RetailOasis are proud to announce a new partnership with Edge (www.edgecustom.com.au), one of Australia's leading content marketing agencies. With the proliferation of media channels, it's getting harder to truly connect with customers. We believe the future of communications is in content creation - engaging customers with your brand, through a meaningful story that leverages your own channels. In partnership with the NRA, Edge have surveyed some of Australia's biggest retailers to shed light on the key opportunities in this area.

1. Challenges.
Opportunities.
Success stories.
Inspiration …
2014
Leading
the content
revolution
How Australian retailers are using content marketing to get closer to customers

2. contents Foreword 3
Why this report? 4
Brands featured in this report 5
Overview—the new media landscape 6
The opportunity—meeting content marketing challenges 8
.HÀQGLQJV
Investment in content marketing 10
Case studies—Shoes of Prey, ASOS, Lowe’s, Net-A-Porter,Woolworths, and Coles 11
Five future priorities for retail marketers 17
7HQSRLQWSODQIRUFRQWHQWPDUNHWLQJVXFFHVV
Contact Edge 20
Content Marketing in Retail
2

3. Content Marketing in Retail
Retail marketers need to sharpen their minds.
Regarded as Australia’s leading
digital and content marketing
agency, Edge helps some of
Australia’s most valuable brands
to develop their own media
strategy, content creation and
platforms. Edge’s expertise in
content, editorial, digital, design,
social, strategy, media and SEO
make it a full-service agency.
Australia’s largest and most
representative retail industry
organisation, The National
Retail Association
(NRA) has been providing
professional services, advice
and representation to more than
19,500 outlets across the retail,
fast food and broader services
sectors for almost 100 years.
SKUvantage is Australia’s only
full-service specialist provider for
product content. SKUvantage is
focused on gathering, producing,
structuring and delivering product
content to its retail and brand
clients. Clients include leading
retailers and suppliers such as
Johnson Johnson, Coles, Myer,
L’Oréal and Spotlight.
RetailOasis connects retailers
with consumers through
marketing insights, helping with
improved performance across all
consumer touch points.
foreword
There’s a massive change happening
around you right now. In the minutes
you spend reading this report, your fellow
retail marketers are trying to get their
heads around the shift that’s rapidly
changing our marketing landscape. New
challenges are forcing retail marketers
to rethink their marketing efforts going
forward.
You know that your potential customer
will be accessing content from multiple
sources from different brands and
competitors across multiple channels
before they decide which retailer they
want to make a purchase with.
To survive in this new, complex, content-rich
world, and to change your customers
into loyal ambassadors, it takes more than
a traditional marketing strategy.
Retail marketers need to sharpen their
minds, hone their brand story and
get creative around this new reality.
They have to start thinking in terms of
“mediatailing” and leveraging assets that
engage customers through the many touch
points that every retail brand has access
to. They need to think beyond a world of
paid media on other people’s channels to
owning their own space where their brand
is central.
Retailers
have a unique
opportunity.
This white paper,
based on a content
marketing survey of
Australian retail marketers,
provides valuable insights, opportunities,
ideas and success stories from your
industry. Use it to get your content strategy
in place.
I’m looking forward to covering your
success in our next report.
survey
partners
Special thanks to: Sanna Axbom, Edge; Danielle Welton, Writer and Content Specialist; Yulia Santoso, Designer, Edge
3

4. why this report?
Content Marketing in Retail
Earlier this year we commissioned a survey to dig deep
into the strategies that Australian retailers are using to
navigate the intricate media landscape and capture the
hearts and wallets of the ever-powerful consumer. The
results paint a fascinating picture of content marketing’s
prominent place in the future of retail marketing,
with its importance emphasised by the percentage of
marketing expenditure allocated by our respondents.
It highlights the content marketing opportunities yet to
be fully exploited, with particular emphasis on visual
social media channels and video marketing techniques.
It puts the spotlight on the concerns of retail marketers—
from budget and time constraints, to smarter content
strategies and how to create compelling, personalised
content—and then puts forward strategies for dealing
with them.
It also looks to the future of retail marketing and
highlights the innovations set to revolutionise the retail
industry.
Retail marketers have got
it tough. With so many
channels and increasing
customer sophistication,
the challenge of reaching
audiences has become
more complex.
4

