Features of the FMCG market

To begin with, what should be attributed to such goods. These are primarily products with a limited shelf life and quickly consumed goods. In addition, FMCG includes all household chemicals and cosmetics, disposable tableware, batteries and light bulbs, some products for children, and hygiene products.

Simple characteristics → Emotions as USP

When buying a laptop or smartphone, we look at numerous technical specifications, understand what they mean, consult with more knowledgeable people, shovel a bunch of sites. We are preparing thoroughly. But this does not happen when we choose, say, a cleaning agent or a candy bar.

Here we are guided by simpler and more understandable arguments. For example, when choosing food products, consumers evaluate taste, composition, weight, are also guided by price and whether we know the product or the manufacturer.

A technically complex product: detailed specifications explaining the benefits, informative photos of the product from different angles

Consumer goods: slogans with CTA, minimum information, emotional juicy graphics, collages

That is, when choosing an FMCG product, emotions decide almost more than reason.

Consequence for marketing: in a competitive niche it is almost impossible to single out your USP, all products are similar to each other. The only trigger for the consumer is the brand and emotions, ease of access to the product with which he associates himself.

Short implementation period → Loyalty determines profit

In consumer goods, consumer loyalty plays a crucial role. Of course, it is important for all industries, but in the case of FMCG, it is the main factor responsible for profit.

The profit from the sale of one chocolate bar is small, but with a high LTV (Lifetime Value) indicator, the total profit from one client can reach incredible amounts.

Implication for marketing: working with consumer loyalty is something that FMCG brands throw all their efforts into. This is manifested in numerous activations (competitions, prize drawings), constant updating of the product line. Also, brands in this industry pay a lot of attention to positioning, and often deliberately develop products for narrow niches in order to capture the hearts of target groups – seriously and for a long time.

Rapid decision making → Focus on packaging

The decision on whether to buy a certain product or not, we take literally in seconds. There is even a term for this, which was introduced by Procter & Gamble, “the first moment of truth” (First Moment of Truth – FMOT) – a period of time from 3 to 7 seconds when a consumer first sees a product on a store shelf and decides whether to buy it or not. It is these seconds that are considered predetermined.

Implication for marketing: the better the brand of the product is developed, the brighter and more noticeable the design of the packaging on the shelves, the more likely it is to be noticed, distinguished from others and bought impulsively.

How packaging affects loyalty
52% of people who shop online are willing to repurchase for packaging alone if it looks premium enough.

Over 90% of consumers recycle boxes and bags if they like them (not for sustainability reasons).

Business representatives, in turn, argue that by paying due attention to packaging, a company can increase interest in its products by 30%.

40% post photos of their favorite packaging on social networks.

Example. Initially popular around the world, Coca-Cola was sold in a narrow glass bottle, but today other packaging options are well known to consumers. Personalized bottles with names are especially popular among buyers, adding a playful moment to shopping. Thanks to this marketing move, sales of the product increased by 2.5%.

Example. In the late 1990s, Pringles chips appeared in Russia in an unusual package – a tube instead of the usual foil bags. Such packaging was not only unusual, but also convenient: in 2000, Pringles entered the top four leaders of the Russian chips market. Since then, many of the country’s chips manufacturers have been using tubes.

High competition → High advertising costs

FMCG is one of the most highly competitive markets. In addition, FMCG products still have such a property as substitutability. I didn’t like the product of one manufacturer of the company, or it was not in the store – you can always buy the same product of another brand. And this is always dangerous because the consumer will become loyal to a competitor.

Implication for marketing: FMCG brands not only need to stand out from the competition, but also to be constantly heard – especially for new brands and manufacturers. That is why the threshold for entering this market is so high – it is very expensive to compete for airtime on a federal channel with producers like PepsiCo.

The way out for consumer brands is to move into world segmentation and more informal communication channels: digital advertising, social networks, viral and influencer marketing.

How to create a successful FMCG brand

So, we found out that it is important for everyday goods to effectively compete for the attention of the consumer, build long-term relationships with him, and play on emotions.

Let’s take a look at what elements a successful FMCG brand includes.

Juicy graphics
No matter where the brand connects with its audience, in the physical or digital world, the rule of a beautiful picture remains relevant.

A hallmark of Gillette promotional materials, the razor is served with a pomp worthy of a sports car presentation. This is how the brand emphasizes its prestige in the eyes of the target audience.

