Business Intelligence

Growth is one of the main (if not the main one) objective of most companies or businesses. However, we should spare no effort to protect what is already ours and look very closely what our neighbours are currently doing. Regardless if the growth of our business is our highest priority, we would do well to not neglect our backs and devote some of our energies on defending what has cost us so much to achieve. The problem here is that in most cases we do not see the need to defend until it's too late. Defend yourself from an apparently nonexistent threat is complicated, many would dare to say that it is even unnecessary. But as everybody knows, "prevention is better than cure". So, let's be forewarned.

The first thing we should do is get to know our competitors. Find out what are their strengths and weaknesses, get a deeper insight of their offer and try to predict what are going to be their next moves or strategies. Knowing what our competition is doing at any time will help us to stay one step ahead of them and have controlled their movements, avoiding being vulnerable to threats that would otherwise be unpredictable. We could start studying the product of our competitors, which by itself is a wide source of information that must be analyzed in depth: 

• Product: What are the advantages of their product compared to ours? What are they doing better than us? And worse?
• Price: At what price are they selling their product? Are they positioned as an economic product? Or do they have a more Premium / unique positioning?
• Promotion: How are they promoting their products? How they publicize their products? Which channels are they using? How much are they investing in advertising? What messages do they communicate?
• Place: Where do they sell their products? How do they market their products?

I still remember how at one of my first jobs in one of the most popular spanish pizza restaurants back then my boss sent one of our distributors in a street clothes to buy a pizza to one of our main competitors restaurant. When he returned, besides bringing the product of our competitors with him (which was subjected to a top analysis from almost all of our employees), provided us with valuable information about what our neighbours were doing two streets away from us: number of orders they had attended so far (order number was contained in the ticket he brought along with the pizza), promotions of the day, offer of new products and number of employees at this moment and number of distributors for saying some. Just a quick visit to our competitors store/restaurant/office can give us a vast amount of information that could take us to some quick but not less important conclusions.

There are multiple sources from where we can also obtain free useful information. Creativity plays here an important role and will help us to find new and different sources of information. I’m just going across of three of them, probably the more basics:

• Financial statements: Monitor the financial statements of our competitors, see how they are performing and calculate their profit margins and its evolution over the years.
• Job offerings: Keep under control the job offerings of your main competitors will give you an idea of what kind of people they are hiring. This would help us to get a picture of their internal movements and will help up to predict which could be their next steps.
• Web: Internet is an inexhaustible source of information that we should not overlook. If our competitors have blog or are present in social networks, it is important to analyze what are they communicating and the way they are doing it. 

Another essential source of useful information is market research. Market Research is a powerful tool that can help us when taking decisions. Quantitative and qualitative research can provide us with relevant and actionable insights. A simple concept test, for example, could through some light when we are designing a new product and we do not want to take the risk of lunching it directly to the real market. Product testing is also a great way of analyzing our own products and compare them with the products of our competitors. The list of different methodologies is large and we could pick one or another technique depending in our needs.

Once the research is been done, we will have at our disposition an extensive data set with all the answers to the questions that we have previously designed. In order to get a better picture of the market situation or a better understanding of our customer behavior, we could cross all those answers by demographic variables such as age, gender or region. Or we could run segmentation through all the data base to get a deeper knowledge of the differences between different segments of the analyzed universe.

There are many and different sources of useful information to our business and some of them are free and some others no. Either if we pay for it or we do not, the way we will use that information will set the difference between our company and our competitors.

Raúl Hidalga

Things to learn about emerging markets

We usually think we can only learn from the most developed markets and not from any other market like undeveloped ones. But, Can we take advantage of what we know from consumer behavior in emerging markets?

Let me expose 3 clues you (marketing professional or brand) can learn from emerging markets:

1. Shortcuts in product lifecycle can be positive. Brands use to spend long time and efforts to exhaust their current products, but sometimes they should go one step forward and launch what is really new and needed (instead of doing the same again and again). Now working for a mobile telephone company all around Africa, we’ve seen that mobile service is their door to information, to relationships with others and to enjoy life without the experience of previous devices.

Africans have moved from using radio as a device "to connect with the world" to doing from mobile phone. The developed markets moved from radio to television, and PC / laptops to tablets and mobile phones. Africans have taken a shortcut where the mobile phone has become their window to the world. Listening to the radio, following their religious doctrine, watching TV, connecting to social networks, reading newspapers, etc. are done through the mobile phone. They have saved a long way. Marketing in emerging countries often involves not following the same steps we do in developed countries because the product life cycle can be radically different.

2. The future is not 2 or 5 years away, the future is tomorrow. Some of the populations and emerging markets we are studying don’t have a horizon far beyond tomorrow. They live for today and maybe for tomorrow but they don’t know what is going to happen the day after tomorrow. Their main worries are staying healthy and having something to eat today and next week, not in 10 years’ time. So they don’t plan and they don’t think about products that cannot have a daily consumption. For example, paying with a mobile phone.

