GSTV’s AMPLIFY - Attracting Consumers at the Point of Sale

GSTV, a leader in out-of-home advertising at the gas pumps, has announced the launch of a new media network called, GSTV AMPLIFY which enables advertisers to target engaged consumers undistracted essentially at the point of purchase.

According to GSTV’s Kristal Walton, Vice President CPG Category Leader, AMPLIFY is “A collection of capabilities and opportunities that brands can leverage to complement their omni-channel brand plan and amplify their overall sales and marketing return.” It involves a full compendium of, “sights and sounds motion video network across the largest centralized network of convenience store resellers - That's where the retail network portion comes in - and it delivers over 100 million unique monthly impressions at a very contextually relevant moment.”

Close to the point of sale, “When you're filling up your tank of gas, there is a video screen that activates when you're fueling. It has a three to five minute broadcast which aligns with the average time a consumer needs to fuel up. It includes a collection of entertaining, informative and educational content that resides alongside brand advertisements and constant integrations. It's located in what they call the core of a convenience retailer at the fuel pump’” she stated.

The service includes an array of data partners that offer advertisers, as she noted, “flexible data driven targeting opportunities so you can really track performance with data partners such as IRI and Catalina. We also have a host of other partners, depending on what the specific measurement goal is that supports the overarching brand plan.” It also offers a national footprint of over 28,000 fuel stations in 205 DMAs with multiple screens at each station.

Walton explained that AMPLIFY offers targetability according to the campaign objective such as driving  sales or matching purchase dollars at the retail store to the messaging at a demographic, geographic and even a behavioral level. “We own the back end of the platform and can track performance so, depending on the business objective for that brand, we can look at sales lift, brand awareness, perception of a consumer and, with ecommerce sales, we can look at ecommerce lifts and things like that,” she noted.

AMPLIFY is different from other sales tracking initiatives. “There are a host of digital media and overall media tactics,” she began, “but what differentiates GSTV’s AMPLIFY is that it allows us an opportunity to drive across the marketing funnel tracking awareness and conversion through the consumer journey. We also have an ability to directly influence in-store sales, because we have that unique moment of contextual relevance with someone fueling up.”

GSTV attracts a captive audience at a time when they are waiting for their car to refuel. In this environment, “We overcome that challenge of attentiveness and engagement and also connect directly with the consumer at the last mile of the shopper journey right before they're going to make a purchase,” she explained. “We have a national scale footprint which allows the brand team to focus regionally or on certain states or cities or broadly or at locations that are situated close to another retailer. We can develop an opportunity to engage with consumers very near purchase, no matter where they decide to go next,” she added.

According to Walton, AMPLIFY offers an array of positive results among consumers. “Consumers are x3.7 times more attentive and have higher ad recall than TV and Digital Video and social ads,” she stated. AMPLIFY’s ability to reach consumers with relevant engaging content at a quiet moment with little distraction, within an unskippable environment and close to the point of purchase, benefits both the advertiser and the consumer.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

 

 

Aline Santos and Jack Myers in Conversation. What Do Companies Need to Do to Suceed

It is often thought that the larger the company, the slower it is to change but that is not necessarily true. Take Unilever for example. This huge global corporation with over 150,000 employees, is not only a world leader in advancing initiatives, it also has the impetus for change baked into its DNA. 

This Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 1p, MediaVillage’s Jack Myer sits down with Aline Santos, Global Executive Vice President, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Unilever to discuss a range of global issues and how her company is proactively instituting change that not only impacts the company itself but arguably society at large.

Among the subjects to be discussed include:

     >  Unilever’s leadership in creating a world for the greater good through activism and initiatives that can also advance a rippling effect throughout the industry.

     >The company’s focus on product development to meets the needs of un-served or under-represented consumer groups. 

   

      >Highlighting Unilever’s ongoing efforts to break down stereotypes both within the company in throughout the global marketplace.

     >  Understanding the need to further dimensionalize the consumer beyond gender, for example, by adding in nationality and body type to gain further insights. 

     >  Recognizing the impact of current events on the business from Black Lives Matter to domestic abuse to food insecurity and being sincere and authentic in addressing these issues.

     >  Changing the paradigm of business from the rationality of technology to a more empathetic human condition both in internal leadership and external efforts. 

     >  But also note where technology and the current pandemic lock-down can increase human connection and representation. Remote meetings give everyone a chance to speak and be heard while sheltering-in-place reduces face-to-face networking over lunch and on the golf course which can place women at a disadvantage. 

     >  Focusing of diversity in the workplace that goes beyond broad concepts and fully integrate all ranges of personnel experiences and conditions including their disability initiative and the push for paternal leave.

