FMCG brands online

Oooh, I dunno. I can't keep away from PedigreeChum.chom...
Durex always had a pretty good approach to things web. I remember several years ago that someone was holding them up as doing good things online - think they were working with AKQA at the time. Note: that's a serious point.
Sam
On 14:54:38 27 February 2001 ashley wrote:
>This has been a bit of a head scratcher for a while - can
>FMCG brands really do anything of great value online with
>their brands? There are a number of obstacles:
>
>- FMCG companies are typically organised along
>product-management centres, where teams focus on promoting
>the quarter's sales of products and brands. This is not
>very customer-centric, and very far from the 1-to-1
>interactive medium of the web.
>- FMCG companies rarely deal direct with their end
>customers so, like other manufacturers, they don't always
>know that much about them or how to interact directly with
>them.
>- FMCG products may be part of life's necessities but they
>are not necessarily the kinds of things you are drawn to
>finding out more about on the web. "I must check out
>brand X's tinned vegetables site", "I wonder
>what these toilet roll people are doing online?",
>"Can I download fast food online..." I think
>not.
>
>That said, some FMCG companies are making a good attempt
>at increasing dialogue and building relationships with
>their end customers. For instance http://www.kotex.com,
>http://www.campbellsoup.com, and http://www.pampers.com
>are really focused on acquiring and retaining customers
>through increased dialogue, educational content, etc.
>
>Kimberley-Clark in Europe has built relationships with
>their customers by providing them with such educational
>content and information and by linking them to other
>consumers via their Huggies Mother and Baby Club at
>http://www.huggiesclub-uk.com/
>
>A good place to start if evaluating what FMCG brands might
>do online is the Sara Lee site at
>http://www.saralee.com/brands_products/all_brands.html
>where you can click through to around 50 FMCG websites,
>all brands of Sara Lee. Financial results for each brand
>are also available.
>
>What is most interesting to delve into are the tools,
>metrics and methods used for calculating ROI on such FMCG
>brand web sites. Much of this ROI comes through offline
>sales uplifts driven by awareness and relationships built
>online. If this is so, a successful business case for
>implementing an FMCG brand web site should quantify this
>ROI and propose how it can be measured and substantiated.
>Not such an easy task...
>

Shilts
When you say "The trick most of them [FMCG companies] have missed is to think of internet as 'new media' and think of it in the same way as they would 30 second TV spots, 48 sheet posters, bus sides etc", could one say that FMCG suppliers are almost going back to where they started with the web - using it primarily as a means for marketing, promotion, brand-building - rather than this misled love affair with e-commerce over the last 2 years?
Sam

On 18:25:7 27 February 2001 shilen wrote:
>I agree that most consumer goods companies have not
>clearly understood the use of new media nor grapsed their
>potential - with the result that many of thier websites
>are just pants!
>
>Whilst it's also true that many of these companies have
>not been as consumer focused as they should, there is a
>general movement amongst the more enlightened marketing
>departments to ensure that consumers are put at the heart
>of all that a company does (rather than customers /
>distribution channels). After all, these companies only
>survive because consumers are prepared to put their hands
>in their pockets and pay for a branded product rather than
>an own/private label version. Much of this move have been
>driven by FMCG brands operating in sectors where image is
>the key driver of the purchase rather than product
>benefits. Take the beer industry for example, where they
>focus on the image of a brand of lager (esentially all
>providing the same beneift!) as driving purchase rather
>than the 'now even better at cleaning because we've added
>even more chemicals' approach taken by the likes of
>Persil, Fiary Liquid, et al.
>
>As far as use of the internet goes the key problem seems
>to be that many FMCG companies have only focused on the
>e-commerce potential (and due to the power their retail
>partners hold, they only exploit this in a half-hearted
>way so as to not piss them off too much - e.g. Bass). The
>trick most of them have missed is to think of internet as
>'new media' and think of it in the same way as they would
>30 second TV spots, 48 sheet posters, bus sides etc. With
>media fragmentation ever increasing and marketing literacy
>/ cynacism at high levels (especially amongst younger
>consumers), the internet offers hugh potential as a media
>offering tailored communication. In other words, the
>return from new media - used in the right way - can be
>greater than that from traditional media as it allows a
>marketer to target very specific audiences with very
>specific messages, received on their own terms.
>Furthermore, it allows two-way communication, and
>therefore much greater levels of engagement than a 2
>second pass by a poster in your car.
>
>There are some brands moving to an almost exclusive use of
>new media as they have discovered that ROI can actually be
>much greater. Not wishing to blow our own trumpet but
>we've used new media here in Ireland on the Guinness brand
>and it is working wonders. All it takes is a celar
>understanding of your target audience, a bit of creativity
>about how to engage them in a two-way conversation and a
>link into some form of relationship marketing campaign.
>Even real commodity brands can produce great on-line
>marketing - look at pot noodles!!
