20 of our favourite campaigns

By Blackdog - one day ago

#8 Tinchy Stryder - Goji Cloud 9 Campaign

Beats by Dre had a firm grip on the celebrity rapper headphones scene – until we shook things up. Teaming up with Tinchy Stryder and Currys PC World, we launched a bold new audio brand that challenged the status quo.

Our integrated campaign spanned everything from eye-catching packaging and viral videos to in-store displays and vlogger collaborations. The result? A credible, buzzworthy brand that didn’t just look the part – it delivered on sales too.

“Brand development is a real passion, and it doesn’t get more exciting than creating a brand from scratch with one of the most talented up and coming rappers of the time.”

Matt Green Deputy Creative Director

#7 Lucozade – Take on the Day

In early January there were some fantastic media opportunities with Tesco for mid-late February. A new global design tool kit had been created, but with no time for a shoot, a copy-led campaign was required.

Aimed at families who often need an energy boost to help them battle through their busy lives, we developed a new shopper platform: ‘Take on the Day’. We identified the key milestones of a typically busy day, and this hard-hitting copy helped remind our shoppers that Lucozade was there to help them take it on. The work went live across Tesco.com and in stores early in 2025.

“Working at pace can be exhilarating. Conception to execution in under 6 weeks was testament to a strong partnership with Suntory.”

Josh Hatton Growth Director

#6 ARGOS B.E. - Brand Creation

Personal care is a vast and competitive category, and for Argos, we named & created a distinctive new brand: B.E. (Best Everyday)—a haircare range designed for everyday use.

“The idea was inspired from consumer research groups, and once we had the idea of being at your everyday best, we developed the brand name, visual identity, and a style guide to bring the range to life.”

Jackie Hemmings Client Services Director

#5: Dreams Beds - Revived Launch

When Dreams asked us to launch their new ‘Revived’ mattress range, we dived in with both feet! Made using recycled ocean plastic, Revived offers a way for customers to care for the planet—while they sleep.

The work picked up a Gold Popai Award in its category and a bronze overall.

“It’s always nice to be part of an award winner! The idea of ‘Enhance your home, protect theirs’ gave us a really rich creative platform to educate and engage. Bringing it to life using creatures emerging from mattresses was also really fun”

Matt Green Deputy Creative Director

#4: Voltarol London Marathon partnership

As the Official Pain Partner of the London Marathon Voltarol needed a big idea and stand for Mile 21 of the 2025 London Marathon. To celebrate resilience and diversity at Rainbow Row we created a huge Boombox with DJs, dancers and motivating tunes to encourage runners and gee up the supporting crowd. ‘DO THE VOLT’ became a call to action and celebratory pose that runners and supporters could strike.

Phil Pawsey

“It was one of those eureka moments- “Do The Volt” was inspired by Voltarol’s on-pack mascot and the similarity to sports poses such as The Mobot & The Bolt , as well as a celebrating runner. It was bang-on as a visual shorthand for accomplishment.”

Phil Pawsey Executive Creative Director

#3: Unleash their Potential - Royal Canin

A simple idea. Show the future magnificence of a family pet to new puppy or kitten owners. Royal Canin’s expert nutrition is tailored by breed and lifestage to lay the foundation for a healthy future. The campaign focussed on locking new pet owners into the Royal Canin brand.

Paul Kent

“I love it because it was our first piece of work for Royal Canin. It won us the pitch and kick-started a great relationship”

Paul Kent Account Director

#2: Krispy Kreme - Shopper Principles

Krispy Kreme (KK) had a challenge in their supermarket space – many of their 1,200 iconic cabinets were now out of sight from shoppers’ usual shopping journeys and half of all sales is based on impulse.

As their recent appointed shopper agency, Blackdog were commissioned to develop a Playbook to help deliver best-in-class shopper principles. We benchmarked best practice across other categories/brands and then filtered these insights into creating our masterclass in cabinet comms to help KK achieve more stand-out and tempt shoppers to indulge in the delights of doughnuts.

Our final task was to then develop and roll-out KK’s very first price value proposition, where we re-framed the cabinets’ comms to focus on the Original Glazed being available for £1.99 which ran for the first quarter of 2025.

Josh Hatton

“This was bang-on in the middle of what we call the ‘Retail Trinity’. A brand challenge in the retailer environment through the lens of the shopper. Going global from a UK start, was the cherry on the doughnut”

Josh Hatton Growth Director

#1: Tesco - The 4 Rs

We created Tesco’s platform for plastic reduction in 2019. We wrapped up all the great things Tesco were already doing or about to do in reducing, removing, reusing or recycling plastic as ‘The 4Rs’: a customer-facing platform, which was colour coded to bring clarity to customers.

Phil Pawsey

“We’re proud of this one. It neatly highlights Tesco’s commitment to tackling plastic waste and it’s become part of the DNA of their packaging and comms around the subject.”

Phil Pawsey Executive Creative Director

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B2B, AKA People 2 People.

Why we approach B2B marketing a little differently.

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

As an agency, we’ve worked in the Business to Consumer (B2C) world for many years. Knowing what motivates people to buy stuff, day in, day out for retailers and brands, such as Tesco, has meant we’ve cut our teeth at the coalface of the shopping experience.

Shoppers on the whole like to find what they want quickly, without fuss and for the best price possible. They also mostly want to be inspired. Even to occasionally buy things they didn’t know they needed.

That description also matches up with people who work for businesses that need services or products from other businesses.

So, when we spread our wings to move into strategic B2B marketing, including digital marketing for B2B, we found our People to People approach transferred very nicely.

Of course, some elements of B2C differ to B2B marketing strategies: target audiences and paths to purchase will vary, and often there are many more stakeholders along the way in B2B marketing. Trust has to be earned and the stakes are often higher, with more considered purchases being made.

But that doesn’t mean that the techniques used in creative marketing for consumer brands are widely different in the business sectors.

It’s pretty much a given that people ‘buy’ people in any industry. Deals are won and lost on the amount of chemistry between seller and buyer.

The C-word

But another reason that even the biggest businesses can lose a contract or pitch is lack of clarity. Clarity in what a business’ USP is or what that business can really offer to benefit the other business.

Amongst our B2B clients is DHL. DHL is the leading logistics company in the world, operating in over 220 countries and territories globally. They occupy the planet’s major industries, including aviation, healthcare, technology, engineering and automotive to name a few. If a major business is thinking about who can handle their logistics for them, DHL won’t be far from their minds, and they’re usually a top 3 contender for the pitch.

So, beyond price, it’s vital a company gets a handle on what a corporation like DHL is bringing to their table. Why should they work with them over somebody else? Clarity wins again.

How we do it

At Blackdog, part of our B2B marketing strategy is an inclusive process that we have developed, which involves major stakeholders agreeing on the answers to the big questions from day one. Left and right strategic turns are made early doors, and agreement is achieved on the key things to say to win customers. We’ve found that often businesses try to say too much. That means brilliant differences to competitors are lost in a quagmire of copy and messaging. Internal alignment is so important. Many vast organisations have a heritage and slow-to-change outlook, so getting agreement on strategy before creative execution makes a campaign watertight.

Along the way we construct a campaign pyramid, built to include sector or industry campaign pillars (the most important messages to convey) and that all important single-minded proposition. We’ve successfully used this way of working with DHL, The Institution of Engineering & Technology, Ricardo Rail and Nexus Fleet Vehicles.

This process means that the final creative output is engaging but, most of all, effective. It means internal and external expertise is factored in. And it means that the human, often emotive reasons we choose to work with people can shine through.

Finally at the top of the pyramid sits a customer-facing message (or CFM to throw in another abbreviation). It’s the culmination of discussion, inspiration and alignment. In a nutshell, it’s the thing the potential customer sees. The thing that brings clarity to the complex.

B2B marketing shouldn’t be boring. And whether you’re a marketing agency for B2B, B2C, D2C or any other marketing where people buy products and services, it’s worth remembering that at the heart of it all is the idea of People to People.

Because to activate people, whether in the business world or the retail space, you have to Captivate People. And that’s what we do.

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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

Our thoughts on this year’s festive retail period

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

There has been plenty of recent narrative casting doubt over the buoyancy or otherwise of Christmas this year for retailers. This type of discourse has occurred around Christmas throughout living memory, although this time round the doomsayers have more than a slight point to play with in terms of the perfect storm that is engulfing the retail sector.

The cost-of-living crisis is very real, with households feeling the sharp impact of rising food bills, accelerating utility costs and the unwelcome fact that their wages are failing to keep pace with inflation. It is therefore inevitable that many households will be looking to trim their budgets for the festive season.But recent research from Spark Emotions indicates that this cost-cutting might not be as severe as many had feared.According to a November poll, 26% of Brits have ‘high concerns’ about the cost of Christmas, but this is fewer than the 46% in May.

Shoppers are prioritising gifts for children and the Christmas lunch while looking to cut costs in other, more discretionary, areas like gifts for extended families and Christmas decorations.

As we’ve previously highlighted, there have been other exogenous factors that are hampering supermarkets’ preparation for that biggest trading period, not least the legislation around HFSS and the timing of the World Cup. There are arguably just too many moving parts for supermarkets.

With this in mind, it has been noteworthy that shopper marketing around the World Cup has been very muted. The big retailers have gone for modest activities around beer as well as ensuring that their point of sale material is a hybrid of Christmas and football. Aside from some vague attempts to link their products to football from the likes of Warburtons, the only real branded activation has come from official FIFA Partners Coca-Cola and Budweiser.

A valid observation would be that most brands have decided they’ve got enough to be dealing with amid Christmas without throwing the World Cup into the mix, while many others may have been discouraged from participating in football-related activity due to the unfavourable ethical undertones of the tournament being hosted in Qatar.

Value for money is clearly top of mind for shoppers now and it has been interesting to see how retailers have been positioning themselves as being able to deliver optimal value for their customers. Both Tesco and Asda have showcased their value credentials through offering the concept of Christmas lunch for £25 and £20 respectively and by encouraging customers to shop the frozen category.

Loyalty mechanics are very much to the fore too. Tesco’s game-changing Clubcard Prices activity continues at full speed ahead, with Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s also joining the fray.

We’ve been spending lots of time in stores recently and one thing that has really shone through is the increasingly collaborative relationship between major manufacturers and the discounters. While the bulk of attention is focused on Aldi and Lidl where, to be fair, a lot of suppliers seem to be landing some interesting shopper marketing, the likes of Home Bargains and B&M are also putting on an increasingly impressive seasonal proposition thanks to exclusive products, bespoke displays and merchandising initiatives from big brands. B&M in particular is awesome at seasonal retailing, so it’s no great surprise to see some of the big suppliers getting on-board.

While Christmas will undoubtedly happen from a shopper perspective, it will be fascinating to see the size and scope of the festive hangover in terms of unsold stock. While food and drink will no doubt see their usual seasonal boom, there are genuine fears among the big supermarkets that discretionary items, like health & beauty gifting and toys, might not see the sort of sales volumes that retailers would hope for. Entering 2023, a year that is going to be beset by logistical, economic and behavioural challenges for retailers is going to be hard enough anyway without starting out with mountains of unsold stock that needs clearing.

There will of course be the usual health-focused marketing campaigns in January, but with many households under significant economic pressure, the big supermarkets are going to find it harder than ever to turn a decent profit, especially as their own costs are showing no signs of decelerating.

One approach could be relentlessly hacking away at costs, but hopefully 2023 will instead be a year of innovation and collaboration.

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Captivating the next Generation of Creatives:

The Blackdog College Engagement Programme

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

There’s plenty to be said about having years of experience under your belt, but you’d be wise to also see the value in those that are fresh to the industry. Combine the two, and with the benefits of both wisdom and new perspectives, you’re bound to have found a recipe for success.

We launched our college engagement programme with Hertford Regional College in 2021 and have since worked closely with them to deliver mentoring, workshops and live briefs. Our aim in initiating the programme was two-fold: firstly, to offer skill-building and development to the younger creative generation and secondly to scope out developing talent for potential future collaboration.

This year, we set the students a live brief that involved creating a new brand for paint and decorating tools, which ran alongside a workshop led by Blackdog’s Creative Director, Deputy Creative Director and Design Head exploring techniques and processes that go into developing brand names and stories. When asked how the students found the experience, the overwhelming feedback was that they were “excited to be working with Blackdog”. They found the presentation “clear and helpful”, felt there was a “friendly atmosphere” and were “made to feel comfortable”.

Design Head Kerry Oldham, who liaised with the college and helped create the programme, says,

“Remembering our own experiences as students at the start of our creative careers has been vital in helping us shape this programme with the college.

It is an opportunity I personally would have grabbed with both hands, and it’s great to see the enthusiasm from the students when we collaborate on workshops.

We are very excited to see the next round of creative responses to our current brief in December and hope that we have given the students a real boost to their careers.”

In addition to our workshops, we have hosted students for work experience, giving them valuable insight into working within both the creative and artworking departments. And we have also recently welcomed Jessie Lee to the team on a six-month work placement within the creative team after she approached us via the programme to gain further experience and insight. In the two months she’s been at Blackdog, she has become a real asset to the team, and has particularly excelled in animation and video editing. Jessie says,

“Everyone at Blackdog has been great – they’ve made me feel welcome from the very start!

Joining the team here has given me an amazing opportunity to work in a creative environment and collaborate with professional designers as well as gaining insight into the world of creative marketing.”

Since initiating the programme with great success, we plan to develop it further to get the best from the students and offer them maximum benefit, taking into consideration course timings and demands to enable the students to make the most of the opportunity.

We’re firm believers that mentorship offers a mutual benefit. Offering the students our guidance and expertise enables them to grow and develop their skills, gain crucial workplace experience and create contacts in the industry, while we can ensure we keep our thinking current and benefit from the opportunity to collaborate with up-and-coming talent. Knowledge-sharing is vital for company growth and development, and a mentoring programme is a fantastic way to nurture the next generation of creatives.

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Reigning cats & dogs:

We explore the world of Pet Retail

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

The pet care market is certainly a lucrative one and one that has seen unprecedented growth over the last couple of years, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The proportion of households who own pets increased from 45% in 2019 to 64% in 2022, meaning that the broader pet care market, including food, accessories, grooming and veterinary care, is expected to reach over £7 billion this year.

This has been good news for the specialists in the sector, with both Pets at Home and Jollyes registering top line annual growth well into the double digits. This boom has also been good news for branded pet food manufacturers such as Royal Canin and the category is one in which private label penetration is relatively low and in which brand loyalty is typically very strong.

Even in this era of significant economic headwinds, pet food is one of the few areas where most shoppers will not trade down, instead preferring to retain or even upgrade the brands that they normally buy.

As well as the pet ownership boom, there have been other significant drivers of growth, not least the so-called humanisation of cats and dogs as well as the premiumisation of the market: owners are much more aware of the need to provide healthy and age-appropriate diets. Our client Royal Canin offers a tailored approach to pet nutrition that cuts through by offering ranges designed specially for individual breeds and lifestages.

Pets at Home has reported that the lower end of the market has been growing by 10%, the mid-tier has been generating growth of 17%, and the very top of the market has been seeing sales accelerating by 23% year-on-year. This premiumisation is a process that Pets at Home says is helping to expand gross margin and enhance loyalty.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a high growth part of the market if supermarkets were not looking to cash in too: it has been noticeable in recent years that some of the major multiples have tried to more aggressively increase their involvement in the pet sector. Sainsbury’s has recently upgraded its pet departments with new shelf strips and point of sale as well as introducing sections devoted to tails.com – the online retailer and pet food brand that Nestlé Purina invested in in 2018. It is also noteworthy than Sainsbury’s has dedicated some of the space freed up by the recent HFSS regulations to emergent pet brands such as Forthglade.

Asda, meanwhile, has unveiled a new pet concept in a few stores, with specialist pet brands like Petface and Denzel’s afforded their own bays as well as digital screens installed in the aisle for the provision of pet services, such as insurance. While Tesco and Morrisons have yet to follow suit in terms of a more concerted effort to gain share in the pet food market, it is fair to conclude that the supermarkets are more than aware of the opportunity presented to them by this buoyant market.

Pet care is a rare category in that, for branded manufacturers, Aldi and Lidl offer limited opportunity, with the bulk of their ranges (100% in Aldi’s case) devoted to own-label and the only opportunities for branded suppliers in the shape of periodic appearances in special-buy promotions. By contrast, variety discounters, such as B&M and Home Bargains, present a more attractive opportunity for branded manufacturers as they become more of a frequent destination for pet care. B&M in particular has significantly increased the space given to the category and it is noticeable that there is a lot more collaboration between them and suppliers in terms of shopper marketing and the provision of bespoke displays.

At a time when economic headwinds are forcing shoppers to make some tough decisions of where they shop, how they shop and what they buy, the pet care market remains a relative oasis of calm in terms of ongoing growth and premiumisation. It is also a fascinating market in that super-premium brands have so far declined to significantly expand their presence in mainstream grocery, instead preferring to remain in the authoritative and less cut-throat world of veterinary surgeries and specialist pet stores. This makes perfect sense as dedicated and conscientious pet owners generally seem to prefer the advice-rich environment of specialist retail rather than the more commoditised, price-led approach favoured by the big grocers.

That said, it seems likely that the supermarkets will continue to try and further encroach into the more lucrative premium end of the market. This could be achieved by offering an improved environment as well as by enhancing segmentation in a category where the age of the consumer is important and where different credentials in terms of ingredients and sustainability are becoming increasingly powerful influences on purchase decisions. Asda and Sainsbury’s have demonstrated the only real way to take on the specialists is by enhancing their propositions and it will be interesting to see others follow suit.

One thing is for sure, we remain a nation of pet lovers who want the best products for our furry friends.

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The Golden Quarter:

Is retail’s final push three months of organised chaos?

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

The final three months of the year are always something of a cup final for the UK’s supermarkets, encompassing significant seasonal events including Halloween, Bonfire Night, Diwali, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

In addition, there are a few more modest occasions such as Thanksgiving that are now being acknowledged, and 2021 even saw some food brands trying to get rather niche events such as the Mexican Day of the Dead off the ground as a social and retail occasion in the UK.

As such, the so-called Golden Quarter is the culmination of months and months of planning with painstaking organisation in sourcing, distribution and merchandising being carefully sequenced so as to maximise commercial potential, capture incremental spend and, of course, to Captivate People to buy.

It is at times like this where the logistical and merchandising skills of British supermarkets really shine through: a result of close collaboration between internal event and seasonal teams, suppliers and shopper marketing agencies – something Blackdog know first-hand, having worked with Tesco for 17 years and counting to deliver the highly efficient communications required at this pivotal time of year – all to result in a virtually seamless execution of a succession of key trading hotspots.

Several spanners in the works in 2022

It is fair to suggest that retailers are still suffering a few hiccups in terms of staffing and supply chain that might make the Golden Quarter trickier to accomplish this year. The fact that there is a disastrous cost-of-living crisis unfolding in the background might be described as less than ideal too.

Arguably therefore, it would be an extremely valid observation that major grocers (in England and Wales at least) really could have done without FIFA deciding to award the 2022 World Cup Final to Qatar. The World Cup is a massive event that usually takes place in the British summer and involves a wide succession of suppliers, most notably those focused around alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, snacks and assorted general merchandise paraphernalia.

This year, though, due to the awarding of the tournament to Qatar, the World Cup has been unceremoniously dumped smack bang into the middle of the busiest trading period of the year. Clearly, with drinks and snacks suppliers already gearing up for a busy Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the World Cup is going to increase pressure, and might also lead to a degree of instore confusion as World Cup campaigns compete head-to-head with those for the festive period.

Clearly, captivating customers to navigate the somewhat overlapping events of the trading period is vital, and bringing clarity to shopper environments is something we specialise in, so speak to a member of our team today.

HFSS is yet another headache

You might be forgiven for thinking that things couldn’t get any more difficult for the supermarkets. However, the government regulations on the physical location of foods and drinks high in fat, sugar and salt in stores in England handily kicked off on 1^st October, meaning that retailers and suppliers will no longer be able to merchandise HFSS products at store entrances, on gondola ends or at checkouts.

