Mia Fileman 0:05
Life's too short for crap marketing. The Got Marketing? Podcast is for marketers, business owners and entrepreneurs who want marketing that's fun, accessible and meaningful. Join me, Mia Fileman for inspired chats with my favorite marketing insiders about marketing that works, campaigns that inspire and the fads, fakery and false prophets to avoid.
Mia Fileman 0:30
Hello, friend, and welcome to Got Marketing. Today's episode follows on from a recent episode on fast moving consumer goods. Today, however, we're going to talk about how to get your product ranged on retail shelves in major retailers.
Tanya Boots 0:49
You build a brand, you think: I want to be in big supermarkets. You need to be ready, and you need to know what you're getting yourself in for, and this is the bit that I talked about a lot: be careful what you wish for. If you're not ready, there is literally no tolerance.
Mia Fileman 1:04
That was Tanya Boots, a seasoned expert in Category Management with over 20 years of experience. Tanya has worked with multinational clients like PepsiCo, Blackmores, and started her journey in consumer insights, later venturing into buying industrial goods for a major B2B retailer, and then heading back to the supplier side as Head of Category and Shopper Marketing. Welcome to the show, Tanya!
Tanya Boots 1:31
Hello, Mia. It's lovely to be here. Thank you.
Mia Fileman 1:34
Thank you so much. So I want to start today by saying that you are actually one of the very, very few people who have successfully pitched to come on the podcast I receive somewhere in the vicinity of about 20 pitches a week, and almost all of them do not meet the criteria for coming onto the show. So can we start there? What did you do, so that others listening, can follow your lead?
Tanya Boots 2:04
Yeah. Oh, that's so good to hear, actually, because my expertise is product pitches, so I'm happy that it worked.
Tanya Boots 2:12
I think yeah, the basics. Starting with a hook. So you know, a really good punchy description in the email headline. Then, I really wanted to demonstrate that I had listened to your podcast, and I talked about the fact that I think I knew your customers. So, I thought I knew that your customers might be looking for more information on how to get ranged in FMCG, and it just seemed, I think, as ex-FMCG people, sometimes we jump into a lingo, we sort of expect that everybody understands what we're talking about. But it's not the case, it is a bit of a different world. So I'm pretty sure I sort of talked about the fact that I think your customers were interested in hearing about this, and then I kept it really to the point and gave you a couple of ideas about what I might talk about. So I hoped, hopefully that was it.
Mia Fileman 3:10
Yeah, it was absolutely perfect. What I really liked about it was that you've referenced a recent episode, but you weren't pitching the same podcast episode, and that's probably one of the major reasons why these podcasts pitches fail. That people say to me, "Oh, I saw you did a podcast on SEO, with Marcus Dunn. I want to talk about SEO!" Well, why would I want to talk about SEO, again, so soon after releasing an episode on SEO, whereas your pitch was like a follow on, or like "okay, now that we understand fast moving consumer goods, how do you actually get ranging in major retailers beyond just grocery?" Because we're also going to talk about pharmacy and other major retailers like KMart and Target. So I think that that's what was really clever about it.
Tanya Boots 3:57
Yeah and actually, now that you mentioned it, I talked about a gap, so perhaps a gap in knowledge. So the biggest advice I give to my clients is wander around the retailer that you want to get ranged in and look for gaps and then find a way to pitch your product that might meet that gap.
Mia Fileman 4:20
I'm so relieved that you said that because there is this very dangerous narrative that is so pervasive online, which is there's enough for everybody. Okay. Collaboration over competition, we don't have to. I don't have competitors. Bullshit. I'm sorry. What world of economics are you living in? I saw today. I'm already on a tangent. Sorry, Tanya. I saw today in a Facebook group, Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine, which I do not like that Facebook group, but anyway. A lady full tears talking about how she is now a statistic. She's two years into her business, and she needs to shut her doors because she just doesn't have enough customers. And so this idea that there is enough for everybody is just so plainly wrong, like with a low level of differentiation, without a gap, without a clear positioning or point of difference, you are literally just throwing on the pile.
