At Shelf Video Gets a Little Better

Recently had a meeting with POP Broadcasting to check out their new demo unit for at shelf video. (See pic to the side and notice coffee cup cleverly place for scale) There are a couple fascinating things about this unit that get me excited.

1. Its wireless and runs off of cellular signals. This means that you don't need to tap the stores internet connection or depend on their IT capabilities. Content is beamed directly to each unit from POP Broadcasting's mothership.

2. Not only do you get the motion activated video screen, but you also have a small text display which can be changed out to display a price point, promo message or whatever you want.

3. Content can be change out in a relatively real time manner via the web. Clients can log in and upload new creative and can even schedule during what daypart they want it to start running.

4. Backend reporting is fantastic. Clients can log in and get reports of how many times what content played and in which stores. Imagine paralleling that with sales data to determine real effectiveness.

Like I said, after the meeting I was excited about the possiblities of this kind of technology at shelf. Will keep you posted in the future with what happens.

In-store TV Evolving in the Right Direction

When I was home in L.A. over the holiday break, I took the opportunity to check out one of IBN's latest installs of their PerfectMedia In-store TV network. Conveniently, it happened to be in my parent's favorite Ralph's, so as I made the ever dreaded Christmas day "fill-in trip" for whatever ingredients mom's was missing, I killed two birds.

Overall, I was impressed with the offering. Large perimeter screens with their vertical orientation do standout, and the choice of locations, produce and bakery, meant that shoppers might actually slow down long enough to take in some messaging. Also, the creative I happened to see were nice in-store specific executions featuring video within a seeming flash-based branded environment. You can check out some creative samples here.

More interesting however, were the in-aisle placements. In the fabric care aisle, there was this placement. Right at eye level and with audio just loud enough to hear within close proximity of the screen, but not so annoying that you heard it beyond more than a few feet away. As I passed it, there was some content, I think sponsored by Better Homes, about organizing your home or something to that effect. Relevant enough for a placement in the household needs part of the store.

If in-store TV networks are going to live up to the hype currently in the marketplace and truly become a medium of the future, its networks like this, focusing on increasing relevance through context and quality placements over quantity, that will take this vehicle to where it needs to be. Now, unfortunately, they just need to roll out into more stores. Currently only available in less than 100 Kroger stores, PerfectMedia is evolving in the right direction, now they just need build their reach.

The Beauty of In-Store Targeting

This weekend I went to Safeway, and among the random things on my list was Drano (to fix a slow draining shower issue). While my slow draining shower isn't that interesting, what was interesting was the Catalina coupon delivered to me upon check out. Now, in addition to you folks, Roto Rooter also knows that I had a drainage issue and are offering me $25 off there services. Is this wildly innovative? no just smart.

In the online world, there is constant banter around behavioural targeting and contextual targeting. Both these methods of "finding consumers" are very smart. However, thinking about an offline application of these same principles, the store provides interesting possibilities as well. Like everything else in marketing, this will only work for a finite number of products or services, but the consideration should always be there. Should a salon chain put something on shelf in front of the hair color if they can make a competitive offer? Why not, again messaging and offer will be important, but the fact that Roto Rooter thought to target people in the store buying Drano means that folks are already thinking this way. Very encouraging.

Retail, Brand, Media Partnerships can be great...

...when done this well. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 7-11, AOL and Mountain Dew (Pepsico) came together to create a beautiful program. (Can't imagine the logistics for approvals on this one). Further, my favorite part is that I was first exposed at retail. (Pump topper at 7-11)

And yes, while they are hawking Game Fuel Slurpees, they certainly aren't going to start selling $70 video games at 7-11. So for Halo 3, who has the majority of the real estate, this is "c-store as a medium". They are getting millions of brand impressions in a environment appropriate for their target, made even more relevant when tied to the Game Fuel Slurpee product.

According to 2006 MRI data, almost 3 million men 18-34 visit 7-11 at least 4x a month. Another 529,000 male teens do the same.

Even better, is the fact that they're not just hawking slurpees...there's a promotion at Slurpee.com.


There are actually few promotional items.
1. Chance to voice a character in the next release of Halo, Halo Wars.
2. Collect "virtual straws" by doing differnt things on the site (games, tell-a-friend, etc...) which can be redeemed for smaller rewards.
3. Download a BOGO coupon to drive back to retail for Slupees.

Overall, this is just a well rounded promotional partnership between relevant brands, delivering something of value to consumers.

Excited yet Conflicted about the Future of Retail

The more I read and hear, the more I wonder where Retail Marketing is going. PRISM hopes to simplify the media aspects of it, while Retailers are also becoming more demanding in Customer Specific concerns as well as now Customer/Shopper specific efforts.

WARNING: This a long one, but worth it for those whose bread is buttered in this arena.

I was reading a fantastically interesting article in the Hub about shopper marketing which got me thinking about the myriad of forces at work on retail marketing. The article written by Chris Hoyt and Gail Peterson of Hoyt and Associates basically outlines the shift by retailers to better shopper segmentation and what in means to anyone selling goods at retail. Check it out here.