Given that over half of all chocolate is bought from locations other than the main fixture, the inability of suppliers to place their wares on pallets at the front of the store or on free standing display units liberally sprinkled across the entire supermarket means that they will be limited to trying to ply their trade in the main confectionery aisle or in the seasonal aisle. The sight of pallets of manifold Christmas chocolate tubs at the front of the shop will now be a thing of the past.

Clearly the first real impact we will see from HFSS will be for Halloween, another event where confectionery suppliers rely on off-shelf displays to capture a significant part of their business.

There will need to be a great deal of ingenuity from suppliers and retailers to activate demand in-aisle, such as engaging point of sale like Tesco’s Halloween campaign, which was creatively developed by Blackdog and is now being unveiled in stores across the country.

We are also seeing some big supermarkets free up some much-needed space by removing either checkouts or entire aisles to create seasonal areas that will be exempt from the new regulations.

One event might have disappeared…

It seems likely, though, that some of the big supermarkets will remove one self-inflicted irritation in the remainder of the year by finally dispatching with the American import Black Friday. While it will probably remain important for general merchandise retailers, such as Currys, Argos and Amazon, for the supermarkets it has always been something of an unconvincing distraction: seemingly random items displayed across the store offering debatable savings for customers.

Given that discretionary spend on non-food items is almost certainly going to be hamstrung by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and that space is at a premium thanks to HFSS, swerving Black Friday seems like an eminently sensible thing for supermarkets to do with already enough distractions to see them through to 2023.

For more insight into how to Captivate People in the retail world, subscribe to the Blackdog Bulletin or get in touch with us at hello@blackdog.agency

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Why Choose FSDUs?

How free-standing display units play an important role in retail marketing

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

The way we shop is always developing, and implications from the recent pandemic through to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis are seeing many consumers favouring online shopping over visiting bricks-and-mortar stores. Therefore, brands need to work harder to ensure their products have a strong presence in-store to entice shoppers at every opportunity and to make sure their product is chosen over their competitors’. And FSDUs can help with exactly that.

What Is An FSDU?

Free-standing display units (sometimes referred to as floor-standing display units or OFDs) house products away from the competition on-shelf. They disrupt the customer journey to ensure they grab shoppers’ attention and are designed to build brand awareness and maximise product visibility to turn browsers into buyers.

FSDUs are particularly effective when used to introduce a new product or range, as well as during seasonal periods, as they are quick to turn around and deliver maximum impact.

How Do FSDUs Perform Compared To In-aisle?

FSDUs can be sited anywhere around the store, giving the brand more control over when their audience sees their product, and are intentionally placed to stand out and catch consumers’ attention. In comparison, there may be many similar products on-shelf, some even competitively priced, that simply get lost in the crowd.

Studies into psychological performance of FSDUs show that these display stands are 5 times more effective at grabbing shoppers’ attention compared to products in-aisle.

Further reasons for their increased performance are clear pricing and promotions that can be featured on header boards – allowing for larger price tiles compared to those on shelf stripping or talkers – as well as more space given to design and copy, resulting in recognisable branding, more information about the product or range and the chance for an emotional tug or in-store theatre.

How To Build Highly Effective FSDUs

We’ve amassed years of experience creating FSDUs to Captivate People in the retail industry. Here are some key points to consider when designing your shop display stands.

Brand Consistency

Your branding should be instantly recognisable, especially if you’re promoting a new launch. Consistency is crucial, so ensure your logo, colours and wording match your product. Be particularly mindful of colour discrepancies when printing onto different materials.

Creativity Is Key

FSDUs offer opportunities to be as creative as you like. As well as vibrant colour and eye-catching graphics, consider interesting shapes and die-cutting for even more impact. But it doesn’t stop there – the addition of digital screens is becoming increasingly popular and these are ideal for changing promotions or simply to provide more information about your brand or product. Anything to increase emotional appeal and customer interaction is a winner.

How It’s Made

The materials you use need to be strong enough to hold products at maximum capacity and need to be durable enough to fare well on the shop floor. It’s also important to consider how environmentally friendly they are.

Appeal To Retailers

Your FSDU should be easy to install and move around and should be easily restocked without causing damage to the shelving. A smaller base may be easier to site and will be more likely to be placed in a more stand-out location.

Your Budget

There are FSDUs for all budgets, and this will vary depending on the size, materials used, the number of elements and how bespoke the design. It’s also vital to consider how the display will be delivered, and whether elements can be swapped out as promotions/products/seasons change rather than producing a whole new unit.

Get Started With A Retail Activation Agency

As a leading retail marketing agency, we make it our business to create bespoke retail solutions and POS that delight audiences and drive measurable results for some of Britain’s biggest retailers.

For FSDUs and more, speak to a member of our team at Blackdog today.

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Changing Hats:

Turning Passion into a Side Hustle

By Blackdog - 2 years ago

Creating and creativity is what we’re all about at Blackdog, and our skills and talents are what make us a strong and efficient team. But that creativity doesn’t always stop when we leave the office. For many of us, we wear rather different hats in our downtime.

There are numerous benefits to a multi-hyphen career, where you’re able to exercise multiple talents and make space for side hustles around your main job. It’s founded on diversifying your skillset, fulfilling your passions and building connections. And far from taking away from your primary role, these additional projects are very likely to add to it, as well as contributing to your well-being.

So, we chat to three members of the Blackdog team about where their talents have taken them outside of the office and how these side hustles complement their primary roles.

Georgia: Blackdog DTA Team Leader/Pet Portrait Artist

“I’ve been a Pet Portrait Artist for around 10 years alongside working full time.

I’ve always had a love for animals and drawing. I originally wanted to be a vet but, being a bit squeamish, this was never going to become a reality! I find this to be a brilliant way to combine my passions.

Quite often I’m commissioned as my clients’ pets have sadly passed away. It’s so nice to be able to bring to life their beloved pets on paper, so they have a memento forever.

My eye for detail definitely plays a huge part in both my role at Blackdog and my pet portrait business, as well as the fact that I have to work to very tight deadlines for both while juggling multiple projects at a time.”

Phil: Blackdog Executive Creative Director/Musician

“I’m a singer, keyboard player and harmonica player in various bands.

I’ve been playing since school, and in the 90s I was in an original band called B Movie. We supported some major acts and were looking to get signed.

Music and marketing have crossed over literally over the years, as I worked with a producer for several years writing and performing music for TV and radio ads.

Writing and playing music has always been a passion; it’s another creative outlet and being part of a band is a great way to meet and entertain people.

And in some ways fronting a band is like being a creative director. It teaches you to have confidence and entertaining a crowd has parallels with presenting or pitching to clients.”

Jackie: Blackdog Client Services Director/Fitness Instructor

“I teach group fitness training sessions and personal training sessions inside health clubs as well as outdoor spaces, concentrating mainly on HiiT, LiiT and Bootcamp.

I teach 3–4 fitness sessions a week and dedicate time to concentrating on my own fitness loves: cycling, running, tennis, golf and yoga.

I was into sport from a young age, and in my early 20s I decided to complete a 10-day intensive fitness instructor course, which was pretty hard going, but I passed with flying colours.

For me exercise is a real release, particularly if I’ve had a busy day. As a fitness instructor your persona is happy, cheery and very personable, and they’re very similar traits as in my client director role.”

What are your thoughts on the rise of the multi-hyphen career? Do you have one yourself? Get in touch and let us know.

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Delivering Value Pays Off:

How to serve shoppers amidst the cost-of-living crisis

By Blackdog - about 3 years ago

The relentless stream of bad news for the UK’s consumers and shoppers shows no sign of abating, with dire predictions around energy bills adding further misery to shoppers who are having to confront double-digit inflation every time they go grocery shopping. This has put retailers in a tricky position: trying to fend off any price increases from suppliers that they deem excessive, trying to manage their own bottom line, and trying to offer shoppers value amidst an era of unparalleled choice.

Offering A Helping Hand

As with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much to admire about the approach from most food retailers as the cost-of-living crisis unfolds. A number of the big supermarkets have rolled out various iterations of ‘kids eat for free’ in their in-store cafés while at the same time extending their collaborations with charities and food banks to ensure that the most vulnerable in society can put food on the table.

Loyalty At The Forefront

Now that Asda has completed the nationwide introduction of its new Asda Rewards scheme, it’s only Aldi that remains as the big food retailer without a loyalty mechanism. Tesco continues to see ongoing success via its Clubcard Prices mechanic. Virtually all promotional prices (including its market-leading £3 meal deal) are now only available to Clubcard holders, which has seen Clubcard usage accelerate in its convenience estate as well as pushing penetration in its larger stores to a dizzying 86% of transactions. Families also really value the fact that Clubcard points can be used to enjoy experiences like restaurant meals or theme park visits that might otherwise be beyond their budgets.

Other retailers – Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Co-op and Iceland – offer cardholder-only prices, while Asda is basing its new scheme around ‘pounds not points’ and offering extra cash rewards for buying particular products or completing ‘missions’. Sure, loyalty schemes aren’t a total game-changer for shoppers, but they do seem to be instrumental in making shoppers think twice before jumping ship.

Is Subscription The Way Forward?

Tesco now barely mentions its Clubcard Plus scheme, which offers members 10% off their groceries in-store twice a month for £7.99 a month, but it remains the case that other subscription or membership programmes, like Amazon Prime, a Costco membership or The Pret Coffee Subscription, have been successful ways to deliver value and encourage loyalty. Indeed, it might be fair to conclude that initiatives like the Pret deal have been too successful, swamping outlets and overburdening colleagues.

That said, getting customers to pay up front for discounts or added value services makes it much more likely that the retailer will be selected over others, and that inclination multiplied many times over can be transformative in terms of loyalty and commercial performance.

Value Is So Much More Than Price

One of our favourite quotes is from Sanchez Romero, the renowned premium grocer in Madrid. Famous for its ambitious pricing, the retailer once remarked that

“There is a difference between price and value. The issue is that we work with a higher value product, which is why it is not more expensive, it is just worth more.”

This is worth remembering. Supermarkets will never be as cheap as discounters – they have a totally different operating model. It’s therefore vital that the supermarkets recognise that they can deliver value through other attributes, such as quality, variety, service and experience. It’s noteworthy that the fastest growing grocer aside from Aldi and Lidl at the moment is Marks & Spencer. They’ve sharpened prices and promotions, but they are also investing in stores, service and people too. Renewal stores like Clapham, Westfield White City, Sheffield and Bluewater are a total joy: M&S is delivering value by focusing on so much more than price.

Hopefully this will serve as inspiration for other retailers in the market who could be said to be downgrading in-store experience while trying to cost-cut their way to success. This has rarely been a winning strategy in the past: remaining more expensive while removing positive points of differentiation has seldom ended positively.

For more views on Captivating People in the retail world, subscribe to the Blackdog Bulletin or get in touch with us at hello@blackdog.agency

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Victory for women’s football:

How the beautiful game is finally set to become a level playing field

By Blackdog - about 3 years ago

As the nation watched with pride and admiration as England’s Lionesses lifted the EURO Cup this summer, some of us were in awe for even more personal reasons.

Hannah Smith and myself, Account Manager and Design Head respectively at Blackdog, were squad members of little-known Hertford Town Ladies from 2014 until 2017, back in the days when we had to ask our CEO, Geoff Cash, to buy our kit for us, which he very kindly did. For many years, women’s football was largely self-funded by the players, with the infrastructure to support developing female talent still in its infancy.

I started playing back in 1999 for Romford Ladies FC. Our kit was handed down from the men’s club that we were affiliated with. I’m 5’ 2”, so you can imagine how that looked. That was as far as the support from our male counterparts really went back then. Prior to that there were no girls’ teams to play for and we weren’t even really allowed to play for our school teams.

For Hannah it was much the same – playing in the playground with the boys but no formal team to join. With no opportunities in secondary school, she did manage to play at university, and then nothing for a few years until Hertford was set up in 2014 and started running trials. This coincided with me retiring from my previous team Billericay Town FC and thinking I was ready to put my feet up. Thankfully Hannah convinced me to have one last stab at it and what followed was three more years playing the beautiful game and two league championship titles.

Fast forward to 2022, and after years of hard work and fighting for change, our England Lionesses won that epic final at Wembley Stadium against our old rivals Germany. The enormity of the occasion and the amount of support the team has gained along the way has been felt across the nation, but particularly in the hearts and memories of the women who have gone before. There’s still work to be done when it comes to equality in the sport, but the Lionesses’ victory is a triumph on many levels. Girls can now dream of the biggest prizes in football just like our brothers have been able to for many years now, and for that I am thrilled (if not a little sad that it was too late for me!).

And as I watch my 2-year-old daughter kick her football around the garden, I can’t help but wonder… what if?

Kerry Oldham – Design Head

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Innovative Branding Puts You One Step Ahead:

How thinking innovatively about your brand brings a competitive edge.

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

In a world of familiarity full of me-too brands, its good to see that thinking differently still can make an impact. It might be a new approach to an established sector or a tone of voice that stands out from the crowd.

Hey, remember when the cute language of Innocent Drinks was unique and ownable before others jumped on the brand-waggon.

Capturing an audience’s attention with something new, different, or exciting isn’t easy. That ‘thing’ that grabs people to try and buy is a thing we call Captivating People^TM.

These days, greater choice, increased consumption and simplified buying methods mean the balance of power has shifted from brands to buyers.

Shoppers can find almost anything they want, need, or think they need, in a variety of styles, at a range of prices, without needing to go anywhere to get it.

Of course this means that brands are competing for our eye-ball time like never before. Captivating People ain’t a cinch.

The moment a brand thinks or acts differently, as soon as they can offer their audience something special, provide them with something they didn’t even know they needed, that’s when their audience will no longer be considering which option to choose – they’ll be captivated by that brand ahead of others.

Are you looking for more ways to captivate your audience? Read our article on marketing activations in the attention economy.

White space wins

Below we explore some of the reasons why it’s well worth considering an innovative approach.

Innovative Branding Helps Stay Ahead of the Competition

It’s not enough to just keep abreast with everyone else. Being the first to rise above the competition gives you an advantage in the market and highlights your expertise in the industry.

DHL created four ‘Innovation Centers ‘across the globe to showcase their unique commitment to innovation in logistics.

The buildings served as physical and metaphorical centres of excellence to highlight to their existing and potential customers that innovation is a core component of their offer. We even created a customer-facing mini brand around innovation for them and a mantra that appears on the walls of the Innovation Centers.

Showing themselves to be industry leaders when it comes to innovation puts them in the driving seat and allows them to stay ahead of the curve.

Find out how we created a strong brand identity for DHL’s Innovation Centers along with pre-launch teasers and installation concepts.

Innovation Branding Gets People Talking

When people are talking about your brand, they’re marketing your product for you. Drumming up some excitement, which an innovative product is likely to do, enables the word to spread and builds trust around your innovative branding idea.

Amazon Style, due to launch later this year in Los Angeles, is set to transform how we shop in-store. Rather than sifting through rails of items in the hopes of finding a specific size or style, shoppers will be able to scan the item using the Amazon Shopping app to check availability and tailored recommendations, then send them directly to the fitting room or checkout.

By combining the best of bricks-and-mortar shopping with sophisticated digital technology, Amazon Style could transform the future of in-store shopping for good.

Innovative Brands Expand Through Unexpected Partnerships

Collaborations are a popular method of giving your brand a refresh and expanding into new areas, as well as inviting a wider audience to interact with your brand.

Greggs partnered with Primark earlier this year by opening a cafe in Primark’s flagship store alongside a limited range of Greggs branded clothing, which was a hit with consumers thanks to its unique and quirky marketing. Off the back of this success, Primark also partnered with Smokey Barbers in two of its stores, creating a multi-faceted experience for its shoppers.

Brands joining together to appeal to a shared audience is a clear win for all parties whilst reinforcing the connection between brand and shopper.

Encourage Consumer Loyalty

Creating an effective branding innovation for the customers who are already loyal to your brand rewards them and encourages others to follow suit.

Sky VIP’s free loyalty programme rewards members with exclusive gifts and experiences, ranging from cinema screenings and sporting events to once-in-a-lifetime experiences. And the longer-lasting the membership, the more rewards available, meaning their customers benefit time and time again by maintaining their loyalty – and their membership.

Give Consumers What They Need

Spotting a gap in the market is the perfect opportunity to introduce brand innovation. Canva did just that when they launched their customisable online design platform, enabling customers to design their own, well, anything.

Canva’s huge range of easy-to-use templates range from business cards and presentations to social media ads, and can be applied to all sorts of visual content. The success of the innovation is in part down to its cultural relevance, appealing to the needs of its customers by keeping up with the latest trends, as well as the way the brand provides accessibility to what was previously reserved for skilled professionals only.

Appeal to Your Audience Through Innovative Branding Strategies

Introducing innovative branding strategies that create an emotional connection and resonates personally with your customers is a sure-fire way of piquing their interest.

American retail company Lowe’s introduced ‘Making It… With Lowe’s’ to give diverse-owned small businesses the chance to sell their products on the company’s shelves. The initiative aims to more accurately reflect shoppers and local communities and boosts small businesses.

Interested in retail evolution in the DIY industry? Read more here.

With technology evolving at a rate of knots alongside changing consumer shopping behaviours, it’s vital that brands update their traditional marketing methods to contemporary innovative branding strategies that will enable them to grow with the market as well as keeping them one step ahead of the competition. If you’re in need of some innovative thinking for your brand, speak to a member of our team today.

For more views on Captivating People in the retail world, subscribe to the Blackdog Bulletin or get in touch with us at hello@blackdog.agency

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The Big Pinch:

How the cost of living crisis is changing shopper behaviour

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

The challenges facing British consumers have been well-documented, but we are now starting to see shopper behaviour genuinely changing in a meaningful way. With energy and petrol prices continuing to rocket as well as suppliers and retailers pushing price increases through to shoppers, even more affluent consumers are having to start tightening their belts. And this has started filtering through to shopper behaviour.

A renaissance for discounters?

One obvious implication will be that many shoppers who shopped discounters less frequently during the pandemic will start revisiting low-price retailers like Aldi and Lidl. The fact that both are continuing to roll out loads of new shops will also succeed in winning new shoppers who have not yet had a chance to shop with them. Not to mention variety store retailers like B&M, Poundland and Home Bargains, all of whom have really ramped up their grocery offering over the last couple of years.

Own-label’s time to shine

Switching data shows that an increasing number of shoppers are reincorporating discounters into their repertoires, and for those customers who are staying loyal to supermarkets there is mounting evidence that they are trading down from brands into private label or from standard private label into economy. This process is being encouraged by retailers such as Asda, which is rapidly rolling out its new entry level range, and Morrisons, which is using on-shelf signage to exhort shoppers to trade out of brands and into the

Shoppers are also increasingly vigilant for promotions, seeing them as an opportunity to stockpile long-life products for future consumption. A similar logic is also seeing those with adequate disposable income and storage space participate in the bulk sections, which all Big Four supermarkets now offer in a growing number of their stores. However, it is important to remember that shoppers on a really tight budget don’t have the necessary disposable income to invest up front in industrial-sized packs of dishwasher tablets, so both suppliers and retailers should try and ensure that smaller pack sizes are made available to enable hard-pressed shoppers to participate in the category and continue buying the brands that they love.

Loyalty schemes on the up

With more people on the hunt for value, it’s clear that loyalty programmes are also playing an increasing part in the overall value proposition. With Asda poised to roll out its rewards programme across the UK and Tesco continuing to see huge benefit from its Clubcard Prices initiative, it seems likely that Sainsbury’s and Morrisons are going to have to sharpen up their own loyalty propositions to better compete with their peers.

Shrink prevention vs. sales prevention

Another unfortunate consequence of consumers being under increasing financial pressure is that shoplifting is going through the roof. Obviously, this is not a new problem for supermarkets, but what they are seeing is not only professional shoplifters accelerating their activity but also regular customers stealing for their own consumption. Shrink prevention is therefore a high priority for the grocers at the moment and stores are becoming awash with signage warning against shoplifting.