Tanya Boots 5:21
Yeah, and this space is just so competitive, and it's so commercial. So you really want to be sure that this is the path you want to take, and you have to be prepared, and you have to be really data-led. So it's a, you know, a very, it's not easy, but definitely worth the rewards if, if that's where you want to go with your business.
Mia Fileman 5:42
Okay, well, let's back up one step, what is the category manager?
Tanya Boots 5:47
So, start with a category. So broadly, a category is just a grouping of like products, and it's generally grouped together based on a consumer need, or a consumer occasion. So when you walk into the supermarket, or a department store, you might see TVs and electronics all together, or you might see chips and multipack chips, etc, all together. So a category is just a grouping of like products.
Tanya Boots 6:15
A category manager, then is someone who's employed to look after that grouping of like products, and they operate it essentially like a small business. So they are accountable for sales, for profitability, for the assortment that they have. Because generally, you know, in a major retailer, it's too big for one person to have a broad look over all products. So this is the best way that they do it is they give a Category Manager, this is on the retailer side, the responsibility of managing that grouping of like products.
Tanya Boots 6:48
So a Category Manager will sit on a retailer side, and they will be responsible for all of that. They're often called a buyer, sometimes they'll slip into that terminology and call them a buyer. Now a Category Manager also sits on a supplier side. And they usually employed in bigger businesses, so global businesses, and they essentially perform the same role, but they've obviously got a leaning into just their specific brands and their specific products. A good category manager and a good category captain will actually have a really broad outlook and will almost work with the retail category manager to come up with category strategy and figure out what's next, where the category is going, where the growth is going to come from.
Mia Fileman 7:32
Oh, amazing. Such a good explanation. Thank you very much. In your intro, we talked about shopper marketing. Can you take us through that?
Tanya Boots 7:39
Yeah, so a little bit different to consumer marketing, in that it's very much about, and I think you and Melissa talked about this, the path to purchase. So what are the touch points that a shopper goes through and sees and does before they make their final purchase. A good way to explain it is thinking about a main grocery buyer for supermarket, which might be a mum, and she might have four people in the household. So she's got four consumers in her household: her husband, two kids. But she's the shopper. So she's going to have a slightly different mindset. And she's going to be incentivized by different things. So shopper marketing is all about, the last point of purchase that point where they actually convert to a sale. So little bit different and a little bit different in messaging. But essentially, it's all about marketing to shoppers.
Mia Fileman 8:31
Yeah, it's so interesting. It's a whole other thing that people don't know exists. And there's heat maps about foot traffic in particular aisles and shopper marketing is the sort of the area that decides where things are going to be laid out in the store. Like when you first walk in, what are you first going to see? Is it the fruit and veg section? Or is it the milk section? Like what's first and then based on foot traffic and everything. It's really fascinating actually.
Tanya Boots 9:04
It is, and it's got a basis in psychology. So you know, shopper Insights is, it's quite scary when you actually come to think of it because you realize as you walk around a store or an environment, why things are where they are and how come they've been put there. Sometimes I'll shop and I'll just be on complete autopilot and I think, "Oh, well that was a waste all that information that they had because I'm literally just grabbing and going. But yeah, there is a science behind it.
Mia Fileman 9:31
Well, all marketing is Psychology driven. One thing I will say is that, I know why they put, at Woolworths, the first thing you see is fruit and veg. But actually from a shopper perspective, it's very impractical, because then you end up having to put things on top of your bananas and on top of your tomatoes and they get squashed. So interesting how like the practicality loses out to you know the the other business decisions that they made to put fruit and veg first.
Tanya Boots 9:59
Yeah, and there's other ones examples like milk, you know, you want to just dive in, get your milk and get out. But the theory being that you need to go past other impulse items. So you might grab more than milk and honestly, who ever comes out with just milk? But there's also the argument that, no, keep shoppers happy and then get them in get them out quickly. So it's, it's ongoing.
Mia Fileman 10:22
Yeah. Okay. All right. So tell us what you do now.
