POP Goes Marketing: Reach Customers at the Point of Purchase

For a brand to be successful today, an in-store presence is vital - regardless of the way it's done. "Great advertising may lure the consumer to the store but the store is a minefield of temptation," says Ogilvy Retail group account director Siobhan Partington.

"The challenge is to remain

The challenge for brands is developing integrated programmes that build preference at home and engagement in store, says Ogilvy Space gm Mike Chapman. "The technology is advancing and next-generation networks offer greater possibilities in both the locations of screens throughout the store and in the targeting of content that reaches shoppers in specific store locations."

In September last year, a Deloitte report indicated in-store advertising in the US was growing at a faster rate than internet advertising. It highlighted a jump from 3% of overall marketing budgets in 2004, to 6% in 2007, for the group of manufacturers surveyed, and went on to say that "manufacturers expected it to reach 8% of marketing budgets by 2010".

These figures were noted as being particularly interesting in light of an apparent lack of any measurement of the effectiveness of in-store marketing. The suggestion was that advertisers are obviously acting on a certain amount of faith as they push the barriers of in-store marketing.

The same month saw faith getting a helping hand. The Nielsen company announced it had made substantial progress towards making stores a measurable marketing medium. In 2008, it said, we'll see Nielsen In-Store syndicating data which will have retailers and manufacturers rethinking in-store marketing and improving the shopping experience.

While network TV continues to command high prices, the cost of in-store network infrastructure is more efficient, with ample evidence that dynamic communication is considerably more effective than traditional, static signage, says Partington. "That means that at the most basic level, POP innovators can use the technology to create in-store creative that is more arresting in its appeal and more flexible in terms of content."

But do our advertisers and marketers have access to the very latest technology? Sony has recognised that the retail and mall environment is not always an easy one - its latest LCD display is described as having "robust" features, including both an anti-dust mechanism and a "durable tamper-resistant front panel".

But if developments highlighted by Sign-Active's Glenn Anderson are anything to go by, we still have a way to go. Watch, he says, for store windows which become an interactive display controlled by movement with the glass acting as a speaker and providing sound; walk-through immersive displays using dry fog as a digital screen, as well as 3D and holographic virtual product images.

"Interactivity is also now a part of in-store digital screen networks with RFID technology integrated into product displays, GPS for tracking movement around the store integrated with the network, and permission-based tools such as SMS/Bluetooth for promotional offers, purchasing and checking price and availability," Anderson says.

Interactivity was the feature of Tourism NZ's NZ Spring Pass campaign in Australia, which involved combining Flash animated advertising on Eye digital eyelites equipped with a Bluetooth component that delivered free ringtones to the mobile phones of consumers who passed the screens. More than 280,000 Bluetooth-

enabled shoppers received the message with an above-average opt-in rate of 13.4%.

Developments in display technology over the past five years have made the concept of digital advertising more attractive, says Eye ceo Mike Tyquin. And he says, given that Eye Shop's static, digital, scrolling and large format displays, impact over five million shoppers fortnightly in 22 centres across NZ, they offer a very cost-effective solution for brands wanting to reach audience groups who are ready to shop.

"Static displays provide strong brand presence while digital advertising displays take the message a step further, delivering the opportunity to be tactical and more attentive to potential buyers."

But innovation is not confined to the electronic arena. Technology is also changing the face of traditional POP materials says Andrew Kurth, of APC Innovate. And we don't have to wait for these. "While the digital revolution continues, traditional POS materials have maintained or even grown in the marketplace. New substrates, inks and technologies continue to provide impetus to more creative POS solutions."

Digital printing, which now enables printing on a huge variety of substrates, is having an impact on POP, says Ogilvy print production manager Jules Calnan. "What used to be cost prohibitive and technically challenging is now achievable. The creative concept can now be enhanced by printing on a myriad of substrates which can reflect the product or the retail environment, in ways that have not been possible or perhaps cost effective, in the past."

And for many clients traditional POS is the answer, reports Chris Williams from Hamilton agency King Street Advertising. "Digital certainly hasn't been a factor in our lives but that may be to do with the type of clients we deal with. In my observation when I shop I haven't seen a lot."

So are the latest digital screens and interactive kiosks any more effective than traditional POP material in influencing the purchase decision? Ogilvy Interactive gm Peeyoosh Chandra acknowledges there is not a lot of hard data available, but says some interesting trends are emerging.

"Consumers expect to see it. It increases recall of the brand and the price the retailer is charging, and it's an effective way of capturing foot-traffic attention and directing it through the store."

And a study done by Moving Tactics to gain insight into how the Kiwi retail consumer views digital signage found that 58% of respondents noticed some advertising - of any type - in store during their visit, says gm Tizio Panara. After seeing the in-store digital ads, 34% were encouraged to browse in-store and 24% were reminded of specific products they wanted to buy.

In all, 72% rated the digital advertising as either very effective or effective.

"The main driver of value behind digital in-store media is the concept of 'recency'," says Panara. "It's not just how often a consumer sees an ad, it's how long from when they last saw the ad, to the point where they know they need a product; how 'recently' they saw the ad.

"This is partly why ad recall rates from in-home media are so miserable and partly why recall of ads seen in stores is so high."

Retailers are waking up to the potential of digital media, says Panara. "The Warehouse has been considering in-store digital signage and retail media networks and working with Moving Tactics in a trial to access its performance, impact and effectiveness."

Other retailers have realised the importance of digital media and an increasing number are beginning to adopt or trial small private networks.

SignActive's Anderson says the company's been working with a number of forward-thinking companies using such technology to communicate with customers. But a lack of suitable in-store digital screen networks allowing brands to get their message across does cause problems.

"One of the key factors with any network is reach. The feedback we have had from brand owners is that they need a significant number of sites in a nationwide network to effectively use this as an advertising and communication medium."

The use of interactive kiosks is expanding. "They're the new media opportunity," says former adman Bill Bate of Iview, whose products proudly carry the NZ-made label. "For the retailer they provide an additional salesperson, or additional selling tool for sales assistants. With sight, sound, touch and control, units have a proven record for increasing sales."

Bate says kiosks developed for Mazda cars to increase sales of after-market accessories have been popular. The programme shows how the vehicle would look when accessorised and the units themselves report back to head office providing data on customer preferences and stock control. "Customers are less intimidated if they can quietly source basic information themselves so the Mazda units are proudly presented front of showroom," Bate says.

And advertisers have been quick to tap into the opportunities presented by mobile phone charging kiosks introduced by Kwik-Fix last year, says Sagren Govender. "Kiosks are located in convenient, high traffic areas and there's added value for advertisers with a captive audience for up to 15 minutes." Govender believes demand for the product can only grow - "as features in phones increase this puts more demands on the battery."

It's a retail-centric world, but apparently shoppers still tend to dither at the sharp end with POPAI figures indicating point of purchase decisions are as high as 70%.

POP advertising can therefore be a powerful catalyst. But in a repetitive shopping environment it can become 'wallpaper', says Siobhan Partington. "The key to avoiding the wallpaper trap is correct placement, intelligent communication and innovation.

"Retail space is such a prime commodity these days, and with consumers bombarded with messages, something with cut-through and relevance, tapping into a consumer's need-state, is required if it's to get under the shopper's protective radar."