FMCG Brands, Retail And Social Media

As a follow up to the prior post below...

Many of the social media guru firms simply don't fully grasp/understand the business model dynamics of FMCG brands. (e.g. They think they know P&G and Unilever because they have met with the managers of 'new media' within those management organizations, yet I can guarantee that when they leave many FMCG offices, there's always a little bit of residual feeling that those touchy-feely media types really don't understand running and building FMCG businesses, thus, they are not in the position to help as they assume they are.) Yet, it's easy for those social media firms to take 'pot shots' at something they don't have the experience to understand. The clue, which almost nobody gets, is that ultimately, the center of the social media universe for FMCG brands will be with - retailers - not with brand suppliers, as retailers move to CRM (only then will FMCG brands have a better opportunity to be more engaged with those store shoppers in social media (but the retailers will control the dialogue).

While there are some examples of online FMCG communities (e.g. tampon-brand-sponsored websites for teenage girls with tons of questions about growing up) most low-involvement, fast-moving CPG brands simply annoy average consumers with dialogue about brands who are simply trying to save 20% with a coupon on cheese or soup or soap - hence the explosion of private label brands everywhere. Private label is the 'tell' that most consumers don't really desire to talk/twitter/post/read extensively about FMCG brands - more and more every day, it's the store that matters, not the brands inside.

The concept of a FMCG brand 'relationship' is overplayed (e.g. this is not the Apple brand, this is soap), and the brief relationship with FMCG brands occurs with every trip to the store, standing in the aisle. Just think about the proven fact that DISPLAYS, more than any other FMCG tactic, drive sales growth - sometimes +100%, or more - AKA, if they bump into it, they will buy it. (Ironically, all this new technology on our PDAs, etc., now leaves us even less room in our brains to think about FMCG products - life is moving faster than it used to be.)

None of the above is particularly poetic, but it's part of a practical reality known by brand managers, which needs to be understood by social media teams/agencies.