This paper combines case history material with detail on current innovative techniques used in adapting traditional approaches to retail tracking to the prevailing circumstances in these emerging markets. The author concentrates first on technical aspects of delivering actionable data and then discusses different approaches to turning data into knowledge given the practicalities of marketing in the markets concerned.
This paper reviews two consumer coping studies conducted during the Asian economic crisis of the early 1990s and the present Asian economic crisis at the end of the 1990s. Drawing on the analysis detailed in this report conclusions and recommendations are provided. The survey design measured two aspects of consumer coping behavior One was the consumers perception of income. The second coping behavior measurement concerned the housewifes expenses for the family separating expenditure questions on recurrent consumption items from expenditures on household durables.
There are some geographical regions where the changing retail scene was, or is, a kind of revolution. The central and eastern European countries go from centrally planned and supplied retail systems through privatisation to the phase of initial trade consolidation. This last phase is still far from established markets like Hungary. The paper focuses on Hungary, examining the differences of the fast Moving consumer goods (fmcg) grocery retail structure of Hungary and various western and central European countries. Based on the number and turnover importance of food stores with a selling area less than 100m 2 , Hungary seems to be moving towards the southern European retail structure. The transition from a mostly state-owned retail system to a demand driven free market was made within six to seven years. This Paper models the steps of transformation and its characteristics. Although it is difficult to forecast how long it will take to reach the trade concentration of the western European countries, factors influencing the speed of development are mentioned.
The first part of this paper deals with the complexities associated with definition of FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Good) retail outlets and their classification in India. It outlines the changes in outlet type and stocking patterns over time and elaborates on the methodology used for efficient stratification. The results are based on retail census studies conducted periodically by Operations Research Group, the latest being, CORE 95 (Census On Retail Environment 95). In the second part of this paper the authors suggest a model building exercise to capture the dynamics in the retailing universe. The proposed model will help to predict the rate of growth of retail outlets, for various outlet types and turnover categories. The model facilitates the updating of the universe even at the monthly level. This in turn would mean more accurate and meaningful off take estimates.
The needs of FMCG manufacturers and retailers require that suppliers of information for marketing decision support take an integrative perspective to what to offer to their market. After discussing the different ways that can be used in looking at a more integrated analysis of marketing data, two new information services will be defined and illustrated. These two new services are both based on analysis of aggregated information in independent sources. Special attention will be paid to the developed model for integration of information coming from internal sources ConsumerScan and InfoScan by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of both instruments and taking into account the differences in market definitions used in these instruments.
Everyday Low Price (EDLP), along with Category Management, Consumer Loyalty and Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) have become the jargon words for Marketing in the mid 1990s. Everyday Low Price, an American import, was originally devised as a way of smoothing the production line process and minimising the amount of money paid out on promotion, principally within the fast moving consumer good marketplace. This paper argues that EDLP is inappropriate for the British marketplace. Both the legislative differences, the dominance of a small number of retailers, and the very low pricing in some markets indicate substantially different fast moving consumer good market conditions. Through the analysis of continuous consumer panel data, the paper examines the effect in marketplaces where EDLP has been introduced, and the subsequent effects on both the brands in question and on the cheaper budget brands and private label products. The paper also considers whether a consistent price policy, in a marketplace where promotion remains a key driver of short term share is a realistic position for a manufacturer to adopt.
The marketing term "FMCG" stands for "fast moving consumer goods" which are usually exemplified by grocery products such as baked beans or detergents. It is however obvious that few product areas provide such excellent examples of FMCG as the newspaper market. The product is typically purchased every day (or in the case of Sundays, every week) by the million, and the perishability is extreme (the demand for yesterdays newspaper not being extremely high). This may be contrasted with a sector such as detergents which are typically purchased monthly and can be stored for long periods. The significance of regarding newspapers as archetypal FMCG products is that the FMCG sector has been much studied by marketing experts and there is a large body of analysis about the best marketing strategies to be deployed in typical competitive situations. This kind of analysis has in the past hardly ever been applied to newspaper markets which have been assumed to concern very special products with unique relationships to their consumers ("our loyal readership"). Recently in the UK this simple view of newspaper purchasers as loyal readers, not fickle consumers, has been called into question, largely as a result of initiatives from Rupert Murdochs News International, which will be discussed in more detail below. The use of such techniques however makes it easier to make comparisons between developments in the newspaper sector and in more conventional FMCG markets.
