Digital strategies to shape the future direction of marketing

Digital may be the fastest-growing sector but ‘Out of Home Marketing’ is the second fastest growth area in the marketing mix, said Charles Kessler, Chairman of display firm Kesslers International.

Speaking to Imogen Matthews for her Premium Market Report 2013, Kessler reiterated the need to enable consumers to pick up and play with products in-store. Kessler said that although beauty sales grew at only 5% in 2012, compared with 11% in 2011, other markets would “kill for” such figures.

Despite this, Kessler added that online continues to be the biggest challenge for retail: “It continues to have enormous momentum and sentiment in its favour,” he said. “But consumers are continuing to look for and be reassured by a strong presence of the brands in store." The key to success is backing [a company’s] instincts with real support in store, according to Kessler. “Make the product stand out with well stocked and well laid-out displays; highlight the key sellers – don’t hide behind volume of smaller lines when it’s the key skus that matter; and ensure that the message is clear – consumers working through the internet have learnt to block out unneeded information.”

The full report is available from www.imogenmatthews.co.uk.