In some emerging countries, banks are only for a small segment of the population, not because of their income but the uncertainty of what will happen the day after. As we said, they cannot live beyond two days plan. For this reason they do not have bank accounts or contracts with utilities companies (gas, electricity, telephone, television, etc.). Their relationship with the mobile company is prepaid (average 90% of users are prepaid), not contract.

That’s why they use mobile payment services for everything and have no bank account. The remaining balance they have is used to make their daily payments, or send money to family and friends.

Having money in their mobile phone instead of the bank gives them this feeling of accessibility and closeness that they need.

3. Maslow’s pyramid of needs fits much better than in developed markets. They don’t care about the price as much as we (developed markets) do. Because they need to live securely before they worry about what to buy.

One of the most basic needs is security. Their security is not anything happening today or tomorrow. It is security that your family will be fine; they will not be drown somewhere. In relation to mobile phones, network coverage is a very important feature. In developed markets, coverage is seen as a "given" attribute but in emerging markets is one of the most popular and demanded features that cannot always have. Because they need security at all times and everywhere, moreover we cannot ignore that emerging markets are growing and coverage is always in demand.

With these 3 examples we only want to point out that nothing is what it seems to be in terms of consumer insights in emerging markets. Nevertheless, it changes the marketing strategy and tactics.

Jordi Aymerich

Tendencia al incremento de la venta a granel de productos de cosmética, higiene y detergentes

La crisis y la concienciación por cuidar el medio ambiente han generado un aumento de la venta de productos a granel. A continuación mostramos un video con los detalles y la intervención de Jordi Aymerich, profesor titular del área de marketing de la UB, en el informativo de RTVE.

           

La venda a granel de productes de cosmètica i detergents

Marcas Blancas

Jordi Aymerich, profesor titular del área de Marketing de la Universidad de Barcelona, participa en el programa Anem d'estiu de RTVE a través de una entrevista sobre las marcas blancas.

Según Jordi Aymerich hay un cambio de hábitos que nace a raíz de la crisis, donde la marca blanca comienza a aumentar su cuota de penetración:  tanto a nivel de penetración de número de consumidores que compran alguna marca blanca que estaría alrededor de un 80% - 90%, como de share o cuota de mercado, es decir, lo que supone la marca blanca dentro de la cesta de la compra total que estaría alrededor de un 40%. Estos datos nos sitúan, a día de hoy, en niveles por encima de la media Europea.

Aymerich comenta las claves sobre la marca de distribuidor (o, marca blanca) y la marca de fabricante.

Entrevista Jordi Aymerich

             

El contenido sí que importa

La saturación publicitaria y la fragmentación de las audiencias, unidas a un perfil de consumidor súper informado y muy selectivo, sugieren reinventar los términos de la comunicación comercial. El consumidor de hoy en día tiene toda la información que necesita a tan solo unos cuantos clics de distancia. A menos que tengamos algo interesante que ofrecer, el fracaso comunicacional está asegurado. Incluso aunque lo que tengamos que decir sea interesante, si no es el momento adecuado, tampoco nos van a escuchar.

Aunque no han caído en desuso, ni mucho menos, hoy en día existen formas mucho más revolucionarias y productivas de comunicarse con nuestro público objetivo que lanzar mensajes a bombo y platillo en cuantos más medios masivos posibles. El avance de las telecomunicaciones y la diversificación de dispositivos y plataformas existentes nos abren un nuevo abanico de posibilidades para volver a conectar con un consumidor inmunizado a todo tipo de estímulos publicitarios.

Mucho se habla hoy en día del Inbound Marketing o el Engagement Marketing (Marketing de Compromiso). Y por muy técnico y complicado que nos resulte el término, no es más que situar al consumidor en el centro de la escena y cederle todo el protagonismo. Saber escucharle y darle justo lo que necesita y cuando lo necesita. Basta de interrupciones, de mensajes intrusivos, de sobresaturación publicitaria y e-mailing indiscriminado.

Si conocemos mínimamente a nuestro target, si sabemos cuáles son sus motivaciones y sus intereses, sus preocupaciones, sus inquietudes, … a qué esperamos para interaccionar con él?

De lo que se trata aquí es de generar verdadero interés a través de los contenidos, atraer a nuestro público con propuestas de valor, darles algo a cambio de su atención. Qué menos a cambio de algo tan valioso como es su tiempo. Ofrezcamos además la posibilidad de interactuar, no solo con nosotros, sino con otras personas. Dejémosles que hablen y que opinen, con y de nosotros. Generemos contenidos virales, susceptibles de ser compartidos. Intentemos gestionar todo este caudal de emociones, tanto las positivas como las negativas. Porque no nos engañemos, si hablamos de comunicar, estamos hablando de emociones. Establezcamos una relación con ellos, una duradera, de las de confianza.