5. brands
featured in this
report
Also mentioned:
Sneaking Duck, Burberry, Nissan, Oreos,
Patagonia, All American Clothing

6. According Challenge 1:
Standing
out amid the
general media
noise and
Content Marketing in Retail
overview
The new media landscape
1RORQJHUGRHVLQIRUPDWLRQÁRZLQRQHGLUHFWLRQIURPDELJEUDQGRU
institution to an audience of passive readers. The internet has reduced
the costs and obstacles involved in broadcasting and distributing
content, so these days anyone can get content out. This democratisation
has also made content consumption far more active, meaning the
audience is able to react, comment and share.
In addition, technology has expanded the number of channels we can
use to tell a story. Content output can be in the form of print magazines,
brochures, brand books, content-rich websites, digital magazines, apps
and videos (including micro-video content such as Vine), blogs, white
papers, infographics, e-books, email newsletters, social media channels
(Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and
Instagram) and many others.
The problem for retail brands is that there are a lot of people creating a
lot of content across a number of channels—and not all of it is very good.
clutter.
The
Conversation Prism
%ULDQ6ROLVLQWURGXFHGWKHÀUVWRQYHUVDWLRQ
Prism—a prism mapping out social media—
in 2008. There were 22 social media categories.
Fast forward to 2013, and the Conversation
Prism had four additional categories with at
least six brands in each.
6

7. The powerful
content consumer
Content Marketing in Retail
65%
The number of
mobile media users
who browse the
mobile internet in
tandem with a second
screen (television,
PC, tablet or
second phone).
Today, consumers are increasingly sophisticated, using
a complex proliferation of media channels, platforms and
technologies—and often at the same time.
They consume in a way that’s appropriate for them, using
the channels they like at the times they like. Crucially,
WKHDUHLQFUHDVLQJOSRZHUIXO%EHLQJDEOHWRÀOWHURXW
unwanted advertising or marketing messages, they very
much dictate the terms of marketing relationships.
Challenge 3:
Engaging
and retaining
consumers while
everyone else
is vying for their
attention.
Challenge 2:
Getting the right
messages to the
right people, on
the channel or
device of their
choosing.
A new definition of
content marketing
The new media landscape and this more powerful, more
VRSKLVWLFDWHGFRQVXPHUKDYHFUHDWHGWKHQHHGWRUHGHÀQH
content marketing.
Here’s how the Content Marketing Institute sums it up:
“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating
and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content
WRDWWUDFWDQGDFTXLUHDFOHDUOGHÀQHGDXGLHQFH³ZLWKWKH
REMHFWLYHRIGULYLQJSURÀWDEOHFXVWRPHUDFWLRQµ
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. It forgets the power of
our 2014 consumer. More accurately, content marketing is:
“A marketing technique of creating and distributing
valuable, engaging, entertaining and inspiring content
that is relevant to the audience, in the channel or device
RIWKHLUFKRRVLQJ³ZLWKWKHREMHFWLYHRIGULYLQJSURÀWDEOH
customer action.”
Source: MEF Second Screen Survey 2013
7

