This post was created in partnership with Ibotta
Elevated grocery prices and anticipated holiday financial stress are already making shoppers more selective about which brands earn a spot in their carts.
During an ADWEEK House Advertising HQ panel co-hosted with Ibotta, Ryan Joe, editor-in-chief of ADWEEK, sat down with Chris Dungan, VP of client partnerships at Ibotta, and Krystle Rocci, integrated strategy director of Pernod Ricard, to discuss how data-driven media spend can help brands adapt to changing shopping behaviors and connect with consumers in the moments that matter.
Promotions that drive action
The chat kicked off with a discussion on how Ibotta first-party data is helping Pernod Ricard, which owns a portfolio of spirit brands, measure the success of its promotions.
When Pernod considers how to move large volumes of product quickly, a promotion is often the mechanism to do that, Dungan explained. With Ibotta’s first-party data, Pernod can identify and attribute what changed consumers’ buying behavior during the promotion. “It allows you to better measure and attribute the success of the campaign,” he said.
Rocci noted the importance of looking beyond impression count to make sure your ad resonates.
“Are they seeing an ad in the right moment, in the right mindset, to get them to perform an intended action, and is it driving them down that purchase funnel through the journey? It’s really about hitting them in the moments that matter, which for spirits, is super important,” she explained.
Top-of-mind messaging
The conversation shifted to how Ibotta and Pernod are adapting to changing shopping trends for this holiday season. Consumers this year are shopping earlier instead of condensing all their purchasing into the couple of weeks before the holiday.
“Consumers are elongating that purchasing period. They’re trying to flatten that consumption curve,” said Dungan.
The key is figuring out how to intercept consumers within that decision path. “The timing is getting earlier and earlier, so how can we get in their mind before they’re at the shelf or at the cart, so that when they do actually make the decision, they’re choosing one of our products,” said Rocci.
A path to loyalty
Promotions are a good tool for attracting first-time or lapsed buyers, but getting the consumer to choose the brand the next time they buy the category is the true loyalty test, Dungan shared.
That’s where the brand works to create a relationship with the customer, added Rocci. “Whether that is the bottle or the flavor profile or the price point or the continued re-engaging content to give them meaning around that brand, I think that’s all helpful,” she said.
In addition to repeat purchases, Pernod wants to encourage buyers to explore the full brand portfolio. “Sometimes our brands can complement one another. For example, Absolut and Kahlua partner together on the espresso martini,” said Rocci.
Dungan and Rocci pointed out the benefits of individual brand leaders working together for the good of the organization.
“If we can ultimately think about growing baskets and collective equity for the organization, making consumers buy more products overall, it benefits that organization meaningfully,” said Dungan.
Leveraging promotions, scaling purchases across multiple products, and driving greater incremental sales over a tight period of time is the kind of “messaging that lands with CFOs as well as CMOs,” Dungan concluded.
