From supplier synergy to digital POSM: Why retail brands need transparency in marketing

What is transparency in marketing for retail brands?

Transparency in marketing for retail brands means creating a clear process for communication across workflows and delivering authentic messaging to consumers. When transparency is unlocked, retail brands can provide customers and partners with clarity along the marketing process to ensure everyone is aligned and connected at each stage of the journey. Additionally, technology that connects all retail touchpoints (whether social, ecommerce, or in-store), can provide transparency across a brand’s channel network. Retail brands can leverage transparency across the marketing process to improve workflow, relationships with consumers, and, ultimately, sales.

What are the benefits of transparency in marketing for retail brands?

Each layer of transparency within the retail marketing ecosystem can be enabled to drive different benefits for brands:

Building a loyalty loop

First and foremost, transparency within the marketing process builds trust with consumers by enabling consistency across all brand touchpoints. By aligning messaging and pricing across all channels, whether in-store or online, consumers have a clear understanding of the brand’s identity and intentions. For example, digital POSM that is connected to a wider network can enable fast and accurate updates to customer-facing displays, avoiding misguided discrepancies.

Critically, transparency is essential when handling customer, internal, or supplier data. Not only should data handling be compliant, but being transparent with customer data is essential for building trust. Brands should ensure they communicate clearly how and why data is collected and how it is used.

Digital POSMs can be an excellent tool for collecting first-party consumer data through interactive displays which could host loyalty programs or surveys. As trust increases between brand and consumer, the consumer is more likely to be comfortable sharing personal data. With more data-driven insights, brands can create more personalized, targeted retail campaigns, which in turn drives more trust and builds a loyalty loop.

Better user experience

A transparent retail marketing process allows for more consistency across channels, as the lines of communication between siloed departments are strengthened. All retail channels, whether ecommerce, social media, or in-store, should be aligned. Working with multiple different partners can be a challenge and a clear workflow between different teams helps to achieve a higher quality of output, leading to better outcomes.

To compete, brands should be focusing on the overall retail experience, rather than pockets of content across different touchpoints. Retail brands should be evolving the brand experience from omnichannel to omnipresence. “75% of marketers agree that every touchpoint can and must tell the brand story – from comms to commerce” which can only be achieved through transparency and consistency across all touchpoints. An omnipresent marketing campaign can drive impact, deliver an immersive experience, and foster a sense of affinity for the brand when executed correctly. In-store marketing materials, POSM and banners, as well as OOH campaigns, should mirror the overall digital ecommerce experience and be enhanced by targeted social media campaigns, driving customer engagement and interaction. Every touchpoint should be connected, creating a seamless multi-channel experience that immerses the customer. A more authentic experience also promotes a more connected relationship between brand and consumer.

Faster to market

Transparency in marketing is not limited to brand to consumer interactions. For retail brands, transparency between all stakeholders in the marketing process is essential.

A brief can be a vital tool in delivering transparency between teams.  Whether the retail marketing structure consists of an in-house team or an agency partner hybrid, a transparent brief can ensure content is delivered with efficiency and consistency. Whether it’s an instore banner or an ecommerce digital asset, each retail marketing material can pass through multiple hands before the final asset is approved. Transparency within the briefing or sourcing process leads to more efficient outcomes, ensuring retail campaigns and marketing materials reach the shelves more efficiently, which means reaching the consumer faster.

Cost savings

A more efficient, transparent process means better synergy with teammates and suppliers. Disruptions to the marketing process can be costly with mistakes setting timelines and expenses back. Even from a creation production perspective, transparency between creatives and strategists through briefs can avoid unnecessary and costly revisions of creative assets.

Having integrated tech that allows you to leverage data is an important piece of the transparency puzzle. Data can be leveraged to provide more visibility at every stage of the process. Transparency across the supply chain also enables brands to understand where costs are being over or underspent, enabling them to invest wisely and streamline savings.

Purpose-led performance unlocked by efficiency

By optimizing workflow through transparency, ultimately brands can channel their energy into more purposeful pursuits. Using workflow data to enable better visibility, retail brands can optimize workload schedules to free up time. Whether that’s championing sustainability or pouring more into other aspects of the business, transparency can enable teams to spend their resources on the things that matter.

Equally, transparency in messaging gives consumers a more authentic insight into the brand’s ethos and core values. This is especially important for sustainability initiatives, with deeper insights into brand action preventing greenwashing allegations and building consumer trust.

How do retail brands achieve transparency in marketing?

Transparency in marketing has clear benefits for retail brands. However, achieving transparency across the entire production process, and beyond to consumer interactions, can be a huge challenge for brands. From implementing automation workflow technology to understanding the right digital POSM for your shop floor, there are many different levers that brands can pull to unlock transparency. Having the right combination is key to maintaining brand authenticity whilst implementing change.

Overall, transparency requires brand consistency from the internal process, workflows, and supplier partnerships, right through into external consumer messaging. Working with a partner or brand guardian can help to connect the dots between all the channels and all the suppliers. An end-to-end model for content production or retail activation with a single partner across the entire ecosystem can simplify the retail marketing process and enable transparency at every stage.

To learn more about how Tag can elevate your retail brand, contact us here.