Y como las cosas no son como antes, ya no nos vale con estar en un solo medio, en una sola pantalla. Debemos de estar presentes en todos ellos, pero sin olvidarnos de lo más importante: el consumidor. Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram… estaremos allí dónde él esté, pero siempre generando valor y dejando que sea él mismo el que acuda a nosotros. Porque además de atraer a nuestros consumidores y hacer que ellos mismos sean nuestros mejores prescriptores, los contenidos añaden valor a nuestra marca. Podemos conformarnos con ser un simple vendedor al que se acude cuando surge una imperiosa necesidad o un experto en nuestro sector con el que estar en constante contacto, en constante interacción, al que recurrir para resolver nuestras dudas o inquietudes.

Blogging, Maketing de contenidos, Posicionamiento en buscadores (SEO), Social Media, analítica web, …Todos nuestros esfuerzos han de ir dirigidos hacia la creación de contenidos de calidad para nuestros consumidores (actuales y potenciales) y que estos los reciban con interés e incluso gratitud. A cambio de acceder a estos contenidos obtendremos valiosos Leads. Otro tecnicismo más que no es otra cosa que una persona con manifiesto interés por nuestros productos o servicios dispuesto a facilitarnos algunos de sus datos personales a cambio de recibir periódicamente algún tipo de contenidos: newsletters, podcasts, videos, infografías, ebooks, whitepapers, …

Podemos además distinguir entre leads fríos y calientes, en función de si es la primera vez que descarga algún tipo de contenido o ya ha mostrado su interés en repetidas ocasiones. Esta distinción nos permite, por ejemplo, identificar qué usuarios se encuentran más próximos a convertirse en clientes. A su vez, podemos ir personalizando progresivamente y de manera individual los contenidos y segmentar nuestra base de datos, conocer cada vez mejor a nuestros consumidores en función de los contenidos a los que acceden para que finalmente, y sin interrumpir sus vidas, ofrecerles justo lo que necesitan cuando lo necesiten.

Recientemente se celebró la segunda edición del “Inbound Marketing Made in Madrid” con ponencias de verdaderos expertos en la materia. En el siguiente video podemos ver como Pau Valdés, CEO de InboundCycle, explicaba cómo crear un canal de captación con una estrategia de Inbound Marketing. 

Raúl Hidalga

Keys to optimize the position of the laboratory in the pharmacy

According to the Asociación para el Autocuidado de la Salud (ANEFP) and IMS the pharmacy Spanish market is showing an increasing tendency since the third trimester of 2013. The private market of prescription and the self-care or consumerhealth are increasing and now are accounting for a 40% of the total volume and a 26’8% in value. The consumerhealth market ranks as the second segment that brings more sales to the pharmacy, after the prescription market, acting as a mean of survival and great support to the pharmacy.

Given this situation, it is highly attractive for the laboratory to have a closer relationship with the pharmaceutical target in order to get a better position of their products in the pharmacy office, to include advertising at the point of sale and, among others, to take their brands up to the top of mind of the pharmacists at the moment that they are recommending to the consumer/patient

From several studies done through the lasts months by the market research consultancy Hamilton, it has been detected that the pharmaceutical target would highly appreciate other resources that favored their daily activity beyond trade policies applied by the laboratories

In order to determine what can provide the laboratories, great beyond of the price variable, it is essential to use research market techniques that allow us to go deeper in their daily life, detecting insights and needs that help the pharmacist to optimize the management at the pharmacy office. 

¿How can the laboratories get closer to the daily activity of the pharmacist?

It is necessary to reinvent the traditional research market techniques to delve in the daily work of the pharmacist and the pharmacist auxiliaries, detecting what incitements are the key in the purchasing decision at the point of sale

For this we apply mix deepening techniques in which are implemented ethnographic methodologies and in depth techniques in order to observe in situ the pharmacy strategies, understanding the mission, the functions, the attitudes, the motivations and the needs of the pharmacists in their main activities. The aim is to identify what the laboratory can provide in their day-to-day situations in order to be closer with them, and indirectly, stay in a better position in the list of recommendations and sales.

Sometimes creative dynamics are also proposed in order to overcome the rational barriers, deepen to a more latent and unconscious level and landing the ideas/insights of the pharmacist in concepts of new products and/or services that define a model “win-win” between the laboratory and the pharmacy.

Helping the pharmacists in the management of the pharmacy implies, also, advising them in the mix marketing, giving them tricks about the products, services, distribution, communication and promotion, among other tools. For the laboratory it means defining a better strategy of category management in the pharmacy, optimizing the investment in publicity and communication and, also, going into detail on the rational and emotional elements that influence the pharmacist recommendation

For that is necessary to analyze the possible routes of the consumer in the pharmacy, determining the cold and the heat zone in the same and in the lineal and, moreover, measuring what elements and what stimulus are susceptible at the point of sale to attract the attention and become a trigger for a purchase. Establish a quantification of these elements will allow us to know the consumer decision tree and detect what button should we touch in order to optimize our marketing strategies and the trade marketing.