More drastic actions – such as spirits and cosmetics displayed behind locked doors, spirits replaced by dummy bottles or laminate pictures, and even humble chocolate bars encased in security boxes – are becoming more commonplace. While these moves might discourage theft, they also have a very strong likelihood of discouraging purchases from genuine customers. So, the tightrope between shrink prevention and sales prevention is one that the supermarkets will have to monitor carefully.

A keen eye on efficiency

Inflation is also having a massive impact on the supermarkets themselves and we are seeing more initiatives intended to increase in-store efficiency and/or reduce costs. Quite a few of the big supermarkets have flipped from overnight replenishment to filling during trading hours, and while this makes sense from a bottom-line perspective, it’s leading to an increasingly cluttered shopper journey for customers. There also seems to be more of a focus on increasing the efficiency of replenishment, with both Asda and Tesco looking to accelerate their use of pallets in categories such as pasta and canned goods. There are also more retailers – M&S, Morrisons and the Southern Co-op stand out here – who are increasingly using electronic shelf labels: an absolute boon when prices are changing so frequently.

The cost of living crisis will get worse before it gets better, but there can be no doubt that the industry is working incredibly hard to minimise the pain.

For more views on Captivating People in the retail world, subscribe to the Blackdog Bulletin or get in touch with us at hello@blackdog.agency

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Retail evolution starts at home:

How can DIY retailers captivate a changing audience?

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

With lockdowns behind us, the cost of living on the rise and greater consideration for our environmental impact, our latest Blackdog Insight Report highlights what home improvement retailers need to be focused on to evolve.

Captivating customers in a changing world

A mainstay of industrial parks, a landmark just outside the town centre – the big home improvement brands have a commanding retail presence. Smaller but widely recognised brands have made their mark too. Loyalty from tradespeople has built trust with those less well-versed in the art of home improvement and their printed brochures have made life a little easier for some. Now they face a whole colour chart of new challenges.

With finances being squeezed and ‘green’ credentials colouring conversation and decision-making, all in a post-lockdown landscape, what can the sector do to help? And what can brands do to captivate customers?

Shining a light on the problem

To get an understanding of what brands in the home improvement sector are dealing with, our Insight Report engaged with 206 homeowners to find out:

· What, if anything, they planned to do around the house

· How they prefer to shop for DIY projects

· Where they get their inspiration

· If sustainability affects their decisions

· How they intend to spend

Looks matter

Some of the first things home improvement retailers need to bear in mind when they question how to captivate their customers is what they hope to achieve and where they’re getting their ideas.

Major renovations aside and with a focus on projects that homeowners would undertake themselves, the biggest motivation by far was cosmetic.

63% said they want to make their home look better. A sharp drop to 43% who feel some updates are overdue, closely followed by 42% who want to increase their comfort levels. Only 26% gave any thought to increasing the value of their home.

So, if the biggest driver to head to a home improvement store is to make the home look better, where does their process start? It’s actually quite a small divide between the 44% who develop their ideas once they’re instore and the 49% who look to social media for insights and inspiration. Pinterest and Instagram provide a vision of what homeowners want to achieve, but do they do enough to demonstrate what and how such desirable outcomes can be achieved?

Is this an opportunity for brands to introduce experiential retail as a way of bridging the gap between ambitions generated online and real-world practicalities?

The death of instore has been greatly exaggerated

Most home improvement brands adapted well during lockdown, offering an efficient online service so people could get on with projects that could no longer be put off, or convert cobwebbed corners into an airy office space.

But DIY, by its very nature, is a hands-on experience. So, will customers come flocking? Should retailers let their online marketplaces fall into the disrepair they’re so keen to prevent in the real world? Or do they need to take a spirit level to that relationship and get the balance just right?

When it comes to paint and tiles, customers want to see what they’re getting up close.

Almost 80% said they’d buy each product instore rather than online.

That number shoots up to a whopping 87% for flowers and plants – clearly a far more personal purchasing decision.

The gap closes considerably for tools and indoor furniture, although instore just has the edge. Buying lawnmowers and garden furniture, however, was a much closer call, with the latter more likely to be bought online by a 2% margin.

With 85% of consumer journeys starting online¹ but the majority of purchases made instore, how can DIY brands create a captivating, frictionless retail experience?

We believe to truly captivate people you must play to a brand’s strengths:

Big projects on smaller budgets

Unsurprisingly, in the wake of lockdowns and with remote and hybrid working on the rise, four of the top five projects homeowners wanted to spend their money on involved space optimisation². Building an extension or annex took the top two spots, while adding a conservatory or separating wall to create new rooms took four and five respectively.

Our own research found that three of the five main reasons for improving the garage had similar motivations, with the addition of wellbeing appearing in the form of creating a home gym.

Such large undertakings usually involve tradespeople, but is there room for home improvement retailers to offer expert advice as belts tighten? Or encourage professionals to choose their services and supplies over their competitors’?

Home improvements that help the planet

Climate change continues to be an increasing concern, particularly for millennials and Gen Z consumers. How much does this affect home improvement retailers? From stock to suppliers, online advice to instore signage, brands need to listen to their customers when it comes to sustainability.

Across all consumer spending, 68% of customers will spend more on sustainable options (up from 59% in 2019).

72% of consumers also said that shopping sustainably was now very important. We’re seeing this shift in conscience in the DIY industry too, with 65% of DIY shoppers paying more for sustainably sourced materials³.

While just under 20% of those asked were motivated to make their home more energy efficient or more sustainable, our research found that 60% of homeowners will choose more sustainable options providing the price is comparable. A further 13% will opt for more sustainable products every time, regardless of the price.

Can all paint be green?

Sustainable paint once seemed about as readily available as tartan paint, but that’s changing. The USA’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) counts household paint as one of the top 5 most hazardous substances. This is in a country where Mountain Dew and Cheez Whiz are commonplace.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) found that as paint is applied the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) given off are as much as 1,000 times higher than found outdoors. That’s bad for the painter and the planet.

But there is good news. Brands like ECOS Paints and eicó are leading the charge when it comes to sustainable paint, with the latter having a carbon-positive production process. So there’s a little less guilt about having to import it from Iceland and Sweden.

Closer to home, the ever-popular Farrow & Ball – with a selection of famous shades so expansive that #ElephantsBreath is an Instagram trend – rates A+ for interior air emissions according to the French Indoor Air Quality Decree across its entire range. This scale measures the emittance from paint after 28 days of drying and curing. In addition, dry waste from the Dorset-based company’s manufacturing plant is either recycled or converted into energy while 97% of its liquid waste is recycled.

Other household names now offer low or zero VOC options, but is enough being done to eradicate high-VOC products? Are consumers being properly informed? Is the life cycle of products being taken into account? A low-VOC paint might sound good, but if it’s being transported 1,000s of miles with no carbon-offset in packaging that’s going to landfill, it rather defeats the purpose.

Sustainability’s still a sticky subject

With the landfill thought in mind, take a moment to consider adhesives and sealants. Like paint, they’re essential to many home improvement projects and you need considerably less, so you’d think there would be an abundance of sustainable options.

In the UK, an estimated 150 million plastic sealant and adhesive cartridges go to landfill every year. That’s more than two for each member of the population.

There are products such as Hippo PRO and Geocel who have introduced foil packaging systems to drastically reduce the use of plastics, but these aren’t nearly as easy to find as low-VOC paint.

Offering mindful DIY options is something home improvement brands must make a priority. For their customers, their reputation and the environment.

But the same audience that’s demanding more sustainable solutions is increasingly sceptical of ‘greenwashing’ by brands, making mindful DIY a minefield. As Gen Zs step into millennials’ place, these issues are only going to become more contentious. Acting now is the best – and only – option for home improvement brands that want to last.

¹ Internet Retailing 2022

² Home Renovation Trends 2022

³RetailWire & Improvement Trends in Retail 2022

All other statistics: Blackdog and Pulse Home Improvement Sector research, April 2022

Create a Retailer Strategy with Blackdog that Captivates People.

Contact Josh Hatton at josh.hatton@blackdog.london

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What’s In Store for Food Retail?

A Blackdog Retail Review

With almost half the year gone, what challenges are the supermarkets facing for the next six months and beyond?

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

The phrase ‘a perfect storm’ must be one of the biggest and most overused cliches, but it seems perfectly reasonable to suggest that this is just what British food retailers find themselves in. Having expertly navigated the huge stresses and strains of the pandemic, complete with surges in demand, the need to hire tens of thousands of extra bodies and dealing with all sorts of supply chain volatility, the UK’s grocers now find themselves facing into what will be the most pronounced and sustained period of inflation in living memory.

Prices Under Pressure

This inflationary surge is already creating problems, both internally and externally. On the internal front, retailers are already having to deal with rising costs for fuel and electricity together with more ambitious wage demands from their employees. Externally, they are having to face up to the fact that they have little to no choice in terms of accepting price increases from their suppliers.

The supplier perspective is an interesting one. Anecdotally it sounds as though most suppliers have taken a sensible approach. Rather than going in all guns blazing with blanket price increases across the board, they have passed on input cost inflation selectively. They are also seeking to plan ahead by considering opportunities in pack sizes and promotions rather than looking to land price increase after price increase.

For retailers, a little bit of inflation is generally a good thing as it flatters the top line. But in such a competitive marketplace, retailers are having to fight very hard in order to maintain competitiveness. Some of the biggest supermarkets, like Sainsbury’s and Tesco, claim that they are holding back inflation as much as they can, but there can be no doubt the higher prices are filtering through to shoppers’ baskets, and our old friend shrinkflation is doing the rounds too. In an era of unparalleled choice and near perfect price visibility, all the major retailers will have to be very, very careful about how they pass on inflation to their customers.

Discounters Back on the Front Foot

A lot of this caution will be due to the fact that the limited assortment grocers, like Aldi and Lidl, are once again ramping up their physical expansion as they see shoppers return after they were shunned during the pandemic due to their small stores and compact ranges. Their unique operating model means that they will always be the price leaders, so for the big supermarkets it remains a case of ensuring that the price gap doesn’t widen too much and that they give shoppers fewer reasons to desert them. Indeed, the big four are in a much stronger place than they were in 2008, with much improved loyalty schemes, radically overhauled private label ranges, and three of them offering decent price match schemes against a couple of their discount competitors.

More Big Changes Ahead

As if all this wasn’t enough, this October will see the implementation of the regulations on the display of foods high in fat, sugar and salt. With HFSS products no longer allowed to be displayed at store entrances, on gondola ends or at the checkouts, many of the supermarkets have already been working hard – both in terms of finding new occupiers for these in-store hotspots and collaborating with suppliers and shopper marketeers to try and find new ways to activate demand in-aisle in categories such as soft drinks, biscuits, confectionery and savoury snacks.

Categories like chocolate will undoubtedly be dealt a body blow as they rely on gondola ends and on-floor displays for a huge chunk of their volume. It seems as though other HFSS categories are probably in a stronger place, having already reformulated swathes of their ranges to become exempt from the new laws. What looks almost certain is that the major beneficiaries of the new laws will be the suppliers in beers, wines and spirits who have the appetite and budget to take over a lot of vacated space, and we’re already seeing some of them land some impressive kit in certain stores.

Short-term Gain, Long-term Pain?

In the face of all these challenges, a number of the big supermarkets have embarked on radical cost-cutting programmes, which have seen them close counters and manned check-outs and cull night shifts. While this makes total financial sense in the short term, one could suggest that this has removed points of differentiation and diluted or even worsened the shopper experience. This so-called ‘race to the middle’ is something that we’ve seen in other markets around Europe a decade or two ago. Many supermarkets in discounter-dominated countries, such as Germany, France, Poland and Spain, realised the error of their ways. Instead of continuing to cost-cut their way to mediocrity, they instead invested more in all the things that discounters can’t do: more counters, more service, more differentiation and more experience. Whether or not UK supermarkets will follow suit remains to be seen, but there must be at least a small degree of concern that removing many things that could be used to justify a more premium price positioning is possibly not the best answer in the long run.

The Importance of Values Alongside Value

Where some supermarkets have impressed is in terms of their ongoing commitment to initiatives around sustainability and healthy eating. This hopefully serves as a reminder that values can be just as important as value, and that, although issues such as the environment might drop down some shoppers’ agenda against a backdrop of economic hardship, they are still important to significant numbers among the customer base.

Whether it’s Tesco’s recent Better Baskets campaign – a project Blackdog has been involved with – which has made it easier for shoppers to make smarter choices for their families and for the planet, or Asda’s introduction of refill zones in a number of its larger stores, we are heartened to see that sustainability is still at the forefront of supermarkets’ thinking, which should put them in a relatively good place when we get through a tough 2022 and, fingers crossed, return to a more even keel in the following year.

For more views on Captivating People in the retail world, subscribe to the Blackdog Bulletin or get in touch with us at hello@blackdog.agency

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“What would it take to do an Ironman?”

Blackdog’s Tesco Design Head on his biggest challenge yet.

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

Many of us would consider Lanzarote a relaxing summer holiday destination, but for Ed Seymour, Blackdog’s Tesco Design Head, the Spanish island will forever conjure up rather different associations…

Ironman Lanzarote is a gruelling triathlon, widely considered to be one of the toughest one-day sporting events in the world. It has taken place for the last 30 years, making it one of the longest-standing Ironman races in Europe, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, has an unusually high dropout rate.

Read Ed’s interview on the race here:

“It’s a very hard course. I’ve heard that nearly a third of the people that entered the water didn’t make it over the finishing line. It was pretty tough this year.”

The punishing course commences with a 3.8km ocean swim, followed by a 180.2km hilly bike course and concludes with a marathon. It boasts an elevation gain of 2,424m for its bike course alone, and all this in temperatures of around 26°C.

But what makes this race particularly arduous are the gales.

“It’s renowned for its wind. A lot of the first 100km was into a headwind. And then when the wind stopped, the two hard climbs started.”

So how does someone train for such a mammoth race?

“Training generally consists of six days a week; three of those are double days, so you’re looking at maybe a swim in the morning and a bike or run in the evening, and then that leaves the weekends for the longer training bike and run sessions. It’s been almost a year of training all in all.”

Such a hefty training regime clearly demands a lot of discipline, and surely a fair amount of natural talent? Have you always been athletic?

“I wasn’t particularly sporty when I was younger. I would do the occasional run. I didn’t swim at all. I didn’t even own a bike until 2017. It was almost like, right, I’m going to train for an Ironman, I’d better buy a bike!”

How did you go from occasionally running and cycling to taking on one of the toughest Ironmans?

“I was on holiday and I was reading a book by the big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, while doing nothing, obviously, on a sun lounger, and I just felt inspired to do something. To get up, start running. And then that turned into obstacle racing about a year later.”

And how did this lead on to triathlons?

“I fancied a change. A friend of mine was a triathlete, and we were going to swap – he was going to do an obstacle race and I was going to do a triathlon. He’s still yet to do an obstacle race, I would like to point out!

“But actually, it was the Ironman that I wanted to do first and foremost. I think because I’d been to Lanzarote a few times I was aware that the Ironman was there, and I thought, what would it take to do an Ironman? I think as soon as I thought it, that was the seed sewn.”

Once you’d committed to taking on this challenge, what drove you through all those hours of training?

“I wanted to use the race to raise money for Cancer Research UK. Unfortunately, I lost my dad to pancreatic cancer in December 2020, so raising funds became a big motivator.”

That must have been a big driving force on the day itself too. Did you have supporters with you in Lanzarote?

“I had some friends come out with me. Their support was brilliant. Every time I came in to transition, where you change from one discipline to another, they would be cheering me on.”

And speaking of the race, despite all your training, it must have been tough?

“I think the pain just comes with pushing yourself and finding out how far you can go. A lot of it’s mental. It would be so easy just to get off the bike and go, that’s it, I’m done, but you just try not to let that in, just keep it going.”

What was the high point?

“The high was definitely finishing! Absolutely.

“And there was an amazing moment at the start of the swim – the sun hadn’t quite come up, so after about 15 minutes I was swimming into the sunrise. Spectacular, even if I couldn’t quite see where I was going!”

If you had to sum it up in one word, what would it be?

“Accomplishment. Raising over £1,200 for CRUK is amazing; everyone has been so generous. And finally crossing the Ironman Lanzarote finish line after not only a hard challenge in one day, but the months of training through the winter. It seems ages since I first decided to do the event over two years ago… and now I’ve done it.”

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You’ve Got to Be Green to Be Seen: Tackling How We Talk About Sustainability in Retail

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

Our impact on the environment is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. With increased awareness and a global push towards ‘doing better’, brands and businesses from all industries are moving sustainability up the agenda to appeal to consumers who are getting environmentally wiser by the generation.

And it’s clear that the majority of consumers are seeking more sustainable retail options, with 63% of consumers significantly changing to more sustainable shopping habits, and 85% claiming they have become ‘greener’ in their purchasing in recent years.

But it’s a chicken and egg situation. This attitude shift in shoppers demands action from brands, but similarly many shoppers will only be able to make more sustainable choices if the brands they already use make changes first. Particularly with the current cost of living, many consumers are juggling often conflicting priorities alongside environmental ethics, such as price and accessibility, and can only reasonably be expected to shop more sustainably when businesses make it easy for them to do so.

So it’s encouraging to see many brands making positive changes at an astonishing pace for the good of the environment as well as for their long-term business interests.

But there is a challenge, as some consumers believe brands are making claims using little more than buzzwords, with some having lost trust in the subject completely. So it’s vital that brands retain, or regain, the trust of their audience.

And once again, it all comes down to captivating.

Overcoming Consumer Doubt

Scepticism is one of the biggest challenges brands face when going green. And while accusations of greenwashing are sometimes little more than media fodder, British consumers are – rightly or wrongly – more than a little dubious about retailers’ efforts to go green.

A recent study found that despite consumers considering The Body Shop to be the most sustainable retailer, only 37% believe they are genuinely concerned about the environment. They had a similar opinion towards Lush, which was considered the second most sustainable retailer.

The solution, according to the report? Retailers must convince customers that their concerns are genuine by supporting them with visual causes and authentic messages.

When it comes to the environment, then, it appears actions don’t always speak louder than words. The sustainability changes you make are incredibly important, but so too is your brand’s messaging at every stage of the customer journey.

Taking action to make your brand or retail operation more sustainable is essential. We’re proud to work with clients who take their responsibility to the environment seriously. Royal Canin, for instance, has switched to a 100% sustainable fishing source. They are on track to being carbon neutral in a few years and will also have completely recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.
Tesco, another of our clients, has led the way in sustainability. They were the first UK retailer to ban plastic wet wipes and the first to use commercial electric articulated HGVs.
While these initiatives are excellent, a holistic strategy must also captivate consumers. It’s not just about maintaining trust, it’s also about understanding consumer shopping habits.

Sustainable Initiatives While Captivating Audiences

While two-thirds (67%) of UK consumers pay attention to brands’ sustainability efforts and a third search for more sustainable brands, less than one in five (17%) say it impacts where they shop.

If most consumers aren’t going to change where they shop but many still want to make more sustainable choices, in-store signposts, on-package messaging and other marketing initiatives are vital to guide consumers while also making the most of your sustainability efforts.

Tesco is a great example of how to do this effectively, and Blackdog is proud to have played a role in helping Tesco communicate its initiatives to customers. We developed an eye-catching colour-coded four Rs identity that tells shoppers about the store’s plans to Remove, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

It’s not just a branding exercise, however. Tesco has made its four Rs initiative prominent in stores through concepts like a soft plastics recycling stand and product packaging labels.

The result is a clear and authentic commitment to sustainability – one that consumers can see in action and across brand messaging.

Doing Our Bit to Go Greener at Blackdog

Here at Blackdog, we don’t just help retailers spread the word about their sustainability initiatives, we’re rolling up our sleeves and doing our bit for the environment too.

As we head back to the office, we’ve committed to remain working from home for two days a week to reduce our company’s carbon footprint and to cut down on emissions from commuting. And on the days our UK office is being used, we’re working towards our goal of receiving 100% of our electricity from renewable sources, as well as reviewing the materials we use for our printed goods by exploring the use of sustainable resources and working with suppliers who share the same vision.

