May 30, 2023

Stratably hosted Chris Marantette from Netrush to share his perspective on the concept of consumer brands turning their products into platforms. This unlocks unique opportunities to grow direct relationships with their most valuable consumers and enhance relationships with strategic retail customers.

Watch The Recording Here

Here’s what we found most interesting:

1. Customer centricity: It’s important for brands to identify their most loyal, highest lifetime value customers and refuse to accept the notion of an “average customer”. This understanding then trickles down into which shoppers are targeted, what price is worth paying to acquire them, and the strategies and tactics to retain them.
2. Competitive shelves: Digital shelves are as competitive or more competitive than in-store shelves. NFC technology paired with smart capabilities like trial, purchase capability, and gift-ability can help move products onto a digital shelf of “one”, minimizing high acquisition and retention costs.
3. Omnichannel view: Retailers are continuously demanding brands approach them from an omnichannel perspective. For many, that means focusing on developing great digital content and investing in retail media and analytics offerings, but it does not include unique retailer-specific digital capabilities. Since products with NFC tags can be linked to the retailer channel they are sold through, brands can then create retailer-specific digital programming, such as education or offers exclusive to customers that bought through that retailer.
4. First party data value: Most consumer brands are progressively getting better at collecting first-party data, but harvesting value from that data is proving challenging. Thinking about products as a platform can help with this by turning that direct relationship into a usable way to grow sales, improve retention, nudge referrals and so on.
5. Experimenting with placement: In the vitamin and supplements category, many brands put their QR code on the side of the bottle. Netrush is experimenting with moving NFCs to the top as a way to ensure the consumer sees it each day and thus improve conversion.
6. Passive CTAs: Brands should focus on active calls to action when utilizing QR codes or NFC-powered activations as it is otherwise a missed opportunity. Netrush is experimenting with unique elements like trials, exclusives, deals or even entertaining digital content to reward customers that engage with the technology.

Watch The Recording Here