Let’s get a moment the pharmacist role… who of us would not like to be helped in their daily activities? Who would not like that others care about our business? Who would not like to sale more? 

The pharmacist are more receptive to listen new proposes, to apply marketing strategies and to improve their point of sale.

Being the first and the best in giving this advisements will let getting us a better position of our brands and products in their pharmacist and, also, in their top of mind.  

Jennifer Varón

Is it worthwhile to be wrong?

This question has the same answer than “is it profitable to win the lottery?” At the beginning both are affirmative but it depends on which is your reaction in front of an event or another, depending on how you invest and how you apply what you obtained, whether the lottery or whether the learning gained by the mistake done.

According to the politician and philosopher Marco Tulio Cicerón “is about humans being wrong but is by foolish people persisting on the error”. In my opinion, what truly results worthwhile is not doing a mistake but recognizing it.

Canadian researchers have found some evidence that as older we are, more we learn from our mistakes than from our success, and, also, that the learning from the trial-mistake is more effective for the memory than the knowledge achieved without mistakes. 

Leave open the possibility to be wrong and having the ability of identifying and recognizing the error provides the companies a high opportunity for the development of the professionals, as well as for the evolution, growth and recognition (reputation) of the brand. The recognition of the error allows the brand to be recognized as human, to be recognized as an empathic brand for its clients, employees and society.

The consumers don’t expect their brands to be infallible neither to be always perfect; they just want them to be honest about their mistakes. The human nature makes us run away from those people that (apparently) don’t have weaknesses and that never get wrong. Those attitudes generate problems connecting, trusting and engaging with the company.

Therefore, that an organization has the possibility to be wrong (I am not even saying promotes) and has acquired and developed the capacity and the ability to recognized their mistakes (I am not even saying that has created the channels) will allow it to develop other qualities for what being recognize. Among those qualities I would highlight:

•  Innovation: It is not possible to evolve and growth without assuming that there is a possibility to be wrong, without recognizing that the correct path is not always the straight line. That is an ability that leads to the bravery of assuming risks that all companies have and that all innovation process, forced or not, entails. The worst decision is the one never taken or the one taken late.

• Flexibility: For creating the process that protect the possibility of making a mistake and understanding that only from freedom emerges the trust and the creativity to evolve.

• Objectivity: To be able to read in key of future and in a positive way the situation that leaded us to the mistake, as well as we should avoid blaming the others about our mistakes

• Transparency: It is one of the ways of incorporating the honesty to the features of humanity and empathy expected from a company or brand. This transparency should show the mistake through the communication and the rectification. In an hyper connected world transparency is not an option, is an obligation. Otherwise we already know that it is a mistake of incalculable consequences.

• Coherence: closely related to the last point; the coherence is the shorter distance between what I am as a brand and a company and what I am saying that I am. For a coherent brand/company it would be easier (and cheaper) to face their possible mistakes.

• Humility: It doesn’t mean to recognize a weakness but to possess the wisdom and strength to know how to rectify.

• And above all, the learning capacity: As Oscar Wilde said: “experience is the name we give to our mistakes”. The experience is what I am able to do with what I learned. The main point is that if as a company, brand (or even a person) I will not have the humility to recognize my mistake, I will not learn from the past and even less give a good answer to the future.

But the most important, beyond developing these skills, the image that you will project will allow you to acquire a competitive advantage that will be difficult to beat for your competence, the capacity to engage and retain a talent with those same skills, this same attitude. Creative people and professional, with capacity of innovation, brave, honest, transparent, and coherent with their behaviour and their way of thinking and doing, flexible in front of the adversity and, specially, with the humility needed to learn about their mistakes.

Values from a talent that in many cases the companies, and the society where we live, seem to waste when “retiring” by force professionals that, at 50 years old, with a bag full of experience, errors and good choices, mistakes and learnings, and probably in the best moment of their professional life, we deny, and with we deny ourselves, the opportunity to do shorter (and therefore, more worthwhile) the path they already did, forcing us to go across this path again and probably make a mistake once more.

It is not worthwhile committing, year after year, generation after generation, the mistake that we will be eternally young and lacked of the humility to recognize the value of the experience of those who already did the path before us and to not develop the capacity of learning from them. Human is the only animal that stumbles twice on the same stone and, with him, all the entire society.

If we have identified the mistake, we should learn from it and, as Cicerón said, don’t be so foolish to continue persisting on it

Sebastián Fernández de Lara

Marcas que se reinventan

Jordi Aymerich, profesor de Marketing de la Universidad de Barcelona, ha participado en “El Matí de Catalunya Ràdio”, para hablar de marcas clásicas que se reinventan con el paso del tiempo. También han participado el Director de Marqueting de Munich, Xavier Berneda y el Director General de Bultaco, Curro Bultó.