>
>The barrier to good marketing on-line is only with the
>marketers themselves - the solution for most always seems
>to be to spend an enormous amount of money on producing a
>TV ad and further wads on a plethora of TV slots. This
>brings high levels of awareness but very poor cut-through
>and engagement....their choice in the end!
>
>
>
>On 14:54:38 27 February 2001 ashley wrote:
>>This has been a bit of a head scratcher for a while -
>can
>>FMCG brands really do anything of great value online
>with
>>their brands? There are a number of obstacles:
>>
>>- FMCG companies are typically organised along
>>product-management centres, where teams focus on
>promoting
>>the quarter's sales of products and brands. This is
>not
>>very customer-centric, and very far from the 1-to-1
>>interactive medium of the web.
>>- FMCG companies rarely deal direct with their end
>>customers so, like other manufacturers, they don't
>always
>>know that much about them or how to interact directly
>with
>>them.
>>- FMCG products may be part of life's necessities but
>they
>>are not necessarily the kinds of things you are drawn
>to
>>finding out more about on the web. "I must check
>out
>>brand X's tinned vegetables site", "I wonder
>>what these toilet roll people are doing online?",
>>"Can I download fast food online..." I think
>>not.
>>
>>That said, some FMCG companies are making a good
>attempt
>>at increasing dialogue and building relationships with
>>their end customers. For instance
>http://www.kotex.com,
>>http://www.campbellsoup.com, and
>http://www.pampers.com
>>are really focused on acquiring and retaining
>customers
>>through increased dialogue, educational content, etc.
>>
>>Kimberley-Clark in Europe has built relationships with
>>their customers by providing them with such
>educational
>>content and information and by linking them to other
>>consumers via their Huggies Mother and Baby Club at
>>http://www.huggiesclub-uk.com/
>>
>>A good place to start if evaluating what FMCG brands
>might
>>do online is the Sara Lee site at
>>http://www.saralee.com/brands_products/all_brands.html
>>where you can click through to around 50 FMCG
>websites,
>>all brands of Sara Lee. Financial results for each
>brand
>>are also available.
>>
>>What is most interesting to delve into are the tools,
>>metrics and methods used for calculating ROI on such
>FMCG
>>brand web sites. Much of this ROI comes through
>offline
>>sales uplifts driven by awareness and relationships
>built
>>online. If this is so, a successful business case for
>>implementing an FMCG brand web site should quantify
>this
>>ROI and propose how it can be measured and
>substantiated.
>>Not such an easy task...
>>

"It's not the size of your vessel; it's the motion of the ocean", you could say...
On 19:0:9 27 February 2001 shilen wrote:
>I think the more enlightened ones are. From a lot of what
>I hear and read though, it seems that many seem hellbent
>on only investing in e-commerce projects. I would also say
>that it's not really a 'return to where they started with
>the web' as the vast majority of them never really got
>that the internet offered huge potential in the area of
>brand-building. They seem stuck in the view that they will
>never get the 'reach' they need using the web. they've
>forgotten that it's not the size of audience that's
>important - it's the quality of the conversation you have
>with consumers...
>
>There's a book called 'The Tipping Point' by a chap named
>Malcolm Gladwell that clearly demonstrates the importance
>of a few good quality consumer conversations rather than a
>30 second bit of drivel in the Superbowl ad break. It's a
>really interesting read on how trends get started and how
>they become 'epidemics'...
>
>
>On 18:52:7 27 February 2001 Sam wrote:
>>Shilts
>>When you say "The trick most of them [FMCG
>companies]
>>have missed is to think of internet as 'new media' and
>>think of it in the same way as they would 30 second TV
>>spots, 48 sheet posters, bus sides etc", could
>one
>>say that FMCG suppliers are almost going back to where
>>they started with the web - using it primarily as a
>means
>>for marketing, promotion, brand-building - rather than
>>this misled love affair with e-commerce over the last
>2
>>years?
>>Sam
>>
>>
>>On 18:25:7 27 February 2001 shilen wrote:
>>>I agree that most consumer goods companies have
>not
>>>clearly understood the use of new media nor
>grapsed
>>their
>>>potential - with the result that many of thier
>>websites
>>>are just pants!
>>>
>>>Whilst it's also true that many of these companies
>>have
>>>not been as consumer focused as they should, there
>is
>>a
>>>general movement amongst the more enlightened
>>marketing
>>>departments to ensure that consumers are put at
>the
>>heart
>>>of all that a company does (rather than customers
>/
>>>distribution channels). After all, these companies
>>only
>>>survive because consumers are prepared to put
>their
>>hands
>>>in their pockets and pay for a branded product
>rather
>>than
>>>an own/private label version. Much of this move
>have
>>been
>>>driven by FMCG brands operating in sectors where
>image
>>is
>>>the key driver of the purchase rather than product
>>>benefits. Take the beer industry for example,
>where
>>they
>>>focus on the image of a brand of lager (esentially
>all
>>>providing the same beneift!) as driving purchase
>>rather
>>>than the 'now even better at cleaning because
>we've
>>added
>>>even more chemicals' approach taken by the likes
>of
>>>Persil, Fiary Liquid, et al.
