By James Atkinson
Independent Brands Australia (IBA) has achieved its number two position in liquor retail in spite of inferior consumer awareness of its retail banners, which CEO Scott Marshall (pictured) has identified as a major opportunity for the group.
Marshall told delegates at the IBA Trade Workshop in Queensland that research commissioned by the company surveyed 2100 consumers for their unprompted brand awareness of IBA brands.
The research found that six out of ten consumers knew of The Bottle-O, seven out of ten knew IGA Liquor and three out of four people knew Cellarbrations.
This compared with 92 per cent awareness among the same consumers of the leading brand, Dan Murphy's.
"We haven't cracked 80 per cent unprompted brand awareness. It's a big opportunity for us to continue to build and grow that," Marshall said.
"We've got to drive foot traffic to your stores."
Marshall said consideration of IBA brands was very low, when consumers are actively deciding which brand they will shop with.
"Dan Murphy's over-indexes here significantly, but the reality is they don't all go to Dan's. We know they're shopping in our stores because we're growing," he said.
"So there's a huge opportunity for us to get our marketing focused on the consumer, targeted to the occasion."
"We know from the research that most of the occasions are people shopping locally – they don't want to travel more than 12 minutes."
Marshall said IBA is working on a smart phone application featuring a coffee card-style loyalty program that will operate across all banner groups.
The app will have an umbrella brand with a 'shop local' concept, with the ability to send targeted offers and instant rewards to consumers.
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