Recently, a leading brewer was invited to demonstrate how they could re-vitalise the Beers, Wines and Spirits aisle in one of the top 4 UK retailers. Such an invitation is rare these days, so given the opportunity, they executed a thorough review of the BWS category, gaining key insights into the current aisle layout’s performance. These insights led the brewer to recommend several in-store innovations which, when fully implemented, would potentially generate some £105 million of extra revenue for the retailer.
The category was heavily driven by promotion, but the placement of these promotions, on stacks outside of the aisle, meant that footfall down the aisle was limited – with less than 50% of beer shoppers actually purchasing beer in the BWS aisle. The brewer believed that bringing the promotions right into the aisle and also improving the category’s segmentation, would create a big win for the supermarket. But how could they grab the retailer’s attention and prove their strategy?
Well, they came to Fifth Dimension for help! By creating a virtual beer aisle, bespoke to the supermarket, with clear, accurate planograms showing the ‘before’ and ‘after’ segmentation, the brewer was able to visualise their proposed changes in a creative, impactful and innovative way.
The movie formed an integral part of a larger presentation describing their vision for the category. The brewer was delighted with the end result. The movie really pulled together their key messages in a way that traditional PowerPoint just couldn’t achieve.
Suffice to say that, according to the brewer, the retailer was also ‘blown away’ with the results. Seeing the proposed fixture ‘come to life’ in an animated movie really brought home the potential for the store. Persuaded by the successful presentation, the retailer had no hesitation in trialling the category recommendations in a test store.
Following the huge success of this trial, the retailer’s now rolling out the brewer’s strategy into 300 stores, nationwide. A true testament, not only to the expertise of the brewer’s category management and insights teams, but also proving that high quality visualisations are vital to the successful communication of complex in-store innovations; providing clarity, eliminating ambiguity, maximising understanding and, ultimately, strengthening the relationship between the manufacturer and retailer.
