Planogramming - A synonym for visual merchandising

After having dwelled on displays and themed displays, in particular, in my earlier post I thought it would be fitting to write on a concept that effectively enhances the embillishment of a retail store and an operational aspect on which I worked on during my internship at SPAR-Max Hypermarket - Planogramming in Retail. It came as quite a startling revelation to me that most of the conceptual terms that we use in our retail classes are not renowned in the practical retail world. A very busy manager of mine had instructed me to work on the planogram of the edible oils and fats section and I was dumbstruck as to what that meant. Realizing that it would create a non-cozy environment, during my early days as an intern if I asked for its meaning then from the manager itself, I went ahead with some web based research for the answer and found out that Planogram is a synonym for Visual Merchandising.

Much to my relief that I had gotten an answer, I started working on the procedure of developing an effective Plano (as they call it) which had certain steps to be followed. Though planogram softwares are available, retailers are still resistant to this change and follow the traditional excel sheet format to work out all their operations. After having designed a Plano for the edible oils and fats section, my manager was happy with my work who was always very difficult to convince. This success is completely credited to those excel sheets that facilitated the sales analysis calculations and the ultimate design of the plano. A planogram is a part of the overall display strategy of a retailer who wants consumers to better visualize brands that are slow moving than brands that are fast moving.

My manager had exclaimed - " A plano is a sequential arrangement of SKUs (stock keeping units), so as to differentiate products in terms of colours, brands, packaging, size and even prices. For instance heavier products are placed on bottom shelves so as to assist consumers in lifting them and placing them on trollies". From this and also from observing consumers visiting and shopping at the outlet, I infered that Vision of consumers in fact plays a huge role in point of purchase. This fact is better explained by another concept called 'Neuromarketing' which will be exemplified and described in my next post. Like I have depicted earlier that retailers follow themed displays, there is also provision for them to undertake themed planograms wherein more shelf space, which has a better visual display, is given to products that follow EDLP (Every Day Low Pricing) - a concept largely followed by Big Bazaar.

A better understanding on how Visual merchandizing and Displays enhance consumer attention would be well-explained in the next post.

Themed Displays in Retail

There would be little success to taste for retailers if all that they planned, organised and implemented is not pulled off effectively with proper display of products in their stores. It is a basic nitty-grittial factor that retail companies must have in their blue print to have visual displays that grab the attention of the consumers. In the recent present, companies are following a new concept known as Themed Display, which simply means the use of a central theme which would revolve around a subject matter. Let us take an instance, many retail companies world over decorate, beautify, embellish and adorn their stores with colours, santa dolls, christmas tress, etc. that symbolize Christmas during the festive season of the month of december that would quite naturally entice consumers into converting their footfalls into footprints (window shopping into actually buying).

It is important to notice that many retailers in India have taken to the concept of Themed Displays with most or all of their themes focused on the festivals celebrated which is again sub-classified into regionwise themes like stores at Assam would be ornamented with the theme of Lohri during the festival of Lohri and the same with other areas too. Themed Displays are the way to go! for retailers these days.

Angel and Demon consumers

“The consumer is always right.” Isn’t that a cliché that every marketer is familiar with? However, these days most marketers have discovered a new truth which exemplifies some consumers as being way, way wrong as in being unprofitable. Incidentally, these marketers have classified the profitable and unprofitable consumers as angel and demon consumers. This is a strategy specifically drawn on the research of consultant Larry Seldon who prescribes companies must see themselves as portfolios of consumers, not product lines and hence grade consumers as angels and demons.

Angel customers are profitable to firms, in that they are more compatible and reliable, less bargain hungry, brand loyal and far less cynical of the product or service being sold. Demon consumers on the other hand are the exact opposite of the angels - who buy products, apply for rebates, return the purchases, and then buy them back at returned-merchandise discounts. They also flip the goods at a profit on e-bay, eventually eating up on the sales and profits leading to the dejection of the firms.

This needs to be effectively handled with minimal fuss and without damaging the reputation from both the angels’ and the demons’ perspectives. Firms must draw their customer data and sort their profiles into the good (Angels) and the bad (Demons). Marketers must know their angels and hence stock more merchandise and provide best service to them vis-a-vis the demons who tend to get spoilt by the plethora of promotional and buy back offers that are made available to them. Endorsing the same concept to the marketers it is important for us to mention – Marketers Beware – of the Demons.

World's Costliest Ad

World's most expensive Ad not only in terms of the money spent (six million dollars), but also with respect to the time (3 months) and patience (606 takes). No graphic images, no camera tricks - All Real Captured in Reel.

