Holiday marketing begins early

How early? Well, UK retailer John Lewis actually plans two years ahead, analysing trends and preparing themes for holiday windows, displays and communications content. This is the only way to coordinate products, messages and in-store merchandising on schedule.

Selfridges was the earliest of all UK retailers to reveal its 2018 holiday window displays, on 18 October. The theme is rock 'n roll. Quoting the store: 'It’s about freedom, exuberance, living for today, and having a rocking time to the accompaniment of a great soundtrack'. See the full window displays from Oxford Street, London, here!

Hamley's Regent Street windows are all about holiday time in London, including markets and festivals. This year's focus is on plush toys, plush toys, plush toys in the windows and inside (plus other must-have toys).

Fenwick Newcastle's windows feature a jolly snowman come to life, from the children's book by Raymond Briggs, delighting the small boy who built the snowman.

Aldi's holiday advert again features Kevin the Carrot, returning from 2017 and 2016. The hashtag #SaveKevin engaged viewers to trend Aldi on social media following the advert on air.

Rival Lidl is airing three holiday adverts this year, themed 'upgrade your Christmas' with funny consequences. A Lidl exec says: 'Our classic humour and imagination runs through the series, providing Lidl laughs and mouth-watering products to marvel at'.

Nearly every day now, a retailer will be revealing windows or adverts and -- of course! -- special promotions to attract shoppers.

Gender neutral marketing?

John Lewis has reignited the debate over gender neutral marketing with its announcement that children's clothing will no longer be categorized as male or female. This isn't a new controversy, but a complex issue confronting retailers, manufacturers and their customers.

What about stereotyping? There is a concern that gendered toys and other products may reinforce stereotypes. Rather than have 'pink' and 'blue' aisles and products, retailers want customers to be able to browse and select products as they choose. But how does this work in everyday brick-and-mortar stores? Will it confuse or even anger some customers?

What about differences between male and female versions of products in a particular category? When customers compare the quality and marketing of boys' and girls' shoe products, for instance, some are unhappy about what they see. Pricing of products is also controversial, with complaints about different prices for men's and women's razors, for example, causing some retailers to eliminate the gender price gap.

At the same time, some marketers are recognizing distinctly different needs amongst male and female consumers, and marketing products geared to needs for each target market. Men in China, for example, are eagerly buying male beauty products like skin-care lotions. L'Oreal and ASOS are marketing makeup products for men in the UK. 

What is the future of gender neutral marketing? The controversy continues.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are changing consumer behaviour

Black Friday is influencing consumer behaviour on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. So is Cyber Monday. And the result is higher demand for bargains online at the expense of in-store shopping.

Originally, Black Friday was a long-time US tradition, widely considered the start of the year-end holiday shopping season. Cyber Monday is a term coined by the US trade group National Retail Federation to describe the prevalence of online shopping on the Monday after Black Friday, a trend it began analysing and promoting a decade ago.

Now Black Friday and Cyber Monday have crossed the pond with the help of US-owned retailers like Asda and Amazon. What's more, both of these shopping 'holidays' are increasingly e-commerce driven, given the ubiquity of mobile devices.

2015 was a record year for UK Black Friday purchases, with shoppers spending an estimated £1.1bn to buy from UK online retailers. John Lewis says Black Friday was its single busiest shopping day ever--with online buying accounting for much of the growth in sales. Amazon UK also had its busiest day ever on Black Friday. Asda, however, wasn't participating in Black Friday bargains due to 'shopper fatigue around flash sales'.

Some UK retail sites had difficulty keeping up with the deluge of orders on Black Friday, as shown by the screen shot at top of this page. How many customers clicked away to buy elsewhere isn't known. But it's clear that both Black Friday and Cyber Monday are shaping consumer behaviour by encouraging shoppers to look for deep discounts on certain days or weeks and focusing attention on price as a key element in the buying decision.

Battle of the holiday adverts begins

With the yearend holiday shopping season about to begin, UK retailers are unveiling their new adverts and warm-hearted campaign themes.

The first was John Lewis, which put an adorable child and best friend, Monty the penguin, into the spotlight. Posted on YouTube, the advert attracted 4.5 million views in less than 48 hours.

This new holiday advert follows the animal friends theme that won John Lewis's bear and hare advert so many holiday views in 2013. Strong on emotion, no hard-sell, focus on positive attitudes and feelings.

Next was Marks & Spencer, which renamed itself Magic & Sparkle as it revealed its holiday fairies advert with a tweet:

Introducing a little Christmas Magic and Sparkle. #FollowTheFairies https://t.co/yE2NJi8Rwx
— M&S (@marksandspencer) November 7, 2014

Marks & Spencer is relying more heavily on social media this holiday season to capture the attention of tablet and mobile users who browse and buy with a click or fingertip.

Multichannel strategies are a must for 2014 holiday success. Watch for more social media marketing and more special adverts as countdowns to the holidays (and, earlier, the special window displays) continue.

