On Saturday 11th September 2021, Emma Raducanu won the US Open Tennis Championship.
She was only 18. It was her first Grand Slam title.
By winning, she became…
The first British winner of the US Open since Virginia Wade in 1968. The first qualifier in the open era to win a Grand Slam. The youngest women’s Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004. The first woman to win the US Open without dropping a set since Serena Williams in 2014.
It was a huge achievement. But it’s her only achievement. So far. The US Open is the only WTA title she has won.
On Sunday 6th July 2003, Roger Federer won the Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles.
He was 21. It was his first Grand Slam title.
But Federer didn’t stop there. He won Wimbledon 7 more times. The last time in 2017 – 14 years later.
He won 20 Grand Slams and 103 career titles in total. He did this in the most competitive era in Men’s tennis. Facing Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic*.
There is a BIG difference between doing something once and doing something multiple times.
Raducanu was brilliant for 2 weeks. Federer was brilliant year after year after year…
Why are we talking about this? In the FMCG world it’s pretty easy to get shoppers to do something once. Run a deep price promotion and a lot of shoppers will buy you.
Your penetration will increase. Great, that’s how we’ve been told brands grow, right?
But the big issue is what happens next time. Do shoppers buy you again? Or do they buy something else next time? Then something else the time after that? And the time after that?
To drive real growth you don’t just want more buyers – shoppers who buy you once or twice a year.
You want repeat buyers. Shoppers who are going to buy you again and again and again.
So, how can you do this?
Get shoppers to buy MORE OFTEN. You can look to drive frequency of consumption. For most categories this is a big opportunity. For instance, if you’re a cereal, there are 365 breakfast occasions to go after. If you’re a snack, there are even more – 365 days x a few occasions a day.
You can look to close the gap between what shoppers should do and what they actually do. Think fruit & vegetables. Most of us don’t get close to eating 5+ fruit & veg portions a day. Think hydration. Most of us don’t drink enough water each day. Think oral care. If we all changed our (manual) toothbrush in line with dentist recommendations, sales would double.
You can look to drive shopper loyalty rather than promiscuity. The way most brands promote encourages shoppers to shop around. To buy a different brand each time – whichever is on deal. What if you flipped the approach? Gave shoppers incentives to buy the same brand each time.
Get shoppers to buy MORE PRODUCTS. You can look to get shoppers to add products to their regime. The laundry category is an example – detergent AND fabric conditioner AND scent booster. The beer category is an example – the 0.0% segment. Many people now drink more beer as a result.
You can look to get shoppers to buy across your range. Go to many stores in Europe and you will see Ferrero dominating. Bringing products together across the Nutella AND Kinder ranges. Coca Cola do the same. Across carbonates, energy drinks, iced tea.
You can look to incentivise shoppers to buy more products. Nectar fruit & veg challenges are an example of this. The more you buy, the more points you get. Bundled solutions are another example. Buy A + B + C for £x.
Get shoppers to buy for MORE OCCASIONS. You can look to go outside your core usage occasions. It could be time of day. For instance, a product that is typically used in the morning (cereal, functional shot drinks) being used later in the day. It could be day of the week. The 0.0% segment in beer is getting more people to drink beer midweek.
You can look to go outside your core uses. Hellmann’s “Love Your Leftovers” campaign helps mayo go beyond sandwiches. The new Sure “Whole Body Deo” is taking deodorant beyond armpits.
You can look to get added to existing occasions. If you’re a meal ingredient, could you get added to a big hitting meal – e.g. spag bol, chilli? If you’re a snack, can you get added to a meal deal? Magnum getting into the lunchtime meal deal is an example of this.
A shopper who you buys you once is worth a little.
A shopper who buys you multiple times is worth a LOT.
So, adopt a “buy more” mentality. Get this purchase. Then the next. Then the next.
Be the Federer of the FMCG game.
*We could have used Nadal or Djokovic to make this point. But Federer was the maestro, right?
Feel free to forward. Have a great weekend. Speak to you in a fortnight.