Marketing Analytic Techniques for FMCG Marketers

1. What does beer and diapers have in common?
2. Or men's premium shirts and Barbie dolls?

Why are they placed next to each other in some supermarkets ?

1. Well, it seems men who buy diapers are usually baby-sitting and they invariably buy a couple of cans of beer.
2. Men who buy premium shirts always land up buying Barbie dolls for their daughters to feel less guilty for spending a bomb on a shirt for themselves.

Such connections have come to light through, what is called, marketing analytic techniques. Market analytics is an extension of data warehousing- the storing of information from operational and customer interaction systems .

At present, niche players like Marketics, Fractal Analytics, as well as BPO players like Evalueserve, Symphony Services, B2K Corporation are digging deep into this space.


"In FMCG and retail space too, market analytics is getting bigger. It can help retailers decide which products to carry, how to price those products for optimal sales and where to place those products on store shelves. And, they can use it to decide which products to stockbase on the profiles and buying patterns," said S Rama-krishnan, CEO, Marketics, which does market analytics for leading US clients.

No wonder then, Heineken and Pampers eye each other while Polo shirts and Barbie dolls are within touching distance on supermarket shelves.

Can you think of any other examples - where - Marketing Analytic Techniques have helped FMCG Marketers ?