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Dettol Specific Media Reckitt Benkiser

Here's how Reckitt Benckiser uses offline shopper data to step up its digital game

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By Seb Joseph, News editor

May 27, 2015 | 4 min read

Reckitt Benckiser is creating scalable audience segments based on data on what consumers buy in-store and at which retailer, allowing it to move beyond broad stroke demographic targeting and reach consumers with a level of precision that wasn’t previously possible.

The company, like many of its peers, has struggled to push its products online effectively due to the reality that consumers spend only a fraction of their time with its brands in these channels. Unsurprisingly, people don’t search for disinfectant and so by applying offline purchase behaviour indicators to its campaigns the business can now reach those who are more likely to make a purchase.

This rush to accumulate real world data is being done in partnership with Specific Media in a bid to lift return on investment from its media placements. It does not cost a company like Reckitt Benckiser much to experiment in this way and means it can capture insights that could fuel future personalistion and marketing efforts.

Wastage of impressions is a key bugbear for FMCG companies, particularly in a market where online retailers typically control the customer relationship. What Reckitt Benckiser wants to achieve is an approach whereby it reaches the right people with every impression. Time will tell whether it hits this lofty goal though early tests prove hopeful.

Dettol’s Christmas campaign in 2014 was tasked with reaching households that were X Factor viewers but also frequent purchasers of the disinfectant or similar brands. Typically, the approach here would have been to identify people who are reading X Factor content online and then overlay some broad demographic targeting to remove non-core purchasing age and gender. The issue with this method is that many of those reached will not be purchasers of those products or even influencers.

Instead, Reckitt Benckiser used Specific Media’s TV Audience and Shopper Access data to sharpen the targeting for Dettol’s campaign, isolating individual households that were heavy X Factor viewers and heavy in-store purchasers of Dettol and its competitors to get one step closer to its true target audience. Once the company does that, it can leverage frequency and creative messaging to drive the desired result be it in-store sales or a lift in awareness.

The strategy is indicative of Reckitt Benckiser’s wider view on marketing, which is harder and less emotional than some of its rivals. Rather than be driven by the latest technology or what’s on trend, its brand strategies are more grounded in data and the right processes.

Data is only part of the story as none of this works in isolation. The business is betting bigger on emerging platforms and technology such as mobile and programmatic in the belief it can shift behaviours rather than solely be led by the need to slash CPMs. For example, Reckitt Benckiser’s global deal with Facebook, which is more than two years old, has allowed it to reach 65 per cent of its target audience as well as exploit the growth of mobile.

The company’s bid for tighter targeting will likely accelerate its foray into online sales. Reckitt Benckiser has only experimented in the space to date though has been keen to stress that its aim is to master e-tailing rather than e-commerce, no doubt mindful of upsetting relationships with retailers should it start selling directly as well as fuelling more wastage around its online media.

Dettol Specific Media Reckitt Benkiser

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