Have you heard of a guy called Martin Hanford?
Probably not.
He’s an English illustrator who has published a series of children’s puzzle books. The first one was published on 25th June 1987.
But you probably have heard of the character he created.
Think glasses…
Think bobble hat…
Think red & white striped jumper…
Think trying to find him in an illustration amongst hundreds of other people doing a bunch of random things.
Yep, we’re talking about “Wally” (or “Waldo” in America… “Walter” in Germany…)
You’ve likely spent (wasted…) many minutes (hours…) of your life trying to find him.
Why are we talking about this? Well, to find Wally you need to filter.
Filter out everything that is not relevant to the task – e.g. anything that is not red & white. Then focus on the things that are relevant – e.g. anything that is red and white. Then filter again (there are decoys) to eventually find Wally. Ideally before your 5 year old child does.
Grocery shopping is the same. To shop is to filter.
Filter out everything that is not relevant to the task at hand – e.g. getting to the right part of the store, the right part of the aisle, finding the products you are looking for. To focus on the things that are relevant.
To do this shoppers use simple visual cues to find, navigate and identify.
So, how do you need to play to this?
Be instantly recognisable. This means simple category signage. It means simple navigational signate within a category. It means instantly recognisable pack designs. Instantly recognisable display units and POS communication.
Hard to recognise gets filtered out. Easy to recognise gets filtered in.
Use visuals rather than words. Signage with a picture of an egg is better than the word “eggs.” Communication that uses bold visuals that attract shopper attention and reinforce your proposition. The ice cream communication that shows the joy of eating ice cream.
Words get filtered out. Visuals get filtered in.
Be visually disruptive. Use differentiated colours. Use differentiated shapes. Use contrast. Use light. Use movement. In the average grocery store there might be 50+ display units. Most will be cardboard. Most will be rectangular. So, be different. Break the traditional design rules.
Wallpaper gets filtered out. Disruption gets filtered in.
Say less. This means fewer elements on packs. It means less words on POS communication. It means simple promotional mechanics. Expressed in a simple way. In our industry the temptation is to ADD. When the best thing to do is SUBTRACT.
More information gets filtered out. Less information gets filtered in.
Have less. Think range. The more there is to see, the less shopper will actually see. Tail products are tail products for a reason. Hardly anyone buys them. Prioritise the winning products. The ones shoppers are most likely to buy. Discounters have always known this. Better for their operating model. Better for shoppers.
A wide rage gets filtered out. A tight range gets filtered in.
Winning retailers and winning brands follow these principles.
They know that the more time shoppers have to spend filtering things out, the less time they have to filter things in.
The less time they have to engage. The less time they have to buy.
Your job is not to hide Wally. It’s to highlight him.
Be impossible to miss.
Feel free to forward. Have a great weekend. Speak to you next week.