The purpose of beautiful graphics is to evoke emotions in the consumer, create the effect of reality and presence, make him imagine the process of using the product.

Digital in this regard expands the capabilities of brands: advertising allows customers to practically “touch” the product – this is helped by augmented reality, 360-shooting, product designers, video tours.

Simple message
It is important to speak to your audience in a simple language, using concepts and images close to it. Have you noticed that in TV ads we see mostly parties, travel or family breakfasts?

We are shown ordinary people who do something and solve their problems with a certain product. So brands try to talk about ordinary things that are close to everyone.

Good message – what is it?

• Indicates that the product will solve the customer’s problem;
• Contains history, legend;
• Emotional and memorable.

Emotionality is the key to the success of your message. In an environment where you have to compete with many similar products with approximately the same characteristics of approximately the same quality, it is useless to appeal to the arguments of reason and give rational arguments why you are better than the rest.

You need to suppress emotions – which is what many well-known world brands do.

A prime example of this is Johnson & Johnson, the world leader in baby care products. For over 100 years, Johnson’s Baby Shampoo has been giving babies a healthy and happy start in life. This is the story and the main message of the brand – “we care about the happiness and health of your child.”

Hence the company’s slogans – “Every moment next to the baby is priceless” and the famous “No more tears”, saying that the shampoo contains ingredients that are safe and gentle for babies. This is exactly what new parents worry about. Around this message, Johnson & Johnson builds its entire marketing strategy and makes promotional materials.

Another example is the KitKat bar, with its well-known slogan “There’s a break, there’s a KitKat”, addressed primarily to students and office workers, who sometimes don’t have time to eat at all.

This message hints at the fact that there is always a place to rest and says: “Bro, you will have time for everything, get distracted, take a break.” Very simple, but at the same time effective. And this slogan “There is a break – there is a KitKat” instantly cuts into memory.

In the original, the KitKat slogan also plays on the double meaning of the word break (“break” and “break, break”) – we all remember how advertising heroes break a bar with this deft movement.

The slogan has become not just an appendage to the brand (as is often the case in other product segments), all communication is built around it.

Segmentation
As a rule, a brand develops a product for a certain segment and then promotes it to a selected audience. This helps to reduce the cost of advertising and closer “make friends” with the consumer.

You can segment by audience, need and effect, as well as create an association of a product with a famous person. Let’s look at examples.

Pepsi positioning in 1961: “For those who think young” (For those who think young). This advertising message is clearly segmented by audience – for adult men who have not forgotten that a little boy lives inside them.

competitor example. Coca-Cola Zero is one of the youngest brands of the Coca-Cola Company, which appeared in the USA in 2005 and was designed for those who follow their figure.

Now this separate brand is in no way inferior in popularity to its ancestor. The value of Zero as a brand, according to the company, exceeds $1 billion (the entire Coca-Cola umbrella brand was valued at $81.6 billion by the consulting group Interbrand in 2014). The drink sells 55 million servings daily in 160 countries.

Zero appeared in Russia only in 2016, but already in 2018 it contributed to a double-digit increase in the company’s sales.

Another example of segmentation. The well-known slogan of the Snickers bar “Don’t slow down – Snickers”, created in 2004, is addressed to young people who love speed or are always in a hurry somewhere. And, I must say, the slogan reached its audience due to teenage vocabulary and that same neologism.

One of the most memorable Snickers slogans on the Russian market

In modern advertising campaigns, the brand plays with the theme of hunger (“You are not you when you are hungry”), but the general concept remains the same: active young people who sometimes need to “recharge” urgently. On the face of positioning on the audience and needs.

All of the above is proof that brands need to find ways to reach their audience. It doesn’t have to be in the billions – as you’ve seen, segments work great too.

Constant heating of interest
FMCG brands have to constantly keep the interest of consumers. Contests and other activations are an essential attribute of working with loyalty.

Digital adds even more tools for brands to engage: we are talking about the technological capabilities of modern sites, as well as viral and social mechanics.

Conclusion

Visual impressions, message clarity, emotionality, targeting a certain social group – these are the main characteristics of marketing and branding in FMCG.

Digitalization has contributed to the fact that almost all brands, and not just FMCG, have begun to establish close contact with the audience, build loyalty, and use other techniques from product branding and marketing.