“That will be sixty-three dollars and forty six cents of your hard earned money please” is what the Digital Nancy at my local grocery store has said to me thus far. I thought wow that was pleasant, she asked me all the right questions, made sure I scanned my coupons, and facilitated smiles where I would otherwise find a snot-nosed teen handing out frowns wishing they were at a keg party. Digital Nancy doesn’t even need a 15 minute break, I LOVE HER! I think the grocery store caught on, so they’ve implemented a tag along Digital Nancy that calculates your shopping and increases your efficiency even before you hit the register. AMAZING! I almost feel like I’m living in the year 2000.

So now you ask yourself why is an integrated marketing services firm talking groceries? Well because the system is flawed and we can increase sales in a grocery store by marketing better. How you say? Well, as I was picking up my finely ground espresso from the foothills of Bogota, Columbia my handheld Digital Nancy prompted with a cash register, “$CHING$” and told me that 8 aisles away the canned oysters were on sale! I thought canned oysters??? Why is it telling me canned oysters are on sale? I thought it was ingenious that Nancy was suggesting anything to me at all, I actually felt kind of special. After about 4 “$CHINGs$” later my mind shut out that sound because the products being suggested were completely irrelevant. The oysters had no bearing on my shopping experience and neither did the corned beef hash and neither did the Meow Mix. Nancy betrayed me! I was upset by this. Not only am I bombarded by 5,000 ads a day somehow or another, but now I am bombarded in my sanctuary, THE GROCERY STORE!

Variable Data and Marketing go hand in hand, we know this. Variable Data Publishing happens across all media and can be applied effectively to this situation. It can also be applied in print, eMail, web, and anything else you may think of, even text messaging! It is essential as a marketer to make touch points across multi-channels that matter to your audience in a more effective way; a way that can be measured accurately, so that you know that your dollars spent are returned with customer loyalty, prospect conversion, and boosted profits. Why then has it not been applied to make this Digital Nancy more efficient? I don’t know. Shouldn’t my handheld know my name? Shouldn’t my positioning in the store determine what “$CHING$” come up? Shouldn’t my past purchasing habits be considered in what products are featured on my handheld? YES IT SHOULD! Because making my shopping experience more personal is going to earn my loyalty quicker and longer. If Digital Nancy suggested a competitor’s product that was just as good a quality with much the same ingredients at a discounted price, I would be so appreciative. What if digital Nancy actually told me that Cheerios were on sale as I picked up the Fruity Pebbles? I might actually purchase the sale item that the grocer is going to receive a kickback from. It works for the grocer and it works for me, what a deal! Maybe it’s a little bit to Minority Report for most, and I understand that some would rather walk in and walk out of a grocery store. But for me, whom I consider an average super market shopper, it is ingenious and should live up to my expectations.

Please smarten up Mr. Grocer, we would love to see that you not only care about what we think, but it may actually make you a couple extra bucks in the end! Please call me Mr. Grocer, I want your business, and can make everyone’s shopping experience a better more effective, more measurable experience. Let’s make your data work for you.

Too-da-loo see ya in a few.