Retailers reveal consumer behaviour trends

Supermarkets and other retailers collect a massive amount of data about what shoppers buy, when they buy, how they pay, how often they shop, what time of day they shop and other details that help them analyse and understand consumer behaviour.

One of Tesco's highly valuable assets, in fact, is its Dunnhumby division, the tech engine behind its ability to utilise big data collected from Clubcard users' purchases.

John Lewis recently released a listing of trends based on its analysis of customer purchasing patterns and marketing research survey results.

This is the first in an annual series of reports designed to reveal changes in consumer behaviour and explain the implications.

Introducing the report, Mark Price of Waitrose told The Telegraph: 'People are buying food for now. The notion that you are going to go and push a trolley around for the week is a thing of the past. It is fundamentally changing the market'.

In other words, UK shoppers are no longer preparing menus in advance and shopping for food once a week. Pressed for time, they're buying weekday convenience and, often, planning for food-on-the-go (not necessarily fast food).

On weekends, however, UK consumers like to splash out on leisurely feasts. Bold flavours are increasingly in favour. Many use social media to share food photos and comments about what they like and don't like, which can accelerate and intensify reactions to food products--and to stores.

With better knowledge of consumer buying habits and priorities, retailers can design stores to meet the new needs and order products that fit current lifestyles. Marketing in all media will reflect these influences and position the retailers as 'the' place to shop for today's shoppers.

Clicks and bricks evolve

Multichannel marketing continues to evolve as retailers, in particular, test combinations of online ordering and physical store locations that might give them a competitive edge in attracting and serving customers. Clicks and bricks strategies for UK marketers include:

• Buy online, pick up in a store. An example is John Lewis's Click and Collect service, which allows buyers to have purchases waiting for them at a nearby John Lewis, Waitrose or Click+ location. The new John Lewis 'convenience' outlet, opening in London's St Pancras Station this fall, will be a collection site and a retail store stocking high-demand items like home fashions and electronic gadgets. Already, 33% of John Lewis's online sales combine clicks and bricks--meaning one-third of the customers who buy online opt to pick up in a store.
• Independent online retailers test store openings. Here, the idea is to compete more effectively, increase sales and reach customers who don't buy online or prefer to see merchandise before ordering. Remember, the high number of high street vacancies means e-businesses have more opportunities to try operating a store in a good location.
• Pop-up shops allow for testing new products and markets. Clicks and bricks can include a limited-time pop-up shop for a specific occasion, product category and/or market. The temporary nature of pop-ups allows for flexibility and affordability. If the location attracts shoppers, the pop-up may be extended or used in another place or at another time.
• Integrating digital with non-digital in other markets. Tesco, for example, shows how its clicks and bricks approach supports global growth (see below). The UK retail giant's South Korean business combines retail stores and online buying, with savvy use of digital media and customisation. It was a pioneer of the concept of virtual stores featuring  shopping via mobile. 
• What about social media and shopping?  Stores open on a social media site appear to be perceived as slightly less trustworthy, according to a YouGov study. Still, social media content is vitally important for brand-building and awareness, even if shoppers don't actually click to buy via social media. Social media can influence, inform and persuade!

Holiday retailing: 2013 results

Sales at John Lewis rose during the 2013 holiday season--due, in part, to its successful integrated marketing campaign based on a charming bear and the hare holiday advert.

This advert attracted more than 11 million YouTube views in 7 weeks. The retailer profited from sales of related merchandise, including stuffed bears and hares and a book featuring these characters. John Lewis customers also made more purchases by mobile than ever before, especially during the clearance sales.

House of Fraser also enjoyed a successful holiday season, with solid sales of high-end brands, increased online buying, and far fewer deep discounts than most competitors. As a result, the retailer's profit margins remain healthy.

Debenhams received far more online orders than in previous years, but still warned of lower sales and profits. Despite investments in store renovations and last-minute price-related promotions, the retailer struggled to attract the revenues it expected during the holidays.

Many retailers opened early for after-Christmas clearance sales, with shoppers crowding in for big bargains. But online retailers really benefited, because many shoppers browsed Internet shops on Christmas day (from computers, tablets, and mobiles), in preparation for Boxing Day sales.

2013 holiday adverts debut online

At one time, November meant the unveiling of dazzling holiday window displays in high street stores.

Now November also stands for holiday advert debuts. M&S is only one of many UK retailers revealing its holiday ads on multiple screens--TV, mobile, and beyond.

John Lewis is unveiling its 2013 holiday animated advert this weekend, as if you didn't know by seeing the Twitter hashtag #sleepingbear and the teaser ads leading up to the big event. Of course, John Lewis showed its advert online first. The official TV debut is during X Factor. 

Tesco is going all out for nostalgia, complete with a Rod Stewart soundtrack for its holiday advert.

