Customised Shopper Marketing

Tailoring of customer management initiatives and marketing activities to attract target shoppers, and stimulate growth driving purchasing behaviours, through effectively identifying and leveraging customer specific opportunities.

Translation of shopper marketing opportunities into creative ‘through-the-line’ activations.

   Retailers and wholesalers operate in a fiercely competitive environment chasing turnover daily. They are increasingly defining and fine tuning their unique market positionings in order to give their shoppers a reason to stay loyal and committed. Without such differentiation, they would have to rely solely on hard core price discounting which creates a downward value spiral in the market. This move to differentiated trade positionings provides branded goods suppliers with opportunities to leverage common brand space to mutual benefit.

Certainly, not all customers perform equally in the category or by brand, nor do they typically face the same growth opportunities. Distinct potential exists for each customer, and as such they require distinct business development initiatives. 

Generic trade marketing can not deliver maximised returns. The introduction of Customised Shopper Marketing, targeting specific shoppers in specific stores, to make specific purchasing decisions, significantly enhances the impact and effectiveness of trade spend. While the costs incurred are likely to increase, so too will the ROI realised through improved relevance, trade support, and impact.

Our Customised Shopper Marketing programmes involve the tailoring of trade marketing initiatives to attract and engage target shoppers, and stimulate growth driving purchasing behaviours, through effectively identifying and leveraging customer specific opportunities

Category Scoping and Structure Design

Development of a market definition designed to most accurately reflect consumer and shopper needs and solutions, and to unlock forward growth opportunities.

  One key to unlocking growth is to re-examine the market definition that you use. If it is too narrow, it will surely limit your scope for growth. Similarly, if it is too expansive, it will be difficult to build a cohesive offering that hangs together well and makes sense to your target audience.

Certainly, a market map should accurately reflect consumer and shopper needs, wants, and behaviours, and not be defined by the company’s areas of participation, strength, or capability.

Our approach to Category Scope and Structure Design is holistic, needs, wants, and solutions based, and visionary in that it takes into consideration partially met, or unmet needs, and non-participative consumers and/or shoppers.

Participation mapping against such a Category Scope and Structure Design unlocks meaningful, real, forward competitive advantage and growth opportunities.

Idea Generation

Brainstorming sessions custom designed around specific opportunities or challenges to generate a multitude of ideas as a platform for solution design and strategy.

  Once probortunities have been identified and defined, and objectives have been set – the task of coming up with ideas and activities to deliver against them needs to be undertaken. This is often easier said than done, especially when you aspire to really make an impact, really make a difference.

It is difficult to think innovatively, outside of the box, and come up with ideas that will step change performance, and possibly even the way customers think about the market and your offering.

We design and facilitate Idea Generation workshops around specific opportunities or challenges to generate a multitude of ideas as a platform for solution design and strategy.

We customise brainstorming techniques, use creative thinkers as facilitators, and run the sessions in venues that open the mind, in order to stimulate new, break-through thinking.

Integrated Marketing Strategies

Structured business planning programmes that integrate consumer, shopper, trade, and competitor knowledge and forward projections, into aligned cross-functional objectives and strategies that build on one another to maximise competitive advantage, growth impact, and return on marketing and sales investment.

   Integrated Marketing is an evolution from the original Category Management processes largely driven by retailers, into a supplier led, holistic approach, to driving durable competitive advantage and sustainable category growth.

Integrated Marketing Strategies target, and competitively leverage, category level growth drivers reflecting key consumer, shopper, and trade needs and wants, and proactively stimulate behaviours that will constructively develop the size, shape, and direction of the market.

The Integrated Marketing Strategies are translatable into aligned and mutually supportive Brand, Channel, and Customer Plans designed to maximise impact in the market place, and financial ROI.

Our Integrated Marketing Strategy programme follows a structured, multi-functional, business planning process that integrates consumer, shopper, trade, and competitor knowledge, into aligned cross-functional objectives and strategies that build on one another to maximise competitive advantage, growth impact, and return on marketing and sales investment.

Objective Critiques

Critical review of Brand, Channel, and Customer Strategies. Plans, and Activities to assess their completeness, alignment, and impact in driving competitive advantage, profitability, and growth.

 The preparation of annual functional strategies is often undertaken as a routine task squeezed into the last few months of the year, with the outputs invariably lacking meaningful stretch or new thinking.

Certainly, in many cases such functional plans are produced independently of one another, with very little cross pollination of knowledge, ideas, or direction, ultimately resulting in disjointed and potentially conflicting initiatives.

We undertake rigorous Objective Critiques of Brand, Channel, and Customer Strategies, Plans, and Activities to assess their completeness, alignment, and impact in driving competitive advantage, profitability, and growth.

