Traditionally, the main battleground of the Easter trading period is in supermarkets and, of course, confectionery. In that department, this year, Cadbury dominated visibility, doing an exceptional job getting stock on the floor and demonstrating, in the process, why visibility should be the number one goal for brands looking to succeed in retail. Nestle came a competitive second. I’d say Lindt was third and Mars was blown away. It’s fair to say Cadbury is doing a lot right in the confection
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Traditionally, the main battleground of the Easter trading period is in supermarkets and, of course, confectionery.In that department, this year, Cadbury dominated visibility, doing an exceptional job getting stock on the floor and demonstrating, in the process, why visibility should be the number one goal for brands looking to succeed in retail. Nestle came a competitive second. I’d say Lindt was third and Mars was blown away. It’s fair to say Cadbury is doing a lot right in the confectionery category. On-point merchandising and store-ready shipper display are used to great effect; an often-underutilised merchandising tactic.But, in examining the chocolate wars of 2024, several other retailing trends emerge. Battles that are set to run and run. These include the everyday shop versus maximising key retail trade periods, screens versus in-store footprint and retail media networks versus trade marketing.The everyday shop gets mangled by EasterIt was striking how sensorily busy grocery stores were. Your average store was rammed with off-location and aisle ends dominated by Easter eggs.From a shopper’s perspective, it was noticeable how disruptive this can make the weekly shop. While off-location display is a blunt tool for reaching shoppers, there’s a reason why retailers use it: it is very impactful.From a retailer’s perspective, shopping during cornerstone retail calendar trading periods is far from seamless. But the sheer weight of off-shelf display in Coles and Woolworths got me thinking about the potential negative disruption to the everyday shopper mission.Retailers are often striving for a clean store policy but at these key trading periods, you can’t move for all the added displays. This could drive shoppers away from stores to the streamlined online environment – a loss for brands that aren’t already in people’s consideration sets.Trade marketing versus retail media networksEaster was a great example of how brands need to be canny with their retail media planning and buying, thinking beyond inventory and factoring in shopping smarts, environment (not all stores are equal) and shopper principles. It’s not enough to have media smarts to navigate retail media networks. It’s essential to have the shopper marketing knowledge to accompany it. With thanks to all those off-location product displays, I’d say trade marketing came out on top over retail media this Easter. As a brand marketer, that would have me asking questions of retail media networks when it’s so busy in-store.It just might be that at Easter and Christmas, you’re better off running on retail media network screens, for example, in the lead-up to the main event rather than during the trading period and taking a digital-first approach across the trading period (if you can’t compete with the likes of Cadbury on the floor). Focus on priming rather than impulse triggers.Take the example of Lurpak. The upmarket butter brand had an outsized share of voice during recent Easter trading periods connecting to the occasion with the classic hot cross bun. But this year, the brand seemed to have taken a different approach following a digital-first strategy aimed at inspiring cooking that lost the physical battle for share of voice in-store.This presents a real conundrum for retail media networks when physical store display can cut through with the shopper more and, most importantly, is shoppable. There is a strategy for brands here to be aware of.Screens are yet to have their day…but their day is comingIt was striking how the physical dominance of product and display took away from digital screen offerings. The screens in several stores and store entrances lost their shine as physical display took centre stage and dominated. This is obviously a real challenge for retail media networks.If we follow the path of the US and UK, then screens in-store are only set to rise. By Easter 2025 screens will be much more pervasive. Tesco, in the UK, for example, seems to be pursuing screen overload.Looking forward, the winners of Easter 2025 will be those who get their screen strategy and stock-on-floor strategy right. Both retailers and brands. Further reading: ARA tips $18 billion splurge on DIY, travel and treats this Easter