XI Congreso de Retail 2014 en Lima

Sebastián Fernández de Lara, socio director en hamilton, ha llevado a cabo varias ponencias en el XI Congreso de Retail 2014 en Lima sobre los consumidores, su evolución y lo que buscan en las marcas. Según Sebastián cada vez las marcas se encuentran con un consumidor más exigente e infiel. ¿Cómo se da este cambio? ¿Qué estrategias pueden seguir las empresas frente a ello? Sebastián da respuesta a estas preguntas entre muchas otras

Free Gluten... ¿New Trend?

Gluten. What is gluten? How is it affecting society? What is it causing? Do celiac and non celiac act in the same way in front of free gluten products? Is this a necessity or a trend or a revolution? 

The gluten, a glycoprotein found in some cereals such as wheat, rye, barley and oats, is present in our daily diet and in the trolley of the person responsible for the household purchases, therefore, the store shelves are becoming a huge repertoire of free gluten products acting as commercial claim for many brands.

Without realizing it gluten free products have entered inside the basket of the preservatives, additives, proteins, etc. and more ingredients that help to preserve the food and that, we all want to avoid in our daily diet.  Gluten has become one of the biggest trends of recent times.

In addition to that, the food industry is seeing a gold mine on that protein. Unintentionally, gluten has become the protein that the modern society wants to erase of their diet even without having been diagnosed as intolerant or gluten allergic by a specialist doctor. This has turn to a mass phenomenon born from the need of the people gluten intolerant or allergic. A need that claims to the food manufacturers to:

• Have a clear labeling on products, helping them to avoid risk in their diet. 

• Have a wide variety of products without gluten.

Intolerants also claim for an affordable price. In this issue the distributor brands are gaining much ground. According to data by Hamilton Intelligence the main purchasers of gluten free products (pastries, pasta, bread, biscuits, flour or cereals) usually buy brands of the food distributor (private-label).

Died and trend or intolerance? Where is the origin?

It is difficult that the trend to eat products “without” don’t influence us. More and more people join to the “without” product consumption (without gluten, without lactose, without preservative, without salt, etc). The last published data regarding to gluten is that the 30% of the adults in the USA-almost 1 out of 3- has stopped or are trying to stop consuming products with gluten.   

Elisabet Suárez

Consumers from the cadle

Perharps for the fact of becoming a mother and for every thing that this involves, you feel suddenly inverse in a world, until this moment, unknown for you and it is then when you see how they grow up and how they learn and evolve and, moreover, when you realised how fast time passes and the constantly changing needs that they experienced. All of this, united with my investigation task, leads me to dive into this fascinating world of market reasearch of children.

Through the market research we try to bring closer the frims with the clients, known them better in order to offer them services/products more adapted to their likes, preferences and needs. And for that, it is also important known the children market, even thought studying this target it is always a challenge.

A challenge that adquires importance day to day because this young consumers increasingly become part of the decissions of the buying process at home. What mother has not bought a product in the supermarket at the insistence of his son at the shop shelve? Or at the insistence of the child when seeing the advert on the TV? Or what mother has not succumbed under the sentence “my friend has it”? Because we don’t have to forget that the main prescribes are the kids, the classemates or the games that encourage to “have what someone else has”.

For that it is important to understand this segment, understand the behaviour of the kids. How do they think? How do they act? What do they need? How do they connect with the brands? How do they absorb all the inputs they get? What influences in their decisions? How do they interact with their friends?...

But if we analyzed in detail this target, not only we need to understand well their behaviour, their concerns and their motivations, we also need to take in account the complexity of this segment due to their fast evolution, what they like today they don’t tomorrow and that is because they are constantly searching for 
the novelty. An other aspect to consider is that it is a target that develops themself so quickly for the reason that in the short term they have fundamental changes, concluding that nothing has in common a kid 5 years all with one of 9 or this with one of 12.

Therefore we must made products/services to mesure for them. for each moment of their childhood and is for this that when we face an investigation with children we need to take in account different facets:

• Headed Target: Important to define what ages we would like to collect because we must do small age cuts (3-5 / 6-8 / 9-11 / 12-14) or we can also have the need to study unique ages (P4 kids, kids from the 1st year of the primary school, ...) because their tastes and opinions are really different and what can perfectly fit with a 5 years old child can not fit with on of 8 years. Another important topic when working with kids is getting the fathers or tutors permissions for child under 14 years old.

• The interviewers: It is important to select well the interviewers because they need touse a language adapted to the children. Moreover, they need to be albe to stabilshed a good relation with the kids in order to extract food information from them.

• The questions and the wayof asking them: It is important adpat the questions to the target language and at their comprehensive level, this implies using comprehensible scales for them and easy to answer, supported in many occasions with draws or incons very easy for them to identify.

