A new era of consumer insights for CPG brands, this time with alternative data enrichment

It is 2020 and in the face of a pandemic, the worlds behaviours have changed in a way we have never seen before. And yet, the primary way in which CPG brands get to know their customers is through primary research, focused groups, and other offline insight mechanisms. CPG brands continue to grapple with the most basic questions like who exactly is buying their product and what these individuals are doing beyond their minimal interactions with the respective retailers. In the absence of sufficient first party data, CPG brands continue to operate on disparate and random survey data. While traditional survey data yields unique consumer insights, they certainly dont make the cut to answer critical questions for CPG brands.

Here is where alternative data enrichment comes into play.

It all Begins with Alternative Data

It is not that CPG brands dont have access to their customer data. Its just that most of these data sources syndicated retailer purchase data, digital interactions and touch points, brand store footfalls, loyalty card insights, or even opt-in panel data sit in silos.  How can CPG brands combine these diverse data sources and add in alternative data to fill in the gaps? Alternative consumer data has the answers.

Alternative consumer data enables CPG brands to connect the dots about their consumers to truly get to know them and shape their distribution strategies, product strategies, and marketing strategies around these insights. Not just that, data enrichment also enables CPG brands to activate hyper-targeted segments for brand campaigns as well as measure success at the micro level of each consumer.

Alternative data enrichment is strengthening insight mechanisms for CPG

Audience segments like health food buyers or make up purchasers based on purchase data and online interactions give brands some leverage to market their campaigns. However, there are countless other attributes about these segments that can help identify and isolate behaviours that can be further leveraged for activation. Using identity resolution and data enrichment, a CPG brand can get insights into where their products are being bought, how far is the customer travelling to the store, how often do they make their purchases and so on.

Take the example of a global FMCG brand that recently leveraged Factori data enrichment solution for its signature soap brand in the Southeast Asia region. Our platform tracked users that were engaged with their ads and then enriched those users with online and offline behaviours that enabled hypersegmentation. The enriched data was then transferred to the DMP to build look-alike modelling for further targeted campaigns. The campaign reached more than 1 million unique devices and generated 3,700 branded store and MBO visits. The FMCG brand was able to generate over 300 lookalike segments for their campaign and saw a 47% increase in engagement.

CPG brands must future proof themselves

These are tough times for CPG brands and retailers. While on the one hand, they have loyalists. On the other, the choice customers have from home grown boutique CPG brands, new-age makers, as well as challenger brands  is truly unprecedented. The sooner these brands start getting to know their customers and their non-linear, exploratory customer journeys, the faster they will be able to ramp up their products, operations and distribution, as well as marketing in truly customer-centric ways.

If you are ready to take the leap towards data enrichment, shout out for a demo. We are ready to partner with you on this journey!