Electronic Point Of Sale (EPOS) data from grocery store scanners have led a revolution in the way manufacturers and retailers use data for strategic and tactical decision making. The industry continues to change, with more robust, actionable applications becoming available as scanning data are used to guide the salesforce and marketers in seeking out the efficiencies of the marketplace. A wide variety of EPOS applications to enhance the marketing plan have been developed in the USA and have changed the way that retailers and manufacturers look at their businesses. In Europe, the scanner revolution is now taking hold, and opportunities to better target marketing mix understanding are growing concurrently. This paper provides examples of applications available in the USA including applications of promotion effectiveness and geo-demographic based micro-marketing. Uses of EPOS data in Europe for better marketing decision making will also be illustrated.
This paper takes as its starting point the UK and uses consumer panel data to examine the trends in retailer concentration and own lable on a long and short term basis. It considers the extent to which recent trends in the major multiples are part of an established pattern, or whether they reflect the threat of discount retailing from other European countries. It examines similar data for a number of European countries and asks to what degree an homogeneous retail trade is likely to develop in Europe. Does pan-European marketing and branding offer a counter to retailer power for the major manufacturers? Is it realistic for manufacturers to pursue a partnership strategy with retailers, and if so what information is needed? The paper concludes by examining the role of the information provider and the implications of retailer power in relation to the ownership of key data. It argues the case for independently based information on the market place.
The focus of this paper will be on retail brands of the first type - the kinds of retailers who may be termed FMCG retailers (supermarkets, fast food outlets, fashion chains, petrol stations, toiletries/drugs, off-licences etc) where customers have repertoires of brands/own label within categories as well as repertoires of retailers rather than automotive, IT, communications, financial services where lifetime customer management concepts are the topic of current strategic thinking.
This study discusses the advantages and dangers of pioneering FMCG brands in new geographical markets, a subject so far neglected in the existing literature. Pioneering advantages have mostly been researched with product innovations in industrialised markets. This paper argues that pioneering new geographical markets bears different implications which justifies this study. The authors interviewed 23 top FMCG manufacturers across 12 industries in matched pairs in the markets of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The data was collected in in-depth interviews and analysed using a grounded theory approach. The main findings are that despite the belief of respondents, and much of the existing work, pioneering does not per se create any advantages over late entrants. The findings of this study furthermore indicate that the lead time between the entry of the pioneer and the follower plays a pivotal role in the value a pioneering advantage has for the company. Related to this is the fact that different lead time situations are conducive to different pioneering advantages. The paper also argues that pioneering advantages, if they can be achieved, need to be well managed and defended against followers to remain beneficial to the pioneer. To succeed in this, continued commitment and appropriate management skills are necessary.
This paper is concerned with interrelations between public relations and marketing. This relationship has always been ambiguous and controversial. The chief controversy hinges around delineating the respective roles of the two functions. Both marketing professionals and academics have tended to treat public relations as a subset of the marketing mix - a subset largely concerned with simply generating publicity in support of marketing goals. This view largely ignores the more strategic role envisioned for public relations and espoused by public relations practitioners and academics who see public relations as fulfilling a mediating function between an organisation and key stakeholder publics within its environment (Grunig and Hunt, 1984; Grunig et al, 1992; Kitchen and Moss, 1995). The first part of this paper performs the role of literature review and commentary upon the development of public relations. The second part of the paper describes the research design and the findings obtained from a qualitative study, carried out with seven major fast-moving consumer goods firms in the United Kingdom. With each firm, responses were obtained from both senior public relations/public affairs AND marketing executives - the aim being to compare and contrast the responses. In the event differences between the two groups were minimal suggesting that there is not, as yet, a clearly identifiable and established relationship between the two functions within this sample of firms, but rather that substantive differences exist both within and between firms. These differences underline the ambiguous nature reflective of research in this unexplored yet highly critical area - essential to communications of both types in today's turbulent competitive environment.