Web site designing

We're specialized in developing website's that work. We've the proven experience and expertise in designing website that succeed by bringing in enquiries, which generate sales and are an asset to your business.
We understand the every company has a unique requirement when it comes to web designing. Where our responsibility is to project that uniqueness and make the website stand out from its competition. Unlike a run-of-the-mill website designing we make it a point to deliver a distinctive look to your website.
Our engagement can add value at any stage of a lifecycle:

    * Designing of a new website
    * Redesign or revamping of an existing website
    * Maintenance & management of an existing website


Web Design Services include:

    * Need Analysis & RFP creation
    * Solution Designing & Creative Story Boarding
    * Website Content Planning & Drafting
    * Product Photography
    * Graphic Designing
    * Designing Flash Intros & Animations
    * HTML Coding & Java Scripting

Ubique Interactive specializes

Research



Ubique Interactive specializes in both executing technology research and transitioning research into commercial endeavor. The creation of marketing level demos and functional prototypes concretely establish both market demand and technological feasibility.



Ubique Interactive maintains an active partnership with the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors, www.cubs.buffalo.edu, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.




Product Development



Ubique Interactive provides expertise at every stage of product development, from mock-up, to proof-of-concept, to full system design and implementation. Ubique Interactive is also a value-added integrator that expands product capability, re-engineers usability and re-works look and feel.




Product Management



Ubique Interactive maintains staff with a tenured track record of managing products from market strategy, to functional requirements, to release and deployment.

Capture Management



Ubique Interactive handles general capture functions with expertise in Federal Government Grant Strategy and Proposal Generation. The SBIR/STTR programs administered by the SBA, and offered through various other Government Agencies is the prime vehicle for small business grant funding. Ubique Interactive has a track record of successful SBIR/STTR awards coupled with first hand experience with high technology applications. For companies with solid technology but not enough staff to handle the full capture function, Ubique Interactive is well positioned for partnership.

The Driving Force in the Mitsui Chemicals Group's Growth through Technological Innovation

The Mitsui Chemicals Group strives to create innovative new technologies to achieve "Economic Growth", "Harmony with the Global Environment" and "Harmony with Society".

The Mitsui Chemicals Group constantly pursues innovation and the materialization of dreams with the wonder of chemistry, thereby actively promoting its research and development activities.

Architecture Consulting and Strategy

Our maintenance and Support services typically begin with corrective maintenance, evolving to adaptive, preventive and perfective maintenance. Invest in peace of mind with Abyss proven methodology for application maintenance, including application support, technical, functional, and ongoing enhancements.

Abyss identifies the need of an organization wide integrated architecture strategy and work closely with our clients to architect a sound technology base in line with future business growth and direction by employing the latest methodologies and tools.

Application Lifecycle Management

Here at Surebridge, we approach our engagement with your organization from a complete lifecycle perspective. Our End-to-End services take a utility-like approach and span clients' entire business application requirements - from strategy, to implementation, to outsourcing, to optimization. By covering the needs of your applications anywhere in their lifecycle, we take complete ownership and accountability for the success of deploying, hosting and managing those applications.
Our portfolio of services includes:

    * Strategy: IT Strategy, Business Application Strategy, Software Selection
    * Implementation: Configuration, Customization, Integration, Training
    * Outsourcing: Hosted Management, SureRemote Application Management, Managed Services, Remote Managed Services; Disaster Recovery Planning
    * Optimization: Technical Upgrades, Functional Upgrades, Continuous Business Improvement

STRATEGIC VISIONING

IIt's amazing how many company owners feel they are in the wrong business or have lost track of the business they thought they were in.

Whilst hindsight is a magnificent attribute realising you are in the wrong business may not be as bad as it sounds. The preparation of a Business Strategy, not for the bank manager or the accountant but for YOURSELF is a must.

It should also be a live strategy regularly reviewed to cope with changes that happen every day in your business.

Whilst you may feel you spend most of your time at the bottom of the pyramid, climbing to the top two or three times a year is good exercise.

And don't forget the Functional Strategy is only to win the skirmish. It's the Business Strategy which wins the war and proves the Enterprise Strategy

Human resource management Brief Introduction

Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherentmanagement of an organization’s most valued assets – the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business.

The terms “human resource management” and “human resources” (HR) have largely replaced the term “personnel management” as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations. In simple words, HRM means employing people, developing their capacities, utilizing, maintaining and compensating their services in tune with the job and organizational requirement.

Functional Competence: Customer Strategy

    *  Customer and customer profitability analysis
    * Customer segmentation and target segment identification
    * Development and implementation of customer acquisition and loyalty strategies
    * Sales and Aftersales strategies
    * Development, validation and rollout of customer specific eBusiness strategies

Strategic Advisory

The foundation of any successful venture is built upon effective analysis, planning and strategy development. Terascen's experience in conceptualizing, planning and executing multi-dimensional sales and marketing programs begins with a relentless pursuit of connecting prospective buyers with the product they desire. Careful analysis of the competitive environment and consumer psychology are the basis on which a successful program can be built.