On a smaller but no less important scale, on top of our commitment to recycling, we have also introduced plant-based dairy alternatives to our office kitchens and offer our visiting clients vegetarian-based company lunches to cut down on our consumption of animal products and thus contributing towards lower CO₂ emissions.

We all have a responsibility to lower our impact on our environment, and we’d love to hear about the actions, big or small, your business has taken to be more environmentally conscious. In the very well-known words of one of our clients: every little helps!

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Captivate to Activate: How to Use Marketing Activation in the Attention Economy

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

We’re living in the era of the attention economy. (And as a creative retail marketing agency as well as consumers ourselves, don’t we know it.) Life is hectic. We’re always on, and our full-time working weeks are the longest in Europe. We’re constantly distracted with the need to check our phones and spend a third of our waking lives looking at them. Whether we’re working, socialising, exercising, resting, even when we’re not actively shopping, marketing is everywhere. Yet, and here’s the kicker, we ignore the vast majority of these messages every day, so most marketing simply goes unnoticed.

So with attention being such a precious resource, how do you make sure it’s your brand that gets chosen? Firstly, it’s about understanding the process of this choice. Because we don’t have time to rationally evaluate every option available to us, we use screening to find a shortcut to the easiest decision. Tie that in with the fact our subconscious does most of the deciding for us, governing 95% of human decisions, and it’s clear to see how emotion trumps reason almost every time. Therefore, for brands it’s not just about satisfying people’s needs, it’s also about making them feel something. It’s about Captivating People. Because captivation leads to activation.

Are you looking to captivate with a B2B marketing strategy? We’ll tell you seven ways to do just that.

Our Secret to Captivation

At Blackdog we’ve created a model to help us work out where, when and how to constructively intervene in people’s lives, grab their attention and convert browsers into buyers. We call this model EEAD. We start by seeking to Entertain our audience to earn their attention. We provide novelty and entice consumers with the promise of a story. Then we Engage with them to hold their attention and land the key message, making it clear how they stand to gain from what we’re offering. Next, we Advise with a clear instruction and give them a compelling reason to act. Only then have we earned the right to inspire action and can Direct consumers to make a purchase decision.

Using a well-thought-out method that is easily applicable to a wide range of marketing activations ensures you can cut through the noise, take hold of consumers’ focus and create meaningful connections.

Marketing Activations in Action

Marketing activations can be used to captivate your consumers and create a powerful emotional connection between them and your brand to ultimately encourage a purchase decision. And let’s not forget, they can also be used to:

Increase product trials
Reinforce your brand values
Create viral moments
Strengthen relationships with consumers
Increase brand recall
Engage new audiences

In-store Activations

As in-store activations, such as feature ends, popups, seasonal displays and floor graphics, make your brand quite literally stand out from competitors, they are useful tools to grab consumers’ attention just before the moment of purchase. For example, we created an engaging in-store activation for Dreams’ Revived mattress range, which is made from recycled ocean plastic. The point of sale is underpinned by a powerful emotive message to inspire consumers to make a conscious choice to help the environment by buying from the range. The campaign won two POPAI awards, showing that appealing to your audience’s emotions is a good way to convey a message and to create engagement, and purchase decisions are easier to make when they make us feel like we’re doing good.

Experiential Activation

An opportunity to pull out all the stops, a well-executed experiential event is totally worth the investment it requires. As these high-touch events see consumers actively engaging with the brand, they’re completely captivating, build memorable experiences and have the potential to go viral. As a result, the ROI can be huge.

And our example is not just any experiential marketing activation. This is an M&S experiential marketing activation.

M&S approached us just after the pandemic asking whether we could help them captivate shoppers from several fallen retailers and convert them to M&S customers, thereby increasing new customers, footfall and sales through their stores.

We proposed a number of conceptual ideas for this activation, which stretched across their clothing, lingerie, home & beauty categories. M&S chose ‘Everyone’s a Winner with Lucky Hangers’ – a clothes hanger-based marketing activation that rewarded all participating shoppers with either a £250 gift card or a 50%, 30%, 20% or 10% discount off their purchase.

Customers both new and existing loved it, and the activation generated measurable results for M&S. Throughout the campaign M&S saw a 26% increase in their average basket spend and a 20% increase in new Sparks customers.

Looking for more ways to captivate? Read our article on how clever brands are using smart packaging to stand out.

Get Started with a Retail Activation Agency

As a leading creative marketing agency, we make it our business to create captivating marketing activations that delight audiences and drive measurable results for some of Britain’s biggest retailers. Find out how we can guide your marketing activation plan using our unique EEAD framework by speaking to a member of our team today.

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The Path to Purchase: 5 Disruptors who step off the beaten track

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

We’re living in the era of the attention economy, where consumers are distracted by a constant flurry of marketing messages, day in, day out. The linear path to purchase of old now seems a little more like crazy paving in the modern world.

Brands need to work harder than ever to stand out, and grab attention, or as we call it ‘Captivate People’.

We have a methodology for doing this, but more on that later.

So to catch people’s attention, companies are switching the traditional purchase funnel ( poor old AIDA) and replacing it with disruptive alternatives that leave competitors struggling to catch up.

Below are five examples we think are interesting:

Fly Now Pay Later

Offering to spread the cost of flights, hotels and package holidays, Fly Now Pay Later is looking to take the Klarna commerce model into the travel industry. The company has partnered with leading travel brands like Malaysia Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines and Crystal Travel to allow customers to split the cost of their holiday and build a repayment plan that works for them.

Fly Now Pay Later is flying high with investors. The company sealed a $75 million funding package at the start of the year, adding to the $60 million it raised in two previous investment rounds.

Onto

As more consumers look to buy electric vehicles rather than petrol-fueled cars, one company is helping them overcome one of the biggest hurdles to purchase — the price. Onto is an app-based electric car subscription service.

Rather than buy or lease electric vehicles, consumers can choose from a wide range of the latest models (including the Renault Zoe, Hyundai IONIQ and Audi Q4 40 e-tron) and pay one monthly fee that includes charging costs, breakdown cover and more. It often works out as a cheaper alternative. The company raised $175 million in Series B funding last year, bringing total funding to $245 million.

Birchbox

New York-based Birchbox is a leader in eCommerce subscriptions. Customers get a curated box of beauty products each month, all of which have been personalised based on their beauty profile. It’s a popular service, with 300,000 global customers trusting Birchbox to deliver the beauty products they need.

The company was recently acquired by FemTec, a women’s health startup, for more than $45 million. The company aims to relaunch Birchbox as a personalised healthcare and skincare brand.

TheLittleLoop

TheLittleLoop is the “shared wardrobe for kids.” This ethical, environmentally friendly company aims to do away with fast fashion and offer parents a zero-waste alternative to children’s clothing. Customers use a monthly credit allowance to rent clothes. Once those clothes have been outgrown, parents can send them back. The credits they spent are returned to them and the clothes are rented out by other customers. TheLittleLoop doesn’t just help customers to be greener, though. It can also save customers as much as £900 per child per year.

TheLittleLoop hit the headlines recently when it received £140,000 of backing from Stephen Bartlett and Deborah Meadon on Dragons’ Den.

Whirli

If you’re already renting children’s clothing, then why not rent their toys, too? That’s the concept behind Whirli, the subscription toy company that charges customers £10 a month to get access to almost £100 worth of toys.

Children outgrow toys almost as often as they outgrow clothes. Renting them rather than buying them leads to significantly less waste. The savings can also be significant when you rent rather than buy, with one mum claiming to have saved £4000.

The company isn’t just attracting interest from consumers, though. It received £4 million in a seed round led by Octopus Ventures. The company already has plans for the future, with door-step trials and investments into fully electric deliveries on the cards in the year ahead.

So there you have it, straying from the usual path to purchase can be a successful detour worth taking. You don’t have to tear up the payment playbook to captivate your audience, but thinking differently can be a real benefit.

In the Blackdog strategic toolbox is something we call EEAD.

It stands for Entertain, Engage, Advise and Direct. To captivate people, you need to earn their attention, land a key message, repay them with an exchange of value and guide them to a purchase decision. EEAD is our methodology to speak to the right people at the right time in the right places.

Get in touch if you want to know more about that.

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Same but different: How the Brits and the Aussies’ Grocery Shopping experiences vary

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

The UK and Australia are like different sides of the same coin. We share similar tastes, cultures and customs. It’s why many brands find it easy to make the move down under and why Australian shoppers so often shop UK websites.

But do we share similar attitudes when it comes to grocery shopping?

As a global retail marketing agency, we work with the leading supermarkets in both the UK and Australian markets.

So apart from our weather seasons being vastly different, what other things separate the grocery experience between continents?

With input from Sarah Andrews, MD of Blackdog Australia and Michele Callieu, Account Director on Tesco Blackdog UK we unwrap the grocery shop at home and down under.

Shopping Habits

The pandemic transformed shopping habits overnight. What happened in each market and did the changes stick?

In the UK a surge in online grocery shopping saw three-in-five consumers shop online. Many have become converts, with a fifth of households consistently ordering groceries online each month. As for the in-store experience, bigger, less frequent shops have become the norm. Customers are making 40 million fewer trips each month than in 2019.

In Australia, online grocery shopping has soared as a result of the pandemic. A third of Australians have bought groceries online, according to a survey by comparison site Finder. A separate study found groceries were the second most common online purchase product after clothing, footwear and accessories.

In response, retailers in both markets are improving the shopping experience to make it as relevant and enticing as possible whether consumers shop in-store or online. Tesco, for instance, has significantly increased its online capacity and the number of available order slots. In Australia, Coles has introduced refill stations and reduced plastic packaging, an effort which saw its Moonee Ponds store win Finder’s Most Innovative Supermarket award.

“As you’d expect, online shopping sky-rocketted during the pandemic and we’re finding more shoppers taking advantage of click and collect services, a trend that will continue even as we move into more normal times”

Sarah Andrews, MD Blackdog Australia

Rising Costs

Inflation is hitting global markets hard and neither the UK nor Australia is immune.

In the UK John Allan, the Tesco chairman made headlines recently with his warning that the worst is still to come with regards to food prices — which could rise by as much as 5 per cent. What’s the reason for price rises? Supermarkets are facing a crisis of soaring prices, energy costs and transport fees — none of which are easily solved.

In Australia, prices are rising at the fastest pace since 2008. Some categories are rising faster than others. The price of vegetables, for instance, has soared by 6.1 per cent. Even though Australia sells more locally-grown produce than the UK, the country is not immune to supply chain issues, natural disasters and other issues that mean inflation is just as big a concern.

Seasonality

The UK and Australia have two totally different planning cycles, not to mention climates. But how does that impact consumer shopping habits?

In the UK seasonality isn’t much of an issue when it comes to produce. With a focus on imports, British consumers can enjoy strawberries and apples all year round. Consumer demand to make the most of the short summer season does lead to drastic changes in meat and poultry consumption, as well as the range of other seasonal products supermarkets stock.

In Australia, seasonality drastically impacts food preferences. Sales of soup half in the summer months, as does the consumption of salad products during winter.

Buying Local

Both countries care about buying local where possible. But Australian consumers have greater access to local produce, especially when it comes to fruit and veg.

In the UK there are various standards, schemes and certifications to encourage consumers to buy local. These include the Red Tractor scheme, which is on £14 billion of British food and drink. Supermarkets have also supported local produce themselves. Tesco and Morrisons recently pledged not to sell Australian meat, for instance. But many products simply can’t be produced in the UK — partly because of the climate and partly because of a reduction in UK farmland. As a result, the UK imports more than it exports.

In Australia consumers also prefer local options. In fact, events like bushfires and the pandemic have driven a majority of consumers (85 per cent) to buy locally to aid economic recovery. With regard to groceries, 53 per cent of Australians want to buy local products over imported alternatives.

Ready Meals

Ready meals are a staple of UK dinner time. But has their popularity waned during the pandemic and are they purchased as frequently down under?

In the UK over 80% of consumers eat ready meals and three in 10 eat them at least once a week. But consumers rediscovered their love of cooking during the pandemic. Almost three-quarters of Brits said they enjoyed cooking during lockdown, with 91% saying they want to cook as often or even more over the next 12 months. As a result, the meal kit market in the UK doubled in size between 2017 and 2020.

“Shoppers are definitely looking for inspiration. A lot of the work we’ve done with Tesco has been around helping customers find and create recipes that are a little different whilst making it easy to round up the ingredients.”

Michele Callieu, Tesco UK Account Director, Blackdog.

In Australia ready meals aren’t traditionally as popular as they are in the UK, but the market is experiencing rapid growth. Ironically, part of that growth is a result of the pandemic, where lockdowns increased demand for healthy, ready-made meals. Supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths are responding quickly, launching own-brand versions and partnering with leading brands. Those brands have included meal kit companies like Marley Spoon, which have also soared in popularity in Australia. Woolworths had a 9.9 percent stake in the meal kit company, which they recently sold for $54 million.

So in summary

Aussies and Brits have a lot in common, but attitudes to grocery shopping aren’t necessarily one. We’re lucky to be able to take learnings from both sides of the world, and offer specialism in each audience. Because we may differ in many ways but we are all essentially people whose shopping experience can be made easier and more successful. To activate people you have to captivate people, and that’s what we do.

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Blackdog helped get much-needed provisions to Ukrainian refugees

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

Responding to an appeal from our local community, we’re delighted to have helped get much-needed provisions to Ukrainian refugees. The Blackdog van containing vital supplies set off on the 10th of March.

To see more of the story, watch this clip from Look East BBC News to see how the community is pulling together to help. 🇺🇦

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Captivating People with Smart Packaging

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

Remember the first time you spotted your name on a bottle of Coca-Cola or peeled a free McFlurry sticker from your fries during the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion? For a brief moment, you couldn’t help but love that brand.

Brands have long used packaging design and innovative features as a way to captivate audiences, from fold-out stickering to chill & reveal win mechanics, creating a longer interaction with shoppers before they make their way to the waste basket. Along with an unexpectedly quirky tone of voice on packaging that brands like Innocent champion, these techniques turn a functional item into an emotional experience too.

But in a competitive market where it’s increasingly difficult to stand out, smart brands are using connected packaging to elevate their products and grab customer attention. Connected packaging transforms simple packaging into digital experiences through a single mobile tap.

QR codes, once thought to be headed for the promotional graveyard, are now the go-to springboard to added value content due to their use in COVID track and trace communications. Barcodes and NFC tags are also a way of engaging with people.

What you do with the connected experience is up to you. Some brands and retailers send customers to an interactive game. Others tell their brand story, give consumers a chance to win free products, collect valuable data or even integrate an augmented reality experience. The opportunities are practically endless.

Connected packaging is taking off fast. According to Data Bridge the global market will grow to $31.94 billion by 2027 at a CAGR of 7.4%. Consumers love it, too. A SharpEnd report shows almost two-thirds of UK respondents and three-quarters of US consumers are willing to work out how to engage with product packaging using their smartphone.

We like to think we know a thing or two about packaging having worked with the UK’s number one retailer, the country’s second-biggest pet food manufacturer and a leading university to redesign packaging. So when we say that connected packaging is one of the most effective ways to captivate customers before and after purchase, that means we think it’s a must for any brand looking to stand out on supermarket shelves.

Who’s Already Using Connected Packaging?

If you’re looking for ideas on creating an attention-grabbing digital experience, there’s no shortage of brands to take inspiration from.

Yeo Valley Recipes
Dairy brand Yeo Valley uses connected packaging to deliver timely recipes and other content to customers. They also use connected packaging to incentivise customers to use their Yeokens loyalty program.

Tetra Pak
Tetra Pak uses QR codes to launch an environment-themed quiz that entertains consumers while educating them about the company’s sustainability work.

Heinz Ketchup
Heinz has been using connected packaging since 2012 when it launched its “Join the Growing Movement” campaign. When customers scanned a QR code on the bottle, Heinz launched an app that explained how small changes to daily routines could make for a more sustainable life. For every consumer who pledged to live more sustainably, Heinz planted a tree - 57,000 in total.

What Are the Benefits of Connected Packaging?

Still think connected packaging is all style, no substance? Think again. Connected packaging offers retail brands some pretty big benefits.

Make Sure You’re Message is Heard
Every brand has something important to say, but customers rarely pay attention. Connected packaging helps make that a thing of the past by significantly increasing the likelihood customers will notice your product and engage with your brand story.

You don’t have to worry about squeezing everything onto your physical packaging, either. That will be a big relief to your copywriter, and it will also allow you to potentially create more eye-catching packaging designs without having to worry about getting all the information onto the packaging itself.

Capture First-Party Data
It’s harder than ever for brands to acquire customer data. But fear not, connected packaging provides a way for brands to collect data from customers while engaging with them directly. This isn’t about getting data for data’s sake, however. Better first-party data allows you to personalise the customer experience, improve products and better meet your customers’ needs.

Boost Brand Engagement and Awareness
Unlike other mediums, connected packaging is still rare enough that consumers haven’t become blind to it. Not only do engagement levels soar as a result, but so does brand awareness - especially when consumers tell their friends about the captivating experience you created.

Increase Customer Loyalty
Connected packaging can help brands take customer loyalty efforts to new heights. It’s relatively common for product packaging to offer customers the chance to win a discount or a product for free, but connected packaging can go much deeper.

Use it to create a virtual loyalty card that tracks consumer purchases over time or a tombola-style virtual game where consumers have the chance to win much bigger prizes without having to post their lid to a PO box.

Drive Revenue Through Attention
Ultimately, all of the benefits we’ve described above - improved storytelling, more first-party data, boosts in brand engagement and increased customer loyalty - happen because you’ve captured the customer’s attention. When you do that, an increase in revenue isn’t far behind.

How to Make the Most of Smart and Connected Packaging
Excited to get started? We can’t wait to start experimenting with connected packaging, either — and we’ll be bearing these five things in mind when we do.

Use the Right Engagement Strategy for Your Audience
Different connected experiences will attract different audiences and demographics. Games may not impress older consumers, but that doesn’t mean a well-written quiz won’t. You can only truly capture attention when you deliver the right experience for your specific audience and forget about trying to please everyone.

Raise Awareness of Connected Packaging Through Other Channels
Connected packaging should be a multi-channel campaign. While some consumers will find it by accident, your efforts will be much more effective if you tease your new packaging across social media and other channels before releasing it.

Get Creative With Your Connected Packaging
Please, please, please don’t just use a QR code to link to your brand’s homepage. Nothing could be less satisfying for consumers. That’s not to say that digital engagement efforts have to be groundbreaking, though. A simple quiz or well-designed web page can go a long way. If in doubt, reach out to a proven brand and retail marketing agency for help.

Don’t Let it Expire
This one’s pretty simple. You don’t know how long your products will sit on supermarket shelves for, so make sure that your connected experience stays online and active indefinitely.

Use Our EEAD Model

We live in a much more complicated world than ever before, and traditional purchase journeys feel a little out of date now.

The balance of power has shifted from brands to people, and paths to purchase are no longer linear. To activate people, you have to captivate people.

To do this, we have a tried and tested approach, aka our ‘EEAD’ model. It’s our proprietary tool that guides every meaningful intervention we create on behalf of brands. EEAD stands for Entertain, Engage, Advise, Direct. It’s the 4 main ways to captivate people. Fortunately, connected packaging is a natural fit.

Connected packaging is inherently entertaining to consumers right now. It’s incredibly engaging, as we’ve already discussed, and a great way to advise them with an exchange of value. If they haven’t already made a purchase decision, it can direct them to do so or to take an alternative meaningful action.

When each step is used to its full potential, you’ll captivate your audience, turn browsers into buyers and buyers into loyal customers.

Captivate Your Customer with Blackdog

Global retailers are already incorporating connected experiences into their packaging, will you be next?

If you want to follow suit and discover how to grab attention with this latest trend, get in touch to request a bespoke captivation audit from our expert team. We’ll help you analyse how connected packaging can benefit your brand and how to use it to best captivate your customers.

