When marketing campaigns go viral, make sure your sales and supply chains are ready and agile

A top beauty brand recently went viral with a marketing campaign promoting a new innovative mascara. When this occurred, retailers experienced a wide range of stock rates, with several reaching critical out-of-stock rates due to an unexpected uplift in sales and a disruption in the supply chain. Unfortunately, the beauty brand relied only on traditional marketing data, which failed to capture the real-time data measurement, especially in the case of a viral marketing campaign. Since traditional tracking metrics were used to provide a generalization of the data and operated at a slower pace, failing to keep up with the present, a loss of increased sales opportunities occurred. 

Maximizing these opportunities is critical. With real-time, precise data, marketing campaigns can run concurrently with stock rates and better align marketing and sales goals, reducing media waste and spending. This allows for the opportunity to reposition marketing spend towards retailers with in-stock rates while replenishment can occur in OOS locations. 

Greater collaboration between manufacturers and retailers is possible at increased speed

Sales soar when a marketing campaign experiences success and goes viral; however, product availability can differ widely across retailers. There may be significant gaps in availability across retailers where OOS rates may rise for weeks for some while others recover from low stock faster. Still, others can be less affected by OOS, having enough products to service the demand growth. The variability between retailers across locations is diverse. 

With real-time data and accurate insights, greater collaboration between manufacturers and retailers is possible at increased speeds. It will no longer take weeks to reduce OOS; with real-time data, retailers can prepare before campaigns go live and adjust quickly during campaigns in areas where demand rises. 

Precision and timeliness make all the difference in campaign success

OOS rates can have a direct impact on revenue earned. Precise and timely identification of challenges can be the difference between a campaign’s success or failure. Granular-level data provides complete location-based insights, offering precise data so OOS rates can be forecasted and planned for accordingly. 

In the case of the NIQ-analyzed beauty brand, which relied on traditional marketing data, the mascara campaign resulted in a potential loss of $100k during the weeks of high OOS after it went viral. This is at only 1 retailer with only 1 product line — imagine the impact this could have on a national level.   

Drill in further to a stock-keeping unit (SKU) level and identify specific variants where replenishment is needed. For example, NIQ data identified that variants such as Black Brown and Blackest Black were the most negatively impacted by long-lasting OOS rates. The ability to precisely view SKU-level information allows brands to adjust marketing campaigns to reflect in-stock SKUs while replenishment occurs for out-of-stock SKUs. 

Optimize media campaigns with location-based accuracy

Accurate, location-based measurement informs precise execution to optimize campaigns. Avoid the potential of a high loss percentage in campaign investment when location-based accurate data is available. 

Across retail distribution, product OOS rates can vary widely between locations and depend on the market distribution predictions established using sample data and generalizations to calculate. Unfortunately, this type of data could result in inaccurate campaign effectiveness.  

Do you know your stock rates across all retailers? With target-specific data, inaccuracies are reduced by precisely identifying retail locations on a granular level. This provides authentic and accurate stock rates, including OOS rate percentages, allowing for faster replenishment of actual needs exactly where needed. 

There is a correlation between search ranking and location

Search ranking varies widely across e-retailer locations. There is no denying that search ranking and availability are correlated — a well-stocked product is likely to rank high in search, and vice versa. If high OOS rates are present in various locations, then its search ranking will be negatively impacted at those locations as well. Sample-based data cannot accurately provide the data needed to gauge search ranking status and location availability. 

Do you know where your campaign products rank when customers search? With accurate location-based search ranking data, you will know precisely where your brand ranks at every location and be able to adjust stocks accordingly. Ranking higher in searches across all locations results in increased views and a higher sales rate. 

Act quickly and immediately with data-driven decisions

Early performance metrics can save thousands of dollars in the long run. With the correct data, you can see what is happening in real-time so that you can act immediately — and your every decision will be data-driven. With real-time data, visibility into out-of-stock rates with search discoverability at every e-store is possible. NIQ’s Data Impact solution provides granular-level data at the SKU level across every retailer. Data is presented in an organized, easy-to-read capacity right at your fingertips so that you know exactly what you need to do to course-correct quickly.

The same beauty brand NIQ analyzed also ran a campaign for 1 of their bronzers. In this case, they used insights from Data Impact. By using these real-time, accurate metrics, they quickly saw a 54% OOS rate for that product and were able to pivot and pause their campaign to allow for restocking.

By analyzing this data, they identified 2,577 retailer locations with a 54% or more OOS measurement. With accurate insights in hand, they knew exactly where to pause their campaign, focus on restocking their supply, and then later turn their campaign back on once replenishment needs in the identified retailer locations occurred.

Acting quickly with this granular information helped the beauty brand avoid wasting money on campaigns in locations where OOS rates were high, allowing for fulfillment to occur in precisely the areas where restocking was needed, and fulfillment could happen in real time.

Multi-faceted, precise, and accurate data is critical to a campaign’s success

With the complexities of the beauty industry, a multi-sourced solution with actionable insights is necessary. Online and offline channels are working hand-in-hand across all industries. NIQ provides an end-to-end Omnisolution — from shoppers to channels to the digital shelf; NIQ has you covered. Improve collaborations, stay ahead of emerging trends, and strengthen your digital shelf to beat out competitors.