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Building Connected Brands For
The Empowered CPG Shopper
Just when we thought we were getting some normalcy as we recover from the pandemic, CPG companies are faced with a new round of challenges such as supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and higher input costs. In addition to these logistical challenges, businesses also have to deal with customers who have been transformed by the pandemic and see brands and products through an entirely new lens.
What should brands know about this ever-changed CPG shopper?
1. Purpose-driven marketing: Shoppers are expecting more from brands
Sustainability, inclusivity, eco-friendly — shoppers, particularly millennials and Gen Z, expect more from CPG brands and are willing to pay a premium for those that are proactive in reducing environmental impact and care about issues such as sustainability and recycling.1 They also want brands to stand for something, in fact, over half of CPG shoppers said they are willing to engage with and support CPG brands that give back to the community.2 But while the majority of shoppers expect brands to take an active role in environmental, social and corporate governance issues, 71% don’t believe brands will deliver on their promises impacting the existing relationships between brands and shoppers.3 This shows the importance of not only understanding shoppers’ values and preferences through data and measurement and using it to create relevant communication strategies, but also the importance of communicating progress on the promises made to your customers.
2. Brand loyalty re-defined: Shoppers are deserting trusted brands for new ones
The pandemic ushered a new level of brand loyalty disruption and unprecedented switching. While brand loyalty was on the decline pre-pandemic, homebound shopping behavior conditioned consumers to expect brands to deliver what they want, when they want it. And, with supply chain constraints and rising inflation, shoppers are now more open than ever to exploring alternatives to old favorites. Industry disruptors have taken advantage of this unique window, bringing innovative, direct-to-consumer options to the forefront. As a result, shoppers are switching brands more frequently than before with many intending to continue post pandemic.4
While building meaningful connections should be at the core of every brand’s strategy, marketers know it’s easier said than done. Nearly 70% of surveyed advertisers said that retaining existing shoppers was one of the biggest challenges they were facing during the pandemic.5
So, what can CPG marketers do to build meaningful, long-term relationships with these evolved shoppers?
Establish deep and more personalized connections
Connection is deeply rooted in Meta's mission, which is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Every day, people come to Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger to connect with friends, family, celebrities, and creators giving brands a unique ability to reach people in meaningful ways.
At Meta, we are seeing three factors that are driving a new era of brand building.
- Personalization enabled by Artificial Intelligence (AI): Because of the relevance AI can provide on digital channels, people are more likely to feel deeper connections to the content and stories that surface across these experiences.
- Rich and textured storytelling experiences can create multidimensional connections: From immersive videos, AR filters, to influencer content, brands can form an emotional bond with shoppers through these collaborative and more participatory formats.
- Real-time insights, learnings and optimizations: Because of technology’s constant feedback loop, brands can more readily understand what brand stories and experiences are resonating with their shoppers and can iterate accordingly, strengthening their ever-evolving connections with shoppers.
Introducing the Meta Connected Brand Builder
To help CPG marketers future-proof their business, we have developed a set of tools and strategies for driving meaningful and sustained connections between people and businesses.
1. Connected Delivery – Meta’s personalization engine is one of the more sophisticated AI systems in the world as it evaluates billions of signals to find the most effective and efficient strategies for brands. We know that delivering personalized ads maximizes value for both people and businesses; thus, by leveraging the predictive power of Meta’s AI across some of the most important campaign elements – targeting, creative and placements – brands can not only achieve maximum results, but also deliver personal stories to broad audiences resulting in deeper brand connection.
2. Connected Storytelling – Meta offers a variety of interactive, innovative ad solutions that can help brands deliver deeper stories. Immersive formats like Reels, Polls, augmented reality, and messaging allow marketers to deliver fun, unexpected experiences that ultimately bring people closer to their brands. And creators are at the heart of these connected experiences helping brands drive impact throughout the funnel. From an internal analysis, we've found that campaigns that tapped into the power of creator voices via branded content ads saw a 123% lift in awareness, a 112% lift in association, and a 67% lift in consideration and motivation.6 In an age when people are connected more than ever across devices, giving them multiple ways to engage with brands is helping drive incrementality — brands that connect with people across multiple experiences on Meta platforms are up to 139% more effective at driving awareness, consideration and association.7
3. Connected Insights – A recent study in Harvard Business Review found that businesses that run at least 15 experiments per year see on average 30% higher ad performance.8 Meta’s tools and measurement solutions are uniquely positioned to help CPG brands enrich their measurement practices with actionable results. The real-time nature of our platforms enables a constant feedback loop of testing, learning and optimizing across every stage of a campaign. To enhance their brand-building strategies, marketers should establish a culture of experimentation and build learning agendas that are mapped to their business goals.
While the fundamentals of brand building have remained the same, shoppers' behaviors have drastically changed forcing marketers to evolve their strategies. Through Meta's technologies and interactive formats marketers can drive meaningful and sustained connections between people and brands.
To explore more ways to build your brand, download Meta's Connected Brand Practical Guide for CPG Advertisers.