• The techniques to use: These are manyany and varied and it will highly depend on the product/service that we are valuing or on the information we need to apply one or another. At the generic level we can speack about quantitative studies (hall-test, home-test, pre-test and post-test, studies about habits, use or actituds, conjoint analysis, etc.) or also qualitative studies (kid observation in situ, focus group, projective techniques, etc.).

Finally, it is important to remark that the brands must take in account that we are facing a permeable and influenced target and more than beyond the law, the brand should approach them in a responsible way.

If we keep in mind all these aspects we will realized a good investigation that will help us approaching this small consumers that are usually the most demanding.






Mónica Rabasó

Neurosegments, segmenting the consumer mind.

Neuroscience has proved that any consumer first decides the purchase through the emotion and after, justifies the decision through the reason. This sequence, as simple as powerful, opens a path in the way of understanding the consumption as well as the purchase and their motivations, in definitive, it opens a path in understanding the consumer in the essence.

The essence belongs to the base of discovering the main consuming motivational levers of a specific brand. What makes it attractive? What seduce us from it? What emotional guideline underlines? What triggers the purchase?

A brand should build its relational discourse through knowledge of these motivational levers and to do that it should define, as a main objective, the weight of each in the final purchasing decision.

As simple and as complex as to segment the consumer thought in decision rules through the emotions.

Imagine an urban family that wants to change their car due to the arrival of twins at the house. For that they are considering to buy an European berlina premium with more capacity in the boot. They don’t want an all-terrain for the reason that is not practical to move around the city. What brand should they choose? Audi, BMW or Mercedes? What model, Serie 3, Serie 5, A4, A6, a C-class or an E-class? What kind of bodywork, normal or Touring/Avant? With or without total traction? As Xdrive, Quattro or 4Matic. Ultimately, there appear ten of elements to decide through the detection of different emotional “insights” that justify the reasoned decision.

How can we detect these motivational levers? Through the knowledge of the consumer reality in 3 stages:

• Stage 1: Through the ethnographic analysis it can be detected the real connection between the brand and the product through the daily experience with the same, with their real context, defining the interaction level with the self-propulsion market in this case, analyzing values, attitudes, habits and needs. What reality coexists with the car? What needs are detected? What is projected to the future?

• Stage 2: Through the Neuromarketing, analyzing the impact that has the competition set analyzed between the consumers and the potential buyers. What kind of emotions causes the real view of the competition set? What attracts that? What generates rejection?  What role is the brand playing in building the emotion? For this we can use techniques as the EEG (Electroencephalography) that will offer us the main measures of the cerebral answers on the stimulus presented, in this case, the different models of cars preselected. Use Eyetracking glasses (coordinated with the EEG) to detect the elements where the consumers put the eye on the car and be able to get heat maps of those aspects that re more relevant for the consumer. Complement with tools of "facial coding" showing us the main emotion expressed about the presented stimulus, that allow us to detect the basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, fear, disgust, contempt).

• Stage 3: Cluster the different motivational levers found through advanced segmentation techniques that allow defining behaviors patterns related to the competition set. If we are able to segment by motivations (do not confuse that with life style or psychographic behavior) we have a powerful strategic tool to activate empathy elements with our potential buyers. We are addressing to the primary root of decision and can influence aspects of communication, relational aspects and aspects of the product.

Getting the last decision base we are getting the behaviour reality of our potential buyers.

It is exciting the future opened about the consumer behaviour analysis.

Jordi Crespo

Cómo hacer una gestión de ventas inteligente

Jennifer Varón, Key Account Manager en Hamilton, ha colaborado en la edición del mes de enero del Dossier de la revista Emprendedores.

Un dossier sobre cómo hacer una gestión de ventas inteligente. Se basa en explicar cómo analizar la cartera de clientes, diseñar estrategias de venta acertadas, mantener el nivel de satisfacción de los clientes al máximo y aprovechar por completo los canales y redes de ventas. 

Cómo hacer una gestión de ventas inteligente from jvaron

La reacción del sector frente a la crisis

Segunda entrega de los resultados del estudio ‘Situación actual del sector Retail en España’ realizado por Hamilton Retail, en colaboración con la Revista CENTROS COMERCIALES.

En esta segunda entrega de los resultados del estudio ‘Situación actual del sector Retail en España’ –elaborado por Hamilton Retail, en colaboración con la Revista CENTROS COMERCIALES– se analiza la reacción del sector de los Centros Comerciales frente a la crisis. Los expertos aseguran que no ha sido negativa pero sí, de alguna manera, insuficiente. Lo que prevalece es una mirada autocrítica que se materializa en una postura constructiva, activa y optimista de cara al futuro.

Uno de los argumentos es que la reacción financiera ha sido adecuada y dirigida esencialmente a disminuir el apalancamiento de los Centros Comerciales. No obstante, se comparte la necesidad de reaccionar con prontitud y focalizar esfuerzo en diversos aspectos como: la gestión, el marketing y el estudio del consumidor, la reacción ante la amenaza del e-commerce y el cambio de los comercios de calle.