Tanya Boots 10:25
Yes. So I left corporate, well I didn't fully leave, I guess I still do some consulting. But, I left the corporate world about three years ago and started my own business. So I'm now the proud owner of an e-commerce Store and a tea gifting brand called Inspirational Tea Co. We do we do tea gifts, we do tea gift boxes. I think I always wanted to do own business. But I loved in particular, the closeness to customer. So I've enjoyed building a brand, I've got a whole new respect for marketing people. Because it is all a bit split up when you're in corporate, someone else does something else. And yeah, I have been doing that for the last three years. And I've enjoyed, you know, enjoyed every minute of it and building the brand. But what I've just started is recognizing that there's a lot of people out there saying, and I see this in my groups, I'm now the member of a whole bunch of different Facebook groups and whatever else and saying, oh, so how do you get like retail arranging? And I'm like, Oh, I can help. So I have started to build some resources around that in my new venture called Find the Growth.
Mia Fileman 11:35
Amazing. All right, so how do you get retail? Dish! Oh, spill the tea!
Tanya Boots 11:43
Do we start with do you want to? Can we go there? Yes. So I mean, it is for many, it's the dream, right? You know, you start a business, you build a brand. And you think, oh, I want to be in the big supermarkets. You know, it could be any any retailer. But generally one that's got more than one or two stores. But you need to be ready, and you need to know what you're getting yourself in for, and this is the bit that I talked about a lot. You've got to be careful what you wish for. Because if you're not ready, and I mean. There's three main areas to be ready on, and one is supply chain. So there is literally no tolerance for out of stocks. So if you can't do that, and you can't replenish and you can't cope with the volumes, you will probably last one range review cycle. Commercials. So you need to understand that, you know, the retailer will take their margin, then they'll take extra money for warehousing and distribution, they will want help with funding discounts, etc. So you got to make sure you're all fully prepped on that. And then you got to make sure you've got your pitch right. So you, you can actually demonstrate how you add value to the retailer.
Tanya Boots 12:56
So I think yeah, be careful what you wish for don't go at it half heartedly, you might get that sort of one chance to have a go. Understand that there's going to be a bunch of competitors in the same space. But, if you do want to do it, and you tick all those boxes and you're ready, and you've got a proven sales record. And you've perhaps got some customers that you've got data on and you've got something to really give that to the retailer, then the first step is decide how, I guess an operational side of it is how do you get in front of them? Do you need to go online and join up to like, Woolworths has got a partner hub. So you've got to sort of register your details and do that sort of admin side of it.
Tanya Boots 13:47
If it's another retailer, you might need to find the buyer that you need to talk to. So search for the decision maker. This is not always easy. So you can imagine they get a lot of requests, bit like you and your many, many pitches. So you need to potentially leverage you let your networks on that. There's people out there that can help that have those networks. So you can look for them as well but, decide who you pitching to. And then it's just the beginning in terms of research. So you need to get out there and get really clear and spend time in store. Who are they? Who is their shopper? What products do they have? What products don't they have? Go on their website. What's their strategy? Go on, read their stakeholder reports, their shareholder reports. What's their sustainability objectives that they need to meet and your product meets it.
Tanya Boots 14:43
So try and look for the angle, but find out as much as you can about the end customer and also the retailer, and then get ready to write a product pitch.
Mia Fileman 14:57
Such good advice and I think common misconception around major retail arranging is that we get onto the shelves, and then it's a done deal, right? Like, that's where your job just starts and brands that get successfully ranged in major retailers don't realize that the onus and the responsibility is still on them for all the marketing, you know, that is just literally you've rented some space now, but you, you need to make sure that that product flies off the shelf, otherwise, you're gone at the next range review as well.
Tanya Boots 15:31
Yeah. It's probably worth explaining. So range reviews. So around about every six months, and it depends, could be every 12 months, but the retailer will look at the range, look at how it's performing, look at whether it's profitable, and getting the sales it needs, and then change it, potentially. So they'll invite the people who are already on the shelf back, to pitch for their products that may be flagged as "sorry, this is in the departure lounge, what are you going to do about it? What marketing can you do? How can you lift this?" Sampling, all that kind of stuff. And then that's the opportunity also for new customers to come to the table with their products. And often there's something called a range review calendar, which you can find, the Woolworths one is online, you can get dates of when you need to submit your stuff by. And often the big retailers will plan their whole marketing calendars around those dates.
