Standing out in store flyers
Store flyers have been deemed outdated for a long time. But they get noticed! 8 out of 10 shoppers check them for weekly grocery offers* turning this medium into an important shopper touchpoint for retailers and manufacturers alike. Typically, store flyers have many pages packed with brand offerings – how can your ad stand out?
A recent study investigates this question in the context of Dutch grocery retailing. In total, the research analysed 384 ads for 44 brands across 11 different categories. The study concludes that the following contextual factors influence the market share impact of a store flyer ad:
- Number and presence of brands on the same page
:
More brands shown on the same page reduces an ad’s impact: Being surrounded by only two other brands instead of four adds 6%-points to ad effectiveness whereas six neighbouring brands instead of 4 reduces ad effectiveness by 6%-points. In addition, the more space a brand gets relative to others on the same page, the better. - Popularity of surrounding brands:
Being surrounded by popular brands boosts sales: If 75% of the neighbouring brands are amongst the top 100 FMCG brands in a country (compared to only 50%), ad effectiveness increases by 4%-points. - Category type:
Being positioned by relatively less utilitarian and relatively more hedonic neighbouring brands boosts ad effectiveness. For example, if you are a yoghurt brand, beer is a better neighbour than toilet paper. - Relative discount depth:
The deeper one’s own discount relative to other same page offers, the better: A 20% own discount vs 10% (30%) of competition increases (decreases) ad effectiveness by 13%-points (8%-points) compared to a situation where all brands are offered with the same discount.
Showing up in store flyers helps – but who you mingle with also matters. If brands can influence story flyer positioning, you now know who to approach and who to avoid.
* Market Track Survey, Q1 2018
Research by: Arjen van Lin, Francesca Sotgiu & Katrijn Gielens (2020). Revamping the Store Circular: Putting it into Context