A Classic - Rasputin

A 1978 track that got many of our parents to hit the discotheques and boogie. The song represents a semi-biography whose central focal point was Grigori Rasputin, a friend and advisor of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and it variously sensationalizes Rasputin as a playboy, mystical healer, and political demiurge.

All of this, probably did not make much sense to the then music lovers of India albeit this track exposed them to a new era of western disco numbers that nudged people into freeing their arms and legs and dance. A good way to increase footfalls into a discotheque - play unique but acceptable music tracks. 
 

Marketing "Tricks" in Politics

Spreading its tentacles like the ultimate under water predator, Marketing justifies its comparison to an Octopus which is agile enough to squeeze into the narrowest of places similar to the presence of marketing in rural and remote corners of this vivaciously wide nation called INDIA, establishing its dominance in almost all facets of business, it now has set its eye on the hottest topic of recent days – POLITICS.

Has marketing been able to create a foot hold for itself in politics? The answer is plain and simple and it’s a Crispy YES, well….. I already see readers laughing off this very gutsy statement of mine, these quite familiar reactions that I generally receive when I start off with this topic anywhere. Now let me try adding some sense into this statement and bring to light my defense may be you’ll agree to it or you might just rubbish the entire idea, but stick on till the end before you pass your comments.

Before we start of, let me request all you learned guys to turn off your prejudice and listen me out with an open mind. How would you sell something to a consumer of the lower strata of the society, the answers simple - a TV Commercial or probably a jingle or say a celebrity endorsement – cashing in on the fan following of the celebrity or even some road shows boasting off about your USP…. Let’s now look at what is happening in the arena of politics, not the mud slashing that happens against parties, lets focus on the election campaigns.

Day 1 : You open your newspaper on a lazy Sunday morning hoping to find something interesting but all you see is a large 8x10 ‘tasveer’ of Salman zooming around the city clueless for a candidate from Mumbai ensuring a large gathering or as we call it audience or eyeballs .. Isn’t this what we marketing enthusiasts call celebrity endorsement and on a macro level publicity?

Moving on to Day 2 : You are in your car driving back to home, stuck in the daily traffic, you try to settle down for some funky bollywood number over the radio, you turn it on and you hear a radio artist miming the iconic BIG B advising u to choose one political party over the other , it’s even followed by a peppy number from one of your favorite movie remixed, revamped, renovated singing praises for a particular political party – and all we learned ones we call them Radio Jingles.

Day 3 : Laying around you find yourself texting someone dearest, you have popped a question and your waiting for reply, the prolonged waiting is broken when you mobile phone shimmers for having an SMS, you hurry and open the same , you find your local assembly candidate candidly pleading for your valuable vote. For all you techies isn’t this E-Marketing

The list just goes on to how marketing has now become an integral part of politics, be it the freebies that you are entitled while attending a local political gathering or be it the visual merchandising that parties widely use, like the poster or the street danglers, the enormous life size cut outs of politicians, I guess I have been able to sensitize all you guys on to how politicians are just marketers who can sell their ideologies and dreams to the TG i.e., all of us. Well it wouldn’t be a surprise if I even see a political parties signing on Event Management companies to professionalize their election campaigns… it seems like some sectors is gonna see a spike in their revenues.

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Generic Brands

Let me begin by confessing that yes, brands have become synonymous to the product range that they once endorsed which in turn announces the importance and strength of a brand and their recall among the TG , this very statement of mine fuels my future discussion on to a strangest phenomena of numerous companies who once sowed the seed of a successful brand and watered the same with patience, efforts and money but failed to taste the fruits of the same. In general the phenomena I am trying to endorse is Generic Brands, and companies failing to capitalize on the visible success of the same.

To name a few, lets begin with the Classic; XEROX which replaced the noun photocopier from the dictionaries of most of middle class Indian (can’t declare much about other nations). The success of any brand in such fashion has always been gone in vain coz masters of such brands have miserably failed to sustain the edge that these brands created, Xerox gradually loosing out market share to Canon photocopiers is a evidence in this context.

Another contender joining the league of such brands in the Indian context is the well know disinfectant Dettol, the brand not only once enjoyed domination in the market but also commanded monopoly, bearing all signs of a generic brand, Reckitt Benekiser the company that owned the brand gradually slipped into a phase of complacency blinded by the persistent success of the brand the creator of one of the iconic brand shuts itself from the market dynamics that was brewing only to realize that it now had company in the form of Savlon from Novartis .. is this a common phenomena that all successful brand have to result in or is this is just failure of companies to look into the future and constantly nurture its brands. ??? Only time will answer our sophisticated yet inescapable questions.

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