The Last Metre — Marketing Strategies for Successfully Reaching and Converting Consumers
Recently I have the chance to watch an online webinar hosted by Grab. The webinar is mainly about Marketing and Data. The panels are representatives from Grabads (Regional MD), NTUC (SVP Marketing) and The Coca-Cola Company (VP Strategy). Here are my key takeaways:
- Trend on consumer behaviors shifting towards online purchases
Grab’s GrabMart, on-demand delivery service for grocery and everyday essentials, has observed 5x higher volume vs 2020’s Q1 and basket value increased by 40% more. With more people cooking at home and rising demand for online grocery, NTUC has 3x orders more than available slots as more people are purchasing cooking ingredients within Fairprice. For The Coca-Cola Company, they have seen a lot of consumers stocking more beverage in larger packsize and multipacks, leaning towards indulgence options for their meals and premium products like vitamin water and smartwater. With more people staying at home, they did more ads on the digital marketing side as able to measure the results more effectively. In addition to increasing advertising spending for mid and premium segments.
2. Navigating Data privacy rights
A lot of companies come out with marketing collateral, communication and email, telling consumers that they will be there for them but most of the time consumers do not have the intention to sign up for these. Consumers might uncheck a box just saying yes or no; Some consent without reading; some don’t know that they are consenting and there are people actively consent but want to change their mind. To strike a balance for that, The Coca-Cola Company have chosen the conservative approach by doing the least possible while Grab has a mechanism in place that allows the users to be contributing member of the community where users are taking Grab reward points and donating to drivers. Grab have also seen a massive increase in tips being left for the drivers.
3. Standing out from the clutter
There was a simple silence ad — a glass of coke was being poured into the drink and we can almost hear the bubbles, accompany with a very simple word like Grab Coke now. Have great creatives and simplicity of messaging are the keys to stand out from the clutter. Straight to the point is better than complex campaign ideas which the audience might need to understand the hidden meaning. Other tips are to take ourselves less seriously and be more playful with the creatives. For example, for the last season of Game of Thrones, NTUC posted dragonfruits and said that they’ve got dragons too.
4. Marketing Investment for 2021
As we are moving towards marketing-led recovery, all 3 representatives would be making investments in Digital and Data. NTUC is looking at digitalizing store experience — where they can use the app in-store, search for information and product, easier checkout, social distancing, skipping queues etc. The Coca-Cola Company is looking at a better way to measure digital media performance. Using hosting a party at home as an example, instead of looking at how many invites were sent (% reach), data on how many people enjoy the party matters more. Grabads would focus on understanding the marketing funnel — how, when, and where the transaction is happening so that this would help brands using their platform to enforce either or both the top and bottom of the funnel.
