The spoken
word is a powerful force…just ask my grown kids whom I can still stop dead in
their tracks with just a word. I still got it. In my day we actually talked
with our mouths unlike my lovely children who seem to use their thumbs a lot. These
day’s texting and social media conversations has a huge impact on customers before
they even walk into your store, but how do you reach them once they’re actually
there? Can you literally catch their ear again and continue that dialogue? You
have the ability to engage them through your overhead speakers today, but are
you?
For so many
years our speakers have been used as a means to page and play music. When you
look at them that way, they’re just an operational expense and a cost to do
business. Why not make those speakers a resource, a marketing and advertising
tool and a means to further your brand merchandising with EVERY customer in
your retail space? Seems like a no brainer to me. When you look at it that way,
all of a sudden those very same speakers take on a whole new life of their own….Long
gone are the days we just used those speakers to deliver old school elevator
music.
Once you realize
you have this powerful and impactful tool right at your fingertips you need to
define how to use it to your advantage. First you need to define “who” are you
trying to reach? Who is your core demographic right “now” and more importantly
“who” is going to be your core demographic 2 years from now? Remember, at any
given moment one of my children is most probably right there shopping in your
store. You have Millennials walking your aisles that are in the midst of their
loyalty branding phase. So strike up a conversation, educate them, entertain
them….do something to engage them….NOW.
I have spent
the better part of my career speaking about the sales lift that retailers get
from a weekly price and product advertisement in their audio. And that still
holds true. With the evolution of
Millennials into the market place that same audio may be one of the best
“branding” tools you have available. Building your brand name and what you
stand for, and behind, is just as important and what you sell these days.
Let’s think
about this. Printed marketing has gone by the wayside and Millennials are not
reading articles on-line either. They skim. If it’s not in a short blip
somewhere they aren’t interested. And heaven forbid they should read something they
might interpret as a marketing piece, a very ugly word to them….they’ll hit
delete quicker than I can blink. Yes, they use your apps and your ecommerce. They
see your social media postings and use your couponing deliveries. They expect
your technology to meet their technical wants…and you do all that. But with the
massive quantity of information crossing their screens daily how do you have a
unique voice that is heard? How can you speak to them and differentiate
yourself without them clicking right on past you? It’s really quite simple….you literally talk
to them. Old school.
They’re
right there in your store. Walking around picking up your produce, looking
through you bakery, literally looking for something to catch their attention.
So let’s talk to them. Hey you, Mr. Shopper… yeah you looking at deli meats.
Did you know that for 4 years now we here at blah blah have been supporting the
local blah blah by donating a percentage of our profits to help those who are
need? Or our family of employees her at blah blah gathers together to volunteer
our time to support the blah blah and we’d like to ask you to join us. Or we
are dedicated to the sustainability of our environment and are supporting our
beliefs by lower carbon emissions through a centralized delivery process blah
blah blah and lowering our footprint by installing energy efficient lighting
and implementing….etc etc.
In the past
you may have felt that your charitable causes were just side projects. Being
civic minded, sustainable and charitable in your community was just something
you did on the side. That small positive impact now translates to influencing
loyalty and building trust, branding, with your Millennial shopper. A shopper
who by definition is cause driven, pro-social and looking to be engaged. Tell
them and show them the difference your brand is making. Define who and what you
support and be authentic about it. Speak with passion and conviction about who
you are as a brand. You’re not just a store….
Finally, at
the very core of every
dialogue lies the spoken words themselves that we chose to communicate with. Are
we picking our words wisely? Are we evolving?
Don’t fall victim to using the same ole’ stale branding and marketing
terms with Millennials. We have seen a
definite evolution of communication with Millennials. At the heart of it all
it’s really our intent and delivery that makes the biggest impact though. Be
sincere, be real.
The world
around us is evolving and we need to evolve with it. Get hip people. You have a
captive audience….right there in your store….and you’re the only voice they
hear. Make it count….
Blue Skies
Everyone
#GrandMillennial
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