>>>
>>>As far as use of the internet goes the key problem
>>seems
>>>to be that many FMCG companies have only focused
>on
>>the
>>>e-commerce potential (and due to the power their
>>retail
>>>partners hold, they only exploit this in a
>>half-hearted
>>>way so as to not piss them off too much - e.g.
>Bass).
>>The
>>>trick most of them have missed is to think of
>internet
>>as
>>>'new media' and think of it in the same way as
>they
>>would
>>>30 second TV spots, 48 sheet posters, bus sides
>etc.
>>With
>>>media fragmentation ever increasing and marketing
>>literacy
>>>/ cynacism at high levels (especially amongst
>younger
>>>consumers), the internet offers hugh potential as
>a
>>media
>>>offering tailored communication. In other words,
>the
>>>return from new media - used in the right way -
>can be
>>>greater than that from traditional media as it
>allows
>>a
>>>marketer to target very specific audiences with
>very
>>>specific messages, received on their own terms.
>>>Furthermore, it allows two-way communication, and
>>>therefore much greater levels of engagement than a
>2
>>>second pass by a poster in your car.
>>>
>>>There are some brands moving to an almost
>exclusive
>>use of
>>>new media as they have discovered that ROI can
>>actually be
>>>much greater. Not wishing to blow our own trumpet
>but
>>>we've used new media here in Ireland on the
>Guinness
>>brand
>>>and it is working wonders. All it takes is a celar
>>>understanding of your target audience, a bit of
>>creativity
>>>about how to engage them in a two-way conversation
>and
>>a
>>>link into some form of relationship marketing
>>campaign.
>>>Even real commodity brands can produce great
>on-line
>>>marketing - look at pot noodles!!
>>>
>>>The barrier to good marketing on-line is only with
>the
>>>marketers themselves - the solution for most
>always
>>seems
>>>to be to spend an enormous amount of money on
>>producing a
>>>TV ad and further wads on a plethora of TV slots.
>This
>>>brings high levels of awareness but very poor
>>cut-through
>>>and engagement....their choice in the end!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>On 14:54:38 27 February 2001 ashley wrote:
>>>>This has been a bit of a head scratcher for a
>>while -
>>>can
>>>>FMCG brands really do anything of great value
>>online
>>>with
>>>>their brands? There are a number of obstacles:
>>>>
>>>>- FMCG companies are typically organised along
>>>>product-management centres, where teams focus
>on
>>>promoting
>>>>the quarter's sales of products and brands.
>This
>>is
>>>not
>>>>very customer-centric, and very far from the
>>1-to-1
>>>>interactive medium of the web.
>>>>- FMCG companies rarely deal direct with their
>end
>>>>customers so, like other manufacturers, they
>don't
>>>always
>>>>know that much about them or how to interact
>>directly
>>>with
>>>>them.
>>>>- FMCG products may be part of life's
>necessities
>>but
>>>they
>>>>are not necessarily the kinds of things you
>are
>>drawn
>>>to
>>>>finding out more about on the web. "I
>must
>>check
>>>out
>>>>brand X's tinned vegetables site",
>"I
>>wonder
>>>>what these toilet roll people are doing
>>online?",
>>>>"Can I download fast food online..."
>I
>>think
>>>>not.
>>>>
>>>>That said, some FMCG companies are making a
>good
>>>attempt
>>>>at increasing dialogue and building
>relationships
>>with
>>>>their end customers. For instance
>>>http://www.kotex.com,
>>>>http://www.campbellsoup.com, and
>>>http://www.pampers.com
>>>>are really focused on acquiring and retaining
>>>customers
>>>>through increased dialogue, educational
>content,
>>etc.
>>>>
>>>>Kimberley-Clark in Europe has built
>relationships
>>with
>>>>their customers by providing them with such
>>>educational
>>>>content and information and by linking them to
>>other
>>>>consumers via their Huggies Mother and Baby
>Club
>>at
>>>>http://www.huggiesclub-uk.com/
>>>>
>>>>A good place to start if evaluating what FMCG
>>brands
>>>might
>>>>do online is the Sara Lee site at
>>>>http://www.saralee.com/brands_products/all_bra-
>nds.-
>>html
>>>>where you can click through to around 50 FMCG
>>>websites,
>>>>all brands of Sara Lee. Financial results for
>each
>>>brand
>>>>are also available.
>>>>
>>>>What is most interesting to delve into are the
>>tools,
>>>>metrics and methods used for calculating ROI
>on
>>such
>>>FMCG
>>>>brand web sites. Much of this ROI comes
>through
>>>offline
>>>>sales uplifts driven by awareness and
>>relationships
>>>built
>>>>online. If this is so, a successful business
>case
>>for
>>>>implementing an FMCG brand web site should
>>quantify
>>>this
>>>>ROI and propose how it can be measured and
>>>substantiated.
>>>>Not such an easy task...
>>>>