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| Why Shopper Experience is the future of marketing |
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There are over a million UPCs being used in North America, and the number of products and services is growing at an ever-increasing rate. At the same time consumers are being bombarded with an ever-increasing number of advertising and entertainment messages. Consequently, the ways that marketers have used to communicate to consumers have, over time, become less effective - and often unwelcome. At the same time consumers are becoming more demanding. They expect instant and attentive service. They expect their shopping trip to be convenient at a minimum, and increasingly they expect them to be pleasing and entertaining. From the manufacturer's perspective the delivery of marketing communications has become siloed. Specialist suppliers deliver strategic consulting or advertising or media or consumer research or promotions or web or events or public relations. The consumer ends up seeing messaging that is inconsistent and irrelevant to their situation and therefore it fails to change their behavior. Senior managers at large companies have been finding it increasingly difficult to coordinate efforts and get a get positive return on the investment. Shopper Experience Marketing is a means for them to give their marketing investments a clear focus. Programs can be implemented that not only generate sales but also build long-term brand equity. Most value is created when efforts are integrated and relevant - irrespective of the techniques used. It is ironic that attitudes are being turned back to a time before broadcast media became dominant. At that time manufacturers saw no distinction between "advertising", "promotions" and 'merchandising" - they got the best results when they worked collaboratively with retailers to generate sales. The future of marketing has to be sustainable 
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