The consumer decision journey - active evaluation

1. HEADSTREAM PRESENTS
BUILDING AN FMCG SOCIAL BRAND
A HEADSTREAM SOCIAL BRANDS 100 REPORT
PT.2 THE CONSUMER DECISION JOURNEY – ACTIVE EVALUATION
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

2. ABOUT
A free copy of the full report will be available on
1st March 2013.
About this Report:
• 31 Page Report
• 20 best in class case studies
• 14 Vital Questions to ask your business
• FMCG brands benchmarked against Social
Brands 100 methodology
• 21 Trends identified
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

3. CUSTOMER DECISION JOURNEY
This white paper has been created by We have examined the social media
Headstream to assist FMCG marketers as marketing communication activity of
they plan their strategies and budgets for FMCG brands globally over the past 12
2013. It provides a broad range of case months.
studies working within the new
Consumer Decision Journey model To provide structure to the FMCG social
(below) to assist FMCG brands as they media activity explored, we have
consider how social media can support segmented the examples featured into
their business goals. three key phases of the consumer
decision journey:
• Initial consideration – Trigger
• Active evaluation – Information
gathering, shopping and buying
• Post purchase experience and advocacy
Consumer Decision Journey - McKinsey Solution 2010 HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

4. ACTIVE EVALUATION
Consumer-driven marketing (e.g. Internet reviews, word-of-mouth,
recommendations from friends and family, in-store interactions and recollections of
past experiences) at the active evaluation stage is now more important than ever.
Consumers have increased control of this process, actively ‘pulling’ and pushing
content in the form of information to help themselves and others in the decision
making process.
To ensure food and beverage brands do not miss out, marketers are looking to
influence the consumer-driven touch points by joining the conversation at the right
moment, and/or facilitating conversations by listening to questions and providing
contextually relevant information to influencers.
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

5. SOCIAL COUPONS & PROMOTIONS
Sales coupons and promotions have a very high rate of participation as people like to feel that they are
getting something for nothing. US market research company Chadwick Martin Bailey have found that one in
four consumers say that their main reason for becoming fans of food and beverage brands on Facebook is
for vouchers.
Both coupons and promotions can easily generate excitement amongst both new and existing customers.
Marketers are using Facebook brand pages as a repository for coupons and promotions which can be
exchanged for ‘likes’ or ‘shares’.
Starburst announced via its Facebook page their
new Starburst Morph confectionary, providing
free samples to the first four thousand fans who
requested the samples.
https://www.facebook.com/Starburst
In an exchange for likes, Mentos produced a
bespoke ‘free Mentos’ tab whereby users could
print off a coupon to redeem a free pack.
https://www.facebook.com/MentosUS
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

6. SOCIAL SAMPLING
Brands are using the social and sharing nature of the web to their advantage. As
opposed to transferring a sampling campaign online and hoping for interaction,
social media provides a platform to connect with customers, facilitating connections
and conversations boosting earned media potential.
Starbucks invited its fans to share
280,000 free pints of Starbucks ice
cream via its bespoke Facebook app.
Through the application fans had the
opportunity to surprise and delight
their friends and family with free ice
cream, simply through data entry and
capture and social sharing.
http://www.starbucksicecream.com/
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

7. FACEBOOK COMMERCE
The Facebook platform has allowed brands to move away from replicating existing
commerce experiences, to building experiences that take advantage of the
community and the social sharing functionality on the site.
Rather than replicate a traditional web
store on the Facebook platform, Heinz
Tomato Ketchup used the site to
generate earned media and advocacy for
its Balsamic Vinegar ketchup. An initial
run of 3,000 bottles were sold exclusively
through Facebook to build excitement
around the launch. The Facebook
community therefore had exclusive
access to trial the product before it was
available in store.
http://www.facebook.com/HeinzKetchup
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

8. SOCIAL ADVERTISING
Savvy marketers are using social ads on both Facebook and Twitter platforms to
highlight brand content in an attempt to boost earned media around a product
campaign.
Cadbury were amongst the first to use a
Promoted Trend in relation to the
Olympics in the UK. It ran a Promoted
Trend 100 days out from the event,
promoting its Olympics advent calendar.
Cadbury claimed to have seen 10,000
people tweeting about it on that day.
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

9. SOCIAL BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT
Branded entertainment is simply communication that plays on people’s emotions. If the content provides
value in the form of entertainment then it will generate conversations and earned media. For marketers the
advantage of branded entertainment is that you do not need huge budgets to reach an audience of millions
if the content delivers true value. Multi-channel branded entertainment that incorporates social media and
engages an audience on a deeper level helps build a brand in the mind of the consumer.
In support of the 2012 James Bond ‘Skyfall’ movie,
Heineken created a piece of branded entertainment
in the form of a Facebook application. ‘Crack the
Case’ invites aspiring 007s to step up and see what it
takes to become a secret agent. Players connect
through Facebook to receive a personalised
experience as you journey through the game helping
the central character to crack the case. The reward
is not only a unique brand experience but video
content that can be shared amongst personal social
graph.
https://www.facebook.com/heineken/app_4482136
61885294
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

10. RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
Random acts of kindness is quite simply carrying out a selfless act that looks to
assist or cheer up an individual or group of people. From a brand’s perspective,
employing random acts of kindness provides an opportunity to get closer to
prospective or existing customer(s), in hope of achieving earned media by tapping
into their social/interest networks.
Cadbury regularly issues bespoke
chocolate bars and treats to charities and
celebrities on Twitter who mention
Cadbury, or chocolate. Many celebrities
tweet pictures of themselves with the
Cadbury bars that is followed up by a
retweet and response from the official
Cadbury Twitter feed
https://twitter.com/CadburyUK.
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

11. INFLUENCER OUTREACH
One of the most popular forms of social media marketing is influencer outreach, which is
essentially celebrity endorsement of a product. This tactic is akin to traditional PR but is
effective in generating awareness i.e. short-term spikes in earned media for a piece of content
and not in shifting behaviour.
In what became a controversial campaign that
was eventually cleared by the ASA, chocolate
bar Snickers recruited a number of celebrities
on Twitter to tweet out of character. One
example is Manchester United Footballer Rio
Ferdinand tweeting about the joys of knitting.
This caused a huge surge in followers tweeting
about his strange tweets. Several tweets later
it was revealed to be a marketing ploy by
Snickers, the celebrities then tweeted a picture
of them with a Snickers bar, accompanied by
the text ‘you are not yourself when you’re
hungry’.
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013

12. ABOUT
For your full copy of the free report visit
www.headstream.com/social-brands
About This Report:
• 31 Page Report
• 20 best in class case studies
• 14 Vital Questions to ask your business
• FMCG brands benchmarked against Social
Brands 100 methodology
• 21 Trends identified
HEADSTREAM.COM | FEBRUARY 2013