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Local talent brightening up the BD offices to raise money for local charities

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

Our very first Blackdog Charity Art Show ran from 1st November and culminated with an on-site gallery event on the evening of 12th November at BD HQ. We had guests from local businesses, the local college and of course our nominated charities SPACE and Earthworks St Albans. It was lovely to host the show and display the exhibits for people to come and view at the end of the auction.

Nicky Chaperlin from SPACE and Kate Mackay from Earthworks each gave talks during the evening, bringing home the importance of fundraising on a local level and giving more information about how they use the money to help fund the wonderful projects they do with the families and individuals they support.

Whilst it was exciting to see the huge explosion of artistic accomplishments, it was deeply humbling for us all to hear about the lives the money raised will help.

The submissions for the auction took many forms such as photography, acrylics, digital prints, pottery and freehand drawings. Art was donated to the show from Hertford Regional College, SPACE, Earthworks St Albans, Georgia Smith Art, Dave Shrimpton Vintage Photography, Donna Chamberlain and of course our own in-house talent.

Being our first auction, we really didn’t know how much we would raise, and so to announce the total of £1,140 is just amazing. The money will be split between the two charities, and we’ll be putting our thinking caps on for more fundraising ideas for 2022.

The overall response to the Charity Art Show has been incredible, not to mention the quality of the art donated; we have been blown away by the support from the local community and beyond.

Blackdog would like to thank everyone involved who made the Charity Art Show a success.

A few words from our charities…

Nicky Chaperlin, SPACE

The art auction was such a wonderful inclusive initiative that not only raised vital funds but also showcased local talent, including contributions from some of our families. It provided a wonderful platform for us to raise awareness and understanding within the community. Being able to raise the profile of the charity through such a great event means more families know about us and can access support. Without the help of amazing community fundraisers such as yourselves we couldn’t do what we do. Thank you so much.

Kate Mackay, Earthworks

We were so excited to be able to offer our Earthworkers and volunteers the chance to have their work featured in Blackdog’s art auction. Everyone who submitted art or who bid at the auction has raised funds that will help support people with learning disabilities through purposeful work and social activity in our eco-gardens. Thank you, Blackdog, for a brilliantly creative event!

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The blackdog charity art show 2021

Supporting the community we live and work in is a big part of Blackdog’s ethos, and by fundraising for our local charities we can give back and help to spread awareness for some amazing causes.

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

As a creative agency, our latest fundraising event is one we’re particularly excited about. In November we will be holding an exhibition and auction to raise money for Hertfordshire-based charities SPACE and Earthworks St Albans. The pieces will be created by the charities and Blackdog as well as students from Hertford Regional College.

Bidding is now open

Head over to our Facebook page and start bidding on all the fantastic artwork that’s been kindly donated for these amazing charities.

Bidding is easy, simply click here
Browse through the artworks
Leave your bid in the comments

What are you waiting for, lets go!

Fundraising is crucial for smaller charities

As well as having a limited budget and a smaller pool of volunteers to call upon, they can also struggle to compete with bigger, more well-known charities, which makes raising awareness for their cause more of a challenge.

Add to this the repercussions of the pandemic, and it’s clear that local charities in particular need our support. But the benefits of smaller organisations shouldn’t be overlooked. They are often able to create genuine relationships with the people they work for, and the effect they can have on the local community is extremely powerful. They can provide lifelines to individuals and their families, connecting them to much-needed services and each other and increasing awareness and education for their causes.

A little bit about our charities…

SPACE supports parents and carers of children and young people with neurodiverse and related conditions, such as autism and ADHD, with the goal of connecting families, professionals and the local community and to reduce feelings of isolation.

By providing support groups, workshops and social events, SPACE works to improve confidence and empower individuals, as well as providing access to information and services and improving awareness.

spaceherts.org.uk

Earthworks supports people with learning disabilities to manage 3.5 acres of eco-gardens, the fruits of which are sold monthly at St Albans Farmers’ Market. The charity offers their “Earthworkers” work experience and training in horticulture, ecology & conservation, crafts and small-scale construction, developing skills, building confidence & communication and boosting physical & mental wellbeing.

Earthworks champions autonomy and social inclusion, and its pilot project Earthworks on Wheels empowers Earthworkers to use the skills they’ve learnt to care for the gardens of vulnerable people in their community.

earthworksstalbans.co.uk

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Our top 7 ways to captivate people with a B2B marketing strategy

By Blackdog - 3 years ago

B2B doesn’t have to be boring. Forget the dry, stuffy and stale corporate messaging, it’s time to discover a new way to speak to decision-makers.

They’re just people after all, and that means they respond pretty much the same way as B2C customers.

Our whole ethos is built around the notion that whether it’s B2B, B2C or D2C, to activate people, you have to Captivate People. Sure, the tactics may vary from channel to channel, but the moment you imagine the people you’re selling to are very much like you, then you’re on the way to Captivating People.

Here are our favourite B2B marketing strategies to do just that:

1: Create Captivating Assets with Content Marketing

B2B professionals are often on the hunt for new information, knowledge and tactics that they can use to improve their marketing performance. That’s what makes content marketing such a perfect fit. Rather than bombard potential customers with ads, content marketing aims to educate customers at every stage of the buyer’s journey, offering huge amounts of value for free and positioning brands as the go-to authority on a topic so that readers eventually become customers.

Content marketing is exactly what we’re doing right now with this blog post. Our target audience are people just like you; professionals at B2B companies who want to improve their marketing efforts. We achieve several things by writing this article. First, we have a chance of showing up in Google, widening our potential audience. Second, we demonstrate we know what we’re talking about and position our brand as an authority on the topic. Third, we have the opportunity to show you exactly what we’ve achieved in the past for B2B brands — skip to the conclusion if you want to read about that immediately.

2: Grow Your Audience with Social Media

Don’t think social media is the preserve of B2C brands. B2B decision-makers spend just as much time on Twitter, LinkedIn and even Facebook as B2C customers, and brands need to be thinking about how best to reach them on these platforms.

Having an active presence on key B2B channels (LinkedIn and Twitter specifically) will help your brand establish a presence and grow a following among industry peers. So, when your sales or marketing teams reach out to decision-makers, you’ll benefit from brand recognition.

These platforms can also be used to distribute the fruits of your content marketing labours (blog posts, whitepapers and other research documents) to a broader audience. You can even target B2B decision-makers directly through paid ads — perfect if you have an enticing trial offer or something else with a relatively low barrier to entry you want to promote.

3: Send Results Soaring with Email Marketing

You probably don’t need us to tell you that email marketing is an incredibly effective way to reach B2B and B2C customers alike. But you may need guidance on how to extract maximum value from your efforts.

Start by growing your email list alongside your content marketing efforts. Require users to submit an email address to download your whitepaper, for instance, or include an email sign up button on every blog post.

When it comes to emailing your list, don’t waste their time. Emails should be short, sharp and explain the benefits as quickly as possible. Crafting a compelling subject line is crucial. Think about how many emails pile up in your inbox each day and how many you delete without reading. It takes something special to stand out and get noticed, which is why it matters what you say and how long it takes to say it.

4: Get Personal with Account-Based Marketing

Account-based marketing is a highly personalised take on traditional B2B marketing efforts. Rather than targeting hundreds of businesses in a particular sector, you focus your efforts on a handful of individual accounts. This ROI-focused strategy does away with vanity metrics and only cares about one thing: closing the deal.

Focusing on a small selection of businesses may seem like putting all your eggs in one basket, but it empowers you to deliver the kind of highly personalised marketing campaigns that can drive serious results. The key is to make sure the accounts you’re targeting are worth your time and effort. Don’t waste time with small companies that aren’t going to send revenues soaring. But don’t chase after massive fish that you’re unlikely to catch either.

5: Make a Name for Yourself with Influencer Marketing

There are two B2C-specific strategies that we think translate seamlessly into the B2B world: personalisation and influencer marketing. Personalisation is covered by account-based marketing, so let’s look at what influencer marketing can do for your B2B brand.

Influencer marketing can be just as effective when marketing to businesses as it is in the B2C world. Working directly with influencers in your industry is a fantastic way to associate your brand with a trusted name. Influencers don’t have to be people, either. Brands are just as capable of being influencers and can carry the same weight as individuals, if not more.

You won’t just get a boost in reputation from B2B influencer marketing. The quality of traffic generated from these campaigns is typically better than most other sources. A recommendation from a trusted figure is hugely influential, and any decision-maker who subsequently checks out your brand will have a high intent to purchase.

6: Be the Star of the Show with Event Marketing

Event marketing is bread and butter for most B2B marketing professionals, and for good reason. Events let you focus on a core part of your audience, offering your sales and marketing teams the chance to socialise with potential buyers, and build brand awareness throughout the calendar year.

The pandemic has proven that you don’t have to blow all of your marketing budget on expensive events, however. Online webinars, podcasts and other digital events can be just as effective at generating results as in-person events.

7: Empower Your Staff with Employee Activation

You’ve seen the thought leaders on LinkedIn and Twitter. What you may not have realised is that while they’re growing their own profile, they are also generating brand awareness for the companies they work for.

There’s no reason your employees can’t become thought leaders too — they just need your support. Rather than ask them to share every blog post you publish, arm them with the stats and data to talk broadly about the trends they’re seeing in the industry. Encourage them to collaborate with other thought leaders, attend workshops, speak at conferences and host podcasts. The more your employees feel empowered to engage with the wider industry, the more powerful a mouthpiece for your brand they’ll become.

Our Approach to B2B Marketing Strategies

As we said in the introduction to this article, we don’t see a huge amount of difference between B2B and B2C. We see it as People 2 People. Whichever of the above strategies you’re using, it’s all about captivating your audience with an engaging campaign and the right message.

If you want to move away from stale, boring B2B marketing campaigns, we’re here to help you make genuine connections with decision-makers. Major global businesses working across many sectors love how we simplify and activate their USPs via our strategic and creative approach.

Discover how we helped DHL sharpen their message, create targeted marketing campaigns for individual sectors and bring everything to life in digital, print and experiential, or speak to one of our consultants today to find out how we can help you.

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One BIG party: Do companies really understand the meaning of Pride?

It’s one thing to change your company logo to the Pride flag (yes, we did) in order to show solidarity to the LGBTQI+ community, but do companies really understand the meaning of Pride?

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Many big corporates have been criticised over the years for hanging their hats on Pride events as a means to curry favour with current popular movements and communities. It is understandable that some brands are seen to be virtue signalling, as for many, years of living on the fringe of society is not easily forgotten.

Without knowing the history of Pride, it’s easy to think of it as one big party, but many may not be aware that Pride actually started with a riot. A riot that exploded after years of suppression, of gay men and women being dragged out of gay bars and charged under criminal law and people being ostracised from their families.

A series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the LGBTQI+community took place in response to a police raid that began in the early hours of 28 June 1969, at The Stonewall Inn in New York. These became known as The Stonewall Riots and inspired the entire Pride movement.

The parade that we have come to know and love has always been one of huge political importance. People risked losing family, friends and even jobs to march on the parade and fight for their rights to live their lives without fear. We have made huge strides over the last 50 years as a community, thanks to the Pride movement, but there is still a way to go.

My own experience

As a gay woman who has been out for over 25 years, I have seen so many changes within society in the understanding of LGBTQI+ issues, some good, some bad. I was one of the lucky ones whose family and friends gave me so much love and support, but I was also subjected to occasional verbal abuse and even a physical attack outside a pub that put me in A&E for a night.

With regards to my career, I have always found the creative mind to be an extremely open one, always keen to embrace and understand the differences in people, and therefore the creative industry as a whole has always felt inclusive to me.

I came out in the mid-90s at university, at a time when Anna Friel made the front pages of the national press for her ‘sordid lesbian kiss’ on Brookside. Times were very different back then, and scary. But also hopeful. I went to Pride with my best friends (some of whom also turned out to be gay - my mum always said there must have been something in the water). After growing up feeling shame and embarrassment about our identities we had finally found a community ready to embrace us and fight for us, and we jumped in! We went to many Prides over the years and rejoiced in our collective victories. Section 28, a law that prohibited the ‘promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, was repealed in 2003. Civil partnerships became legal in 2005 and eventually became known simply as ‘marriage’ in 2013. We started to see ourselves represented in the media more, and not just as the token queer person(see John Inman – ‘I’m Freeee’ in Are You Being Served?).

The Pride flag changes all the time in an effort to embrace all new identities and genders on the spectrum and we always try and develop our own minds to be open, to learn and to understand. Sadly hate crime continues to rise, and homo/trans/bi-phobic hate crime is higher than ever. My friends and I still march and will continue as long as there is someone whose voice needs to be heard.

“ Do you have a fella? ”

One thing that I found when I started my career was having to come out all over again to all the new people in my life. This was not a problem and, as I mentioned before, working in a creative marketing agency meant nobody took issue with this. However, it’s something I’ve realised I’ve had to do over and over in my life. You don’t just come out once and that’s it. With every new job, there comes a point where you have to have ‘that’ conversation or correct someone’s assumption about your partner (“Do you have a fella?” is a common one). I stress here that this is just my experience, and others may feel differently about this. Coming out is deeply personal and not something everyone is comfortable with, but for me personally, I have always felt the need to show up as my authentic self. And with age, I have felt a responsibility to my younger colleagues to show them that I am proud of who I am.

As time and the world has moved on, so have people’s attitudes toward me and my pursuit of a family of my own. Where once it was assumed I would never have the baby I dreamed of or be married, I now find myself with a fiancée and a 16-month-old baby, something I would never have believed possible in those early days in 90s Britain!

But there is still lots of hate out there, and it is still occasionally directed at me. My child was called ‘an abomination over social media by a keyboard warrior. I’d say she is in fact ‘a miracle’. OK, maybe a Tasmanian devil at times, but an abomination? No. You should see her, she’s amazing. I’d bore you with my iPhone library if you were next to me right now for sure (or you can always follow my Instagram @Iceicebaby_02).

Smashing down walls

Hard to believe that in 2021 people are still being abused and physically attacked for being gay. And so we march on, only now I’m marching for a better world for my baby girl. One in which she doesn’t have to feel shame about her two mummies, and one in which she can be whoever she wants to be.

The Pride movement has smashed down walls and made our voices be heard. With large companies joining in the party, although it might be seen as suspicious or cynical by some, I would say that it makes that company/brand a safe space for its customers and colleagues.

In order to be a true ally to the LGBTQI+ community, businesses need to encourage people to call out homophobia, transphobia, biphobia etc as and when they hear/see it. It’s not enough anymore to simply not be homophobic - an ally must stand up for and alongside the people they are advocating for.

I love that Blackdog is embracing Pride month, it makes me and my little family feel safe and supported, which is so important. I hope also that it shows our clients and any new colleagues that join our team that should they ever come out (whether for the first, second or third time in their life) that they will always be met with understanding and support.

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FMCG Marketing: Captivating People in the 21st Century

Things have changed in the last decade in the world of FMCG marketing.

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

‘Fast-moving-consumer-goods’. Even the term provoked a feeling of activity and energy. And for years the sector has often been considered the pinnacle of a marketer’s career.

In 2021, FMCG brands made up 23 of the top 100 brands globally, delivering a return of 15% to shareholders for some 45 years.

But to coin a recently over-used phrase, the ‘new normal’ is a vastly different landscape and there are a host of new challenges that face the industry. Seems a new take on marketing of these brands is in order too.

The Uphill Battle for FMCG in 2021

Half a century of history and billions of pounds of sales aren’t enough to keep established FMCG brands at the forefront of minds anymore.

A myriad of factors have changed the playing field and made it a much more competitive landscape:

Digital Marketing’s Growing Prominence

Digital marketing has of course transformed the way FMCG brands market for over a decade, and the channel is only ever going to become more dominant. Mass marketing in print and TV, for years the favoured method of captivating consumers, is dwindling in its reach.

Bar the big boys of FMCG, many brands don’t have a strong pedigree when it comes to digital marketing, with senior marketing executives not well-versed in the minutiae of the discipline. Lack of data can also be a problem, with FMCG brands foregoing such information in return for higher sales volume with retailers as the primary focus. This trade-off is coming back to bite them however, with a lack of data hamstringing digital marketing efforts.

Weakening Brand Loyalty

In the U.S., a Nielsen study found that only 9% of consumers consider themselves brand loyal. That’s a kick in the teeth for brands hoping that people are hanging onto every word they say on the hot social topics of the day, or avidly waiting for news on a new sku in a brand’s portfolio being launched. In fact brand boredom can be a thing. Young people in particular are often not ‘feeling it’ with brand love. Millennials are four times more likely than baby boomers to avoid buying products from the so-called big food companies for example.

Of course, online shopping means there is a huge and often baffling amount of choice for people. That means it’s easy for a consumer to find and buy a competitor’s product, comparing price and value with yours at a click. With competition being hotter than ever, captivating their attention is more important than ever. Luckily there’s an agency to help with that. Who knew eh? More on that later.

Challenger Brands

With the rise of social and other channels it’s never been easier for challenger brands to pop up and have a pop at the mainstream ones.

And Direct-to-Consumer brands (DTC) can be a concern for established brands that haven’t had the direct relationship with consumers that the new kids on the block do.

DTC brands can leverage first-party data and stretch marketing budgets to create personalised high-ROI digital advertising campaigns that steal consumers away from established brands, with less of a reliance on retailers to showcase their wares.

FMCG : Five Ways to Thrive:

It’s tough out there. So here are our five strategies for FMCG brands to Captivate People and grow sales.

1. Build Direct Relationships

Retail sales will always be vital for FMCG brands, but building direct revenue channels with people will allow brands to compete with DTC challenger brands and win back some market share. Direct sales lead to quality first-party consumer data, allowing personalisation at a high level. The more data a brand has, the more profitable marketing campaigns will be in the long term.

2. Create Consumer Communities

Brands shouldn’t just build sales channels directly with consumers, they should boost brand engagement by building communities, too. Email and social media are key channels that FMCG brands should leverage to strengthen consumer relationships and compete with digitally native brands that thrive on channels like Instagram.

3. Work with Influencers

FMCG brands continue to undervalue the importance of influencers compared to other digitally native brands. This must change going forward.

Research by Kroll has found influencer marketing to be a double-edged sword for FMCG brands. A massive 85% of brands have reported suffering a loss of up to $250,000 because of negative interactions with influencers. Despite this, the majority of brands plan to increase investment in influencer marketing. Almost half (46%) said they would spend between a third and half of their marketing budgets on influencers.

One strategy to minimise any negative impact from influencer marketing is to work with micro-influencers as opposed to celebrities. These individuals may only have followings that number in the thousands, but their audiences are often incredibly engaged. Moreover, they are often easier to work with than bigger names and will take compensation based on results.

4. Occupy More of the Digital Shelf

Maximising physical retail space is simply a matter of working with six or so of the country’s biggest retailers. Doing the same online is significantly harder. FMCG brands will need to leverage several strategies and channels to put their products front and centre.

One strategy is to create their own sales channels, as discussed above. That’s not enough on its own, however. SEO will be vital to ensure their store ranks in Google, so will paid advertising on the search engine and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Brands may also want to leverage Amazon’s position as the de facto eCommerce platform in the UK. The Everything Store accounted for 30% of the UK eCommerce market in 2019, making it the first and last place many people go shopping online. FMCG brands may not get data when they sell on Amazon, but the platform will definitely increase sales and boost brand awareness.

5. Don’t Forget About In-Store Branding and Experiential Marketing

While growing their digital presence is vital, established FMCG brands will still want to play to their strengths. Supermarkets and other in-person retailers will still play an important role in consumers’ lives going forward, and FMCG brands should look to strengthen their existing advantage in these areas wherever possible.

Blackdog : Captivating People

Get your Retail marketing strategy on the right track by working with one of the leading FMCG marketing agencies. Here at Blackdog, we create online and offline campaigns that captivate people for multinational brands every day— the kind that help FMCG brands boost recognition, grow brand loyalty and overcome challenger brands. Make it an unfair playing field once again by speaking to one of our consultants today.

