Thanks! We used to call those trigger events "Point of Market Entry" or POME--because P&G has an acronym for everything. For example, we'd pay Whirlpool to put Tide and Downy samples in new washing machines. So the "real reason" a lot of people bought these brands was because it was a free sample and they just went with it.
I can imagine that a big challenge of marketing that type of CPG and assessing a perceived ‘real reason’ is the discounting in stores, I’m sure there are some hardcore loyalists but that world is particularly volatile to price. Maybe people are more loyal than I think but when the barrier to switch is so low, must have been hard?
My memory is a little hazy, but I recall on Tide we did a source of volume study each year and about 20% of sales were based on store discount/promotion, only 10% came from our +$100MM in advertising, and 70% was from "I buy this because my Mom used it." :)
Such a great post. Love the behind the scenes from your time at P&G too.
The real motivation for buying is so rarely what we think it is, I shout about this myself and you word it beautifully.
Nice nod to trigger events too – that combination of ‘real’ reason and right time is so important.
Thanks! We used to call those trigger events "Point of Market Entry" or POME--because P&G has an acronym for everything. For example, we'd pay Whirlpool to put Tide and Downy samples in new washing machines. So the "real reason" a lot of people bought these brands was because it was a free sample and they just went with it.
That’s such a good example of habit disruption.
I can imagine that a big challenge of marketing that type of CPG and assessing a perceived ‘real reason’ is the discounting in stores, I’m sure there are some hardcore loyalists but that world is particularly volatile to price. Maybe people are more loyal than I think but when the barrier to switch is so low, must have been hard?
My memory is a little hazy, but I recall on Tide we did a source of volume study each year and about 20% of sales were based on store discount/promotion, only 10% came from our +$100MM in advertising, and 70% was from "I buy this because my Mom used it." :)
Wait, you created that Pringle banner ad?
I personally did nothing except give the creative team a giant pat on the back! But, yeah, that was our agency :)
Amazing. Brilliant idea