these trips can be as a result. Butter Pecan Haagen Daaz, not Mango, not Vanilla; not even the milk, juice and Coke is what is important to me for that trip to be satisfying. Not having it has left me feeling empty (literally) and will end up costing them my future business for these late night milk runs I so often make.

Lesson: The obvious is not always the most important. Look for hidden insight to improve the experience.

Stay Tuned!

The LinkedIn Group "Shopper Insights and Marketing Professionals" is growing faster than I could have imagined. There are some really interesting and eager members. In order to realize the vision for creating real community and giving you the information you need to succeed, I am in the process of developing a new website. The new site will feature (as a start):

Interesting Blog Authors on subjects you care about

Cool Trends in: Design, Consumer Psychology, What's Next, Communication, Metrics/Measurement.

New technologies and methods related to Shopper Marketing and Shopper Insights

Shopper Marketers telling their storoes from all over the world

The "Guru" of the Week Feature

Marketplace (Books, essays, job listings, eventsm etc.)

Social Networking/Idea Forum


I am moving quickly to get this started, it's gotta be awesome though, so give me a little time.

This is a great time to be a marketer. We can bring joy to EVERY shopping experience, that is my goal. You are some of the smartest people in the business world, we can do this.


Jason Buschlen

Phrases I Wish Were Banned from the Business Vernacular

Although I've certainly been guilty of it myself, I hate lingo. It shows a lack of creativity in using words, also most people say ise the lingo without even realizing it. Here are some phrases that should be banned:

"At the End of the Day..."

"And Oh By the Way..."

"I'm working in the [such and such] "space"... (I think this started in the tech field, where they all wanted to actually be in space.)

"Organic Growth"... (Most of us are not involved with organic anything, unless you live on a farm or have an infant.)


What are your favorite phrases to hate?

Rescued from the Sea of Sameness

The problem with the old way of doing category management, in my humble opinion, is that it treated all retailers and shoppers the same; creating a homogeneous retail environment, a Sea of Sameness.


I don't think what we are doing now will necessarily go away; things like critical thinking, POS sales analysis and Space management. However, the convergence of category management and shopper marketing is fast becoming a reality.

Here are my thoughts:

- Ability to make shopper segmentation actionable in the retail environment

- Willingness on the part of manufacturers to embrace a shopper centric retail environment (meaning one-size fits all will not be effective)

- People with the ability to think in "symphony", be great designers and master storytellers, as Dan Pink says in his book a Whole New Mind.

What skill sets do you think shopper marketers need to have to rescue themselves from this sea of sameness?

Latent Design Aspirations and the Future of Shopper marketing

Fashion, Technology, Small Appliances; all have caught on to the importance of great design. Design creates an emotional connection between the product and the Consumer.
Great design will permeate CPG and retail in ways that will make lives better and our jobs as marketers more exciting. I'm hearing a lot lately about two things that really go hand - in - hand: Design Democratization and Brand Storytelling. While once in the realm of the industries mentioned before, I do believe that we will see design become a greater influence in the everyday things like food and cleaning products. Take this one step further, design and storytelling can probably will in some cases a joint effort between manufacturers and retailers. One major retailer I know is pushing manufacturers to create products just for them. What if we took that a step further and recreated the entire section of a category to accomodate the design of new products? Today in many instances a product is well designed and the brand certainly delivers an emotional connection. Many times it is completely lost when stuffed on a crowded retail shelf. What if we were better integrated so that the product design and the retail experience were in-synch with each other. This seems like a way to create real customer loyalty for both brands and retailers.

Thoughts from THE Conference on Marketing

I had the opportunity to attend THE Conference on Marketing last week (thanks Maria!!!) It was, without question, one of the most rewarding experiences I've had. My wife, Kyra was also able to come with me. Instead of just hanging out by the pool or going shopping, she came with me to the conference. It was great for her. She is a stay at home Mom and it really ignited a passion in her to restart a business idea she started working on a while ago. So cool!
This was unlike other conferences, the relationships built there seemed more real and authentic; less schmoozy. Maybe it was because Keith Ferrazzi kicked it all off. If you haven't read Never Eat Alone www.nevereatalone.com , be sure to pick it up; it's a must read. Keith said all business relationships are personal relationships, just in a business context. He led the group in a series of exercises, each one leading to more openness and authenticity with total strangers. My expeirence in the Fortune 500 has only seen pockets this authentic realationship dynamic Keith describes. Everyone is longing for real connection, talking shop and only revealing the surface doesn't allow for it. I'm going to change how I engage with the people in my world; it's risky, but I do think the payoff is a richer life.
Malcom Gladwell was great. He talked about innovation. He related innovation to two prolific artists, Picasso and Cezanne. Picasso's early work is his most coveted today; he had the instant hit. Cezanne, on the other hand, perfected his craft over many years and nothing he produced before the age of 50 or 60 will ever be seen in a museum. The U.S., he said, is hooked on the Picasso approach. We want the big hit now. I think this is driven by Wall Street pressures, public companies live from quarter to quarter; it stifles long term innovation because they need to hit a number now. That's how we get the 20th variety of pickle, where the only real difference is how it got cut! Gladwell had lots of great Cezanne-esque examples of innovation. Wonderful things like Fleetwood Mack and...Viagra, would have never come to fruition in a Picasso oriented organization.
I highly recommend attending next year's conference. Krista Vaquez and her counterparts at IIR do a fabulous job.

Don't Taze Me Bro! This is is just what I think should happen.

First of all, I think Shopper Marketing is the New Marketing; just like Red is the new Black. (A sales lady once told me this while I was buying a new Coach bag for my wife) Shopper Marketing is not a path to simply get another display on the retail floor (although that certainly can happen). I think if brand marketers do not change their paradigm on this point, the competition will take advantage of that weakness.
Shopper Marketing is the blend of the retailer's strategy fused with the brand's, or should I say category's. It's about moving the marketing spend closer to the point of purchase. The way we are measuring return now seems wrong to me. We take a very short term view and it is predicated on merchandising support, not other important metrics like awareness. Thank goodness for the P.R.I.S.M. project. http://instoremarketer.org/?q=node/5779 Hopefully, this will help all of us change our point of view on what Shopper Marketing is and what it isn't.

Let's Have A Talkfest

Well, I first must admit, this is my first attempt at blogging. Really, it is very much "me", because writing is a long-lost passion of mine. There are a lot of cool business things I want to write about, but you may also find other interesting topics as well on this site. Hopefully, we can create a community of passionate visionaries shaping the future of shopper marketing and shopper insights. I am on a personal mission...that is to invigorate the people around me to foster a love for consumers, tell great stories about them that lead to innovative design and communication. I want part of our legacy to reshape grocery shopping into an enjoyable experience for all.

So let's start talking!

What are you passionate about? Why?
What is keeping you awake at night?