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From Clicks to Bricks: Why eCommerce Brands Are Getting Physical

Major digitally native brands are moving into physical retail at a rapid pace. We explore why it might be worth following suit.

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Amazon, Loaf, Casper. Some of the best-known eCommerce brands in the world are recognising they need to captivate people in the real world as well as their online heartland.

The clicks to bricks trend shows no signs of reducing, with dozens of other major eCommerce brands opening their own brick-and-mortar retail spaces to supplement their online sales.

But wait. Isn’t the high street ‘dead’? We’ve all heard the gloom-mongers’ cries.

So why are so many of the biggest and most successful eCommerce brands bothering to open their doors to actual real people?

We’ve pondered this and have some ideas.

We’re in the business of Captivating People and we think major brands are thinking the same.

What Does the Clicks to Bricks Business Model Look Like?

The clicks to bricks (C2B) business model is one in which an eCommerce store opens up a physical retail store (the bricks) to augment their already successful online store (the clicks).

Online stores can be incredibly profitable, but they have their obvious limitations.

As brands grow and want to increase their market share, having a physical presence where customers can interact with your products becomes vital.

In-store shopping still makes up the bulk of retail sales in the UK. Online sales only account for 34.5% of total retail sales as of February 2021. Yes it’s growing, but reports of the high street’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.

What Are the Advantages of the

Clicks to Bricks Model?

There’s got to be a reason why so many major brands are ripping up the eCommerce playbook and building physical stores, right? Actually, there are several.

Increase Brand Visibility

Building an offline presence is a great way for eCommerce brands to grow their profile. Not only will you grab headlines, you’ll also attract impulse buyers and open your brand up to consumers who don’t frequently shop online. It’s hard to miss a physical retail store, after all, while the internet is a pretty crowded place.

Boost Brand Loyalty and Improve the Customer Experience

Even the most engaging online stores have their limits when it comes to creating a killer customer experience. While interaction with customers is limited by a screen, physical stores let brands interact with customers in an intimate setting, delivering expert advice and hand-selecting products.

We’re all people. And we believe that whatever marketing terms are in fashion, it’s all about People to People.

It’s the warm smile. The sales person going the extra mile. The bit of advice you didn’t even know you needed. And usually less annoying than a pop-up window.

Physical stores also let customers try products before they commit. It’s all well and good buying clothes online that are easy to return, but even though companies such as Eve are offering long trial periods for big ticket items such as beds, you can’t beat a good bounce in-store.

Reduce Delivery and Return Costs

Let’s talk balance sheets for a minute. From a practical point of view, physical stores are a great way for eCommerce brands to reduce delivery and return costs. Opening stores in major metropolitan areas like London and Manchester can cut last-mile delivery costs while allowing customers to drop their returns off in-store at the same time.

Drive More Sales

Generating more sales may not be the primary reason for building a physical retail presence, but it is a welcome result nonetheless. With so many people still shopping in person, more sales are inevitable. But the quality of customers means these stores are seeing significant profits.

Jennifer Fleiss, Co-Founder of Rent the Runway, for instance, reported that customers were spending more in their physical stores than they did online, and that this more than made up for the higher overheads.

Ok, Sounds Good. What about the Negatives?

Before you get carried away with signing your first lease, let’s cover some of the issues that come with opening a retail store.

The Cost

Opening a brick-and-mortar store may be cost-prohibitive to some eCommerce brands. There are significant overheads when opening an online store. Rental fees, shopfitting, utilities and employee costs can quickly rack up.

That may stop some brands from launching a physical store full stop. For others, it will mean their store must turn a profit. While these stores certainly can drive significant revenues, there’s no guarantee they’ll cover your overhead.

The Learning Curve

Running a physical retail store is nothing like running an eCommerce store. There is a huge learning curve that shouldn’t be underestimated, even if your online store is uber-successful. Setting up the store comes with its own unique set of challenges, and those challenges only mount when your store is up and running. Getting specialist help will be essential for most stores embarking on this journey.

Making a Successful Transition

If you’ve weighed up the costs and benefits and still want to proceed, here’s how you can make a successful transition from eCommerce to physical retail.

Rethink the Physical Store

Your brick-and-mortar store doesn’t have to look like a run-of-the-mill shop. It can, of course, but C2B brands tend to find more success when they rethink the retail space and tailor the experience to their customers.

It could be a showroom, for instance, where customers can see a wide range of your products, or an experiential store where customers don’t so much interact with your products as interact with your brand. Either way, your C2B store shouldn’t compete with your eCommerce presence but supplement it.

Start With a Pop-Up

As we’ve already seen, physical retail stores come with all kinds of costs and risks that eCommerce brands probably aren’t familiar with. That’s why many brands start with small-scale pop-up stores to test the concept before launching nationwide.

Use Data to Influence Store Decisions

Online brands have access to huge amounts of data, often far more than their brick-and-mortar cousins. You need to use this to your advantage. Tailor your store’s experience based on how your customers shop online.

Brands should also let their digital experience guide their physical shopping experience. You need to understand how consumers interact with your brand online and what they love most about you — and then magnify these features in your physical space. A jarring experience for loyal customers could spell the end for your fledgeling store.

3 Great Examples of Clicks to Bricks Stores

Best practices will only take you so far. For more inspiration on how to launch your own C2B store, it helps to look at what other brands are doing.

Amazon

Not happy with dominating the world of eCommerce, Amazon launched its first physical convenience store, Amazon Go, in 2018. They have since opened 28 more stores in the U.S. and launched their first store in London in March 2021.

Why are the stores so successful? Because Amazon took what they knew about creating an awesome and convenient customer experience and translated it to physical retail. Not only do the stores offer a wide range of products, but customers don’t even need to go through the hassle of checking out. Video monitoring means Amazon tracks everything consumers pick up from the shelves and automatically debit it from their Amazon account. Now that’s an experience worth going to the shops for.

Loaf

Loaf launched in 2008 and quickly became one of the leading online retailers of bedroom and living room furniture. They aren’t the easiest products to buy online, however, particularly when Loaf sells items at the premium end of the market. That’s why they launched a series of showroom stores that help customers experience what Loaf furniture is really like.

Casper

Like Loaf, Casper’s customers also benefit from seeing their products in person. They’ve taken things a step further with their store, however. As well as letting people try out their mattresses in-store, Casper also provides customers with a “nap destination” called the Dreamery. In the brand’s U.S. stores, customers can pay $25 for a 45-minute nap in a sleeping pod. What a great way to showcase their product and earn fantastic PR.

Create a C2B Strategy with Blackdog that Captivates People

Talk to people who know people. We have a wealth of experience in the physical and digital retail spaces. That means we’re incredibly well placed to support any online business that wants to launch a clicks to bricks strategy. We’ll help you make the business case for opening a physical retail store, design what that space could look like, run a national roll out or create a pop-up concept store. We’ll even bounce on a few beds. Please get in touch today for more information.

Give us a call today to find out more.

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Why we bang on about retail branding

Retail branding is so much more than your logo and packaging. Discover what it really entails and why it’s so powerful.

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Branding is at the heart of the retail experience.

Think about the last time you entered a supermarket. We bet you naturally gravitated to the brands you love most — probably without thinking about it. You instinctively know what they look like, you know what they stand for. Heck, when you’re watching TV you’ll even recognise their adverts within the first few seconds of watching them.

That’s the power of great retail branding. Whether you’re launching a new brand, creating a new offering or creating a customer acquisition strategy, retail branding plays a pivotal role. In this easy-to-follow post, we’ll explain what retail branding really involves and why we think it’s so important.

What is retail branding?

It’s not just your logo and strapline. Retail branding covers every part of your visual identity, including your packaging, store design, accessories and marketing communications. Your retail brand is also what you stand for and what you communicate. What are your company’s values? How do you get them across? What do customers think when they hear your name? A great retail brand accounts for all of that.

There are some key differences between retail branding and more general forms of branding used by other businesses. Retail branding will specifically target consumers and aim to position your brand as the best choice in a presumably crowded marketplace. Branding efforts and related guidelines will also centre around your products, packaging and the in-store experience.

That’s why you may want to partner with a specialist retail branding agency to build yours.

What’s the difference between retail
branding and retail marketing?

Retail branding is not the same as retail marketing. Retail branding refers to all of your assets (visual, written, video, etc.). Retail marketing refers to the strategies your organisation uses to acquire new customers and boost sales. You can have multiple marketing strategies, but you should only have one brand.

The importance of retail branding

There are several important reasons why retail organisations need to get their branding right.

Retail branding builds loyalty

A strong, recognisable and well-defined brand makes for loyal retail customers. Your logo, colour palette, messaging and packaging all play a role here. After all, it’s much easier for customers to relate to a brand they can recognise both on the shelf and on TV.

Retail branding improves recognition

In the same vein as the point above, great retail branding significantly increases brand and product recall. The stronger and more memorable your brand and messaging, the easier it will be for customers to recognise your brand in-store or think about it when assessing their needs.

Retail branding generates new customers

Loyal customers with strong brand recall are going to buy more of your products. Fact. But they are also going to recommend your products to friends and family members. Even without a recommendation, new customers are also going to gravitate to the market leader above everyone else. Eventually, your brand becomes a flywheel: the stronger your brand, the more new customers you generate and the stronger your brand becomes.

Retail branding supports marketing

Your marketing efforts depend on the strength of your brand. You can have the best marketing campaign in the world, but it’s no good if you have a flawed brand to begin with. We’re not just talking about the brand assets your marketing team has available to them, either. As we said above, your brand is so much more than your visual identity. Your brand messaging and values have to be well-established, too.

Retail branding in the digital age

A great retail brand is no longer centred around the in-store experience. Today, organisations must take an omnichannel approach and build a brand that blurs the line between physical retail and eCommerce.

Branding must be consistent throughout the buyer journey. A study by Lucidpress found the consistent presentation of a brand increased revenue by 33%. Doing so is even more important when consumers can browse your eCommerce store on their laptop and visit your social media page on their phone before making a purchase in store. Your brand must be adaptable and flexible enough to meet the needs of each of these channels while retaining a level of coherence across them all.

Working with a retail branding agency

Few businesses have the skills to create, build and manage their retail brand in-house. That’s why even the biggest brands in the country will partner with a retail branding agency. By partnering with an agency, your brand can leverage the knowledge and skills of industry experts and get the guidance you need to navigate the constantly shifting retail landscape.

We work with retailers of all sizes — from startups to household names — creating brands that captivate people. See how we’ve created retail branding assets for Dreams, Tesco and Currys PC World, then reach out to one of our consultants to find out how we can help you.

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Retail marketing strategy: The only guide you need

Retail marketing strategies can be complicated. We make them easy. Here’s the only guide you need to understand them and execute your own.

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

It doesn’t matter what you sell, it’s never been more important to stand out in a marketplace that is becoming more crowded every day. Building a strong retail brand is important in this respect, but so is creating an effective marketing strategy.

In this article, we’ll explain exactly what a retail marketing strategy is, why it’s so important and what you need to consider when creating your own.

What is a retail marketing strategy?

Retail marketing is the process through which retail brands encourage consumers to buy their products. A retail marketing strategy acts as a roadmap, detailing exactly how brands will encourage customers to buy more of their product.

Like a map, there are many different routes your retail marketing strategy can use to get to the end destination of more sales. It could focus on in-store collateral, for instance, or online sales. In the current market, however, an effective retail marketing strategy will almost certainly combine a multitude of approaches.

Why is a retail marketing strategy
so important anyway?

You could sell the best products in the world, but it’s all for nought if consumers don’t know about them. Even if potential customers do know about your brand, they may not know how you’re different from everyone else. In either case, you won’t make many sales.

That, in a nutshell, is why retail marketing is crucial. Companies need clear and consistent messaging to keep their brands at the forefront of consumer minds and one-off promotional campaigns to promote new products or new approaches.

The 4 Ps of retail marketing

Whatever channels your brand uses in its retail marketing strategy, it will need to account for the 4 Ps of retail marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion.

Product

Your product is simply the items you sell. The vast majority of retailers will sell physical products like food and clothes. But you could also sell intangible services as well. Apple, for instance, sells physical products, but it also sells digital products through the App Store and services in the form of AppleCare.

In order to create an effective retail marketing strategy, you need to understand where your product belongs in the market. What sets it apart from everything else out there? What problems is it trying to solve?

Price

Price can have a big impact on your marketing efforts as it is often used by consumers as a proxy for value. Consumers expect expensive products to be of better quality and it’s why you’ll rarely see a sale for Burberry.

That’s not to say low prices are bad. In fact, they can be a successful marketing message all on their own. Just look at Aldi or Lidl.

Pricing also covers any sales and discounts you offer as part of your retail marketing strategy. Ultimately, how many products you sell will depend on how optimally you price them.

Place

Place is where consumers can buy your products. Typically, this will be in a retail store (either your own or someone else’s) or online. It also covers in which part of the store your products are placed and how easy it is to find them online.

The more visibility you give to your products, the more likely consumers are to buy them.

Promotion

Promotion covers your marketing and communication efforts. It’s all the strategies you can use to get information in front of potential customers. TV ads, digital marketing campaigns, brand collaborations, sales, the list is almost endless.

Balancing in-store and online
retail marketing strategies

Traditionally, retail marketing strategies would be focused purely on in-store placement, product packaging, price points and print and TV promotional campaigns. But not anymore. The internet has fundamentally changed the way many consumers shop. eCommerce’s share of total retail sales is growing rapidly and every retail marketing strategy needs to take that into account.

That doesn’t mean your strategy should be purely digital, however. Online shopping still accounts for a minority of total retail sales in the UK. Instead, brands must find the right balance between their in-store and online efforts.

Brands will typically favour one channel over another, but there should nevertheless be significant overlap between the two. In-store, print and TV campaigns should look similar to your digital ads and your website. Product prices should be the same, too.

3 real-life retail marketing
strategy examples

Here at Blackdog, we create thoughtful retail marketing strategies that captivate people and drive results. We’ve developed powerful retail marketing strategies for brands big and small, but here are some of our favourites:

Tesco

We help one of Britain’s best-loved retailers put customers at the heart of everything they do. Clear, empathetic and actionable in-store communication is vital, and that’s just the kind of messaging we create for Tesco across the year.

Dreams

One of the country’s biggest bed and mattress providers sleeps easy knowing we have their back. We developed a comprehensive retail marketing strategy for the brand’s new Revived Mattress range. It went down a splash and picked up a Retail marketing is constantly evolving and the health of your business depends on you evolving right along with it. But most brands can use a little help in this endeavour. If you need advice and guidance from a team that has been there, done that and got the t-shirt, then lean on the Blackdog team for help.

Give us a call today to find out more. in its category and a Bronze overall.

Jack’s

Let’s cut to the chase: Jack’s is a straight-talking value retailer who required a clear, no-nonsense integrated communications campaign. From tone of voice guidelines and internal communications to social media content and customer-facing POS collateral, we provided the lot.

Retail marketing is constantly evolving and the health of your business depends on you evolving right along with it. But most brands can use a little help in this endeavour. If you need advice and guidance from a team that has been there, done that and got the t-shirt, then lean on the Blackdog team for help.

Give us a call today to find out more.

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4 captivating brand development strategies

Grow your brand with our rundown of the most captivating brand development strategies.

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Apple vs Nokia, Google vs Yahoo, Netflix
vs Blockbuster, Dyson vs Hoover

What keeps some businesses at the top of their game for decades, while others fade into obscurity? Thriving brands invest time and effort in staying fresh, which requires the kind of brand (and sometimes product) development that never stops.

No matter how big or famous your company is, or what you’re selling, the secret is to keep making people want to buy from you, rather than someone else. If you aren’t moving forward you’re standing still, so you need to keep growing and reinventing yourself to remain relevant.

Nurturing your brand is crucial for the continuing success (or survival) of your business. But how do you do it and what does it entail? This jargon-free overview is designed to help real people make real-world decisions for brands of all types, shapes and sizes.

Why do you need a brand development strategy?

Your ‘brand’ is a combination of its reputation and visibility, and a clear strategy is essential to ensure that it stays attractive to your audience. Key reasons to develop your brand include:

• To build awareness. New news can help you win people’s attention. Because people are fickle and attention is precious.

• To improve consumer loyalty. How do you make people keep coming back for more, on autopilot? By creating unreasonable loyalty. Because your brand feels right to them. Or it’s a no-brainer. Just because.

• To increase penetration. No matter how loyal your customers, your base will dwindle. People will die, lose interest, change circumstances or have their heads turned. A strong, distinctive brand will help you win more of the market you’re in by constantly winning new customers. And it can help you enter new markets.

• To grow volume. Getting people to buy more, more often, equals more sales. Simple. But not easy.

• To launch new products or services more easily. The stronger your brand, the more confidence people will have in it and the more likely they will be to follow you into new sectors. So by giving them an easy choice you can mitigate your own risk.

Whatever your long-term objectives, a well-defined, robust, people centric brand strategy is a must.

The Fab 4 of brand development strategy

These four pillars of brand development strategy will help you nurture your future brand health. They cater to two opposing human traits: we are creatures of habit and take comfort in what is familiar, but our interest is piqued by novelty.

• Product/range extension

• Brand extension

• Multi-brand

• New brand

Let’s dive in a bit deeper…

Product/range extension

This is when a brand introduces a new product similar to one it offers already, targeting an existing market. The new product carries the established brand name and plays in the same broad category as its stablemates. New flavour variants or pack formats are good examples of this: both offer new ways for people to consume the brand.

This strategy is widely used by portfolio brands like Cadbury, leveraging brand equity built over time. When they launch a new product, the familiarity of their brand commands trust (you know it’s probably good) and the novelty of a new taste experience piques curiosity.

A good example of this strategy is our campaign with Dreams to launch the Revived mattress brand.

Brand extension

This is when a business seeks to broaden its reach by launching products or services in a new market under an existing brand name. For instance, Disneyland is a highly successful extension of the Disney brand.

This strategy also leverages trust and brand equity built over time, enticing consumers to choose the brand in a new market in which it has no previous history or experience.

Often, customers need make only a small leap of faith from the brand’s core sector to its new battleground. For example, you might be more inclined to use an Apple credit card if you already use Apple Pay, but choosing Royal Mail as your broadband supplier might be too much of a stretch.

Multi-brand

The flipside of product extension is the multi-branding strategy - when a business launches a new brand name in an existing category in apparent competition with itself. This strategy works by squeezing competitors for market share, e.g. PepsiCo has cornered the porridge oats market with their Quaker and Scott’s brands.

This strategy is more prevalent amongst larger organisations, especially holding companies and portfolio brands, and is often fast-tracked through acquisition.

However, multi-branding can be effective on a smaller scale. For instance, we’ve worked with Leeds University to re-brand all of their cafes and bars, each with a distinctive positioning and offer, but all owned by the same parent organisation.

New brand

Our final pillar of brand development is the launch of a completely new brand where everything is different and new. New logo, new identity, new guidelines, new product offering, new positioning.

Given that 80% of new product launches fail* this is a high-risk strategy, but it can reap the greatest rewards. When you create a completely new brand and product, you have the opportunity to capture (and possibly create) a completely new market, as Starbucks did when it created the ready-to-drink chilled coffee category.

* Harvard Business School

Other types of brand development strategy

Our Fab 4 pillars aren’t the only brand development strategies available. You could also consider the following.

Private/own label branding

Own label branding works well for retailers who have a strong identity, and can be used to enter tangential markets. An age-old staple of supermarket ranges, own label can be used to great effect by market disruptors, and our work for Amazon is a great example of this.

Co-branding

Co-branding is becoming increasingly common in our influencer-inspired world. It manifests as a joint product launch by two or more different brands, offering new news to the users of each entity.

Think Yeezy and Adidas, GoPro and Red Bull, and Apple and Mastercard. All stellar brands on their own, who have leveraged each other and collaboratively grown their market share and revenue.

Another example is our campaign with Currys PC World and Tinchy Stryder, which provided some serious competition to Beats by Dre.

Brand licencing

With brand licencing, you don’t have to create or even oversee the private labelling of products in order to grow your brand. All you need to do is lease or rent the rights to use your brand assets to other companies.

