At Saatchi & Saatchi X we believe strongly that Shopper Marketing is an Approach not a Discipline and that means we will use the right media and the right time and in the right place to win the shopper challenge, especially in the vastly different Indian market. We are retail-centric, but our communication does not start and stop in the store, because shoppers don’t.

One of the biggest barriers to making this happen is client structure. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve met a new Shopper Marketing Director and quickly realized the shopper team is the repurposed trade team. I’ve not seen this work yet as the behaviours and interaction between the departments do not change when you change the name. This is a huge opportunity in India, shopper is new and being learnt fast. Structuring for shopper must be a priority if companies want to realise the competitive advantage it can deliver, that means putting shopper at the heart of their marketing and understanding it’s strategic application.

P&G have probably made the boldest steps in doing this and I found their ‘store-back’ approach the most inspiring development in shopper thinking. The thought that an idea is not an idea unless it works at shelf has the potential to radically shift how shopper is perceived and agencies behave.

Most of what I see in India could be defined as ‘brand-centric’ shopper activity, it is work to support a marketing/brand initiative to launch promotions etc. and is a natural step from the old world of BTL. But looking globally we see the growth in the ‘retailer-centric’ bucket. This can bring multiple brands, and sometimes companies together on a single platform that also brings value to the retailer. I expect to see more of this emerge as modern retail develops in India.

The top management within companies should recognize the need to structure their organizations for ‘shopper’ and put ‘shopper’ at the heart of their marketing to truly benefit from their efforts. Emphasis on strategic applications of shopper knowledge is best understood by the senior decision makers as they know there is no rewarding result without a strong insight.

Global spends on Shopper Marketing are expected to have the greatest annual growth in the next 3 years, coupled with clients aligning themselves to the retail centric strategic approach, we look forward to partnering them with effective shopper solutions leading to growth

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