Supermarket UK:A Very Social Christmas
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The battle for attention at Christmas has reached epic proportions• In a severe economic downturn, the pressure upon supermarkets this
Christmas to compete with each other over customers is huge.
• Last year the top six supermarkets spent over £69m on media support for their Christmas campaigns – with similar levels indicated for this year.
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
Door Drops
Direct Mail
Internet
Radio
Outdoor
TV
Source: AdDynamix
£
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Facebook fans
Twitter followers
YouTube - total channel views 0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
Asda Co-op
Morrison’sSainsbury’s
TescoWaitrose
But the key battle grounds are increasingly social spaces
Source: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Dec ‘11
No. of channel views / fans / followers
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The issue: the contest has been conducted without knowing what has been working or who is winning -
what is the value of a fan?
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We have benchmarked brand performance in social spaces
Supermarkets are investing significant sums into social marketing, but often without knowing if it will translate into sales
Tesco have acquired the most Facebook fans through a strategy of investing in expensive ‘reach blocks’ (owning every ad slot on the Facebooknewsfeed page for the day) – but will they be able to keep this large audience engaged?
The Waitrose audience has grown more organically, attracted by rich video content –are those consumers more loyal?
Starcom MediaVest Group’s Social Media Behaviour Index (SMBI) is the first significant, robust quantitative study to benchmark brand performance in the social space and answer those questions.
The SMBI demonstrates that Waitrose is more successful at engaging people on their social sites and that these consumers are more likely to convert into shoppers and advocates than visitors to any other supermarket page.
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on the opportunity a brand has to increase brand actions through social media engagement
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on the opportunity a brand has to increase brand actions through social media engagement
As SMBI takes account of many differing factors, it is never seen as a positive or negative, rather as a
bespoke measure of the strength of relationship between content and its influence on consumer
behaviour. So the higher the SMBI score the more opportunities have been identified to improve
influence and lower the score, the less opportunity because the brand is already doing well here.
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6 supermarket brands
1500 supermarket sampleChristmas shopping intentions surveyed in November 2011
TOP FINDINGS
43%
87%
SMBI across all supermarket brands
People who are active on a Supermarket Facebook page are 2x more likely to shop there this Christmas than those who just view a page
Shop at store this Christmas
36%
89%
SMBI across all supermarket brands
That’s even more true on YouTube
Shop at store this Christmas
92%
93%
Any twitter engagement is a strong sign of brand commitment
Shop at store this Christmas
Follow
Tweet about
Likely to:
At Christmas the value of a supermarket social action is greater than the retail category norm
Likely to visit only + do a brand action
Likely to do a social media action + a brand action
Retailers43%
82% 191200Supermarkets
at Christmas 43%87%
Likely to visit only + do a brand action Likely to do a social media action + a brand action
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Likely to : Shop here this Christmas (Brand Action)
Visit only 30% 32% 35% 38% 42% 59%
Do a social media action
87% 76% 84% 85% 83% 92%
SMBI – a measure of opportunity: The higher the SMBI score, the greater the opportunity to increase brand action through social media engagement
Waitrose has a low SMBI, indicating that site visitors are already highly engaged – the brand is currently performing
the best on the social media engagement scale
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Likely to : Recommend the brand (Brand Action)
Visit only 7% 7% 7% 10% 17% 17%
Do a social media action
81% 73% 65% 71% 79% 72%
The effect of active involvement on recommendation is even more strongly pronounced
Waitrose do have a huge opportunity to increase brand advocacy – and site visits alone won’t achieve that
without further engagement
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Likely to:Average
Play a game 39% 40% 44% 37% 38% 34% 39%
Enter a competition 61% 54% 59% 61% 56% 54% 58%
Watch a/another video 59% 36% 49% 50% 41% 52% 48%
Post a positive comment
45% 38% 48% 50% 44% 52% 46%
Share page 35% 28% 41% 35% 34% 42% 36%
Follow on Twitter 16% 10% 18% 14% 23% 31% 19%
Post a tweet on Twitter 13% 7% 16% 10% 21% 24% 15%
Average 38% 30% 39% 37% 38% 41% 37%
The brand social action table
Waitrose visitors are most likely to take a further social action
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Waitrose’s strong page engagement: content that makes consumers think and feel
Overall Ranking
60%
53%
47%
46%
45%
42%
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Waitrose, 52%
Tesco, 18%
Sainsbury’s, 10%
ASDA, 9%
M&S4%
Waitrose’s strong Facebook page is most likely to poach from Tescos
Of those who said that they would be more likely to shop at Waitrose after visiting their page, only half already showed a preference for Waitrose.
48% had a different preference before interacting with the Waitrose page.
Morrisons, 3%
Co-op, 1%
% Supermarket preference before interacting with Waitrose Facebook
Page
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How Waitrose gets it right
1. Extensive use of video, with quality, engaging content – easy to share
2. A conversation – not a broadcast. Prominent and responsive ‘Ask our Experts’ section.
3. Helpful tools and advice - like the interactive planner for the perfect festive feast – ‘sticky’ content that encourages return visits
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Supermarkets must include social media in their marketing mix if they are to gain attention this Christmas
People who are active on a Supermarket Facebook page are 2x more likely to shop at that store this Christmas than those who just view the page
Of the major platforms twitter activity converts best to shopping intention
Waitrose is the most successful at engaging people on their social sites and converting social visitors into shoppers
The success of Waitrose social marketing is most likely to poach from Tesco. Sainsbury’s and ASDA should also be targets.
The key to social media marketing success is in driving behaviour – actions are proven to have a significantly greater effect on intention to shop than liking, visiting or fandom alone
Site content needs to be engaging using interactivity and quality video content. It needs to be relevant and useful and engage consumers in a two-way conversation. Content should also be ‘portable’ i.e. Easy to pass on.
Quality content will ensure the site is ‘sticky’ –visitors return – and they share the content within their networks. Most importantly it will encourage deeper actions, proven to drive brand preference and intention to shop.
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About Starcom MediaVest Group and Supermarket UKSupermarket UK is an industry-wide series of studies into the changing values and behaviours of shoppers to the big six supermarkets – Tesco, ASDA, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Co-Op. It will investigate the effect of societal changes - including the economy, new technologies and social media - on supermarket consumer behaviour, and examine trends for the future. This report is the second in a series - a third phase of research will be released in Q1 and will culminate in a full report to be published later in 2012.
Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) is a global leader in communications strategy, media buying and management, response media, internet and digital communications. SMG operates two separate agencies under the group banner –MediaVest and Starcom– each built around a distinct focus and expertise set, representing global brands such as Proctor & Gamble, Samsung and Honda.
SMG is part of Publicis Groupe, the world’s second largest media counsel and buying group, the world’s third largest communications group and a the world’s leading supplier of media services to FMCG brands.
We can help plan, design, activate and measure your social media and integrated campaigns. Get in touch to discover your brand’s SMBI.
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