In general, people are more likely to act on face-to-face product recommendations, versus those sent via social media.  While this holds for youth, they are more likely to act on all types of recommendations, especially from close contacts, regardless of mode used to receive the recommendation. 

Fundamentally, effective experiential marketing should have a compelling consumer focus which can often lead to increased word-of-mouth for participating brands. Social media can be effective at facilitating WOM among youth, as it is integral in their lives and it does not lose impact like it does for adults.

To view the actual case study statistics, broken out by both age (youth versus adults) and by whom (friends, family and acquaintances), please click on the links below for the full article.

For more information on the EMF, visit http://www.experientialforum.com/ where you can join to receive regular updates on the latest experiential news, research and insights.  The EMF / IMI International research articles are also available for viewing on IMI International’s Downloads page.

Dan knows from extensive experience that shopper marketing is a compelling, integrated approach to meeting consumer wants and needs and instilling a sense of confidence from the moment a brand first starts interacting with consumers. 

During his presentation, Dan will deliver consumer-validated insights, case studies and best practices in order to make your shopper marketing program succeed in a measureable way.

To review a summary of Dan’s presentation, please click here to go to the Downloads page and find the presentation under the “Conferences” section.

Tim Bishop, Business Development, North America, will be speaking about social media measurement plus providing the latest insights and experience on how to measure ROI (and as a hint, it’s not about friends, fans or retweets…).

In recent years, social media has grown from a provocative set of online community chat rooms to a legitimate marketing communication vehicle that attracts millions of diverse users from around the world.  

What is a marketer to do:  Avoid social media until it becomes more proven since this all seems too “new” and “risky”?  Or jump into it without a good understanding of how it compares to other marketing tools? 

The safe bet is to understand its measurable impact.  IMI International has been studying social media from its inception using ROI measurement models to evaluate it compared to all other marketing tactics.

Tim will highlight how to measure impact and ROI, plus share consumer insights, best practices and global case studies so that social media can be considered as an effective tool within your sponsorship activation toolkit.

For a summary of Tim’s presentation, please click to visit IMI International’s Downloads page and look under “Conferences”.

For more information on social media ROI and measurement, please contact Tim Bishop at 416-440-0310 ext. 341 or email at tbishop@consultIMI.com.

The panel topic, “What Will Appeal to Tomorrow’s Shopper: Learn from Representatives Across All Sectors of the Shopper Marketing Industry” is sure to create an active discussion regarding the future of shopper marketing.  

It will be interesting to hear what the panelists have to say, given their varied experience and backgrounds in the experiential, consulting, snack food and research spaces. 

IMI International has extensive experience with shopper marketing and views shopper marketing as the management of the full path-to-purchase cycle.  When done correctly, shopper marketing is a compelling, integrated approach to meeting consumer wants and needs and instilling a sense of confidence from the moment a brand first starts interacting with consumers. 

To learn more about Shopper Marketing and how IMI International can help your brand or agency meet its goals, please contact Dan Hunter at 416-440-0310 ext. 233 or email at dhunter@consultIMI.com.

The topic, “Optimizing Your Marketing Effectiveness and ROI”, will showcase the latest in IMI International’s consumer insights completed across Canada in Q4 2009.  Specifically, Julius will highlight the influence of promotions and brand activation on retail activity, brand purchasing and brand image. 

This session will provide attendees with the facts on the impact of promotions, events, sponsorships, advertising, pricing, social media and digital now versus two years ago.  Further, this session will provide delegates with fact-based case studies for agencies, retailers, marketers, governments, services and brands on means to optimize their marketing effectiveness and ROI.  

IMI International consults and provides strategic resources across the globe and will share these insights and case studies specific to the Quebec marketplace versus the rest of Canada and rest of North America.

About Julius Diamond: 

For close to 40 years, IMI International has focused on helping its clients maximize their return on investment from marketing and communication programs. Julius has been involved in the founding of two other companies: A retail shoe repair chain that operated throughout North America and a real estate development company with assets and operations in Canada and the United States. Mr. Diamond has been involved with several charity organizations and sits on the board of advisors of several small companies. Julius has direct experience in marketing, sales, finance and operations and graduated from the Ivy School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in 1966 and has an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley.

This Canadian consumer insights module conducted in autumn 2009 looks at a number of topics, including:

• How consumers viewed the recession during 2009
• The effect of the recession on various marketing tactics
• The changing attitudes of consumers and how these can explain the change in marketing tactic effectiveness
• Brand health with 85 brands ranked based on consumer responses
• Brand-specific examples of good and bad tactics used over the last 2 years
• Keys to your marketing success in 2010

This module provides a look into how consumers are thinking, what tactics will work the hardest for you and how brands have utilized these to their advantage.

For more information on ConsumerTrack™ Insights, please contact Tim Bishop at 416-440-0310 ext. 341 or by email at tbishop@consultIMI.com.

Over 4,000 curious shopper marketing industry experts packed the 2009 In-Store Marketing Expo from October 6 to 8 at Navy Pier in downtown Chicago.  To complement the large in-store trade component of the conference, IMI International was once again asked to lead a focused learning session on the very latest insights on Shopper Marketing from a consumer perspective.  

The conference topic was focused on the “The Last Three Feet” retail environment:  Its aim was to educate brands, retailers and suppliers on the importance of in-store marketing activations.  Dan Hunter, Partner at IMI International, provided recent consumer insights for session attendees based on a broader perspective focused on driving shoppers “From their Living Rooms to Store Center Aisles”.  

Leveraging IMI International’s marketing database of initiatives and the IMI International Consumer Track™ shopper insights learning module, the session provided a holistic view of the purchase cycle.  From online search and product browsing to influence to in-store purchases, Dan led an hour-long presentation that outlined the areas where shoppers were looking to be intercepted with branded messaging that would later drive in-store purchase.  

Most importantly, Dan provided insights on driving maximum impact ‘cost effectively’ thus maximizing customer lifetime value of shoppers.   

Attendees also discovered: 

• The change to focus messaging on a brand’s “inherent value proposition” due to the economic downturn
• The best ways to engage consumers outside of the retail environment by product category,
• The perspective on “how” customers shop, not just “why” they buy.
• Non-traditional shopping insights including online, retail activations, digital signage, experiential interaction and mobile marketing, plus
• How to drive ongoing loyalty touch-points, including, web, mobile and CRM/loyalty programs and Word-of-Mouth. 

To learn more insights from the presentation, please visit IMI International’s Downloads page.