Mia Fileman 16:27
So it sounds pretty intimidating. Why would you want this? What's the upside?
Tanya Boots 16:33
Yeah. I think it's the fastest way to scale your business. As you know. It's the fastest way to get volume. If you think about a store like one of the major supermarkets. Overnight, you're in front, you're in 800 to 900 stores, you're in front of all these people. And it's it's really good to think of it as real estate. I think it's valuable real estate, and you're there. So if you really want serious growth it is, in Australia, it is a great way to get it.
Mia Fileman 17:08
Yeah. Ok, so what are they looking for? What do they want?
Tanya Boots 17:11
Yeah, so. I think they want you to demonstrate how you will add value to them. So I say this a lot. This is what people often do, the mistake people often make, going in and saying, "Hi, I have a product, it's amazing it has..." and they list off the product attributes, "you should range us." Whereas you need to reframe it. So "Hi, I've observed your shoppers, I understand what they need, I've identified a gap. And I have a product that I think will fit that gap and unlock growth". Here's the important part, unlock growth for you. So, you know, in marketing, we talk about pain points. In this scenario, we're thinking about the pain points for the buyer. So they've got pain points, like "I want that end", you know, like you when you go into the supermarket, and there's the half price ends and everything they compete for that. So they want that or they want, they can compete for occasions. So they might be you know, competing chips might compete with biscuits for an entertaining occasion. So they want the products that might get them more shoppers to actually buy from their category rather than somebody else's. So it's all very much comes back to and if you ever writing a product that you ever talking to them, it's how do I add value for the retailer. So that's number one.
Tanya Boots 18:42
And number two, as you know, it's a very commercial conversation. So it's sadly, it's not good enough to say this will increase your sales. You need to demonstrate things like: a proven sales record or your access to customers. That's really valuable. Things like, Mingle Seasonings, I was talking to the founder, Jordyn,
Mia Fileman 19:10
What a great example. Yes!
Tanya Boots 19:13
She had some great tips actually. But she has a big TikTok following. Or the prime drink. So if you can demonstrate that you will bring shoppers to the store because they're unlikely just to buy one thing but at the very least you're bringing shoppers to the store so that can be valuable. Talking to someone on the weekend at good food and wine, I was doing tea and and she was trying to break into the majors and she was clocking data like conversion rates. So of the four people that sampled her product, how many converted to a sale. So that kind of stuff like start gathering that data because you will you will need to sort of prove it and not just they won't just believe you. You need to be really commercial really data lead.
Mia Fileman 19:58
Yeah, there is so much data in this category as I spoke about in that episode about, you know, AC Nielsen has scan track data for every single barcode that is scanned at the POS system that is tracked and that is a made available so these buyers have access to data so they expect that you do too. I really could not agree more with what you said about how to add value from the category. And one thing that I think people should reframe is this idea that really what a Coles buyer is looking for is how to get customers to switch from a Woolworths buyer to a Coles buyer how to get an Aldi buyer to switch from an Aldi buyer to a Coles buyer. So what products, what new SKUs can Coles have that is going to drag customers from Woolworths, from Aldi, from IGAs, from farmers markets, to Coles so that they can then switch. That is really the ballgame. So, a really good example is this Mingle brand, which is seasonings, but with absolutely no nasties. So we know that these like Old El Paso burrito seasonings are full of thickeners, emulsifiers, preservatives, colours, all sorts of things to keep them fresh. So this Mingle brand that has completely revolutionized adding flavor to your dishes without the nasties is a great example of a product that represents the future of what FMCG brands should be doing. You know, it's like it's really following the trends, right.