8. Content Marketing in Retail
the opportunity
Despite deafening media noise and the proliferation of media channels, the
consumer appetite for content is stronger than ever, which provides a fantastic
opportunity for retail marketers. Tell your stories well. Know your audience. Deliver
DXWKHQWLFDQGSURÀFLHQWHGLWRULDOFRQWHQW0DNHVXUHLWLVRSWLPLVHGIRUWKHFKDQQHO
and that it adheres to a content strategy. Do this and you will cut through the
market noise and disruption.
The solution: Create quality content
that’s editorially intelligent, personalised,
persuasive, clever and creative.
“A crucial component in making sure a
brand stands out—and that it is heard
above the background media and content
noise—is to identify its unique brand
story and to ensure that all of the content
SURGXFHGLVÀUPODQFKRUHGLQWKDW
brand story.” Richard Parker, Director of
Strategy, Edge
“You must develop best-in-class content.
Your content must be more valuable than
what your competitors are doing. You can’t
just tell a story better. To stand out, you
have to tell a different story.”
Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute
2
hrs
65%
65%
The average
amount of time
each Australian
spends on their
smart phone every
day. Brands need
to invest in mobile
solutions or find
themselves getting
left behind by their
competitors.
Source: AdReaction,
MillwardBrown
4.5
hrs
The average
amount of time
that Australians
spend browsing the
internet on laptop or
desktop computers
every day.
Source: Global Digital
Statistics 2014,
We Are Social
Smart phone
penetration among
the Australian
population.
Source: AdNews
The percentage of
Australians actively
using social media.
Source: Yellow Social
Media Report, May 2013
Meeting content marketing challenges
The solution: Have a strategy in place
WKDWLGHQWLÀHVRXUNHREMHFWLYHVDQG
messages, followed by the channels and
devices that work for your target audience.
Only then can you consider the best content
solution and delivery.
“Effectiveness is driven by knowing
what you are trying to achieve. Having a
FOHDUOGHÀQHGVWUDWHJLFSODQLVHVVHQWLDO
for content marketing success, but most
brands have yet to develop theirs.”
Fergus Stoddart, Commercial Director,
Edge
The solution: Use metrics and analytics
to ensure your content is relevant and
personalised to your target audience.
Pinpoint the type of content that resonates,
the time of day the audience is most
likely to consume it (and the way they
like to consume it), and you will create
a connection that achieves results.
“There are many ways to track sales,
conversions and customer preferences,
from website/social media analytics
tools, to site search analysis. Some call the
information ‘big data’ and get excited by the
possibilities. Others are overwhelmed. This
data can help us show the right content to
the right audience at the right time.”
Richard Parker, Director of Strategy, Edge
Standing out amid
the general media
noise and clutter.
1.
Getting the right
messages to the
right people.
2.
Engaging/retaining
consumers in the
battle for attention.
3.
8

9. The channels
currently used by
retail marketers
Content Marketing in Retail
key findings
71%
of Australian
retail marketers
use content to
market their
business
What’s your strategy?
Findings reveal that of Australian retail marketers ...
27%
would consider working
with an external agency
37%
are already working with
an external agency
30%
58%
Top 3 ROI measures seen
by retail marketers:
1. Increased sales
2. Increased engagement
,QFUHDVHGZHEWUDIÀF
98%
80%
59%
46%
44%
41%
37%
37%
34%
27%
24%
7%
Website
Facebook
e-Newsletter
Twitter
Instore
Instagram
YouTube
Blog
Pinterest
Events
LinkedIn
App
Our survey on retail marketers
in Australia shows the growing
importance of content among
leading marketers ...
Top 5 challenges faced
by retail marketers:
2. Time
constraints
1. Creating the
right content
3. Budgetary
restrictions
4. Inability
to measure
5. Lack of results
knowledge
75% have a documented
content strategy
of marketing
budgets are
allocated
to content
publishing
of retail
marketers
create their
content
in-house
Most effective channels
Website (76%) and Facebook (54%)
DUHWKHFKDQQHOVUHWDLOPDUNHWHUVÀQG
most effective when delivering content

10. Content marketing has enjoyed a lot of attention over the past few
years and it continues to attract increasing investment and focus as
we move through 2014 and beyond.
Content Marketing in Retail
investments in
content marketing
$WWKH(IÀH$ZDUGVIRUHIIHFWLYHQHVVLQPDUNHWLQJ
communications held in New York this February, 67%
of the judges surveyed agreed that content marketing
initiatives were meeting ROI expectations. Because of this,
content marketing was cited as the area that marketers
are working to bolster with additional talent.
Australian retail marketers are in strong agreement, with
an average 30% of their marketing budgets allocated to
FRQWHQWPDUNHWLQJ³DÀJXUHWKDWSXWV$XVWUDOLDQUHWDLOHUV
up there with mature content marketing territories, such
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11. DQGDKHDGRI1RUWK$PHULFDQ

12. and Australian marketers as a whole (27%). Of these
retailers, 58% create their content in-house, which is
DERYHWKHQDWLRQDOPDUNHWLQJDYHUDJHRI$Q
incredible 72% cite the challenge of ‘creating the right
content’ as a key concern.
Editorial excellence and quality content is essential in
cutting through the general media noise. Brands are
increasingly seeking to mimic publishers, producing
content built around consumer lifestyles and using
traditional newsstand editorial tricks to do so. That
explains why more retail marketers are turning to external
agencies to help them create original, compelling and
innovative content—37% are already working with an
external agency, with a further 27% saying they are
considering it for the future.
Is the content created in-house or
outsourced to agencies or journalists?
0 10 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
In-house
Outsourced
Both
Main challenges with delivering content
0 10 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Creating the
right content
Time constraints
Inability to
measure results
Lack of
knowledge
Budgetary
restrictions
Lack of
support from...
10

