On the second day of conferencing at the 2023 ILG Family Reunion, Scott Gardner, Head of Sales at Daily Press Group, shared a digital marketing update, which delivered new initiatives and shared insights into ILG’s current stance in the digital world.
Speaking about the recent amplification of digital platforms, ILG CEO Paul Esposito explained that members will benefit from the roll out of new digital touch points at no cost to them.
“We continue to invest in digital solutions and e-commerce platforms. To date this has delivered an additional 105,000 orders, which represents $6 million in sales.
“The newly formed digital team has been working on new initiatives such as digital wallets, loyalty programs and designing new banner apps to help boost sales. Our digital wallet is currently in the trial process, and it will be available to all members in early 2024.
“It’s really about understanding where our members need to be when it comes to the electronic platforms.”
Gardener explained that Daily Press has been working with ILG for two years now, supporting the group with the development of its digital platforms and digital marketing strategy. The strategy update covered three main products, the ILG Wallet, ILG TV and ILG Plus.
“If you’re not owning the space on someone’s mobile phone, you’re missing out. This is the most valuable piece of real estate that you can have belonging to your customers,” said Gardner when speaking about ILG Wallet.
The digital ILG Wallet is designed to act as an instant reward program and provide customers with exclusive offers and marketing collateral only available through the app. Gardner encouraged members to get on board with the roll out of the app, explaining that it is paid for by ILG with promotional support.
While the app offers e-commerce services, the main function is to entice customers through the doors of physical stores with dynamic in-store vouchers, and push notifications allowing retailers to communicate offers directly to customers.
For suppliers, ILG Wallet allows for targeted and promotional offers, which will lead to more effective promotion reporting. Where suppliers are able to put discounts in place, ILG has also made the commitment to reimburse members.
Having undergone in-venue testing, the app is about to be rolled out to all Fleet Street banner group venues, with phase two seeing the rollout to Super Cellars and Bottler.
Moving onto ILG TV, Gardner explained that the development of ILG’s TV advertising initiative eliminates hardware while providing members with a digital advertising platform that is easy to control. Now live, ILG TV can be controlled from ILG HQ with group-wide promotions, as well as giving venues the capability to control their own personal advertisements.
The small device plugs into any TV or HDMI socket, going live in under a minute with the ability to be controlled remotely. The key feature of ILG TV is the power to promote new products or offers, in a way that is easy, modern, and personalised.
Finally, Gardner explained that ILG Plus is the last step in simplifying digital marketing for both members and customers.
“ILG Plus will deliver any marketing service you want in under four clicks,” said Gardner. “You will have access to a lot of services, including ILG Studio, social media, messaging services, ILG TV, print portals, merchandising and more, in less than four clicks.”
To support members with their social media literacy, Gardner explained that ILG Plus will also incorporate an AI feature that can generate social media content based on instruction. Coming soon, ILG Plus is expected to roll out in 2024.
“When this is launched, ILG will have the best digital platform of any retail systems in Australia,” added Gardner.