     >  Insuring that all of Unilever’s brands are fully connected to the needs and aspirations of real people and understanding that the consumer is now in charge of culture, rather than the company dictating what the culture is to the consumer. The importance of trust and authenticity is paramount.

     >  Unilever’s imperative to create content and messaging that speaks to and respects the consumer, is created by diverse voices, places the brand in unique contexts and programming and might even have a greater political and legal impact.  

Being on the forefront of cultural change can be challenging but it is also invigorating, energizing and affirming. It is also good for business as Santos’ conversation with Myers will reveal.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride. Lynn Franco of the Conference Board Offers Insights on the Pandemic Economy

It is no surprise that consumer confidence has cratered since COVID-19. But the extent and implications of such an unprecedented decline have just been released by the Conference Board through their latest Consumer Confidence Study. 

According to Lynn Franco, the Conference Board’s Senior Director of Economic Indicators, this study has been around since the late 1960s. “It is considered an economic barometer of consumers’ health rating for the economy,” she explained. 

Five Simple Questions and Two Revealing Indices

The study consists of five questions posed to consumers including their assessment of current business conditions and current employment conditions, “which are rolled up into what we call the present situation index,” she explained, “Then we ask them their expectations six months out regarding business conditions, employment and income. Those three questions are rolled up into what we call an expectations index. Consumer confidence is just an average of the five questions.”  

In addition to these Consumer Confidence components, the study also asks questions regarding purchasing propensities which are not factored into the composition of the index. Examples include intent to purchase an auto, home, major appliances. “We also ask them about their inflation expectations and stock prices and vacation intentions,” she added.  

But it is the Consumer Confidence Index that is the major metric, holding outsized importance in ascertaining the temperature of the economy. How are consumers assessing the present situation as well as their expectations? Here is where we see trouble brewing.

A Bumpy Economic Road Ahead

March to April, the Consumer Confidence, “has declined by nearly -32 points which is the largest month to month decline we’ve seen since we have been doing the study since the 1960s,” she warned. “That is a rather significant decline obviously brought on by COVID-19.” But, she added, “when you peel away the layers of the onion and compare how consumers rate the present versus their expectations, it’s a different story.”

“Consumer attitudes on present business employment conditions saw a -90 point decline in that index,” plummeting from pre-pandemic levels as the economy ground to a halt. “Expectations, however, went up a little bit which was driven by an improved outlook for business conditions and employment,” as stay-at-home restrictions are eased and as states reopen the economy. “It gives consumers a glimmer of hope,” she noted. But, she cautioned, “What’s interesting is that the income expectations question was not as favorable as the other two. In fact we have consumers quite pessimistic about their financial prospects in the next six months. The pessimists out-number the optimists,” which can have implications for consumer spending as the recovery takes hold. “Consumer Confidence is now in the 80s which is a recession level reading,” she stated.

Overall purchase intent such as autos has declined precipitously March to April. There is also, “a softening in home purchasing intentions, reflective in the type of housing data we are seeing now,” declines in major appliances purchasing as well as steep declines in vacation intentions. In sum, this indicates that consumers are delaying big ticketing purchasing for the time being and being cautious in their overall spending.

Year to Year Comparisons

The drops in index levels year to year are, “unprecedented in terms of month to month declines,” she noted, although, “we have seen consumer confidence much weaker during the 2008 Great Recession.” But this may be because the impact of the pandemic is currently at only a few weeks while the Great Recession lasted for over a year.

                                                    April 2019            April 2020

Consumer Confidence Index      129.2                     86.9

Present Situation Index               169.0                     76.4

Expectations Index                      102.7                     93.8

   

The Implications of Weak Consumer Confidence

The biggest implication of weak consumer confidence levels, according to Franco, “is the unknown. We haven’t seen all of the economic consequences of COVID-19 played out yet.” So she cautions making any predictions about a continuing upward trend in consumer expectations. “This could be a very bumpy ride for consumers, especially if, as many say, there is a second wave in the fall.” In addition, Franco advises that we, “keep our eye on income expectations because that will really determine whether or not consumers are going to be willing to spend or if we are going to see, as we did coming out of the Great Recession, a spike in the savings rate,” where consumers became much more fiscally conservative.  “That still has to play out.”

Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? Franco was introspective. “It’s going to be as the economy goes, she explained, and it will vary by category depending on whether there is a continuing need for social distancing such as with Hospitality. “It runs the spectrum. We need to find a new normal.”  To that end, “we need to keep an eye on consumer expectations to see if and when consumers become more willing to spend. Unlike other recessions where consumers were driven by the economy and financial factors, this is a health crisis with a lingering fear factor… and how we will overcome that fear.”

As far as the implications for the 2020 elections, wait until September when consumer confidence levels better indicate election outcomes….

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com