Award Winning Retail Marketing Agency

Reaching Retail Convenience Decision Makers

Food and drink marketing in retail convenience is a fine art and only by understanding each sector and the dynamics therein can you begin to craft a brand positioning or a trade marketing campaign which will engage with your key decision makers. Our experience of thirty years in the market has been that integrated trade communications tailored to the sector work best. We work with market leading and challenger food and drink brands and provide a full service solution to trade marketing. Quite simply we are the food and drink marketing specialist.

Trade press remains one of the most influential communications in our sector. Ensuring your brand and key messages are top of mind in leading trade publications both in print and online is essential. Using PR to engage with journalists and drive your share of voice through news, features, opinion pieces and profile interviews should form the foundation of your food PR program. Advertising and other paid for media within these key titles will also help demonstrate your support and presence in the channel and will enable you to punch above your weight when it comes to grabbing the attention of your audience. Food and drink brands should consider the use of brand advertising, event sponsorships, category management guides, trade shows and other forms of paid media to really cut through. With our expertise we can help you create the right trade press plan to drive the best return on investment.

Category communications is another area that we specialise in. Our experienced team has expertise in delivering award winning category communications programs for a wealth of market leading and challenger food and drink brands. From creating the identity of the category program, to shaping the category advice and top tips, right through to execution of retail trade website, category management guides and advertorials, in-depot activation, case studies, testimonials, retailer forums and much, much more. We really are a one stop shop for effective category trade communications.

Furthermore our relationships with wholesalers and retailers means we are the perfect partner with brands who want to harness the power of peer-to-peer advice and create retailer ambassador campaigns. We know retailers trust the advice of other retailers above all else. So working with high profile retailer influencers we are able to create trials and case studies and use the results to develop powerful sales tools and collateral. From flyers and advertising to video and social media we can help you drive word of mouth through retailer ambassadors who’ve stocked your brand and achieved sales success. Check out this video which demonstrates this.

As technology has evolved so has convenience retailers’ use of it. As convenience retailers are becoming more progressive and entrepreneurial their use and consumption of video, web, email marketing and social media has increased. There is now an expectation that food and drink brands will engage with them through these channels too. We know what works best and how to create engaging communications that trade audiences act upon.

However there is still very much a role and need for more traditional trade communications too. Printed trade press, promotional brochures, high impact DM, trade shows, flyers, and in-depot communications all remain important to communicating with retailers, and of course the trick is getting the balance right.

Whatever the communication channel, it all has to start with the message and the ‘so what?’ The convenience retail decision maker is a time poor and demanding audience. Ensuring your brand or product offers a real benefit to them and getting that message across in no uncertain terms is crucial.

Insight in all its forms can help build a strong sell-in story, whether that is consumer insight to demonstrate demand, retailer testimonials from those who’ve trialled it, market data analysis to show the category opportunity and demonstrate opportunities for growth, or U&A insight with your target audience to help identify what key product features they really value.

Creating a strong foundation based on food trends, insight, layering on strategy informed by market expertise and experience, and executing with stand-out creative – that’s the secret to strong retail convenience marketing. The right team, the right angle, the right channels and there you have it, the recipe for success in the challenging market of convenience retail.

You can see examples in our portfolio here.

Choosing the Right Convenience Retail Marketing Agency

Well, with over thirty years experience, a truly integrated approach and a great team we know our stuff (as you can hopefully see from this article). But don’t take our word for it, here’s what others say about us.
Interested? Why not get in touch today?