VP, Marketplace and Retailer Optimization
GTINs: Short term pain for long-term gain
Google has just announced that they will now require a GTIN (Global Trade Identification Number) for all products that originally have it assigned by the manufacturer. If you create a product and you want to be able to represent it in a universally accepted way on barcodes, a GTIN is necessary. They are the recognized standard format that barcode readers, etc. can understand. While GTINs may sound like a hassle, they are a cost-effective way to have a product recognized globally. There are a number of GTIN official sellers that you can purchase GTIN numbers to assign to products. It usually comprises of a short form and a simple document back of unique GTIN numbers. When Google Shopping was a free product, brands had to have a GTIN in their feeds for multiple products, including anything that was tangible and brand new (second hand, bespoke and antiques were often exempt). It is likely shopping feeds already have the ability to include GTINs and it’s more than likely that a product already has a GTIN assigned to it. So why is Google doing this now? This is part of Google’s vision to create a different landscape for shopping ads, making it easy for shoppers to identify products. The USPs revolve less around an advertiser’s ability to sell the features of a product, but more the price of the product, and user experience of the retailer. Recently, Google has been working on its Manufacturer Center, a centralized platform where the product creator sends in the official description, specs and image of a product. Google will then look up all the retailers in the shopping ads space that want to list that manufacturer’s products. If a retailer is located, they will then list the retailer using the officially approved specs and image. Here’s an example of the new shopping ad when a shopper is searching for a very specific product. Cleaner and more accurate, the ad also requires less feed needs from the advertiser. While it might seem like Google is simply adding more things into the feed, it is quite the opposite. By including this universal identifier, they can phase out a lot of fields like specifications and titles. (As many of us know, the more fields in a feed, the more chances of feed disapprovals.) The shopper can have a clearer idea of the product they are looking at, while the advertiser has a more straight-forward feed experience, allowing more time spent on the buying experience and price. We’ll continue to monitor this space and will provide updates. Based on this initial release though, this is a great opportunity for advertisers and consumers. 0
3 min read
HookLogic’s “Drive to Retail” Changes the Face of Co-Op Marketing
Many of the brands we serve here at iProspect sell their products primarily via third-party retailers vs. directly on their own brand sites. It would be far more convenient for brands if people bought these products – from shampoo to televisions – directly from the brand sites because then brands would be able to measure advertising all the way to the shopping cart. However, driven by a desire for convenience, consumers usually shop at multi-category retailers like Walmart and Amazon. (Sorry, brand site owners!) Based on this scenario, there is a lot of co-op advertising that takes place between brand and retailer. While such arrangements are definitely beneficial for brands, they also present a fair number of challenges. A recent survey that looked at some of the most common challenges identified managing brand consistency and proving value are both big challenges. Overcoming these kinds of challenges is one of the reasons we work so hard with retailers to prove results and also educate everyone involved about the marketing opportunities available in the digital world. One such opportunity is the emerging auction-based merchandising space, which happens to address many of the challenges faced by brands attempting to make the most of co-op marketing. Not only do well-run co-op programs help improve placement, they also make it possible for brands to measure brand advertising budgets on products sold on retailers sites such as Best Buy, ToysRUs, Amazon, etc. HookLogic, a leading auction-based merchandising platform, has recently announced a game-changing expansion to their HookLogic Exchange with a new offering called Drive to Retail. Perfect product placement via auction-based merchandising is very effective for ensuring that when a potential customer is on a retailer’s site – Walmart.com, for example – the brand’s product is efficiently cross-sold or up sold. This tactic provides brands with placement that is the equivalent of valuable end-of-aisle/front-of-store advertising, and it delivers fantastic results. However, it has never been the perfect solution for brands that want to generate more in-store foot traffic or, in the world of auction-based merchandising, more visits to the online store. What HookLogic has developed is a new way for brands to partner with retailers in order to help them get more digital ads out to potential and existing customers. Say, for example, that Walmart has a $1,000 campaign with the goal to bring a 1,000 new visits to a Dior perfume launch. If they were buying on a CPC basis, they would only be able to buy at a max CPC of $1.00. With the launch of Drive to Retail, HookLogic and retailers are unveiling that they have developed a way of working with marketing platforms like Facebook, Google, and Criteo to give brands – in this hypothetical example, Dior – the ability to top up the auction. So, the brand might contribute $0.40, which would then enable Walmart to spend $1.40, win far more auctions, and – ultimately – win more potential customers. In this scenario, everybody wins: the retailer is happy to have generated more traffic and the brand is happy because they have had to contribute only a fraction of what it would have cost to run their own campaign. Finally, the actual uplift and ROAS is available down to a SKU level. Another benefit brands gain with this approach is the ability to influence which products the retailer advertises. Imagine Google Shopping scenario, for instance, in which Sony is advertising televisions. If someone typed in “latest TV,” a retailer like Best Buy might choose to show SKUs for which they had high inventory or margins. This might not, however, be aligned with Sony’s goal to promote and sell their a set featuring their latest advancement in TV technology. With HookLogic’s Drive to Retail, Sony could use the “top up” method to influence which SKU the retailer features, even though the retailer may not have chosen to promote an untested product. Can we expect to see other auction-based merchandising platforms launching similar offerings to HookLogic’s Drive to Retail? Potentially, yes. Certainly, a retail giant like Amazon has the capability to do so, but since approximately 44%* of U.S.