En los inicios de la Grecia Clásica reinaba un período de angustia social que provenía de la sensación de la falta de control e incomprensión sobre los fenómenos que sucedían en sus vidas y entornos. A esto, los autores clásicos lo denominaron ‘caos’. Esta angustia favoreció el inicio de una etapa en la que se buscaba la comprensión de la realidad, su medida y el control sobre sus vidas. En este contexto surgieron los cánones y el conocimiento exhaustivo del entorno, que permitían una estructuración de la realidad y reducían, de esta manera, la angustia que generaba la fantasía de no control sobre la misma. Esta idea se refleja en arte y pensamiento de la época: orden, cánones y medida en el contexto del caos.

La crisis ha favorecido en el sector la necesidad de un mayor conocimiento y control sobre sus centros. Tradicionalmente los asset managers presentaban un marcado perfil financiero. Su función esencial era dotar de valor a los activos de los que son responsables. Actualmente su función es la misma, pero la manera de llevarlo a cabo se ha ido transformando y modulando en los últimos tiempos. Se ha ido dotando de otros conocimientos en función de las nuevas necesidades. Su rol ha evolucionado hasta llegar a un perfil más retail, gran conocedor de la realidad de sus centros y de sus visitantes, con un mayor control sobre la realidad.

Para ello el conocimiento del entorno es vital. El mix es la base, el punto de partida, una condición necesaria pero no ya suficiente. El conocimiento del contexto y diferenciación son esenciales en un entorno muy competitivo y castigado. Nos hallamos ante un perfil de asset manager más completo. El asset manager de hoy ha adquirido nuevas competencias. Para dotar de valor a un activo hay que posicionarlo, crear un territorio de marca relevante y diferencial, atraer a un consumidor realmente rentable para el centro, partir de una promesa de marca atractiva y ofrecer una experiencia de visita memorable

Para el asset manager actual es necesario conocer a sus clientes, a sus visitantes, a su competencia y la eficacia de las acciones de marketing y publicidad.

En definitiva, se trata de un perfil evolucionado, con un conocimiento 360º, de detalle, analítico y riguroso. Esto es, un asset manager más exigente, con mayor conocimiento y mayor implicación en la realidad del centro. Se valora muy positivamente el papel de las compañías de gestión, se les atribuye un rol de elevada importancia ya que cuenta con buenos especialistas en distintas disciplinas (marketing, arquitectura, etc.) y tienen gran responsabilidad en la buena marcha de los Centros Comerciales. Se comparte que la relación es bidireccional y es necesario –y más ahora– dotarles de los recursos y herramientas para la buena marcha del centro.

Son diversos los criterios que utilizan los asset managers para evaluar las gestión de los Centros Comerciales. Estos criterios son esenciales dado que funcionan como drivers a la hora de tomar una decisión en la elección de una compañía de gestión u otra, a la hora de cambiar de gestora, o en la valoración que se hace de la gestión en el día a día.

Los discursos recogidos también revelan un cambio en la prioridad de los criterios. En la decisión entran en juego factores muy diversos y vitales además del fee. De hecho este factor ha perdido relevancia en la percepción de los profesionales.

En efecto, la decisión es compleja y multifactorial. Por un lado, entre los elementos tangibles cabe destacar la producción de ventas, el nivel de ocupación y el índice de rotación, el nivel de deuda, la generación de renta variable o las tasas de esfuerzo. Dentro de los aspectos intangibles o no cuantificables, podemos incluir el background o conocimiento y experiencia de la empresa en cuestión, tanto del sector como del activo en cuestión; la relación fluida y de comunicación constante con la empresa de gestión, así como de empatía; la acción y proactividad en soluciones de marketing.

Además, a la hora de evaluar si la gestión se está llevando con eficacia, se valoran adicionalmente otros aspectos, además del mix comercial: la actitud de la gerencia con respecto al centro, una buena relación con los comerciantes. Se trata de un indicador muy fiable para los asset managers y el buen estado del centro.

El futuro ya está aquí

Tal y como ya se ha ido comentando a lo largo de todo el informe, la crisis y la irrupción del fenómeno del e-commerce, han provocado un giro en el prisma con el que los expertos conceptualizan el sector de los Centros Comerciales. Nos encontramos en un momento de cambio y de reinvención, en el que el análisis, la creatividad y la innovación resultan imprescindibles para la supervivencia de los Centros Comerciales.

El cambio ha sido progresivo, pero la importancia que se le otorga a aspectos como el marketing y el conocimiento del consumidor ha crecido exponencialmente en los últimos tiempos. El marketing forma parte del ADN de las grandes empresas de gestión de activos.