This occurs frequently in the film industry, where franchises like Marvel or Star Wars license out the rights to their brand in lucrative deals. But it’s not all about celebrity. A peek in your local supermarket will reveal loads of much-loved examples, such as Cadbury’s Mini Rolls or Marmite crisps.

What else does a thriving brand need?

Once you’ve chosen your strategic approach, you need to develop and nurture 3 core things.

Brand identity & guidelines

However you choose to grow, a strong brand identity is essential. This living document covers everything from your mission statement and copy guidelines to colour palette and logo. Think of it as the playbook that will help you brand create consistent impact, wherever it is seen or heard.

Brand assets

Creating branded assets comes next, once your guidelines and identity are in place. Brand assets include fonts, icons, illustrations, stock photos, video footage and straplines – anything and everything that designers, copywriters and marketers might use in marketing activities.

Brand marketing

It doesn’t matter how good your brand looks if you don’t get seen by the right people, in the right places. This is where 90% of brands fail. Luckily, it’s something we excel at.

So if you need support with your brand, call on Blackdog for help. We’re experts at captivating people and have helped dozens of brands develop and launch successful growth strategies.

Give us a call today to find out more.

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Artworkers needed for our busy Retail Studio

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Artworkers needed for our busy Retail Studio.

Got a passion for creating artwork in a fast-paced environment and have a hawk-eye for detail?

We’re recruiting artworkers for our busy retail-focussed teams:

Junior Artworkers: You’ll have 18 months or more experience in a similar role and love producing POS, brochures and digital artwork for the retail world. You’ll be a whizz with Creative Cloud and can work on your own projects or part of the wider Blackdog team.
Creative Middleweight Artworkers: You’ll have more experience and an eye for design layout too.

For both roles you’ll be working in a mix of environments, from our offices in Great Amwell, Hertfordshire to our client’s offices in Welwyn Garden City with the opportunity to work from home too, with client contact and the ability to take briefs directly a must.

Please send CV, work examples and salary expectations and the role you are interested in to steve.cox@blackdog.london.

No agencies please.

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No Blues for Blackdog

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Let’s face it, January is a long month. The nights are dark, the temperatures are low, it feels like there are 245 days in the month, new year’s resolutions are broken as quickly as they were made, and there is even a day dubbed ‘Blue Monday’. To add to the mix, we’re all having to navigate life in a pandemic, juggling daily challenges along the way.

Blackdog is fully aware of the impact all this has on the mental and physical well-being of our colleagues, so we surprised them with little pick-me-up well-being boxes. Not only have these boxes been a welcome boost for everyone, we’ve also helped support local businesses along the way.

Support our local businesses and check out where we got some of our goodies from

Facebook and Instagram

@tillyrosecandles

@DulcesDelicias

@barrelofcrafts

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Gold POPAI win for Blackdog Creative Marketing

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

We’re proud to announce that our work for Dreams has won Gold in the 2020 POPAI Awards in the Home & Garden category.

The judges said it was

“A great campaign that met the needs of the brief well, offering fantastic education and engagement for shoppers, and using clear and concise brand and product messaging”

The work brought to life the act of caring for the ocean and its inhabitants by showing the sea life that would benefit from a purchase of Dreams’ new Revived mattress range, created using recycled ocean plastic. The campaign also won a Bronze POPAI Award in the Display of The Year category.

Blackdog appointed Royal Canin Retail Activation Agency

By Blackdog - 4 years ago

Blackdog Creative Marketing has been appointed Retail Activation Agency for the premium pet nutrition brand Royal Canin after a 3-way pitch.

The agency’s first brief centres around activating Royal Canin’s ‘Start of Life’ platform in the UK, engaging with new kitten and puppy owners to lock them into the brand throughout the life of their pets.

Phil Pawsey, Blackdog Executive Creative Director, said, “We’re delighted to be working with Royal Canin and help raise their profile in the UK”.

“We’re excited to be working with Blackdog in this next chapter for Royal Canin; their retail knowledge and creativity shone through and their clear passion is aligned to our drive to deliver game-changing results for us”

Ben Hurley, Royal Canin Retail Marketing Manager

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A Retail Safari

By Blackdog - 5 years ago

Blackdog’s resident retail guru Dave Shrimpton on who’s getting it right amongst the newly opening non-essential stores.

OK, so the non-essential stores have been open for a couple of weeks now, and although getting my hands on some replacement Apple AirPods may not be a matter of life and death (it’s much more important than that), I braved the Cambridge city centre to check out how these retailers are adapting now that we are taking those first tentative steps out of lockdown.

At Blackdog we’ve been all over COVID-19 comms for a while, with our work for Tesco seemingly leading the way in striking the right tone of voice in politely, but firmly, telling people how to shop at a safe distance from staff and each other. So, I was intrigued to see how the high street and shopping centres would approach opening their doors again.

The Park & Ride was unsurprisingly almost empty, so I stretched out and prepared to see what approaches would be taken in tackling key issues like hygiene, social distancing and navigation.

To make the day more exciting for myself, and to compensate for those much-needed AirPods, I scored the retailers out of 5. Cue music…

John Lewis – 5 out of 5

It won’t come as any real shock that John Lewis got it pretty much spot on. From the dropbox for returns to the associate at the door with a click counter to ensure only 360 people were inside at a time; from the clear, welcoming, high-quality signage to the safety screens and easily-available hand sanitiser, this was what we’d expect retail to look like now.

But the beauty counters were deserted. Stripped of their testers and sales assistants offering makeovers and samples, they made for a very strange sight. I have no doubt that technology will fill that gap pretty quickly with online make up tutorials, virtual mirrors and the like, but for now the tumbleweed mood was very evident.

Staff were helpful and chatty – one friendly assistant told me that most staff went to Waitrose rather than on furlough, and that everyone in the store, no matter their position, helped with a one-hour cleaning session before and after opening hours. Top stuff.

Apple Store – 4.5 out of 5

This was one of the first retailers to close down earlier this year, and its attention to detail was evident: the staff outside managing the queue told me business was ‘steady’, and they’d reduced the touchpoints so people weren’t handling devices as much. Those that were handled were quarantined and cleaned. The minimalist feel of their stores means that less people and more space is not as obvious as other stores, but even so I felt a very different vibe to usual there.

Every customer was handed a mask as they entered, if they didn’t already have one, and had their temperature checked as well with a simple handheld device. Apple clearly understands what makes customers – and employees – feel more comfortable in a COVID-19 world.

Boots – 4 out of 5

A common theme of all the Cambridge retailers I visited was evident in Boots: directional flow with one-way systems to manage how people move through the aisles. And those aisles were noticeably wider, with checkouts removed to make more space. Just as we have done with Tesco, point of sale had the feel of navigational, authoritative signage – the kind we’ve come to subliminally adhere to on the roads.

Specsavers – 4 out of 5

What we want to see from retailers is innovation and creative thinking, and that includes during times like these. This branch of Specsavers has taken over the empty shopfront opposite its optician’s store and turned it into a socially distanced waiting room for customers, whether before an appointment or while waiting for their glasses to be ready. A very nice touch.

Raspberry Pi / JD Sports / Next / TK Maxx / FatFace / Marks & Spencer – 3 out of 5

More directional flow systems in place, often with one door for entering and another for exiting. There was signage to highlight this, often with floor stickers. The bigger stores also had employees with click counters to manage the number of customers inside.

JD Sports was one of the few brands to actually have a queue outside, while the staff at FatFace explained that their fitting rooms were closed and that any clothing items returned were quarantined for 72 hours and cleaned before returning to the display racks.

Sports Direct / Zara / the open-air market – 2.5 out of 5

Not all retailers were doing everything possible, however. Zara had no exterior messaging or staff on the door, and no signs to welcome people back. But the directional flow was fairly clear, and it was also one of the busiest stores even though the variety of stock was clearly reduced. If it ain’t broke, maybe you don’t need to fix it?

Meanwhile, Sports Direct, next door to JD Sports, was its darker, dowdier cousin, with social-distancing signage that was hard to understand.

And while it was good to see a lot of traders back at their stalls in the open-air market, there was no directional flow or signage to help keep people apart.

Before I wrap up, and unwrap those new AirPods, here are a few more observations on the afternoon:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were a lot of sales as brands tried to move their unsold stock.

It was quiet. Not eerily so, but definitely not the heaving city centre I know so well.

Most retailers seem to have a handle on the basics – one-way systems, directional flow, floor stickers and so on. But not many were making a point of welcoming customers back after such a long hiatus.

No razzmatazz. The retail environment of 2019 and early 2020 was all about creating an immersive high street experience and offering something more than just a place to buy things, but now it seems most brands are just trying to sell. Getting the basics right.

If I think of those who love to shop and those that are ‘in and outers’, the present retail landscape clearly appeals to the latter, except for the annoying but necessary queues. There is little in these store environments that is conducive to browsing or to the kinds of dwell times that have been integral to the retail experience as we knew it. Most shoppers seemed to know what they wanted and got it as fast as they could.

Knowing a few in my own ‘bubble’ who shop for England, part of their joy of retail therapy is trying on a load of clothes, experimenting with new looks and taking selfies to get a friend’s opinion. That’s going to be hard to replicate as long as we’re living with the virus.

If they are to survive, retailers will need to think hard about the online experience that they offer. They will need to get better at building and engaging with communities, creating sticky, immersive digital content underpinned by technology. And the physical shopping experience will need to be even better than before to remind people what they can’t get out of the online experience.

I reflected on this on the return journey, and I will be back to see how things develop over the next few months.

Views

A man walks into a pub…

By Blackdog - 5 years ago

Posted: 10/07/20

No joke. Pubs, bars and restaurants are reopening.

Blackdog’s retail & hospitality guru Dave Shrimpton visited some of them to see what’s changed.

Hot on the heels of non-essential stores opening recently ( see my review here ) I braved the streets of Cambridge to see how bars and restaurants are coping with the hordes of thirsty punters, desperate to have a pint and a pack of pork scratchings. Just me?

I wondered, given the debate around the pub and restaurant re-opening post-lockdown, can alcohol consumption and safety/social distancing co-exist? And even if they can, how can brands make the new experience engaging and appealing to customers?

I thought I’d check it out by looking at some of the leisure and hospitality hotspots in Cambridge on ‘Super Saturday’ and in the days after. And yes, first impressions are that many of the older generation take the safety measures seriously, while some of the young appear oblivious.

As ever, I scored each venue out of 5.

The Hoops – local pub & restaurant in Bassingbourn

Russell the landlord had staffed up the pub for a busy opening Saturday, but sadly it just hadn’t turned into reality. The bar area was empty despite considerable expenditure on screens, with some customers drinking outside and but no diners either inside or outside.

There were plenty of safety measures on display, though it was interesting that much of the language focused on ‘common sense’ – not always a top-seller among drinkers. The removal of tables and bar stools inside, though sensible, might also be unsustainable once autumn arrives and people no longer want to sit outside.

The balance between a traditional pub and the new normal is a tricky one to navigate. Like other locations, The Hoops will need a way to bring back that ‘night at the pub’ social theatre that customers still want. Russell was hopeful that business would pick up post the hype of ‘Super Saturday’.

Overall score – 3 out of 5

Browns restaurant

A delightfully large, bright and airy restaurant that’s always popular with tourists and locals, and we immediately noticed excellent distancing messaging outside and inside – with floor stickers, posters and tabletop ‘tent cards.’

Browns seems to have captured the need to be welcoming. Not just by the staff, though they were delighted to be open again, but with their signage. If brands are glad to see customers back, they shouldn’t be afraid to say so. And even before customers set foot through the door, the website celebrated re-opening really well, telling customers that it ‘couldn’t wait to see them’ and offering a complimentary cocktail.

But Browns also communicated its COVID Safety restrictions clearly online, on its app and in-situ. This is another area that brands will have to ensure they get right, as more and more customers will want to know what they can and cannot do.

The balancing act between celebration and safety is a tricky one to get right, but Browns was doing it pretty well. It made me feel like I could easily spend a couple of hours there without any safety concerns and post Covid, that’s an achievement!

Overall score – 4 out of 5

Wetherspoon

We visited the pubs in Cambridge and Royston. The latter was the better of the two, but I’m afraid to say that neither one impressed us much. They were dark, grubby and filled with loud male drinkers, both young and old, to the point where both my daughter and I felt uncomfortable and left without eating. At least we saw regular cleaning and sanitising.

Both venues had plenty of signage, actually too much and there didn’t seem to be much thought put into what to put where. Instead there was a barrage of instructions and directives. Even worse, they looked like they’d been printed off and laminated at the last moment. The words might have read, ‘Welcome Back’, but it didn’t really feel like they meant it. The general amateur look and feel and almost bureaucratic, barking tone of the communications, using words like attention, adhere to and limited to, with barely a ‘please’ to be seen, had no place in the hospitality sector.

Although instructions to use the Wetherspoon app to order and pay were clear enough, the Cambridge site had no information on NHS Track and Trace at all, and Royston only offered a crayon to fill in the form! Yes, there’s table service and some distancing measures, but if you’re not a stereotypical Wetherspoon customer who just wants to get lashed, I really don’t see the appeal.

And just to say it again, the NHS’s Track and Trace service is in place at pubs and restaurants for a reason. If brands don’t ensure customers use it, what’s the point? That said, if most customers are using the app to order, then that should do the job.

Overall score – 1.5 out of 5 (Cambridge) / 2 out of 5 (Royston)

All Bar One

This one really surprised me and was a signpost that the new post-Covid dining experience could be great for both staff and customers. A highly engaging store manager at the front explained how tables have been removed for a more relaxed atmosphere, with customers capped at groups of six and required to fill in the Track and Trace forms. There’s no standing at the bar and the staff are loving the fact that they can really take care of the seated customers.

By having Pre-booking only, means the team know the numbers they are catering for and can easily turn away late, drunk customers with no arguments. The manager said they had been fully booked all weekend and couldn’t have taken any more money.

So how did they accomplish this? Well-designed signage, welcoming language and highly engaged staff, to begin with – not to mention clear online details of the restrictions and policies in place with a short video.

All Bar One also showed that they understand the social experience of drinking and dining out and has created it anew. If you’re a group of up to six, you can have an evening there that’s much like the old days. Let’s face it, eating out is not going to be like it was for a while yet – spontaneity is no longer an option; but by operating on a booking only basis, All Bar One has made eating out feel special again and the way the restaurant has been reconfigured builds on this special feeling.

All Bar One provided an experience that was at the other end of the scale to Wetherspoon. They showed that they understood how to captivate their customers at every touchpoint. Truly an example of best practice.

Overall score – 5 out of 5

So what lessons could be learned for other leisure and hospitality brands?

More than any other sector, it’s about the big warm welcome. Show how glad you are to see your customers again and work hard to captivate them at every touchpoint
Remember, if your venue is operating with new procedures in place, then your former approach to in-venue comms and touchpoints is unlikely to work. Think about how customers move around the new layout so that you can plan how to communicate to them and where. You can expect to see new behaviours so make sure you understand what these are and build them into your planning
Use the ‘new normal’ to your advantage – if groups are capped at six, or there’s a booking only policy, create an experience that’s specially tailored to these new circumstances
Keep your distancing signage and messaging clear, both in-store and online – a no-brainer! And avoid the trap that Wetherspoon fell into – clarity doesn’t mean rudeness. Instructions need to be balanced with language and visuals that are joyful and celebratory
Try to leverage technology – payment apps and online ordering are going to be important tools over the coming months. It’s also a brilliant way of building engagement and loyalty, so don’t waste the opportunity to entertain and bring some joy in consumers’ lives
Finally, remember the theatre of a night out. Do whatever you can to retain that special spark that separates your location from its rivals – or create a new one!

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Are you ready to get back to business?

By Blackdog - 5 years ago

It’s clear that we’ve all had to adapt in these unique times.

Shoppers, retailers, brands and agencies alike are facing a new retail landscape where exact outcomes are uncertain.

As an agency, retail has been in our DNA since we won our first client in Tesco.

We work together to this day, and our agile and initiative responses to their needs have been the strong foundations of a long-term relationship we never take for granted.

Our knowledge of how real people think and act, outside of a marketing bubble or venn diagram has proven invaluable to all our retail clients and brands operating in this fast-paced world love our approach to B2C and B2B.

We see it all simply as People to People.

We’ve been helping large and small retailers during these unusual times.

Whether food & drink stores that are feeding the nation, or non-food outlets preparing to open their doors again.

Here’s our 5 point plan for getting retail ready:

1. Reassurance

The safety and wellbeing of customers and staff is a priority.

Reassurance that they are being put first is paramount.

Staff communications in communal areas highlighting how they are being protected as well as customer-facing messaging that shows what initiatives are being taken to protect shoppers will serve as a lasting memory of brands and retailers long after any normality is resumed.

2. Clarity

We know that shopper’s attention spans are short, even in pre-crisis times.

Messaging as to what customers need to do must be short, succinct and clear.

Graphic symbols have played their part more than ever and we have found simple colour ways and short, punchy sentences have worked for our clients.

3. Tone

Striking the right balance of tone is critical. Authoritative yet warm, empathetic yet confident.

Our writers know instinctively how to talk to real people in real language that cuts through.

4. Navigation

Directional signage, new one-way systems and newly added communications to help customers find basics without having to travel the whole store and social distancing guidelines are just some of the design elements we have undertaken for retailers during the lockdown.

5. Engagement

Shopping habits have changed, and for many shoppers there are inevitably less trips with larger basket spend.

Keeping in touch between those visits via CRM campaigns, website updates and delivery collateral, as well as out of store updates such as window media are all vital touch-points in keeping in touch. We can help with all of these.

We’d love to help you with your plan for getting retail ready.

Please contact:

Jackie Hemmings

Views

Striking the right tone

By Blackdog - 5 years ago

Screenshot-2020-04-30-at-21.18.07-1-720x406_.png

We’ve been busy over the last few weeks, with a mixture of retail communication including directional navigation, advice and clear iconography. Ensuring the right balance of warmth, authority and reassurance is delivered has been key.

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Not so Fantastic Plastic

By Blackdog - 5 years ago

Tesco has announced that it is on a mission to remove 1 billion pieces of plastic by the end of 2020.

We are proud to have been involved with the development of the communications pack that was trialled at the Tesco Bar Hill Store earlier this year to see what the customers reaction was to starting this journey.
Lots of positive feedback and happy customers!

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The Future is Here

By Blackdog - 5 years ago

Only 9% of engineers in the UK are women. The Institute of Engineering & Technology seeks to change that, and their Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards is a fantastic event that showcases the best of future talent in the field. Our ‘Future is Here’ theme kicked off the night, hosted by QI presenter Sandi Toksvig. #ietywe

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She is: Outstanding and

award winning

By Blackdog - 6 years ago

We’re very proud to have worked with the Institute of Engineering & Technology to support the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards 2017.

Only 9% of engineers in the UK are women, and our ‘She is:’ campaign seeks to help change this by highlighting all the things a female in the industry can be: outstanding, inspiring, and ultimately, an engineer.

We produced animated web banners, pull-out invitations, social content, flyers, posters and press communications produced by the team of Kerry Oldham, Jackie Hemmings & Lisa DiFabrizio.

The awards ceremony last night was a fantastic event and a great success. See below for more info on the project and an interview with Kerry Oldham, lead creative on the campaign.

What were Blackdog instructed to do for the project? What was the brief?

We were asked by the IET (Institute of Engineering & Technology) to create a campaign to attract entrants to the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards 2017.

The theme of the campaign needed to tie in with the existing ‘9% is not enough’ campaign – which refers to the low percentage of female engineers in the workforce.

Collateral required was a social media pre-awareness campaign including animated banners, printed flyers, posters and press adverts. We also produced an invitation to be sent out to all attendees.

What did Blackdog come up with – what was the idea?

The campaign name was titled ‘SHE IS:’ This initial phrase preceded various positive words to describe who ‘she is’ ie she is: outstanding, inspiring and, ultimately, ‘an engineer’.

The idea was to inspire and empower young women within the industry and also those who are keen to obtain a career in engineering.

