Commerce Meets Culture: Why Brands Should Leverage 'Holidays'

Commentary

• by Mark Osborn , Columnist, 5 hours ago

National Watermelon Day, National Ice Cream Day, National Hot Dog Day, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day — the list goes on and on. With so many “holidays” being celebrated by the consumer, brands would be remiss to not take advantage of these opportunities, whether it’s simply participating or even creating their own. Taking advantage of a holiday is an easy way for brands to create more compelling consumer experiences and outcomes.

Supply the Demand
Companies are becoming more creative when it comes to engaging consumers with brands, and taking advantage of holidays is one great way to increase opportunities for consumer interest and sales. Amazon Prime Day and 7-11 Slurpee Day offer two great examples of retailers creating a marketing event to extend their brand position and create a compelling reason for consumers to make a purchase, focused specifically on their brand.

But there are also many other opportunities usually created and promoted by an industry association (e.g., the Salvation Army and National Pork Producers of America) rather than by any one consumer brand, including National Doughnut Day and National Bacon Day, to name a few.

Know Your Audience
So how do companies prepare to ride the wave that holidays allow? The traditional holidays — Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter as well as Black Friday and Back-to-School — have been an essential part of the consumer industries’ yearly sales and marketing calendars, as demand for certain products is much higher during these periods. But, looking beyond to other opportunities, consumer products and packaged goods companies can anticipate which holidays will align best with their consumer base and develop a corresponding marketing and sales strategy to make sure these holidays are successful.

By using data to assess the types of products consumers are interested in, and reviewing spikes in purchases during the year, sales and marketing teams at consumer products companies can determine where to allocate budgets appropriately, leading to increased brand engagement and repeat consumer purchasers. Amazon took this a step further when creating Prime Day not only to secure more sign-ups to Amazon Prime, but also to help encourage the higher purchase frequency and spending rates that its exclusive service enjoys.

The Internet Connection 
Ecommerce and omnichannel commerce, combined with social media, have helped enable consumer products companies interact and engage directly with consumers in ways that would not have been possible even five years ago. And, it’s shifted the landscape of opportunity from what we once defined as a path to purchase to reach a moment of truth to a consumer engagement lifecycle through which companies can identify moments of opportunity to engage directly with consumers to not only transact, but also to educate and inspire.

This can be accomplished by creating a holistic consumer experience to better integrate into the consumer’s lifestyle by offering content, recipes, or contests, giving consumers multiples opportunities and options to participate in holidays. Furthering these marketing initiatives by offering discounts on specific products or deals on subscription/membership programs around these days can help bring consumers into the revenue cycle.

As both the consumer products and retail landscapes evolve, taking advantage of holidays is just one strategy companies can adopt to move products from carts to hearts. To move beyond influencing purchase decisions to helping consumers achieve outcomes. By watching trends as well as their own consumer and sales data, consumer products brands can create a successful consumer experience, increase their bottom line and improve brand awareness.