The net net is that retailers are now aiming to better serve their shoppers by customizing stores (product selection, layout, etc...). The hope of the more shopper relevant store is, as always increase sales, but also increase loyalty.

"This store understands me" seems to be the general response we are looking for here.

I love this, its smart, makes complete sense, but in everyway complicates what we as an agency are going to be tasked with in the future. Try customer specific programming across a clients top 10 retailers and you can go a little nuts. But now, its going to grow geometrically as each customer specifc program will have 4 - 8 "shopper specific" twists.

Again, I love this, it will only lead to more targeted programming which hopefully means more effective and successful work. I just think we made need a few more folks on the home team.

My conflict comes as I have the pleasure of working with the PRISM folks on the development of that fantastic tool. As stores differentiate further, what does this mean for uniform measurement and planning. I would argue the measurement factor can remain less affected as "eyeballs are eyeballs" in the world of media measurement. An impression in prime time TV is added on top of an impression in Time Magazine and then added again to a Yahoo impression is terms of overall plan delivery.

Yes, the levels of engagement are different, but that's a separate consideration as a part of the planning process. But as far as Neilsen is concern, they are measuring "opportunity to see"; eyeballs are eyeballs. (Its the same song for TV, Print and everything else measured)

So, this leads me to the part which is affected by all this retailer specific mumbo jumbo; planning retail programs. While thanks to PRISM we will know how many people will see our in-store pieces, how to interupt and engage will become a more important artform.

This is very exciting. Encouragement on the part of retailers for more specific programs around the "kind of shopper" that is in a particular store provides an opportunity to start testing the limits of in-store creative. How do we take a once simple promotional tool and update and inspire it to be more. What kind of creaive measurement do we establish to test what works where and for whom? I could tell you my thoughts, but I'd have to charge you.

While its a somewhat confusing time...

unform measurement vs. store specific segmentation,

clean store policies vs. a growing retail media landscape,

Retailer Brands vs. CPG Brands vs. Consumers vs. Shoppers.

...its an exciting time. Its exciting because conversations are being had that weren't had before. Positions, departments and companies are being created to address all the colors of the retail rainbow. Legitimacy is around the corner, if not here already. Now we just need more hands on deck.

Thanks for playing... I'll make my next entry shorter I promise!

In-Store Media - User Friendly or Specialized Craft?

The more I read about in-store media lately, the more tense I get. With the genesis of the "in-store GRP", or at least a reasonable theory on how to create one, there is a big push to create a future where in-store is planned right along side other traditional media vehicles. The way the process is discussed, it’s as though there will be some magical way to plan/buy 1000 GRPs of "in-store media" that can be thrown on a flowchart between TV and Print. As someone that spent the first part of may career planning traditional media, peppered in some online and now have moved to in-store, I see a few problems with this...

1. Having recently shifted focus to solely in-store media, its hard to envision your average media planner doing what I do. Not because I'm special, but strictly from a time and energy standpoint. Understanding in-store media requires a lot of space in ones brain to catalog and track all the vendor products (which are ever evolving), retailer likes/dislikes, latest shopping trends, etc... We aren't planning 30 second spots or full page four color bleed ads. There is no standard anything. Further, it’s a full planning process to "do it right"; however, the process has different inputs then traditional media planning. See point 2.

2. Even if you wanted to buy 1000 GRPs of in-store, you couldn't. Even if the metric existed, you still couldn't. It’s not bought, sold, planned or even concepted that way. A primary problem is retailer realities. Not all retailers take the same media from a vendor or the same vendors for that matter. Also, you have clients that want more differentiation for their retailers to make them feel like there getting something different, but you have legal hurdles that say you can't do that. Its a complex landscape that I don't see your average media planner navigating successfully, let alone excelling at to provide clients effective, innovative solutions.

3. Lastly, one of the complaints of in-store media folk is that we are just a line item under promotions, a tactic. My thought is…what's the difference if you go from a line item under promotions to a line item under media. If you have non-specialized planner in control of the line item, how is the medium better served. I compare in-store often to online, for a while the industry attempted to fold it in with traditional media, but it proved to be just too different. Any good online planner will tell you that behind all the numbers, there is an art to online planning; as there is to mastering the planning of any vehicle. However, at the same time, they did create superb metrics which were comparable with traditional media so it could live in the same presentations. I believe this is more of where in-store needs to go. Yes, let’s create metrics and language that are inline with other media vehicles so clients don't need to learn and entirely new lexicon for every meeting. However, let’s leave the art to the craftsman.

I don’t want to sound as though I don’t have faith in numbers, great planning should always be rooted in solid research. At the end of the day we are solving business issues and that should be quantifiable somehow. As I read that Nielsen is now on board to help create a definitive in-store metric, I get excited to see the outcome. I anxiously await the arrival of a magic number I can provide which helps with selling the store "as a medium" not just a generator of short term lift. But let the number just be that, another important chapter in a well crafted story. A chapter along side, brand objectives, retailer objectives, shopper behavior, channel analysis and a host of other new inputs that going into creating an effective in-store plan.