Tanya Boots 21:32
I was at a talk and she identified a gap. So we keep talking about this gap. So she was doing meal prep, couldn't find what she wanted, that didn't have the nasties in it. So she created it. And in my experience of my small business, that is so often the case. So that's what gives small to medium businesses, the edge I think is that we don't have big brand budgets. And we have to be really clear on the problem that we solve. And we have to have found a gap otherwise, we don't really survive. So yeah, often if you can identify or demonstrate that you've met the gap, and you've got a proven sales record, and you're agile, and it could be as simple as packaging, I've seen really great stuff around say, you know, snacking on the go and somebody comes out with something that just makes it easier. It's not rocket science, it's not a new nut or a new nut mix. It's just a new sort of form of packaging, or it tells shoppers and consumers how to use a product differently. You can be agile, small businesses can be agile, I can get a product to market within six months. But as you know, in bigger business, it takes a lot longer that there's all the paths of signing things off, etc. So that agility, that access to your customer. And that ability to plug a gap that you've already proven is really a positive thing. I think for small business.
Mia Fileman 23:03
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Mia Fileman 23:55
Okay, so now let's talk about how to demonstrate demand, and you mentioned a few options there. Like sampling at markets, or food shows, what else is there to make the case before you go and pitch a major retailer because I think that's the key thing is it's not your first step guys. It's not it's not that it's not where you start, it's where you end.
Tanya Boots 24:18
I think first of all, is identify the need. So be really clear on that and then kind of think about okay, how are all the ways that I am demonstrating that my product fulfills that need? So obviously, you know, sales is one part but growth, conversion rate, usage. So I have a tea business, if I ever went down the path would want to talk about the fact that it's potentially a premiumization option because it's tea gifting. So higher spend per purchase. So my thing to demonstrate there would be how do I prove that it's tea gifting? Well, I have an e commerce Store where one in four products has a different shipping address to a billing address, you know, so and I write gift notes. So little things like that, that you can start to put a number behind, that demonstrate that that exact use that you intended is actually being done. And I think conversion and customer engagement, the lifetime value of your customer and groups that you've got, potentially one of the most powerful things is like a Facebook group that you might have of a tea lovers or stationery lovers. And you can demonstrate quite clearly, you have a direct line to these people, you could ask any kind of market research question, get an immediate response, all that sort of stuff says I can add value. So yeah,
Mia Fileman 25:47
Yeah. From my experience, I think there's a few different pathways that you can take, you can go the E commerce route first. So set up a Shopify store and start to make direct to consumer sales through E commerce. That requires a bit of tech savviness, and a lot of marketing to set up an e commerce store. And then you have Shopify subscriptions, and all of those sorts of things to navigate building a website. The other option that I experienced was to go through a distributor route and get into a minor retailer as opposed to a major retailer. So start with delis or independently owned grocery stores, IGAs, and demonstrate demand in minor retailers and then make the case to get into a major retailer. So there's there's a few different ways to achieve the goal.
Tanya Boots 26:42
Yeah, absolutely. And even just going wholesale, like most of the people in my world have a mix of E commerce and wholesale. So just being able to be in X number of gift shops or clothing stores or baby stores, then that certainly is of value and a great place to start. And I think like you said earlier, it would be very unusual for anyone to succeed in going straight into a major retailer. Not least because so so you don't have anything to bait yet haven't proven sales record necessarily. But also, you should iron out all your supply chain stuff first.
Mia Fileman 27:23
Yeah. Well, like the most recent example I can think of of someone that's made the transition from E commerce into major retail is ZeroCo. They started their Kickstarter campaign, I believe in 2015, or 16. So they have been running as a e commerce direct to consumer brand for that many years before getting major retailer. Now, what's not spoken about is the fact that there are major brands cock blocking them right in that category. So like we're talking Unilever, we're talking Procter and Gamble. These are the two biggest brands in the world. So they have probably put a lot of pressure on the category management to not let ZeroCo in. But they've managed to find a way because pester power of the consumers is there. So then that leads me to the next thing I want to talk to you about, which is the power of brand.