Imagery used was a mixture of real female engineers at work and some shots of previous ceremonies.

How was this executed?

Animated web banners introduced the message on a variety of social platforms where the slideshow mechanic delivered all the key messages. This was also executed in the printed invitation, by creating a physical sliding mechanic with rolling messages appearing through a cut-out window.

For more information on the IET awards visit http://conferences.theiet.org/ywe/index.cfm

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Going Premium

By Blackdog - 6 years ago

In The Meg Jason Statham takes off his shirt to fight a huge shark – the Megalosaurous. Not just a big shark, but a mega shark. The data folk at Euromonitor have just published their Megatrends 2018 report – not just big trends but… well, you get the idea.

Premiumisation is one megatrend that Euromonitor has earmarked for continued growth up to 2030.

At Blackdog, we’re excited about trends – they help us identify market white space for our clients as part of our brand and product development service. We tend to advise new brand creators to focus on customer needs when developing new products, so what’s happening at market level is vital for us.

A visit to the Packaging Innovations 2018 conference in September made it clear that more retailers and brands are now aiming at the lucrative higher end of the market.

That’s because there’s no such thing as a “premium” purchaser anymore – canny shoppers are mixing their shopping basket with low cost essentials topped up with the occasional premium purchase, saving money for occasional big ticket spends and treats. And this plays straight into the pockets of retailers who are upscaling their better quality private label ranges. Can’t afford Moët on Thursday night? A glass of Aldi Prosecco will probably do.

The figures add up. More expensive own-label lines across the market are growing in the UK – up 6.3% in summer 2018. That’s because better quality brand and private label products are a relatively easy trick for retailers to pull off.

So what makes a product premium? It’s usually a combination of compelling product story – hand picked, line caught, organic, small batch, artisanal and all the rest – with upscale packaging.

Research in Europe has shown that customers find it hard to differentiate between a mid-tier and a premium product if the packaging for the less expensive item is attractive, distinctive and meaningful – and we’re seeing that in the market.

What that means is that established high-quality brands who’ve previously played in the upper end of the market are now having a considerable chunk of their market stolen by private label ranges. What are their options? From what we’ve seen, they’re now starting to take their packaging and brand stories to a different level. And that’s another story entirely.

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What the Pop-Up Store Can’t Do

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

The ploy of the pop-up store has become so well done it’s almost like TV ads or radio, blending into the nothingness as everyone competes to be the next biggest or best thing.

Saying that, there are a few recent examples which stand out. The first; Porsche’s highest pop-up store in the French Alps, if only for the great views alone. The second; Diesel’s Manhattan “knock-off” pop up where it sold its own misspelled merchandise for bargain prices as a nod to the amount of counterfeit clothing sold in the area.

As is shown in these examples, Pop Up stores are a great PR stunt. They attract crowds but often, the shopping doesn’t happen in the moment. This is where you must stop and ask yourself: am I trying to create a holistic brand experience or do I want to spark an idea?

Both are completely different aims and often make the difference between a successful pop up and a confusing one.

If you understand that a pop up is a form of ad and the ad is your offer, then you’ll know the purchase probably won’t happen in the moment.

Most of the time, shoppers either want to go to an event or they want to go to a shop. The journeys and expectations for both are completely different. A shop stop-off may take minutes. A mindless task, much akin to driving to the office then pulling up and thinking “how on earth did I get here?”. The journey is functional and the marketing should reflect this.

On the other hand, an event (which is what a “pop up shop” really is) needs time and engagement. The shopper gets out what they put in, which is often interest and learning. This is a very different mindset to the one used for making purchasing decisions.

Attempting to do both: “pop up” and “shop” can be a bit much – either too intrusive or too much of an experience to take it all seriously.

Yes pop ups are effective, but they aren’t for everyone and they definitely aren’t about making a quick buck. If you want a rise in sales, you’re much better off working on accurate and effective in-store deployment. The nitty gritty bit that gets under the skin of what shoppers want, and how you can make their lives easier.

If you want to get people talking, to create a buzz and have your name on people’s lips, then a pop up could be the way to go.

Just make sure you send us an invite.

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Why We Go To Stores

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

What do you wear to attend a wedding? If it’s happening in March and you have freak snow (thanks #BeastFromTheEast), making a decision could be trickier than you think.

I found myself in this predicament recently where I had in my mind’s eye the exact shirt that would be perfect for such an occasion. Comfortable yet smart, classic yet modern, perhaps with a pocket and neat sleeves and thick enough to weather the snow storm.

I searched for such parameters at my usual go-to online store and do you know what I got?

Nothing. Nada.

As clever as AI is, it’s not quite clever enough to understand the ramblings of a slightly shop-aphobic male who knows what he wants but doesn’t have the inclination to look for it.

I then try another site and receive 24 pages (24!) of something that looks slightly akin to a white shirt, but that’s missing many of my fundamental items; the pocket, the classic look, and so on.

So I did what we all do when we’re really in need, I went shopping. To a real store.

Within the first shop I encountered a store assistant (that’s a human, not a robot, for anyone reading this in the future), who helped me pull out three shirts that looked along the right lines. The third, I deemed perfect, but curious I thought I’d try one size down.

It was too small but at least I’d had the option. Had I ordered online, I may have faced another 24-hour wait to realise the one I’d tried first was perfect, plus the hassle of sending back any incorrect items.

The point of this tale, is that online shopping is great, but there is still a place for shoppers who want to tell someone what they’re looking for, in their own words. They want to use descriptions that feel familiar, scenarios that are real and events that are personal. Not keywords and tick boxes which are about as personal as a piece of junk mail. And the oldest trick in the book, being told how you look great or how something suits you, sir.

Some experiences in store may be mundane and that’s fine. We don’t always want to be blown away. But others need to be life changing. The type you go and tell people about, the store assistants that you take the time to write to head office about.

Because the real beauty of the physical retail store is that it makes the shopper feel like it understands them. You can do this online but only to a degree. Convenience is great but service is often about real people.

The more we can make the staff, positioning, signage and products in retail stores listen to the shopper, the more they will continue to go there.

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Beneath The Screen

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

Resident retail expert Dave Shrimpton tells it straight about the world of retail, online and instore. A plague on bad shopper marketing, Dave leaves no shelf unturned when it comes to highlighting retailers that make shopping easier for customers.

As you will know by now, my expertise is to be out from behind the desk (or phone) and in stores, looking at what the world of retail has to offer. But it turns out, as the web has evolved, so shopping has changed with it.

Now a retailer’s online shop window is just as important as the physical one. If not more, as audiences suddenly have a voice where a complaint goes much further than the ears of the store manager on duty at that time.

Social media for retailers becomes an opportunity for them to reach out and engage with their customers, but do Facebook and Instagram “likes” or Twitter retweets actually turn into increased sales? Surely that’s what it’s all about, after all.

This week I’ve been comparing the online presence of many a big FMCG brand with its in store one. What I’ve found is that social media presents the opportunity for brands to be quite the catfish.

Pull an image of every big retailer’s Instagram feed and look at them blind. Can you discern who is who easily? Perhaps not as easily as you might think.

Budget stores whose in store presence is always a bit of a mess, sport beautiful Instagram feeds, full of absolute consistency. Whereas some of the bigger retailers who you’d perhaps mark out as consistent in store, leave you lacking with confused messaging and a mishmash of image types. The learning being: in store, there is nowhere to hide. Online, you can be who you want to be with some nice photography and a video or two, which seems to be the pick of the litter for views and likes.

Similarly, campaigns that have never really “worked” in their physical environments, work amazingly online. A well-known celebrity endorser of a budget brand is disjointed in store but online, where fans can easily find it, receives a ton of engagement. Similarly, many brands who don’t have the budget to create regularly changing PoS displays, are producing social media content like it’s going out of fashion.

The online world is giving every brand a level playing field and if that gets people in stores and awake, then that can only be a good thing.

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Less is more in retail

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

Reducing Analysis Paralysis: why less is more in retail

Royalists and Hello! readers (plus anyone on social media) will have recently seen how Meghan Markle introduced a new denim brand to the world on a Cardiff meet-and-greet.

The £175 high-waisted style jeans weren’t Levi or even Topshop, as you might expect, but from Hiut Denim, a small Welsh brand based in Cardigan.

The brand, outside of its royal clientele, has two unique selling points: they make just four types of jeans, in three different materials (stretch, non-stretch and active) and every pair of jeans is made by hand, not machine.

How many other retailers can you say that for today?

Personalisation is big business in buzzword-land right now and, as a result, many brands have tried to personalise their products to each individual. Leading to hundreds, sometimes thousands, of products that all effectively do the same thing.

Yet when you know shoppers, you realise we’re living in a world that’s bound by its analysis paralysis. Each adult is said to make about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day, 226.7 of which are about food alone, according to researchers at Cornell University.

This poses a problem when we look at any part of the retail landscape. While retailers must offer some choice for different uses, budgets and preferences, it is essential to also be scaling back on choices to stave off this type of self-induced inability to make decisions.

The FMCG industry has long thrived on offering as many products as possible, but retailers want to scale back. When Dave Lewis first stepped in as CEO of Tesco, the first thing he did was cut out 30% of products in order to make the weekly shop simpler.

Truth is, there’s just too much noise. As we know and hold true to at Blackdog, shoppers are searching for simplicity. When we can help to make their lives and decisions easier, our clients, the retailers, are much more successful.

People want to buy stuff, it’s why they’re there after all, and too many products get in the way. To make shoppers successful, you need to enable them to make the purchase. If they can’t make a decision because they’re lost in the benefits of one type of ketchup over another, you’re more likely to lose the sale.

The answer is twofold: firstly, reduce product choice. Champion over choice will ensure that shoppers are guided but not overwhelmed. Secondly, provide clarity. Both online and in-store material should provide clear guidance and signposting on what products are and why they’re useful.

When it comes to shopping experience, less is more.

Less products show more intelligent choices; less types, more consideration.

Everyone’s been so focused on giving more, more, more that they’ve forgotten the secret sauce is in providing less.

Will you try it?

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Random Rewards

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

In consumerism today, we’re dealing with generations built on distraction. When everyone turned from printed media to online, everything became noisier. Whereas before you had one newspaper with multiple pages, now you have 10 apps, five social media channels, three email accounts, two Slack conversations… and a thousand notifications you couldn’t possibly read.

Or so it seems.

With so much information available, how can anyone show brand loyalty? You can’t be loyal to anything when you have multiple ads, notifications and messages constantly pulling on your attention.

Disruption has become the name of the game, if only to garner attention for a second or two.

Of course, brands have tried to combat this by hunkering down on brand loyalty programmes to keep people’s attention. These are based on rationality: buy five coffees, get one free; or build up X amount of points and get a money-off voucher.

Which are all nice to have, but are they truly building brand loyalty? Our mantra is that we exist to make shoppers’ lives easier, and this is what makes our clients successful.

Yet most brand loyalty programmes are increasingly complex.

As a result, loyalty has dropped.

Recent findings by the Bond Brand Loyalty report suggest that the average person is engaged in just over 14 loyalty programmes. Perhaps “engaged” is the wrong word, however, as fewer than half are redeeming points, and another study by Mintel shows that a third of customers use multiple loyalty schemes simultaneously to get the best deal whenever it suits.

At the same time, acquiring new customers is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining new ones.

So what to do?

Randomness vs regularity

Perhaps the key lies in the type of loyalty programme rather than whether or not to have one.

I used to go into my local coffee shop each morning and 99% of the time I’d pay for my coffee like everyone else. But occasionally I’d get a “this one’s on me” or “don’t worry about it today”.

The randomness of this occurrence was what led to a feeling of surprise and delight.

If you’re waiting for loyalty vouchers to come through, when they arrive, you’re nonplussed. But when it comes to a random free coffee, that you don’t expect in the first place, there’s a certain joy in that. The time between each occurrence and the situation was random, so there was no expectation.

The idea was simple, yet effective.

It saved me less than £2.50 and probably cost the coffee shop in question even less but the simpleness and randomness combined was what kept me coming back.

Now, how many retailers can say they’re building loyalty based on that margin?

So perhaps the future of the brand loyalty programme is not so much building regularity, but in building simple, random acts of kindness.

In a world where everything is increasingly automated, complex and where bad news is almost more predictable than good, a simple surprise could go a long way.

By Ray Kieser, Managing Director.

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Shopping simple

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

SHOPPING SIMPLE – Why Closing Oxford Street Could Be a Boom for Retailers

The news that Oxford Street is to be pedestrianised by 2020 has been, on the whole, positively received, certainly for the projected reduction in emissions. Cars are already banned from 7am-7pm, but a whole lot of buses and cabs ferry shoppers up and down the street, and those unsure of the plan are asking where those 168 buses an hour will go.

Without a crystal ball, one can only look to similar cases of the pedestrianisation of major shopping thoroughfares and the success cases, such as Norwich (the first example of pedestrianisation) or Buchanan Street, Glasgow’s premier retail location, for an idea of the pros and cons; however, as we work for an agency specialising in retail, we wondered what the plan could mean for shoppers and the act of shopping overall.

If you imagine that when people are out in force, credit card or cash burning holes in their pockets, they WANT to shop. They WANT to buy stuff. So, our job as marketers in retail is to make that process as simple as possible. You’ll see endless agency credentials promising a change in shopper behaviour, disruption, and an almost evangelical switch in mood or mindset to facilitate purchase.

That’s all well and good, but knowing when to keep it simple and when to help shoppers shop has always been high on the marketing wish list for me. Our mantra is that we exist to make shoppers’ lives easier, and this makes our clients successful.

With online shopping very much about ease and convenience, moves like the Oxford plan will simplify bricks-and-mortar shopping. No more watching your back for oncoming buses, and shop and restaurant fronts will become more of an experience, retail will spill out into the street, and the whole experience will become more of a, well, experience.

In the online world, simplicity breeds sales. The less hoops the shopper has to jump through, the more likely they are to purchase. Removing Oxford Street’s busy roads, pedestrian lights and bus lanes is like removing ad pop-ups, additional sign-up fields and email tickboxes on an online store. It makes the shopping experience (which is the important bit) easier to access.

When your environment is chaotic, your shopping experience becomes chaotic by default. To get people to want to shop, you need a level of interest in the destination more than just the retail, but you also need simplicity. If you look at Covent Garden and even Box Park in Shoreditch, they have this nailed. Oxford Street may vary in that, aside from the actual shops, there is no real spectacle to be had, so the shopping experience may need to be more enjoyable and easier. Placing a lot of public art overhead (one of the suggested plans) may make it more engaging, but perhaps the shopping shouldn’t be forgotten. That’s not to say civic focuses couldn’t be added to the retail transactions. For example, Marks & Spencer could re-engage with foodies by creating food markets in the street, or

Nike could run fitness classes or create runnable retail routes. Ultimately, make it simpler to shop and the tills will ring, or bleep more accurately.

A Corporate Executive Board study looked at the impact on stickiness in more than 40 different variables, and the single biggest driver of stickiness was “decision simplicity”. If I can’t even decide how to cross the road at Oxford Street, or which direction to turn in, how can I decide what I want to buy?

Think of Apple as an example, whose stores retail chief Angela Ahrendts calls “town squares”. Why? Because they’re gathering places. Hubs of people who go to browse, visit and give opinions. If you’ve ever entered Apple in Covent Garden, you’ll be as likely to be asked by staff what you do or what book you’re reading as you are what iPad or Macbook you want. These types of stores offer exploration, inspiration – they aren’t just on a mission to empty your wallet. But, truth is, buying stuff there is easy. Clarity of messaging and simplicity of design has always been a strength of brands like Apple. If shoppers know they can buy a pair of Nikes online, or through a number of online stores, going to the flagship Oxford Street store has to be just as easy.

Simple sells. Fact.

By Ray Kieser, Managing Director.

News

Blackdog Australia launched in global expansion

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

Blackdog launches global expansion with Australian arm in SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Blackdog Creative Marketing, the retail marketing specialist, has announced the launch of Blackdog Sydney, the latest offering in the agency’s global expansion.

Building on successes and experience in Europe across retailers such as Tesco, Argos and Wickes, the agency will work with clients such as Australian supermarket Woolworths. Blackdog will work closely with advertising agency M&C Saatchi to deliver an integrated approach with a focus on the in-store activation.

Ray Kieser, MD at Blackdog, said “We’re delighted to be opening the doors on Blackdog Sydney and developing work for the Australian market. In the case of Woolworths, we are excited to help further amplify their fresh food credentials and continue to work on new and innovative ways of showcasing that within the store environment”.

Blackdog’s first project for the Australian retailer included work on the in-store Halloween activations.

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Swimming in plastic

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

There’s a bit of a movement right now, a “tipping point” you might say when it comes to how retailers are packing their items.

Back in the days when we had standalone bakers, fishmongers and greengrocers, products were bought, handled and taken home sans packaging. As the world has changed and mass-production has meant that almost anything – a sofa, a car, a piece of clothing – has become easily and often cheaply replaced we’ve created a disposable Britain. And customers aren’t happy about it.

Alongside cheaper items has come more packaging. Plastic packaging to be exact. Throw in a David Attenborough documentary that shows the effect of such plastic on marine life and suddenly plastic is everyone’s problem.

But there are signs out there that things may just be starting to change as we all realise we can’t continue to consume and dispose as we have over recent years. A few years back who would have thought we would all be taking reusable bags to stores for our shopping and that milk bottle home deliveries would be enjoying a new revival…

It’s clear that packaging, the resources it consumes and the waste it creates, is now becoming big news and it feels that customers are beginning to demand a solution from retailers.

Just last week I saw loose nuts being sold in Lidl which felt right in an era of less packaging and could be adopted on more products, by more stores.

If we look at our scandinavian counterparts, Swedes recycle nearly 100 percent of their household waste. Norway similarly have a plastic bottle solution that could well be coming to the UK very soon with Co-op, Iceland and Tesco all considering signing up to a deposit-based system for recycling bottles.

Outside of the reusable plastic bag charge bought in and the odd item that’s now bought loose, there aren’t many signs of this no-packaging phenomenon taking hold in stores. But I believe this will change and I’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for when it does.

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Less noise, more edge

By Blackdog - 7 years ago

Resident retail expert Dave Shrimpton tells it straight about the world of retail, online and instore. A plague on bad shopper marketing, Dave leaves no shelf unturned when it comes to highlighting retailers that make shopping easier for customers.

It’s easy to overlook the importance of the humble SEL (“shelf-edge label” for the uninitiated), but they are often the final tipping point before purchase.

You’ve had an amazing multi-channel promotion, fabulous Point of Sale, but this lowly piece of paper (or digital screen – see more below) is the decision maker for the customer to make a purchase.

So, what have I found out from being in store and amongst the SELs this week?

The good

Handwritten price fonts work well, as do the beauty of the stores that just produce the one SEL, with different casings and covers that are reusable and therefore altogether more friendly. Just the one you say? Groundbreaking I know, but as the adage goes if it ain’t broke why fix it?

The bad

Many stores are still overwhelming the customer with shelf edge noise. Up to 15 different SELs makes for a messy shelf edge, all “shouting” for attention. Which of course, means that not one is heard.

The less is more approach certainly stands out, probably because it makes shoppers’ lives easier. Which after all, is what any good retail store should be aiming for.

The beautiful

Many food retailers are considering electronic shelf-edge pricing and Sainsbury’s seems to be forerunning. These digital shelf-edge labels have a range of benefits: responsive, easy to edit and show the very latest product and price information. They can be updated automatically from head office or similar, so no manual labour required.

Then you have retailers like Kroger, said to be rolling out new tech (this time called the “Kroger Edge”) which will display not only pricing but also nutritional information, video ads, coupons and more.

While this reduces the need for staffing, it does succeed in making the lives of shoppers and product display easier. Rather than the over-fussy, complicated nature of paper labels, where more is more is the mantra, the design is clean and simple.

Possibly because, given the displays are electronic, it has to be.

There’s still some tweaking to go before these electronic displays look as nice as paper printed ones. But do they reduce noise and in turn, crank up the volume on each price point and product? Oh, without a doubt.