Leveraging Radio for Retail Sales
If you are one of the tens of thousands of new products looking to gain or maintain retail shelf space in 2010, then you know that the battle for shelf space has never been greater. National brands need to pay to play and - once they gain chain-wide distribution - they need to support the brand in order to STAY!
When properly utilized, Radio is a great way to secure retail distribution and stimulate sell through. You see, your retail customers LOVE radio because it’s heard in the car (close to the point of purchase) and sways listeners to shop at retailers who effectively and emotionally promote their stores. Knowing this, many CPG brands engage radio to promote their products AS WELL AS key retailers in target markets. Doing so not only helps brands secure shelf space, displays and incremental sales, but also drives additional traffic into featured retailers and boosts overall store sales. It’s the proverbial “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
As consumers continue to seek savings, private label product sales continue to grow (7.4% in 2009) at the expense of national brands. In fact, many private label brands are now viewed as similar, perhaps even superior, to brand named CPG products (Kirkland private label at Costco comes to mind). That means national brands need to step up and promote.
At RDR, we create sales promotions that maintain the integrity of the brand while attaching a limited-time offer that gets consumers to pay attention and buy NOW. Often times, the promotion is tied to a high-margin department of the retailer (i.e. bakery, produce, floral, etc.) in order to get retail buy in. Many times, the promotion includes an exclusive sweepstakes or gift with purchase that emotionally connects with consumers. And, every time, the promotion is designed to meet or beat your ROI. It’s an explosive chain reaction of event designed to trigger sales. And it all starts with a phone call to RDR.
Lisa Sable, Senior Marketing Strategist