Terascen's Strategic Advisory services reflect a comprehensive approach to analysis and planning and include the following segments:

    * External Analysis
    * Internal Assessment
    * Functional Strategy and Program Development

Growth Strategies in Retail Financial Services

Background

The roaring mortgage market of recent past, fueled by a strong housing market and the US Federal Reserve’s policy of increasing liquidity at an unprecedented rate, has contributed significantly to the profitability of the retail banking industry through the interactions of three factors:

1. Increased lending activity
Increased volume of mortgage lending, refinancing, home equity loans and lines have generated a steady stream of non-interest income for retail banks. Additionally, banks have realized gains on the sale of their mortgage portfolios in secondary markets.

2. Growth of core deposits
Retail banks have also enjoyed a healthy growth in their core deposits. The average annual deposit growth of ~10%, which is high by historical standards, has been fueled by the lack of availability of alternative investment vehicles for consumers who deposit their post-refinancing gains with their local bank.

3. Gains from investing in mortgage-backed securities (MBS)
Weak commercial lending has led banks to invest the money from deposits into mortgage-backed securities to improve their income from investments. Considered as safe as Treasuries but with higher yield, these securities have comprised more than 25% of bank assets in the last couple of years compared to 10% in 1987.

If interest rates were to rise significantly, the housing and mortgage markets would cool and all three factors would be negatively affected: consumer-lending activity would decline, MBS values would drop creating unrealized losses, and deposits would move to higher yielding investments with other financial institutions.



The retail banking institutions have to determine how they will sustain income and profit growth given the prospect of increased rates. These firms need to develop and implement strategies for securing profitable revenues while mitigating potential losses. In this article we examine some of the key issues and challenges in developing growth strategies in a rising interest rate environment.



Understanding the Drivers of Your Bank or Credit Union’s Economic Engine

The first step in formulating growth strategies requires developing an understanding of how retail consumers drive the economic engine of bank profits. Fundamentally, retail consumers drive profits through their deposit activity and non-interest income or fee-based activities at the branch level. Deposits provide liquidity at a much lower cost than what may be available through borrowing, and this lower cost of funds yields higher profits. Every depositor also acts as a potential source of non-interest income and as a target for cross-selling opportunities. It is often much easier and more cost effective to sell car loans and other lending products to consumers who are already in the habit of depositing their money at a particular institution.



Developing Growth Strategies

Given the significant role that depositors play in driving banking profits, we cannot develop growth strategies without considering how the retail banking institution intends to identify, attract and retain depositors. This is a fundamental question that needs to be answered before a successful growth strategy can be developed. As in any other retail business, the key is finding and keeping the right customers.



Much in the same way that Old Navy, GAP, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus or other successful retailers have a clear vision of who they cater to and what is their differentiated value proposition, retail banks have to be clear as to who they wish to serve and how. In most cases, banks and credit unions have a retail model and supporting organization in place. The challenge is either to identify the population with the highest level of affinity for the existing retail model or to develop a new retail model designed to meet the needs of the target population in a differentiated fashion.



Step one of the process of developing growth strategies is to determine whether you need a new retail model or not. You can do so by measuring the year-on-year core deposit growth and non-interest income measured at the branch level much the same way that retailers measure same-store sales over time. If you have experienced sustained growth in your branches’ core deposits for two or more years, then you do not need to develop a new model or repair the existing one. You can begin the process of identifying the right customers. Otherwise you have to address the deficiencies in your model. In some cases this may entail reassessing the target population as well as your ability to create and deliver a differentiated retail product with a unique value proposition.



Step two entails identifying the customer population with the most affinity for your retail model as well as the most proclivity to purchase. In what population segments do you achieve the greatest fit between the value proposition offered by your retail model and the needs and preferences of the population? Where is this population located in your target geography? What is the competitive intensity in this segment? Ideally you want to target a segment with a high propensity to purchase and low competitive intensity. Once you have identified your target customer type and their characteristics, you need to concentrate your organizational resources in developing a compelling message and delivering it to the target population effectively and efficiently.



Having completed steps one and two, you are now ready to replicate your retail model by creating points of presence/retail outlets across your target geography. Properly designed, your branching model allows you to reach out to your target segments in select areas where you can maximize the contrast effect relative to your competitors.

Figure 1 – Strategic Direction and Supporting Functional Strategies

Conclusion

By following a systematic process of assessing your retail model and its market potential, you can answer key foundational questions in formulating your growth strategy: What markets should we target? In which segments has our retail model been most successful? Which competitors should we compete against? What is our differentiated value proposition? Once you have articulated your organization’s growth strategy and created alignment around it, you can develop supporting functional strategies for IT, HR, Marketing, Community Relations, Product Strategies (deposits, lending, pricing, new products), and Business Services and Operations. At the end of this process of strategic discovery, you will not only have identified the strategies to sustain your organization’s growth by concentrating your efforts and resources on the most attractive customer segments, but also the means to execute your chosen strategy.