Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 33

tions as they shop in the ROI Lab, perhaps
choosing between alternative formats.
Cussen describes another test for a client
that had a design concept for packaging, which
involved giving away a free item. Here, Central
put the concept through predictive eye-tracking. As Cussen explains, every time someone
does an active eye-tracking, all that data is recorded and put into an algorithm. In predictive
eye-tracking, a computer program ran the object through 250,000 previous experiences.
Predictive eye-tracking revealed, through
heat mapping and visual sequencing, that the

Tilt the odds in your favour

While virtual tests can provide much useful information,
there's still nothing like touching a product and reacting to
it in context, in the retail environment-or the reasonable facsimile of the ROI Lab.
For one manufacturer, Central did an aisle flow challenge.
They set up aisles in the formats required by various retailers. From an observation room, representatives of the retailers
watched customers shop the aisle. Based on the studies, the
client is in the process of working with the retailers to alter the
flow of planograms.
Other clients use the ROI Lab to conduct tests of new display or packaging technology, with Central lending support.
Even though these clients might have internal
testing capabilities, Cecol says they often prefer
to do this research offsite, to shield the work-inprogress until they have solid findings.
Terry Dennis, Central's Vice-President of
Sales, has experience in retail as a territory manager for Nestlé, a VP with Tree of Life Canada, and
head of confectionary company Storck Canada.
At Storck, he worked with Central on displays.
"Our spend in-store was a significant portion of profit and loss, so we had to get the biggest
bang for the dollar. They made sure our brand image was fairly represented," says Dennis. "What
excited me was coming over here to talk about
strategies around consumer insights. From a
marketer's perspective, if you look at media fragmentation, it's difficult to communicate with the
consumer. If you do it effectively in store, that's
the best opportunity to close the sale."
Do companies do that enough? No, says Miller: "They compete on price, availability and relationships. When you're in a boom market, everybody grows and everybody feels like a hero. That's
not a sustainable advantage. What separates the
wheat from the chaff is growing in an off-economy."
What can brand companies or retailers learn
from Central's methods? To Miller, Central itself
is an example of what any organization has to do
more of-differentiate yourself. Here's a company
ROI Lab: integral in testing packaging and displays.
that has created its own total package, combining
free offer wasn't hitting home. In heat map- design, manufacturing and consumer research.
ping, the offer on the packaging was getting
"At the base of any industry, everybody does the same
little dwell time, i.e. how much time the cus- thing," says Miller. "Whatever the industry, the question is
tomer spent looking at it. As well, in the first how do you tilt the odds in your favour? The most common
four sequences of tracking, the offer wasn't be- approach is a niche strategy, or you use a value add to differing picked up.
entiate the business. I call it function that resonates."
"We suggested a design modification, in the
"In merchandising," Cussen adds, "there are tons of opinflow of information," says Cussen. "When we ions of what's right and wrong. Generally, the most senior
ran it back through eye-tracking after altering person or the one who speaks up gets their way. We get into
the package, it went to number three on the se- the depths of what the customer is seeing and feeling. It elimquence, and had substantially more heat time. inates the guesswork, and gives us factual interpretations of
There's no lying with that."
what the customer wants."

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http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014

Publisher's Desk
Retail Currents
Food for Thought: The State of Canadian Grocery
Driving Sales With Personalized Advertising
Come One, Come All
Unsure About the Future
Education Leading to Organic Growth
The Total Retail Package
Advertiser's Index
Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - cover1
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - cover2
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 3
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Publisher's Desk
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 5
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Retail Currents
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 7
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 8
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 9
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Food for Thought: The State of Canadian Grocery
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 11
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 12
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 13
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 14
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 15
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Driving Sales With Personalized Advertising
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 17
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 18
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Come One, Come All
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 20
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 21
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 22
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Unsure About the Future
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 24
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 25
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Education Leading to Organic Growth
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 27
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 28
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 29
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - The Total Retail Package
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 31
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 32
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 33
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 34
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 35
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - 36
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Advertiser's Index
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - Retail Quick Tips
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - cover3
Canadian Retailer - Summer 2014 - cover4
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