Posted by Gordon Plutsky on Thu, Jan 27, 2011
By: Kimberly Jackson, Editorial Strategist, King Fish Media
Recently I came across a few articles describing the shift in gender specific shopping responsibilities. It appears that the once “all female” domain of the grocery store is changing. The shifting social and economic tides have brought a wave of change and more men are squeezing the Charmin and cantaloupes than ever before.
This is not surprising, women have been infiltrating traditional men’s clubs since my mom was a blossoming women’s libber – so come on in, we are happy to have you. Feel free to ask us questions if you can’t find stuff!
Here is a BIG HEADS UP to traditional marketers: Procter and Gamble – look who’s looking at you now!? Hey Kraft, should the smiles in your ads also be on a Daddy. Even if men have overestimated their level of participation in the grocery gathering process, there are undoubtedly more of them doing it as a primary decision maker. Some suggest that while men are performing the duty, they are simply executing on the lists (brands) given to them by their female partners. However, they are still impressionable eyeballs in the aisles. Shouldn’t the messaging that comes from traditional big supermarket brands speak to them as well?
Open any circular, magazine or communication from grocery stores. They are filled with happy smiling women, moms and kids. The offers focus on women and family health from a woman’s perspective. The few male images are often men beaming at the women in their lives approvingly. There is a big opportunity to have a couple of happy mommas beaming at their guys who just did a major shop, unloaded the bags , put it all away and had dinner ready by the time their working women comes home from the office.
For the most part, women pushing carts down the aisle represent the majority of shoppers. But, maybe it is time for the marketing communication to target male shoppers for more than just Super Bowl entertaining?
Posted by Gordon Plutsky on Thu, Jan 20, 2011
As 2011 gets underway marketers are abuzz about their social media strategy. It seems that everyone from your local diner to the Fortune 1000 is figuring out how they can leverage and drive sales ROI from the myriad of social and mobile platforms and technologies avaliable. I am often surprised how many companies talk about their social media strategy in terms of apps and technology and forget the most important aspect of the overall plan--content.
Content, and the conversations it spurs, is the engine that drives social media engagement and success. Facebook and Twitter are empty vessels without meaningful content and dialog. Companies often open big with elaborate fan pages and don’t have much content to back them up, posting random bits of company news or deals, discounts or specials. While these items are of some interest to consumers, they are certainly not the makings of a two-way conversation.
I would argue that what companies need is a content strategy, not a social media strategy. Social media should only be seen as the distribution channel. By creating valuable and trusted content, companies can change the nature of their relationship with customers. Building trust and affinity can morph a transactional relationship into a long term customer. Social media is an ideal channel for distributing this content directly to customers on your terms and your schedule, and the marriage of content and social media puts your company on par with the media barons of the past.