13. Content Marketing in Retail
How: The company has fully
embraced video, integrating it into its
marketing mix in a number of ways.
The video on the main area of its site
is incredibly effective. Although it
appears to be a simple explanation
of the ‘design your own shoe’ process,
LW·VDFWXDOOIXOÀOOLQJDQXPEHURI
important marketing objectives.
Co-founder Jodie Fox presents the
video, which means we get an insight
into the brand and what makes it
unique. By showing how simple it is to
design your own shoe, it breaks down
SHUFHLYHGGLIÀFXOWEDUULHUVWRWDNLQJ
up the company’s offering; and by
showing both the design and delivery
SURFHVVFRQVXPHUFRQÀGHQFHLV
enhanced. All of which leads to trust,
engagement and increased
sales.
In addition, the company
has its own YouTube
channel, where Fox uses
topical events, such as party
season or New York Fashion
Week, to give herself licence to
showcase relevant new products.
According to Chloé Dutschke, Editor/
Social Media Manager at Shoes of
Prey: “For us, our content is always
about the product: “Shoes”. It needs
to be, or else it fails to be relevant to
our customer base, but the last thing
we want is to be pushy. We’re bonding
with our customers over the love of
the shoes, and we use content to create
that vibe.”
Result: In terms of engagement, the
site has seen women spend more than
60 million minutes designing tens of
millions of shoes.
How to use YouTube in your
content marketing strategy
use of
channels
Despite content marketing’s recognised
power to convert, retain and engage,
the opportunities are yet to be fully
exploited by retail marketers. Websites

14. )DFHERRN

15. DQGHQHZVOHWWHUV

16. DUHFLWHGDVWKHWKUHHPRVW
common channels. YouTube uptake
is at just 37%, which is far below the
Australian average (74%). According to
Peter Graves, Regional Sales Director
at Brightcove, this suggests a missed
opportunity. “Video is 53% more likely to
appear on the front page of search engine
results than text, resulting in improved
SEO and the likelihood that customers
ZLOOÀQGRXRQOLQHµKHVDV
Its propensity to be shared also makes
video a great tool for amplifying
your marketing messages, with an
Advertising Age feature claiming that
videos are shared 1200% more than
text and links combined. “With brands
embracing social video channels such
as Vine and Instagram, we’re seeing a
form of storytelling that’s powerful for the
future of marketing. Brands are creating
VQDFNDEOHUHDFWLYHFRQWHQWZLWKDORÀ
DOPRVWÀOPVFKRRO',DSSURDFKWKDW·V
short and shareable.”
Kevin Lim, Dept of Moving Image, Edge
Take-out: Tell a strong story
about what or who makes your
brand different and keep it
simple. “People aren’t looking
for something that’s super-duper
polished; they actually want
to get to know you and your
personality,” says Fox.
Shoes of Prey is an Australian
multichannel retail brand that
enables shoppers to design
their own shoes online.
case study:
11

17. asos is an online fashion retailer based
in London. Its impact on the
Australian market has been incredible,
with the company clocking up one
Aussie purchase every six seconds
and reportedly sending in four
jumbo jets full of clothing
every week.
Content Marketing in Retail
According to our survey, company
websites and Facebook are cited as
WKHFKDQQHOVWKDWUHWDLOHUVÀQGPRVW
HIÀFLHQWZKHQGHOLYHULQJFRQWHQW
,QFRQWUDVWRQORIWKHUHWDLO
marketers surveyed think Instagram
is effective and 15% think Pinterest
works for them.
In accordance with the ‘Global Digital
Statistics 2014’ report by We Are
6RFLDOWKLVÀQGLQJWDOOLHVZLWKJHQHUDO
uptake of social media in Australia.
The report, published in January,
found that 81% of Australians have
a Facebook account, while only 15%
have an Instagram account. However,
visually led social media channels
should not be dismissed, particularly
for Australian retailers with attractive
product to sell.
If we look at retail brands in the UK,
such as the department store Selfridges
and the fashion brand Burberry, there
is considerable evidence that visual
channels provide strong return on
investment, particularly when they
are used to take customers behind the
scenes of your brand or to show off
products in unexpected ways.
How to use Instagram in your
content marketing strategy
How: To showcase its products and
encourage exploration, the brand
posts Instagram images of its latest
ranges—with a twist—so you may
see a blogger showing you how to
get the look with key pieces, or a cute
pug dog wearing this season’s must-have
beanie.
To bring fans closer to the brand,
there’s an emphasis on behind-the-scenes
shots from fashion shoots, head
RIÀFHRUFDWZDONVKRZV$626DOVR
places great emphasis on featuring
user-generated content, so the
company will ask followers to post
Instagram images of themselves
sporting a particular look using a
branded hashtag, and then repost
several of the images in its own
IHHGV³DWHUULÀFZDWREXLOGD
connection with your audience.
Result: 2.6 million followers.
efficiency
of channels
Take-out: Instagram is
notorious for making everything
look instantly gorgeous, so it’s
an ideal solution if you want to
show what’s behind the scenes
of your brand—something
that’s becoming increasingly
important in helping to give
brands a competitive edge. It
also enables you to showcase
a product in an innovative way,
with little extra outlay.
case study:
12

