Summertime is the perfect season for many things—including budget preparation for next year.
That process isn’t made easier by ongoing economic uncertainty. At SMS, we’re seeing some clients choosing to value-engineer every initiative while others want to invest unused funds quickly before the clock runs out. It’s a challenging time to be forecasting anything—especially anything financial.
So how can you create a successful budget that’s both prudent and flexible?
Here’s a thought: To the extent possible, include your preferred provider in the process. Several positive things can happen.
• Your working relationship can deepen as you discuss upcoming initiatives and the objectives for each promotion.
• You may find your preferred provider can suggest ways to stretch each marketing dollar further. Ask about ways to extend the usefulness of existing displays, such as retrofitting them to add fresh interest, or enhancing them with new promotions.
• By planning together, your provider can then prep for the work ahead. Effective pre-production can include (for example), investigating alternative materials or looking into ways to value-engineer production and shipping. Such preparation can pay off later in increased responsiveness or decreased costs (or both) getting a promotion to market.
In the budgeting season, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn how investing a little time in your display marketing partnerships can pay off big next year in your promotional efforts.
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Is Your Brand Emotionally Intelligent?
Successful brands are more than recognizable. They also resonate emotionally with consumers. Such brands know how to create a deeper connection that goes beyond functionality. They also fulfill an emotional hunger on some level by fully integrating with the consumer’s lifestyle and enhancing it. Companies like Apple Computer, Starbucks, and Nike have built brands that people respond to powerfully in part because they are emotionally intelligent.
Of course, not everyone can have a powerhouse brand with global recognition. Yet anyone can work on making their brand more emotionally relevant—and in-store marketing can help.
Point-of-purchase displays have the power to customize the shopping experience. And customization can translate into relevance. Consumers appreciate being able to decide how they will integrate a product into their lifestyle. For example, Dr. Scholl’s has kiosks that invite consumers to stand on the display. When they do, they get information on how their weight is distributed across their feet. Then the display recommends certain products to address potential problems. Shoppers enjoy having their choices simplified for them—and they like the personalized approach.
From the manufacturer’s point of view, such interactive displays do more than present product attractively. They can also collect data on consumer preferences and trends. So, at the same time shoppers are building a connection to your brand, they’re also providing the information that can help you become even more emotionally intelligent in your products and services going forward. And that’s great marketing, in our view.
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