Blog | IRI

By Srishti Gupta

With the advent of mobile devices, digital video recorders and online TV streaming services like Netflix, television and how it is watched has drastically evolved since the days when families gathered together around the TV to share the same entertainment and experience. This raises a slew of new conversations, debates and strategies for consumer packaged goods (CPG) marketers. Here are four questions that typically come up:

Is big data good?

Much like the consumer who purchases the biggest plasma TV on the market but then lacks the abilities and/or tools to properly mount it on the wall, CPG marketers that don’t have the appropriate infrastructure will not be able to fully capitalize on big data. However, when equipped with cross-channel media, social and online/offline purchase data, marketers can more easily plan, target, activate and measure their media activity across all platforms.

How has social media changed the game?

Many millennials now replicate the ‘water cooler’ phenomenon via social media channels. This has prompted CPG marketers to debate how social media and the individualized consumption of content are taking consumers away from shared content. CPG marketers must adjust their efforts to maximize results and drive growth in a world where individual content consumption is becoming increasingly commonplace. Social media data linked to actual sales is the next frontier.

Is purchase-based targeting relevant to driving sales?

Or is it too narrow? It is now sensible to reflect brand objectives in targeting and to also expand targeting beyond what CPG marketers know consumers are purchasing. For example, to drive high-fiber cereal growth, CPG marketers need to not only reach out to consumers who purchase high-fiber cereal, but to also reach out to consumers who purchase other high-fiber products. They need data that tells them who these consumers are.

How can marketers monitor the long-term impact of TV?  

In order to effectively measure the long-term impact of TV, you need to know its impact on sales, not just exposure. The best way to measure impact ties TV ad exposure to sales impact in both the short-term and long-term.

Consumers’ relationship with TV is constantly changing, but TV’s importance to CPG marketers as a way of reaching consumers remains consistent. In the current environment for CPG marketers, big data holds more weight with the proper infrastructure, and marketing efforts must account for the increasingly individualized consumption of content. The right targeting and connecting ad exposure to sales will also drive growth via this medium.

If you have questions on key media and advertising trends, including how to use cross-channel media, social and online/offline purchase data to drive growth, email me at [email protected].