18. How to use Pinterest
in your content
marketing strategy
How: This brand is a fantastic example of how to use
Pinterest boards that do it all—featuring boards with
useful hints and tips, such as 50 projects under $50,
inspirational interior design images and even user-generated
boards. A particularly brilliant feature is the
Build It! board where customers who’ve used Lowe’s
products for their DIY projects are showcased. It also
remains topical, pinning content that relates to events
such as Mother’s Day.
Result: 3.5 million followers.
Take-out: Pinterest is quickly establishing itself as a
goldmine for retailers, with pins reportedly tripling
online retailers’ revenue during Cyber Monday.
The best retailers are truly cunning when it comes
to pinning. Don’t just pin your product images. If
customers wanted to see images of your products,
they would go to your website. Be creative, instead.
Engage them with inspiring images and/or offer
something genuinely useful. If you capture their
attention here, they will be more likely to click
through to your website to buy.
For those yet to be convinced, the Rich Pins function
could be the clincher, by enabling brands to add real-time
pricing, availability and ‘where to buy’ to pins.
Content Marketing in Retail
Lowe’s is the second-largest
home
improvement retailer
in the world.
case study:
13

19. Content Marketing in Retail
According to our survey, 25% of
Australian retail marketers don’t
have a content marketing strategy in
place. This is in contrast to the 43%
of Australian marketers as a whole
that don’t have a documented strategy.
The reason behind this could be time
constraints, with 47% of Australian
marketers citing time as a major
challenge for them in the creation of
content. However, research suggests
that taking the time to consider a
strategy, or employing an agency to
create one, reaps huge ROI later down
the line.
According to the Content Marketing
Institute’s 2014 B2B Content
Marketing report: “A documented
strategy makes a difference, as 84% of
marketers who say they are ineffective
at content marketing [say] they have no
documented strategy. B2B marketers
who have a documented content
strategy are far more likely to consider
themselves effective (66% vs. 11%).”
One company famed for its
exceptionally robust multichannel
content marketing strategy is online
fashion brand Net-A-Porter.
How: Net-A-Porter’s strategy is to
become a lifestyle choice and publisher.
It has a weekly online magazine
called The Edit; an exceptional email
marketing campaign; an app; and a
social media hub called Fashion Fix,
which collates all the activity on its
social channels (Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, Google+, YouTube and
Instagram). Despite its attention to
content production, the push to drive
sales is at the heart of everything
Net-A-Porter produces.
Take the latest addition to its content
marketing arsenal, a print magazine
titled Porter. Although it’s designed
to go head-to-head with newsstand
heavyweights Harper’s Bazaar and
Vogue, the print magazine has sales at
the heart of its conception: Every page
is shoppable.
By using the magazine in conjunction
with Net-A-Porter’s iPhone app, you
can use your mobile to scan the pages
you’re interested in and purchase the
product you see there.
Net-A-Porter’s vice president and
publishing director Tess Macleod-
Smith said: “There are shopping
pathways for everything, from fashion,
to travel, to beauty products. Plus, for
people in cities like London, New York
and Hong Kong, they will be able to
scan a page, order it through the app
and receive delivery in a few hours.
This is shortening the path between
inspiration and transaction.”
Result: Richard Parker, Director
of Strategy at Edge, says: “With the
launch of Porter on the newsstand,
Net-A-Porter—already a content
marketing heavyweight—joins an
exclusive club of businesses that put
brand-owned media at the centre of
their operations. Step aside, Red Bull.
There’s a new branded content kid in
town. And it’s here to win.”
what’s your
strategy?
Killer content strategies—
join the heavyweights
Take-out: A robust content
strategy will ensure the
pathway from content to
purchase is effortless. Frustrate
the customer and you risk
losing them forever.
Net-A-Porter is a luxury
online fashion brand.
case study:
14

