Hi both. It’s great to have the Groupon Reach Network involved with PI LIVE – this time as a headline sponsor. What are you most looking forward to at the event next month?
Dan Watt: I think it’s a rare chance for so many people across the industry, from publishers and brands to agencies and tech solutions, to meet all in one place at the same time – sharing ideas and challenges with each other. Better yet, it’s the chance to actually acknowledge the successes and great thinking that on within our industry. It’s an opportunity to celebrate our mutual success.
Aside from presenting on the main stage, I’m really keen to see what the other exhibitors are showing – to catch as many of the fantastic sessions as I can in between meeting with brands and our partners.
Clare Gore: I’m looking forward to seeing the leading industry minds coming together under one roof and having a chance to discuss all the developments, challenges and opportunities that have swept through performance marketing since the start of the year.
With such a wealth of talks, panels and new and existing business opportunities there’s something for everyone at PI LIVE – no matter whether you’ve just started in the industry or are a seasoned ‘old-timer’. With so much knowledge to be shared, it’s an important event for the whole Groupon Reach Network team to attend. We’re thrilled to be a headline sponsor.
You guys are hosting the session “Consumer Behaviour and the Voucher Ecosystem” on Day 1. What are you hoping for attendees to take away from your session?
CG: Our aim is to show a different approach and understanding of the voucher marketplace – making the audience think about how consumer buying is driven by both conscious and unconscious behaviours. The key takeaway for attendees, we hope, will be a wider understanding of how consumer behaviour influences buying habits and how to incorporate these learnings into existing marketing strategies.
DW: I think we’ve got some really surprising and insightful data to share on how consumers make conscious decisions in relation to discounting with vouchers and coupons. In presenting that alongside some of the unconscious biasses that we have – from a behavioural science perspective – we’re hoping to pass on insight into how those elements fit in together. Crucially, we’re going to look at what this conscious/unconscious relationship means for brands in meeting the expectations of the modern consumer.
There’s been a lot of talking points around voucher codes and coupons in the performance marketing space. What’s your current take on the landscape?
DW: Competition and maturity levels in our marketplace are at never-before-seen levels. This, of course, puts everyone under the best kind of pressure to improve their delivery of service to consumers. Competition is a good thing – it makes us all work harder and smarter. With an ever-maturing marketplace, it means consumers have the greatest level of choice.
Ultimately, if you don’t have a proposition that meets consumer expectations – giving the customer what they want – you’re going to struggle. It’s a great challenge to improve year on year and meet those needs. We’re seeing lots of real innovation in this space.
Why should advertisers and publishers not underestimate the power of coupons?
CG: Coupons drive shopping behaviour. Whether it’s increasing the average order value, driving new customers, increasing customer lifetime value or increasing the transaction frequency; coupons simply can add incremental value to a brand. The Groupon Reach Network work consultatively with brands to plan out campaigns that will deliver specific KPIs, for us, it’s about innovating and challenging the typical ‘coupon’ concept so we can deliver even more value to our partners.
DW: Well – come to our presentation and find out! This is the exact focus of our session this year.
For me, it’s about meeting consumers expectations. In a modern marketplace where consumers can go to any number of places, and loyalty is harder to come by for brands, a small stumbling block within the purchase journey can be catastrophic. That stumble could derail the entire purchase.
Consumers, as our data has shown, are remarkably savvy. There are also large swathes of the market where discounting ability should be seen as synonymous with building loyalty and rewarding customers for buying in the first place.
There’s a point around value perception in the coupons space to be made also. There are many ways you can use coupons to increase basket sizes; to promote your brand in a certain way to reward customers, or simply to introduce an element of urgency into the purchase.
As we’ll cover in the presentation, there are ways you can use these strategies to run in sync with consumers natural subconscious behaviours… as well as their conscious attempts to get the best possible deal that they can.”
2018 was a period of transition for Groupon following its acquisition of vouchercloud. What have been some of your highlights?
DW: From a personal perspective, my highlight was joining the business earlier this year to head up the UK&I coupons organisation. It’s been fantastic to see the huge array of talent and expertise we have in the team that ultimately powers our market-leading offer to brands and consumers in the space. For evidence, you just need to look at the raft of nominations we’ve received so far!
CG: “Bringing both businesses together, merging the teams and truly becoming the Groupon Reach Network on an International level has been the stand out highlight for this year. I’m eager to watch as the business develops further over this key period!