IPG Mediabrands expands shopper insights division to Southeast Asia

Shopper Sciences has been up and running in Japan since last year, but this marks its first foray into Southeast Asia.

The consultancy aims to provide insights to advertisers, retailers and manufacturers on the factors that influence shoppers’ decisions at the point of purchase.

Prashant Kumar, president, World Markets Asia, IPG Mediabrands, said the expansion was driven by a recognition that a “huge portion” of the agency’s profits now come from clients meeting sales targets.

“It's only natural that we would want to extend our understanding and expertise to cover the last mile—or the last thousand steps—which in many categories and segments can be more powerful than what comes before it,” he said.

Kumar added that shopper marketing must now get as much respect as consumer marketing, making a call for marketers to invest in strong strategic and creative teams and the best technologies.

"And of course we need creative brains to look at point of sales as worth their genius moments,” he said.

Shopper Sciences was rolled out across Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand because the markets offered a good mix of socio-cultural groups, outlet types and category development curves. Kumar said.

The move into Southeast Asia is part of a wider global expansion, with the service also rolled out in markets including Denmark, Poland, Turkey and Chile.