20. Loyalty programs
that get results
Content Marketing in Retail
customer
loyalty
Australian marketers are well aware of
WKHEHQHÀWRIEUDQGORDOWZLWK
citing it as a ‘very important’ objective
for their content marketing activity.
6DWLVÀHGFXVWRPHUVDUHVWDWLVWLFDOOOHVV
likely to switch, and they tend to be less
price-sensitive. You avoid the cost of
acquisition (it’s six-to-seven times more
expensive to acquire a new customer
than to keep one). Loyal customers
are ambassadors for your brand, they
recommend you to friends and they
share your content, which, in this age of
consumer power, is hugely valuable.
The recognised recipe for success
is quality editorial that’s useful for
customers in a practical sense—this
is something that the Woolworths
Baby Toddler Club has mastered.
“Differentiation within the retail
landscape is key. Woolworths had
to provide a unique and quality
offering to cut through the crowded
marketplace. Edge created an
integrated digital offering comprising
a life stage-targeted EDM program and
a website that provides rich editorial
content. Its membership is approaching
200,000 parents.” Jessica Sinclair,
Senior Account Director, Edge
How: Deciding to have a baby is a major milestone and
women are hungry for information about how to prepare.
To tap into this thirst for knowledge, the Woolworths
Baby Toddler Club website provides editorial content
that offers intelligent health and nutrition advice,
delicious recipes and practical information in an easily
navigable online environment.
Once engaged by this expert editorial, users are then
invited to sign up to join the Club. It’s here that attention
to data analysis really comes into its own. Consumers
receive exclusive, targeted offers and segmented editorial
(depending on the stage of their pregnancy or age of their
child) via email, plus access to a vibrant community
forum of like-minded parents.
Result: Original membership targets were beaten and
the number of members continues to grow fast.
A strong and positive Net Promoter Score, plus a highly
engaged, loyal member base showing incremental
increase in basket spend, makes the success of the Club
clear.
Take-out: By using data for targeted segmentation
and combining that with high-quality editorial,
which reaches consumers at a time when it is
relevant to them, an emotive connection is created
and loyalty and engagement is enhanced.
Woolworths is Australia’s
largest supermarket
chain.
case study:
15

21. Coles is a leading
supermarket chain with
an active social media
community and
online presence.
Content Marketing in Retail
Clearly, Facebook has created a
powerful platform for B2C companies
to engage with their audience, which
is something the Australian retail
marketers surveyed clearly agree with.
Of the respondents, 80% use Facebook
to distribute content and 54% say that
Facebook is the most effective channel
in delivering content for their business.
This resonates with a Facebook survey
conducted by Lab42, which found
WKDWFORVHWRRIXVHUVRQ)DFHERRN
say they ‘like’ at least one brand on
Facebook. Additionally, 50% say they
ÀQGWKHEUDQG·V)DFHERRNSDJHPRUH
useful than the company’s website.
What are the strongest motivators for
liking a brand on Facebook? According
to the survey, the leading motivators is
promotions and discounts, followed by
free giveaways.
In contrast, the key motivators for
making someone actively unlike you
are: a brand posting too frequently,
and the consumer having a bad
customer experience.
How: Coles’ Facebook page is an
example of a page that does it all.
It features tasty product shots and
recipes to inspire the consumer; it
poses competition questions that invite
interaction, such as “Tell us who you’d
most love to share the chocolate with
and why”. It also uses a picture of tennis
ace Roger Federer to encourage response;
and additionally offers conversational
and topical questions that involve CSR
and store staff, such as “This is Ellen
from our Mount Barker store and
she’s taking part in the Live Below
the Line challenge. She’ll be eating
RQWZRGROODUVDGDIRUÀYHGDVWR
raise funds and awareness for extreme
poverty. Click to show your support.”
Result: With more than 710,000 fans,
the results are impressive, and each
post earns numerous likes/comments.
facebook
as a loyalty
driver
Best-in-class Facebook
content marketing
Take-out: Like Coles, keep
things fresh and interesting by
mixing up your output. No one
likes to see product images over
and over. It’s like being sat next
to a repetitive bore at a dinner
party. Instead, mix comments
with competitions, useful advice
and products to ensure that
people remain engaged. And
remember: Don’t post too often.
case study:
16

