Kellogg’s is the latest brand to make the transition into retail with the launch of its Pop-Tarts World in New York last week. The opening of a 3,000 sq ft store selling customised toaster pastries is certainly a novelty, even by Manhattan standards.
Kellogg’s is the latest brand to make the transition into retail with the launch of its Pop-Tarts World in New York last week. The opening of a 3,000 sq ft store selling customised toaster pastries is certainly a novelty, even by Manhattan standards.
However, what is perhaps more intriguing is the fact that it was launched after Kellogg’s discovered that the 46-year-old brand had a cult following in the world of social media. The Pop-Tarts Facebook page boasts 2 million fans, making it one of the 20 most popular pages on website.
In the US, retailers and brand manufacturers have spent the past couple of years trying to understand the role social media can play in their broader strategies. While social media is regarded as a direct line to shoppers that can improve a brand’s credentials and requires minimal investment to set up, it is often not clear to retailers what they can do with the potentially lucrative shopper data and how they can quantify a return on investment.
However, the Pop-Tarts World shop is a great example of how social media can create tangible opportunities for retailers and brands by turning data into actionable insights. Retailers have traditionally relied on loyalty card data rather than social media for those insights. For example, through its Clubcard scheme, Tesco long ago recognised an untapped opportunity in catering to cash-rich, time-poor consumers. The result? Tesco Express, the convenience store chain that in the past decade has gone from a 45-store concept trading in the UK to a 3,000 store operation spanning 10 markets.
Retailers and brands therefore must take a more scientific approach to their marketing strategies. The Pop-Tarts shop is unlikely to become a profit centre but it is almost certain to succeed in generating brand awareness, if not for its Pop-Tart sushi then at least for the temporary nature of the store concept.
And Kellogg’s isn’t alone. It will be joining Hersheys and Mars (M&Ms) both of which have permanent stores in Times Square.
It is apparent that FMCG suppliers will have to work even harder to leverage brand equity as they face diminishing shelf space due to the rise of private label and major SKU rationalisation programmes from retailers such as Walmart and SuperValu. Going direct to consumer will become all the more important for brand manufacturers looking to regain some of the power that is increasingly being shifted to the hands of the retailer.
Natalie Berg, research director, Planet Retail.
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