Tanya Boots 28:24
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And I think I mean, you're, you're the expert on this, but from a buyer's point of view, in my experience dealing with buyers, you very much need to go back to that commercial conversation. And you very much need to demonstrate what makes your brand unique and that can be a bit about your founder story and you can employ techniques like storytelling in that and that you definitely need to demonstrate how you've built that brand, what people come to you for what they expect from you and going again back to how it will add value. If you think about the pain points of that buyer and what they've got in their kind of current portfolio. Is there a space for a brand that represents the values that your brand does represent and Mingle being the perfect example there of where it totally did. There was a gap there for the brand values and ThankYou is another one, ZeroCo another one. Where there was a real gap in what that brand represented.
Mia Fileman 29:34
Hmm, yeah. A lot of people don't realize this but brand is a line on a balance sheet like it has value. So you've got your product and your machinery and your warehouse and all of that but brand is actually a line item on your P&L. So investing in a brand especially something like ThankYou or ZeroCo, which has so much consumer loyalty. As a Category Manager, to me that's like, that's an easy yes, that's an easy, yes. Because they've demonstrated that consumers are willing to go to a lot of effort to buy the product. You know, remember to order your refills of toilet paper online, otherwise, you run out of toilet paper, like, customers are working really hard to support that brand. Imagine if we made it super easy for them by putting it in 800 Woolworths stores, you know?
Tanya Boots 30:31
Yeah. Exactly. No, it's so much easier to grab something in your regular shop and add it to your basket than it is to go online and do all that stuff. So if you've got that proven sales record, and people are already doing that, you're halfway there. Yeah.
Mia Fileman 30:47
Now, can we talk about the dark side of grocery? Theres some shady shit that the retailers do. One of them is they will blatantly rip off your product and launch it as a private label brand. So definitely something to watch out. Yeah. And what about even in the pitching process, Tanya? Like, if you go to them with a product idea, have you heard any stories of them saying, We won't go with you. But this sounds like something we should definitely get one of our contract manufacturers to make for us?
Tanya Boots 31:30
Look, I haven't personally. But I think if we, if we take a step back and think about the buyer, and in their mind, they've got their category strategy in play. And they potentially know exactly where the growth is coming from in the future, let's hope they do, or their their category captain has helped them come to that conclusion. And then a bunch of people come to them at the range review process, and not one person comes with that thing that they needed, they need that product. So they've got a choice, they can either go to an existing supplier and say, Hey, we need this, or they can do it themselves. And usually they can do it themselves for a whole lot cheaper with a whole lot more margin. And that's the path they take.
Tanya Boots 32:17
However, as you know, you know, there's there's not the brand equity there. We never got too, sort of, scared about private label in that. It plays a role. And I think, if you acknowledge if you are pitching, and you acknowledge the role that the private label brand plays in that category, that then make yours quite differentiated, then you can most certainly coexist, because as a shopper, we will see the value in that. But yeah, personally, I haven't, I haven't experienced that exact replication.
Mia Fileman 32:55
Well, when I was the brand manager for Vegemite, we never had that problem, no one is going to launch a private label of Vegemite. And that speaks to the power of the brand. Same deal with Maybelline cosmetics, you're very unlikely to want to buy a private label cosmetic. However, when I was in dips, for Black Swan dips, this was a really, really big issue. It seems like dairy is more commoditized than other categories. And so a private label hummus or private label tzatziki, or a private label French onion, there was customer demand for that. And yeah, that was really frustrating. Because, you know, at Black Swan, we would spend a lot of time on new product development and coming up with these amazing flavor combinations to come to the market with newness. And then, you know, six months later, they would just they would take this idea and they would just rock and roll it.
Tanya Boots 33:52
Yeah and the more commodity markets. You think about sugar and flour, it must be super hard for category managers and commercials and brand managers in that space to say this flour is different to this flour, then the categories that are more commoditized are definitely going to have more more issues with that.
Mia Fileman 34:12
Yeah. The the way to bulletproof your brand is to invest in your brand, you know, the more you advertise on social media or on TV or in out of home media, transit, media, Pastor purchase media, all of that is going to mean that people people are influenced by brands and so and people are prepared to pay more for brands, we know that. So that's the best way to future proof your products from from falling into that, you know, commoditization
Tanya Boots 34:47
Yeah and create loyalists and you can use your founders if you're a small to medium business you can use yourself, your founders story to get people behind you. Like the ThankYou guys did that really well. They just they got a movement. To get a movement of people behind you and supporting you. Or you have a massive profile like you won Master Chef or something. Yeah, there are ways that you can definitely have fierce brand loyalists, and therefore you're right, you're bullet proofing yourself against against that switching.