22. Five future priorities
for retail marketers
Smarter content strategies, a battle over big data,
social listening, and measurement and tracking are
all key priorities for Australian marketers, but there
are a number of innovations set to revolutionise the
retail industry …
Content Marketing in Retail
Although digital channels have created wider, often
global audiences, the simple challenge of selling products
when people can’t touch, feel or try them on still remains
a priority for retailers. The next few years will see the
emergence of technologies that help to bring products
forcefully and emotionally to life—even when they’re out of
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lower return rates and the hefty costs associated with them.
A 3D Augmented Reality Make-up Mirror was displayed
at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last
January that allowed the consumer to simulate make-up
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themselves. You can expect more of this ‘try-on technology’
in the future, but it will no longer feel like a gimmick.
Instead, it will bring the consumer closer to the products,
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purchase.
Sneaking Duck, a prescription and fashion eyewear
specialist, is one brand already making it happen by
allowing customers to upload images of themselves so that
they can see what different frames look like on them.
At the same time, the trend for enhancing brick-and-mortar
stores with digital and editorial content that gives
consumers more reason to buy will grow.
Burberry has long been a pioneer in the arts of
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store on London’s Regent Street is an inspiring indication
of where retailers are headed. A chip hidden inside each
product triggers radio frequency-enabled mirrors in each
changing room. The mirrors then transform into digital
screens that display extra editorial about craft and detail.
This exposes the consumer to storytelling that would
usually only be communicated online.
1. Bringing together the
digital and the tangible
17

23. Content Marketing in Retail
Personalisation is huge, with marketers focusing their
strategy, investment and time on ensuring that tailored
messages reach the right audience—particularly in terms
of email marketing. Success stories and best practices
include: the Woolworths Baby Toddler Club’s usage of
life-change triggers and baby age to send targeted editorial;
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in the consumer’s size.
In the next year, we’ll see more attention turning toward
personalising the online experience, with the customer’s
location, device type, incoming search term or last website
visited informing the experience they receive.
Because mobile phones are such personal devices (holding
all sorts of data about their owners’ lives) and are cited
as the gadget most consumers can’t live without, they are
another exciting focus of attention. By using the device’s
native capabilities, marketers will be able to create
intensely personal customer experiences, such as location-based
promotions, check-in offers and more.
Building a campaign around your customers is a great
way to engage with your audience while incentivising your
customers to amplify your marketing messages.
Burberry’s ‘Art of the Trench’ campaign helped to pave
the way for leveraging user-generated content by inviting
fans to upload photos of themselves wearing Burberry’s
famous coat so visitors could view, comment, like and
share them.
As reported by Business Today, “In the year following
the launch of the Art of the TrenchLQ1RYHPEHU
Burberry’s Facebook fan base grew to more than one
million, the largest fan count in the luxury sector at
the time. E-commerce sales grew 50% year-over-year,
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the Art of the Trench site [and] conversion rates from the
Art of the Trench click-throughs to the Burberry website
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As a bonus, every customer who uploaded a picture
effectively created a mini-advert for Burberry.
For data capture, video-based competitions are also
marketing gold. A brilliant example is Nissan’s #VersaVid
campaign, which invited fans to record a short video
featuring a paper Nissan Versa via either Instagram or
Vine.
The winners received a $1000 voucher, while Nissan
acquired footage for an upcoming TV campaign. This
generated publicity for the release of a new car plus
thousands of shares. With such return on very little
investment, we’ll see more brands using creative ways to
encourage user-generated content. These same brands will
then become more creative as a result of that.
One major trend that capitalises on the 24/7 ‘always on’
consumer is real-time marketing and newsjacking. Oreo’s
2013 Super Bowl campaign is such an example. During
the third quarter there was a power outage. The company’s
social media team jumped at the opportunity, Tweeting:
“Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.”
This was a brilliant example of a company capturing the
imaginations of all those people sitting there, in the dark,
with their second screens. The message got nearly 16,000
retweets and more than 20,000 likes on Facebook. The
reason? Oreo had produced brand-relevant messaging that
tapped into a topical event.
As the appetite for timely content increases, we’ll see brands
and agencies setting up newsrooms for 24/7 responses.
Consumers are making decisions based on the sustainable
stories behind products rather than their cost. We’ll
therefore see more brands focusing on content and
innovations that shine a light on their provenance.
Outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia placed an ad in
The New York Times with an image of one of its jackets
and the text ‘Don’t buy this jacket.’ It was a bold move
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to re-use their products. It highlighted a company that
focuses on protecting the environment while also pointing
to the ‘quality over quantity’ of its products.
Taking this a step further, All American Clothing’s new
traceability function allows shoppers to trace an individual
pair of jeans to the farm where the cotton was grown, and
to also meet the farmers who grew it.
Expect more digital innovations and rich storytelling
selling transparency as sustainability becomes a growing
concern.
2. Super-personalisation
3. User-generated
content
4. Real-time content
marketing
5. Sustainability and
transparency trends
18

