Summit Spotlight: What Are the Latest Factors Energizing the Consumer Experience?

"A lot of our brand strategy is how can we make our humans laugh on a daily basis — not necessarily leading with sales right out of the gate." — Natalie Cotter, Senior Director of Digital Retail, Liquid Death

Consumers have higher expectations than ever before. They want an immersive experience, effortless discovery, convenience, and product content that helps them make the most informed buying decisions.

Brands must do everything within their power to meet these expectations. Many marketing leaders are successfully navigating these challenges — including Chelsey Alexander of Bayer Consumer Health, Natalie Cotter of Liquid Death Mountain Water, and Whitney Price of Mars Petcare.

These industry experts shared their insights on emerging shopper trends during a recent panel at the 2024 Digital Shelf Summit: "Exploring What’s New in the Digital Shopper Landscape and Energizing the Consumer Experience."

Hosted by the Digital Shelf Institute (DSI) and Salsify, the Digital Shelf Summit brought ecommerce and IT leaders together from across the country to share actionable execution strategies and systems that drive profitable, digital-first omnichannel success.

Here’s what Alexander, Cotter, and Price had to say about how brands can captivate and invigorate consumers in this new age of the shopper. 

How Shoppers Are Changing

Shopper behavior has shifted significantly in the last few years, mostly driven by new digital channels and platforms such as marketplaces and TikTok Shop.

"For us, in terms of how we're trying to meet the consumer where they are, it’s wherever they’re willing to make a purchase, which is just more surfaces these days." — Chelsey Alexander, VP of New and Emerging Digital Platforms, Bayer Consumer Health

Liquid Death and Mars Petcare are focused on emotionally connecting with their audience.

Cotter says entertainment is a huge part of Liquid Death’s DNA. With product names like "Rest In Peach," the beverage company’s marketing is anything but boring. The brand even leverages criticism as a marketing opportunity. In 2020, it used negative reviews to create a Spotify album called "Greatest Hates."

"A lot of our brand strategy is how can we make our humans laugh on a daily basis — not necessarily leading with sales right out of the gate," Cotter says.

Mars Petcare operates in a highly emotional category. To put it simply, people love their pets. Over the last 20 years, more public and shared spaces — from backyards to boardrooms — now welcome these beloved companions.

To respond to these changes, Price says Mars Petcare is focused on "really identifying ways to create that emotional connection, while at the same time making sure that our products are showing up as effectively as we possibly can across all of the different touchpoints."

Igniting Innovation, Creating a Culture of Experimentation

Bayer, Liquid Death, and Mars Petcare all have embraced a culture of experimentation to unlock innovation.

Mars Petcare has ramped up social selling and has adopted a “fail fast” mentality, Price says. The brand has begun to use artificial intelligence (AI) for enhanced content and sentiment analysis to ensure shoppers get the best experience and have a positive view of the brand.

Bayer has focused on optimizing marketplace and social commerce platforms and improving last-mile delivery.

"There's a general low cost to entry … To actually get something set up and sold on some of these platforms," Alexander says. "So, that's absolutely something that's exciting and something that's going well."

The one drawback, she adds, is that there’s also more competition on these platforms for consumers’ attention and not yet an optimal way to measure effectiveness.

"There's healthy skepticism on can you consistently and efficiently drive demand on these sorts of 'Wild Wild West' platforms?" she says.

Cotter says digital media is a huge testing ground for Liquid Death. It has concentrated on optimizing its media mix on Amazon, Walmart, and Target, and emerging platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

"One thing we do at Liquid Death is focus on how can we optimize our ad dollars, and instead of siloing them into digital media, social spend, or different, very siloed buckets, we look at our investment strategy very holistically to understand how we [can] optimize the return on investment for our needs as a business," Cotter says. 

Building Buy-In

All three brands have optimized their ecommerce execution thanks to executive support and organizational buy-in.

Liquid Death’s CEO is all in when it comes to digital. Price says Mars Petcare’s president, Alanna McDonald, is a huge champion of digital and leads her team with that vision. At Bayer, there’s a lot of excitement about "collapsing the funnel" to quickly go from content to commerce and convert consumers, Alexander says.

Alexander adds that Bayer is focused on "capability building" to digitally enable its teams. To accomplish this, the company has focused on cultivating a common language around digital.

"We try to be really intentional about the language that we use with folks so that we can speak the same language and move in the same direction," Alexander says. 

How Brands Can Thrive in This New Shopper Era

As the shopper landscape continues to change, brands must embrace a culture of experimentation and cutting-edge digital strategies to grow their audience and accelerate the path to purchase.

As Alexander, Cotter, and Price illustrate, with thoughtful strategies and execution, brands can meet shoppers where they are and give them an unmatched experience that drives brand loyalty.

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