“Who owns those shelves?” Seth Godin writes one of the most
widely-read and influential marketing blogs in the world. He recently hit close to home with a post on owning vs renting.
Retailers and brand marketers
alike tussle over who owns a customer.
If you go to Lowes to buy a Therma-Tru door, are you a Lowes
customer or are you a Therma-Tru
customer? I suggest that the answer is
that you are both – and neither.
You could buy another brand of
door at Lowes or you could go to Home Depot or Menards
to buy a Therma-Tru door. If neither
the consumer goods company nor the retailer serves you well, you will be
captured by neither. You can “fire” them
at any time.
Doing a great job at the point of
purchase – the only place where the customer, product and desire to buy
intersect – is critical to both retailer and CPG. But it’s also crucial to the shopper looking
to fulfill a need, like a new front door for their home.
Marketers may own their brands and
retailers may own the shelves off of which you buy goods but the shopper owns both
CPG and retailer – lock, stock and barrel.
YOU own the shelves.
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