More than any other, the CPG market has experienced a dramatic shift in the last decade. Brands like Ivory and Palmolive could once reliably reach and influence their audiences during breaks in daytime melodramas. Over the years, focus shifted to newspaper inserts and coupons in demographically appropriate print publications.
And of course, there was always a focus on in-store visibility: Eye-level shelf space and end-cap displays have always been critical to CPGs – the in-store equivalent of a landing page (for those of us who think digital first). In 2005, Proctor and Gamble began promoting what they called the “First Moment of Truth.” According to their theory, “shoppers make up their mind about a product in three to seven seconds, just the time it takes to note a product on a store shelf. This time lapse is called (by P&G) “first moment of truth” and it’s considered the most important marketing opportunity for a brand.”
Google took the ball 50 yards further in 2010 with its “Zero Moment of Truth”, or ZMOT. According to Google, “While this first moment of truth is still important, the rise of full internet adoption and increased search engine use often lead to many brand interactions taking place between a consumer and a brand before that consumer ever sees a product on a shelf.”
ZMOT effectively threw down the gauntlet for CPGs, who now realized it was time to invest more fully in digital if they were to beat the competition and stay relevant to consumers. With audiences no longer concentrated around “One Life to Live,” CPGs could wait no longer to learn to leverage digital – and the wealth of consumer data it brings – to find their targets and reach them at work, at play, and across devices and channels, from social to email.
In the era of Big Data, CPG marketers have more intelligence and insight available than ever before. CPG marketers can harness the power of programmatic media buying to make that data work for them to win the ZMOT. This effectively and efficiently establishes the brand affinity that once took several exposures via TV, radio and print ads via targeted digital content. Layering your CRM database atop programmatic media buys enables you to reach and engage your audiences in real time and at scale.
The digital age has changed the game for CPGs, making the consumer consideration phase shorter, yet more competitive. Only by harnessing consumer data and making it actionable through advanced algorithms and technologies can those brands score against their competition.
Stay tuned for more in our series of posts designed to offer insight into the new world of CPG marketing, in which we’ll cover topics including Application of Data for Targeting, Online/Offline, Cross-Channel Attribution, and The Future Shopper. We’re hoping these posts will help marketing decision makers empower themselves with new tools and techniques that cut through the cluttered marketplace to reach target consumers with relevant, compelling messages.
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