Survival strategies

The Trade Marketing Klub’s all-day online conference generated a lot of interest, more than 200 people registered in advance on the announcement website. The highly successful event was organized again this year on the Thursday closest to Valentine’s Day. The title is inspired by the difficult and varied second half of 2022 and economic forecasts for 2023.

Shoppers and changes

Zsuzsanna Hermann, one of the founders of TMK, welcomed the participants and summarized the content and technical information. Ágnes Csiby, the other founder of TMK, drew attention to the possibility of support and the next event of the Klub.

Péter Németh, PhD, professor at PTE, head of the CoRe lab presented in his introductory presentation “Are omnichannel customers more valuable?” the characteristics of customers who use multiple channels. Based on his own research, he also covered Hungarian characteristics. The answer to the question posed in the title was a clear yes, since such a customer spends more and more often, is more loyal and stays with a retailer or brand longer than the average customer or customers who prefer only 1-2 channels.

Ágnes Kovács, marketing and innovation director of Eckes-Granini, signed in from Germany. From her presentation entitled “Resilience, the dynamics of crisis and innovation”, it became clear that the same symptoms of crisis appear everywhere, in slightly different shades. Problems bring change, which brings opportunities, which is worth focusing on. Among other things, value creation, brand building, the agile approach, quick decisions, emotional offers ensure the retention of demand and long-term success.

György Földesi, Binzagr’s vice president of sales and operations, has been working in Saudi Arabia for 11 years. His presentation tittled “Out of the box – Sometimes it helps to have a little perspective”, overturned prejudices and painted a fresh, young, renewing, fun and kind Gulf country that is livable for women as well. Within the framework of the “Transformation Program” introduced in 2016, the emphasis is consciously placed on the development of the domestic workforce, purchasing power, market and industry.

More than digital

Zoltán Tóth, one of the owners of DigInStore Trafik Tv, the sponsor of the day, highlighted the importance of commercial media and its role in brand building and traffic stimulation in his presentation entitled “Digital Signage – multifunctional instore communication”. In addition to presenting the tobacco industry and trade specifics, he emphasized the results of their eye camera research, based on which he also offered an exclusive offer to the conference participants, ensuring exclusivity until the end of the month.

Kirill Perepelica, co-founder of Munch, drew the attention of the participants to (B)eat Food Waste! Saving food as the best antidote to food waste is the main mission of the app. In 2.5 years, it achieved great recognition and popularity in Hungary, both on the Horeca and Retail side. In addition to the inspiring insight, conference participants also received a unique offer, a 10% discount, to help them try half-price surprise packages.

StarStore winners

Ildikó Balázs, director of Auchan’s corporate relations, presented a series of often pioneering steps taken by the large commercial company in her presentation entitled “Together towards a more sustainable future”. The concrete actions covered a wide spectrum, starting with the education and involvement of customers and employees, the creation of the assortment, the making available of local products, and even plastic-free packaging.

Ádám Fürjes, online manager of Rossmann, explained in his presentation entitled “Survival techniques the Rossmann way” that in recent years they have tried to reduce the exposure caused by external dependencies. They took over the delivery and even part of the development in order to reduce the reaction time. The supply of the countryside was also targeted. They are also experimenting with drones. They launched the respray machine, the world’s first refillable deodorant machine, and they are preparing even more novelties.

Nóra Merész, the sales manager of Drink Station, winner of the Store of the Year 2022, presented the specialist store of their family business, which distributes premium alcoholic products from Hungary and abroad in her presentation entitled “A quality stop in the limitless range of drinks”. The designer sales space and the cross-border inventory serve a wide range of professional and consumer needs. This year is characterized by dedicated, qualified employees, an expanding range of activities, a regular customer system, starting workshops and a brand-based campaign.

Outlook

Gabriella Tánczos-Székely, the operational manager of the Cafe Frei network, presented “What makes Café Frei successful?”. The coffee chain, which has been operating for 15 years, is present with franchise partners, a foreign presence, a coffee portfolio in retail and a joint latte with Cserpes. One of the stages of their continuous innovation is their soon-to-be-reopened flagship store in the Allée. In connection with the previously given Munch presentation, it was said that food rescue cooperation is being tested in 4 cafes in the name of sustainability and cost reduction.

Ildikó Havasiné Kátai, general secretary of POPAI Hungary and founder of TMK, reviewed the world trends of trade marketing in her concluding presentation. In addition to the rise of Retai Media which was already mentioned in connection with Trafik Tv, the spread of hybrid or omichannel purchases, the revolutionary role of technology, and the importance of sales floor experiences, she also covered the areas of the multiverse, artificial intelligence, innovation and responsibility.

The next event of the Trade Marketing Klub will be the online meeting “Market researchers at first hand” on April 13. This will be followed by the Trade magazin Promotion Competition conference on April 27, where the opening lecture will be given by Péter Geszti.

You can read more about the presentations in the next issue of Trade magazin.