-based shoppers already start their consumer journey on Amazon, what incentive does the company have to offer that kind of product, particularly when you consider the data openness required? Amazon may be interested in exploring the option for isolated markets in which they are not dominant, but the time and transparency it takes to work with brands and media vendors like Facebook may dissuade them. Whether other providers follow suit or not, one thing is for sure: HookLogic has such a strong network of retailers and are looking at the right advertising partners – Facebook for social, Google for paid search, and Criteo for display – that brands are bound to start testing this new tactic to see how it can help them influence e-commerce and retail more effectively with smaller marketing budgets than usual. 0
5 min read
Why the HookLogic Accreditation Matters
HookLogic is a platform in e-commerce marketing., specifically auction based merchandising. With 60% of product related searches happening on retailer sites, it is imperative to understand and influence the space. The platform currently works with the likes of Asda, Tesco Direct, PC World, etc. iProspect is qualified in E-commerce Marketing Recently iProspect worked with our valued partner, HookLogic, on their qualification rollout to agencies. Presently we are qualified in Brazil, United Kingdom, and the United States and the first agency globally to get this accreditation. Why is accreditation important in the agency world? Accreditation of individuals who work with a vendor, be it a HookLogic, Google or Facebook, is incredibly important. Study material and the exams provided ensure a baseline of knowledge when executing a campaign with a vendor. Brands look to agencies to add value via expertise and qualifications are a great way of validating that the agency is not just claiming the skill set for a pitch. We are also very lucky in the digital world to be able to study online and take exams online. Apart from the convenience online accreditation brings, it also gives two valuable advantages compared to the exams that I remember from my formative years (sorry to say in the past millennium). The first advantage is that the material and accreditations can adapt as the vendor’s product adapts. Having worked with Google for over ten years, I started with an accreditation course that culminated in just one exam that covered all their products (which was just Adwords). Now there are 7 exams covering AdWords basic, Adwords advanced, YouTube, analytics etc. The second advantage is, that because it's digital, the accreditation can be associated with both the agency and individual. So if a portion of talent moves from the agency, so does the accreditation. Therefore, an agency does not stay qualified unless it has the right number of individuals. It also helps agencies hire qualified specialists and easily manage their accreditation. Who could say the same about my degree from 1999? Why is iProspect so excited to have achieved this qualification for its teams? Being the first agency to achieve the accolade aside – it’s not just about collecting qualifications. This is a milestone, as it’s an accreditation in auction-based merchandizing, a new channel within iProspect. Auction-based merchandising is native promotion of product on e-commerce retailers. There are a handful of vendors that do this, but honestly, that is all the ecosystem needs. Between HookLogic and Amazon, they have advertising placements on most major retailers. HookLogic would cover an array of retailers from the likes on Walmart to Toys"R"us in the US, Tesco to PC World in the UK, Ponto Frio to Sub Marino in Brazil. If Google Shopping brings SKUs (Stock Keeping Units) straight to search results via a cost per click, buying method and a product feed, the likes of HookLogic and Amazon take it one step further. To use an analogy, Google Shopping placements are window dressing placements to get people onto a product page; auction-based merchandising is shelf placements to try and convince a user to buy one brand over another. In the below example from Argos.co.uk, you can see examples of SKUs on the tablet category. In this category, the “organic” SKU list is likely to be dominated by bestselling tablets. Microsoft and ASUS in these examples have the ability to sell tablet and laptop devices in a category that would only show Tablets. The advertiser pays nothing for these placements, only when someone clicks onto the product page. Why is it its own channel at iProspect? Here at iProspect we believe that now is the time to specialize in this type of advertising. Its roots are search engine marketing (cost per click buys, keyword intent signals and last click). However, managing SKUs or ASINs (Amazon’s equivalent) for marketing requires its own skill set from a marketer. That marketer needs to understand the strategy of bidding appropriately to a KPI, understand how to get the best attribution, understand that keyword buys alone will get full value from this platform, and most importantly, demonstrate that this medium works for direct response or even higher up the funnel media buys. How do we begin to demonstrate that the talented people of iProspect have this new e-commerce led skill set? Qualifications like the one achieved from HookLogic are the first important milestone! 0
4 min read
