Marketing opportunity missed by brands

Analysis published by packaging specialist Smurfit Kappa has highlighted a significant opportunity being missed by brands fighting for shopper attention and market share in Europe’s supermarkets.

The white paper report, Marketing on the shelf – exactly how in control are you?, reveals that, despite 76% of purchase decisions being made by shoppers in-store, brands are often failing to seize upon the powerful marketing opportunity it represents. In particular, many are missing out on the growing trend towards shelf-ready packaging as a measurable way to influence shoppers directly at the point of purchase, where most decisions are made to buy a brand or switch to another.

Smurfit Kappa found that up to 40% of a product viewed on-shelf can be made up of secondary packaging, a valuable marketing channel which too often falls outside the radar of brand teams. Compared to other advertising media, the in-store opportunity is significant and one which can be quickly adapted to sit alongside the latest marketing campaigns.

Arco Berkenbosch, VP marketing, research and development, Smurfit Kappa, says, “Our analysis found that there is approximately 125 square metres for brands to market to shoppers at the point of purchase in a typical European supermarket, through shelf-ready packaging.

“That would normally be regarded as an important marketing channel with brands doing everything they can to take advantage of it. If compared to the cost of a typical six-sheet poster site, for example, in advertising terms that’s the equivalent of €424,320 of additional marketing per store every year. Across the whole of Europe this equates to a multi-million euro channel available to brands.

“In a more complex retail world where marketers have to work even harder to compete for shopper attention, this represents a sizeable opportunity. Yet, it largely remains one of the most under utilised parts of the marketing mix and one which still rarely makes it onto the priority list of most brand directors. In reality, it is one of the last areas in-store that offers new marketing opportunities at the point of purchase.”