This social community review site, launched in South Africa, India and Australia, taps into the power of social networks to facilitate interaction between consumers and their peers and between consumers and new FMCG product launches, a category that traditionally has had trouble finding traction online and through social networks, especially in emerging markets.
With almost thirty thousand products on South Africa's store shelves and with hundreds of new products added every month, consumers face an overwhelming selection of FMCG brands every time they go shopping.
Increasingly, shoppers make use of so-called 'testimonial content', or uncensored third party reviews, to decide which new product to buy. This new app is giving consumers more power in their purchase decision making by allowing them to share their views and brand-experiences in-store and at the shelf.
According to the Buchanan Group's COO, Craig Melling-Williams, the app offers consumers real time access to peer reviews, comments from other consumers who have already tried the new products, as well promotional information, competitions and news. "It allows consumers direct access to peer advice at point of purchase, with just a scan of the new products barcode," he says.
With the app, shoppers could make the best possible use of testimonial content and access peer reviews where and when it matters most, as they are about to consider a new grocery product. The app accesses peer-reviews exchanged among 50,000 + South African women who test, rate and discuss new products on the agency's social community review and ratings site.
"The new app adds a versatile approach to raise awareness and drive trial amongst consumers who are looking for more assurance - preferably some sort of social proof - before they try a new grocery product. The persuasive influence of social proof will drive trial to the new products. As they browse through their peers' opinions about new products and read about their experiences, consumers obtain the necessary social proof from trusted sources, in order to decide which new product to buy."
This dovetails with the group's concept of testimonial content. "Consumers clamour to share their brand-experience and their peer-to-peer relationships are driving social interaction on the Home Tester Club - 50,000 voices have a very powerful echo." The new mobile app is a quick and efficient way of tapping into this readily available information in real time.
The group, behind Home Tester Club and other marketing tools, such as Brand Power, Zoot Review and Medifacts, adds the new mobile app to its existing integrated, comprehensive communication channel, involving also TV, the web and social peer-to-peer interaction. To download it, log into your phone's app store and search for newproductwatch.
