Online search is a fairly standard tool for finding anything from directions to a restaurant to conducting price and feature comparisons on a new refrigerator. So it’s no real surprise that Canadian moms head online to conduct research about potential purchases large and small. And in particular, they go online to learn more about consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands—ingredients, recipes and other stuff—prior to buying.

Research conducted by Google Canada and OTX in March and published in June indicates that 81% of Canadian moms are searching for information before they head to the store. Search is their No. 1 online source, followed by email, maps, retailer websites and social networking sites.

The study “Canadian Moms Click for CPG” surveyed 4,896 women ages 18 to 75 in Canada including 3,806 moms to find that 76% indicated that search engines helped them learn more about consumer packaged goods (CPG). Those items include food items (grocery and fast-food), baby and childcare products, household and personal care brands, appliances and more.

The data for Canadian moms vs. US moms reveals similar patterns, according to Chantal Rossi, industry manager for retail, Google Canada. For example, in the US, 50% of moms expect popular CPG brands to be at the top of the search results page vs. 51% in Canada and new moms tend to be online more frequently. Other similarities include moms preference for hopping online early in the morning and late at night: “Moms are digital snackers, they come online whenever they get a few minutes,” Ross says.

The bottom line? Rossi says the overwhelming majority of Canadian moms are researching online to influence an in-store purchase. “Consumers recognize that CPG brands and retail websites have information online and before they go into the store, they can gather important information.” The research, she says, verifies that moms’ purchase decisions are influenced by information they obtain online before they get into the store. “The shelf might be the first moment of truth, but online is the zero moment of truth,” Ross adds.

One hundred and thirty years ago, Campbell’s invented condensed soup and began selling it to stores. Ten years ago, it launched its brand online via a co-branded partnership with Netgrocer.com. The company has created so many soups that stores have simply run out of room. Most retailers stock Campbell’s top sellers along with popular regional flavors.

While this adds up to a lot of soup, it leaves a few customers without their favorite flavors. We recently spoke with John Faulkner, director of brand communications, Jodi O’Brien, manager of consumer operations, and John Johnson, senior manager of interactive marketing, who discussed the strategy behind this small but important part of Campbell’s business. Here’s a snippet from the full interview available on eMarketer Total Access: (Read more…)

More consumer packaged goods brands are getting into the online video content game. Take the case of consumer products giant Clorox–its Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing brand has produced “Garden Party”, a series of original Webisodes extolling the virtues of fresh, seasonal veggies. The series of Web shorts star actress Jennie Garth of “90210″ fame, a mom of three and an advocate of healthy eating. The Webisodes are being distributed via iVillage.

(Read more…)

I just completed a report on how consumer packaged goods companies can maximize social media for their business. It won’t be published for a few more weeks, but I wanted to preview a few datapoints gleaned from my research:

1. CPG brand loyalty is ebbing. The CMO Council and Catalina Marketing found that the average CPG brand lost one-third of its most loyal customers in 2007 and 2008—before the recession took hold.

2. Consumer goods marketers (a category that includes CPGs as well as a range of other product types) accounted for just 3.1% of social network display advertising spending in August 2009. If CPGs are on social networks (which they definitely are) they aren’t forking out paid media to support their presence there.

Is there a relationship between these two things? Could CPGs drive more brand loyalty by buying more advertising on social networks? Or does brand loyalty come from something deeper—perhaps a more organic presence in social media?