Unilever Stalks the Elusive Shopper

At Reveries.com, Unilever’s Lisa Klauser explains how to figure out what shoppers want and turn that information into business growth — whether it’s using a social change message to connect women to Dove or helping guys find the Axe deodorant. She’s vice president, consumer and customer solutions at the packaged goods giant, charged with integrating sales and marketing functions around shopper insights.

What’s the difference between consumer insights and shopper insights? “A shopper insight focuses on the process that takes place between that first thought the consumer has about purchasing an item, all the way through the selection of that item,” Klauser says. Consumer insights look at the big picture to build relationships between a demographic and a brand.

Some examples:

Shopper insights can lead to new and better brands. Laundry concentrate All Small & Mighty, launched in October 2005, was successful because shoppers had asked for the smaller container and better value. Unilever points to the environmental impact — 10 million fewer pounds of plastic resin, 81.6 million square feet of paperboard saved, 70 percent less water usage. Shelf facings increased while manufacturing costs declined. (The TV spot above is for Persil Small & Mighty, a global Unilever brand.)

Men are “commando” shoppers — they want to “find what they’re looking for and get out of there.” But they’re confused at the shelf, especially in home and personal care. “They don’t always know what’s for them and what isn’t.”

It’s about spending less. Historically, shoppers teeter between saving time and saving money. Over the last half decade, time has been at a premium, with shoppers making more frequent unplanned trips to the store. Now, trip frequency has declined and planning is coming to the fore, as people try to get the best deals and drive less. So brands and retailers must shift in-store strategies from impulse buys to value appeal.

It would be easy for a conglomerate like Unilever, or a mass retailer, to send an unfocused message. The Dutch corporation has instead developed a “vitality mission” — helping people look good, feel good, and get more out of life. It’s also moved away from reliance on traditional advertising and into pop culture, online, and in-store promotions such as the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and viral marketing for the Axe men’s care line.

“There are a lot of brands that provide good insight, and that come to retailers with programs,” Klauser tells The Hub magazine in its May/June issue. “But for Unilever it’s really about marrying those two things together, making sure that what we do is rooted in insight and then is translated into actionable programs with our customers.”