Mia Fileman 35:19
Yeah, one of the things that you will be asked for when you go to pitch is your marketing plan. What should you include?
Tanya Boots 35:26
Yeah, so I mean, and first of all, as you said before, don't be under the impression that it's their job to market your product. You don't, it's yours. So you definitely need to go with a marketing plan, you should include a cross section of options around the four P's or what are we up to now how many P's are we up to? Whatever, but the basics. So what sort of promotions you're going to do, what sort of campaigns you might have in mind, and be a bit creative, you know, leverage occasions. So in when we're in chips, footy finals, people will tend to buy more chips before Easter. So all those sort of sharing occasions, have a plan, have a plan for those. What else? Sampling. Sampling is a great thing to do. And you can you can get to a lot of people, they love that love you making the effort to get in store and do that sampling, talk to customers, show them your product.
Tanya Boots 36:27
Pricing, pricing falls under your marketing strategy, you should have some ideas for promotions and try and be bit strategic about it, you know, in the lead up to certain events, you might decide to do a deep promotion, or you might decide to just have a ticket at shelf that just attracts more people to your product, but a bit of strategy behind the pricing without going into the sort of level of detail that would be expected from the bigger suppliers. And what have I missed? I will I guess the distribution part is sort of done. But in saying that, and Mingle was a good example of this is they started small. So they started in a couple of I think it was a regional area like a couple of Coles, a couple of stores, but you might actually decide that is your best strategy. So you might want to be in Woolworths Metros or something that is way more aligned to your product, and your occasion that your your product caters for. So I think the key in all of this is two things, a plan that has a strategy with some money behind it.
Mia Fileman 37:28
Amazing, awesome, beautifully summarized the other thing that they absolutely love is the magazines. Yes, you say that you're going to spend money in the magazine, which by the way, I read religiously, it's where I get all my recipes. So yeah, it beauty, household, snacking, everything is in the magazine. So definitely incorporate that into your into your marketing plans
Tanya Boots 37:49
On digital, too, remember. Massive on their digital, like online shopping,
Mia Fileman 37:54
everyday rewards. Like if you can do a collaboration or a giveaway for everyday rewards part of those bundles that they do like certain brands, if you spend those brands, you get double everyday rewards points. But like as you exactly as you said, Tanya, become a fanatic of how that space works. Get to understand that and all the different levers that come into play. Like you know, loyalty programs and point of sale and wobblers. And, and big ends and seasonal drops. You know, like you might be like, You know what? Let's just start with Easter in the seasonal aisle. You know, before looking at permanent ranges. There's lots of different avenues.
Tanya Boots 38:37
Totally, yes.
Mia Fileman 38:38
Well, that was absolutely fantastic. Thank you so so much. So how can people work with you if this is something that they're interested in doing?
Tanya Boots 38:48
Yeah, so I can help and I can give advice, or I can help you write a product pitch. So I have a website, it's findthegrowth.com. And I'm also on Instagram @Findthegrowth. So look me up or reach out. It's quite an quite a new thing that I'm building, and I'm very keen to talk to more people and help more people to, I guess, realize their dream and understand that. It's not just for the big businesses to be on the shelves in major retailers. It can be for you as well.
Mia Fileman 39:20
Yeah, I'm going to include all those details in the show notes. And I'm also going to put a link to this fabulous ebook that Tanya has created on getting your product on retail shelves. So you'll be able to download that from the show notes. One thank you so much for joining me on today's episode. Tanya, that was fantastic.
Tanya Boots 39:39
Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it, Mia.
Mia Fileman 39:43
Thank you. You listened right up until the end. So why not hit that subscribe button and keep the good marketing rolling. Podcast reviews are like warm hugs, and they're also the best way to support a small business. You can connect with me, Mia Fileman on Instagram, or LinkedIn and feel free to send me a message I'm super friendly.
