Beiersdorf: Embracing commonalities, following shopper intuition

Marketers constantly “push” customers into sub-segments. And occasionally they forget to step back and find the commonalities to which they can appeal. “These are often the emotional or aspirational commonalities, as well as the benefits and needs,” said Delfina Cinco, director of marketing at Beiersdorf.

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With this in mind, Beiersdorf has been focusing on the benefits piece across the Eucerin brand. On the body care products front, this means relief from eczema, as well as from itchiness and dryness of the skin; the advantages of daily moisture and SPF come into play, too. Defense against signs of aging, along with redness relief and SPF, are the benefits espoused for the brand’s facial care component.



“Feel the difference is the new activation we’ve just brought to life, and it’s about incorporating women to tell their story about how our products have helped them improve their skin,” Cinco noted. “We’re reaching out to incorporate women’s voices in our campaign.”



Beiersdorf leverages social media to introduce consumers — and engage existing customers — to each of its brands. The main objective: continue to grow the conversations and levels of interaction. Its strategy: sharing relevant skin care tips, “healthy lifestyle” posts and information about interesting ways to use its products for skin care, beauty and grooming. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr are harnessed not only to start and continue conversations and expose consumers to Beiersdorf products, but also — as Cinco explained — to promote benefits and stories. It also is helping the company gain a deeper understanding of customers and their needs.



A recent @Eucerin Twitter post, for example, asked followers whether they knew that hot water can strip the skin of natural oils — and solicited consumers’ skin care tips and tricks for beating the cold weather blues — with a link back to the Eucerin skin care page. Another tweet led off with two questions about moisturizing, “When do you moisturize?” and “Did you know that the time of day can make a big difference on the result?” with a link back to a “Smart Skin Series” Web page, where Dr. Mehmet Oz offered a video explanation of why moisturizing at different times of the day yields varying outcomes and what consumers should do to maximize the desired outcome of moisturizer use.



To help retailers better serve the needs of emerging consumers in the New General Market, “we invest a great deal in understanding the science of skin, but we often forget that this (science) has value to our customers, too,” Cinco said. “That’s why we’re currently developing a platform by which we can bring insights to life to inspire our customers.”



Cinco noted that it is very possible for retailers to revamp their stores to reflect the growth of the New General Market, without causing customers to become frustrated by any new layouts. To do so, she said, retailers must become less internally focused on objectives, so that they may avoid losing sight of the fact that improving the shopper experience was the purpose of making the change in the first place.



“Follow the intuition of your shopper,” she advised. “Stepping back along the way to assess what is motivating a decision — including a decision to revamp stores — is invaluable” to creating the desired impact of that change. “In the New General Market, understanding the shopper and the type of experience he or she wants to have in-store will be critical to success,” she concluded. “We need to keep our eyes and our plans focused on delivering that experience and embracing commonalities — not on using demographics to forget about them.”