Un Centro Comercial es algo más que una sucesión de tiendas, el consumidor moderno ha cambiado, pide algo más y resulta preciso conectar emocionalmente con él para tener una mayor capacidad de atracción. Desde la perspectiva de los expertos consultados no se puede competir en funcionalidad con internet. Como se anticipaba, no hay nada más cómodo que realizar una compra desde el sofá de casa y en el momento que uno elige. No hay desplazamientos, no se dan límites horarios, ni se da la incomodidad que supone coger el coche. Es una batalla perdida. Todo esto ha favorecido que se recurra al marketing para establecer drivers y palancas que favorezcan que el Centro Comercial se sitúe como primera elección, como lugar en el que estar, pasar el tiempo, disfrutar y realizar las compras.

Se parte de una premisa clara: el e-commerce se limita a drivers de carácter racional. Los beneficios asociados a este canal de compra son meramente funcionales, se basan esencialmente en la comodidad, rapidez, facilidad, etc. Sin embargo, la realidad es que hoy por hoy el consumidor necesita ver la ropa que compra, probársela, tocarla, para tomar la decisión de compra. Subyace a esto un claro componente emocional. En este plano es donde interviene el factor experiencial y donde los Centros Comerciales pueden actuar e influir sobre la compra final.

Por otra parte, el canal online es frío, no se establece un vínculo afectivo con el consumidor. Un centro experiencial y estimulante, donde el consumidor disfruta, se siente cómodo y se divierte, favorecerá una conexión afectiva con el propio centro y con las distintas marcas que aglutina.

Todo esto llevará a una nueva relación de los centros con los operadores, aún por crear y definir. A nivel psicológico, el disfrute, la expansión, la diversión tiene un doble efecto: por un lado, resulta atractivo y estimulante en sí mismo, atrayendo en buena medida al público y generando mayor flujo; y, por otro, disminuyen las resistencias, los mecanismos de defensa y barreras, favoreciendo una mayor predisposición a la compra.

Son cada vez más las propiedades y los Centros Comerciales que se han dado cuenta de la situación y realizan estos esfuerzos dirigidos a crear experiencias y a buscar la diferenciación dentro de su contexto competitivo. El vínculo que se establece con la marca (Centro Comercial) es estrecho. El consumidor lo decodifica como un lugar que forma parte de su vida, no solo como un lugar donde ‘me obligan a comprar’.

Con respecto a lo comentado, se comparte que la investigación de mercados juega un rol cada vez más importante y vital. La investigación que tradicionalmente se ha llevado a cabo no resulta suficiente. Por supuesto que los estudios de satisfacción, de perfil de consumidor, del área de influencia, etc. continúan siendo necesarios para los procesos de decisión, sin embargo se está avanzando rápidamente en este ámbito. Las necesidades son cada vez más sofisticadas y las soluciones de investigación que se requieren también. En este sentido, cada vez se llevan a cabo estudios más allá de los tradicionales: estudios de marca, motivacionales, talleres creativos así como test de acciones de marketing, análisis publicitarios, estudios de tendencias y un largo etcétera.

Para finalizar este último capítulo del estudio, se incide en el cambio que se está dando en la comunicación con el consumidor. Internet ha supuesto una evolución en las interacciones y relaciones de la gente. Las redes sociales han irrumpido con fuerza en nuestras vidas. Los dispositivos móviles como los smartphones y las tabletas han potenciado aún más esta evolución. Se trata de un canal que acompaña al consumidor constantemente, que forma parte de él.

Las marcas en general y los Centros Comerciales en particular han encontrado un nuevo canal de comunicación para llegar al consumidor de una manera directa y eficaz.

Internet ha segmentado el mercado de manera profunda. Las nuevas tendencias pasan por conocer al consumidor de manera individual, comunicarse con él, y adaptar los productos, servicios y mensajes publicitarios a las necesidades concretas de cada individuo. El marketing relacional favorece esta posibilidad. Internet lo ha hecho posible: nuevos tiempos, nuevos retos.

Agradecimientos

Desde Hamilton Retail y la Revista CENTROS COMERCIALES queremos expresar una vez más nuestros sinceros agradecimientos a aquellos expertos del sector que han colaborado con nosotros, y nos han ofrecido su tiempo, experiencia, conocimientos y su visión del mercado. Nuestro panel de expertos ha estado formado por: Ian Sandford (Eurofund Investiments), Christophe Mouton (Corio), Jesús Silva (UBS), Luis Vila (Vastned), Maël Aoustin (Unibail-Rodamco), José Manuel Llovet (Jones Lang LaSalle), David Sánchez (British Land), Israel Casanova (Redevco), Pablo Rodríguez (LaSalle), Jaime Maynau (Pradera), Joaquín Linares (CBRE GI), Eduardo de Roda (Rockspring), Mathieu Ammari (Deka) e Isidoro Mínguez (Orion). Sin ellos esta iniciativa no hubiera sido posible.