Designer clothes are the stars of the Debenhams holiday advert this year, adding glamour to a heartwarming reunion story. The finale takes place on ice, just the right touch for a winter holiday feeling.

Marketing Week critiques what it calls the winner, the runners-up, the losers and the bizarre holiday ads here.

Big stores, big data, bigger profits and better shopping experience

This shopping season, every retailer of any size will be capturing as much data as possible about transactions, including which products are purchased (and in what combination), how often each customer buys and through which channel (in the store? via app? online? catalog?).

By analysing such big data, retailers can gain insights into customer behavior and prepare marketing programmes to strengthen relationships with loyal customers (and turn occasional shoppers into loyal buyers).

A McKinsey study from 2011 suggests the enormous potential of mining big data: 'We estimate that a retailer using big data to the full has the potential to increase its operating margin by more than 60 percent'.

Amazon, in fact, has boosted sales by analysing big data to present customers with product recommendations based on previous purchases and browsing history. Customers benefit because the shopping experience is tailored to their needs and preferences.

Waitrose and John Lewis, part of the same corporate entity, now have a joint customer insight director to help mine big data for actionable information. 'Customer insight is an increasingly sophisticated area and a central part of modern retailing', explains the group chairman. (At left, the first cobranded ads from these two stores.) 

A Harvard Business Review blog post observes that smaller retailers may be unable to afford data collection and analysis on this level, possibly putting them at a competitive disadvantage. On the other hand, there's an app for that--big data analysis, I mean. Of course, this is oversimplification of a complex situation, but the point is that customers have more power than at any time in the past, so retailers of all sizes must be ready to satisfy shoppers' needs or risk losing relevance and market share. Big data is only part of the solution, but it's a big part.

Marketing with a larger purpose

What are your values--and are they integrated into your marketing?

Sainsbury's ad

Cilla Snowball, chair of the Advertising Association (and on the board of Comic Relief), recently told an audience of advertisers that 'purpose, values and consistency' are three key principles for showing how a brand makes a difference: 

'Consumers want to connect with brands that have a purpose and if that’s at large in your TV ads and expressed in a number of other ways you’ll do better than brands that don’t'.

Snowball, chief executive of the agency that handles Sainsbury's advertising, mentions the store's strapline 'Our values make us different' as a good example of integrating purpose into the marketing message and the organisation's operations.

Other UK retailers are also very active in purpose-led marketing. Marks & Spencer's Plan A has set ambitious goals for going green in merchandising, production, operations and almost every other function. M&S recently introduced the world's most sustainable men's suit. It's the result of a complex and sustainable supply chain created with the purpose of developing a product that satisfies customers' needs and protects the environment.

John Lewis is another retailer known for strong values that guide its decisions. From the employee ownership model to the green transportation initiatives, ethical sourcing and use of alternative fuels, John Lewis incorporates purpose into its daily operations and marketing. Long after the latest fashions fade, values will endure and remain important to customers as they make decisions in the marketplace.

John Lewis connects with its communities

Retailing is so often focused on price competition, and yet strong, positive relationships with customers and their communities can make a real difference in long-term loyalty.

John Lewis is opening its doors to community groups that need meeting space, expertise and other assistance. Among the groups that have taken advantage of free meeting space in John Lewis department stores are Friends of the Welsh National Opera, Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust and the Peace Hospice.

'We'd like our shops to become a place where the community is happy to spend time, for use as a genuine resource', says Managing Director Andy Street.

Each John Lewis department store has a community liaison coordinator to work with local groups in identifying needs and providing resources such as free meeting space or volunteers recruited from store staff. These personal connections help the retailer integrate more fully into the everyday life of the community, a key element in social responsibility.

Take a look at the John Lewis Partnership's social responsibility page for info about other steps the retailer is taking to connect with its communities.

What about Wi-Fi in stores?

Tesco just announced it will make free Wi-Fi available for all Clubcard members in all Tesco Extra stores, not long after John Lewis announced its free Wi-Fi service availability.

One benefit is that shoppers will be able to do online price comparisons before they buy in the store. Another is that they will be able to check for consumer reviews, look at accessories and complementary products, browse brand web sites, and then be in a position to make more informed decisions.

Will Wi-Fi be a major competitive advantage? IMHO, no. Still, it's another extra that boosts goodwill and serves as a point of differentiation in the crowded retail marketplace. And in today's economic environment, that might be enough to encourage shoppers to choose Tesco or John Lewis instead of competing stores.

John Lewis "Always a Woman" advert

Did you see the John Lewis "Always a Woman" advert during Britain’s Got Talent? If not, take 91 seconds and click here for the advert and a bit of commentary from The Times. You can also read a Guardian review here and a Daily Mail comment here.

Advertising has the power to make us smile, possibly annoy us, inform us, encourage us to buy, sometimes get us to think. This advert was a memorable sentimental journey through one woman's life, linked to the John Lewis brand. It packed a lot into 91 seconds.