Shopper Marketing: Profiting from the Place Where Suppliers, Brand Manufacturers, and Retailers Connect

8. Measurement

Measurement in the world of shopper marketing has been a hot button issue full of debate and consternation for years. The basic problem is an age-old one that extends even further back than shopper marketing—how to measure the effectiveness of marketing expenditures.

Marketers always like to claim that their advertising expenditures, promotional campaigns, and investments in sales calls result in immediate or nearly immediate sales lift and contribute toward long-term brand equity building. In short, everyone wants a valid return on his investments.

The problem is that multiple variables get in the way. The first variable is time. The longer the time lag between exposure to some form of marketing communication and actual purchase ...