24. 10-point plan for content marketing success
Make social
engagement easy
If you have a good story to tell, make sure
it’s easy to engage with and share. It might
sound simple, but always pay attention
to comment boxes and ‘like’ and ‘share’
buttons. They are quick wins for helping
your content reach a wider audience. After
all, word-of-mouth endorsement is great
marketing for your brand.
Content Marketing in Retail
Measurement
and tracking
There’s no point creating all of this
content if you can’t track how well
it’s doing, so always measure the
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metrics. Use this to allocate resources to
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the next steps to improve weaker content.
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content production
Before commissioning any content, always
consider the ways in which you can extend
it across multiple channels. If you’re
doing a product shoot for your website, for
example, take behind-the-scenes footage,
create Vine videos and Instagram the
action.
Be ready to react
The smart brands are listening to their
consumers and they are ready to react and
interact when the relationship calls for
it. This can mean chatting on Facebook,
responding to customer service gripes
on Twitter (and turning it into positive
PR), or simply using customer feedback
to adapt. Regardless, brands that ignore
the opportunity to directly respond to
customers are quickly becoming obsolete.
Get other people
to spread the word
It doesn’t have to be just you spreading
your brand messages. Consider working
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channels, bloggers and even your most
vocal customers. Get them to amplify your
messages on their own channels.
Identify your key
marketing objectives
Before you create any content, you need to
identify what your marketing objectives
are. Do you want to either sell products,
get your brand remembered or create loyal
ambassadors? This will determine the
focus of your content strategy and help
with measurement in the future.
Know your audience
By studying your customers’ behaviours,
preferences and choices, you can better
understand where and how your audience
wants to interact with your brand. You can
then use this knowledge to create targeted
content that inspires reaction, whether
that’s sales, shares, brand love or the
customer contributing to your brand story.
Always tell
a good story
There’s a lot of mediocre content out there.
You have to create content that nobody else
is creating to make sure that your brand
stands out. You need to uncover unique
brand stories and offer genuine expertise
or create an emotional connection.
Create a
content strategy
It’s essential to create a documented
content marketing strategy. This will
align your content production with your
marketing objectives (point 1), help you
pinpoint the right messages for your
audience (point 2) and discover the most
effective channels for delivering those
messages.
Have authority
to publish
Make sure you have authority when
considering the stories or messages you
want to publish. Most customers engage
with a brand when they’re offered quality
editorial and when they trust the brand’s
expertise in delivering it.

25. want more
mouth-watering
content
from edge?
We hope you have enjoyed the information
presented here. If you would like to discuss
any of the points raised, or if you want to know
how to apply the strategies discussed, just get
in touch.
Sydney
Fergus Stoddart
Commercial Director
0414 867 622
fergus.stoddart@edgecustom.com.au
Melbourne
Joel Egan
Digital Director
0405 318 328
joel.egan@edgecustom.com.au
You can also check out what we have been up
to here: edgecustom.com.au
The Survey
Conducted in association with the
National Retail Association, SKUvantage
and Retail Oasis. Respondents to this
survey came from a variety of Australian
retail companies in April 2014.