Sharpening the POINT OF PURCHASE
They’re spending nearly $14 billion a year on P-O-P, and marketers are eagerly seeking ways to get a bigger bang for those bucks.
Priming the impulse-buying pump has always been the goal of point-of-purchase programs. Every year, thousands of programs are created, with some deemed successful in driving sales and others considered duds.
Success or failure in this marketing arena, however, is all too often an imperfect science, because it’s generally difficult to measure in bottom-line terms the actual increase in business directly attributable to an in-store promotion. There are simply too many other variables in the sales and marketing mix to accurately pinpoint the P-O-P component as the single determining factor one way or the other.
Nebulous or not, P-O-P campaigns continue to attract billions of budgeting dollars year in and year out, with many consumer packaged goods makers – especially those who live and die in the grocery aisle – swearing by the stuff.
Fortunately, innovation is another constant in the industry, and several recent developments illustrate ongoing efforts to upgrade and gauge the effectiveness of point-of-purchase programs.
At its annual conference in early February, the Washington, DC-based Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute released results from the pilot phase of an ambitious, multi-year study undertaken in conjunction with the Advertising Research Foundation entitled “In-Store Advertising Becomes a Measured Medium.” Once completed, “we are confident that this study will have served to make P-O-P advertising a measured medium, on par with print, broadcast, and other ad media,” asserts POPAI spokesperson Joe Casper.
Meanwhile, two companies have announced new services which utilize different types of video technology to enhance the in-store experience. Brand Marketing Network, from Display Systems, Inc., uses state-of-the-art Intranet and video-server technology to target specific demographics at the point-of-purchase. And building on the premise that consumers simply can’t get enough TV, there’s now Bevision, a TV network for liquor stores. Retail Media Systems is positioning its newest satellite-delivered network to deliver the types of video promotions that the spirits industry has been forbidden or reluctant to air on conventional TV.
POPAI THE SALESMAN
The POPAI/ARF study marks an unprecedented attempt to finally establish a common measuring stick for the in-store medium, something that individual consumer goods manufacturers have struggled with internally for years.
In its preliminary phase, which was conducted in about 100 supermarkets across the country, the study adhered to three objectives: Quantify the actual amount of in-store advertising in place; estimate the number of consumer impressions created by those campaigns; and ascertain resulting sales increases.
The findings from the initial phase, sponsored by Dallas-based TLP, Inc. and Promo Edge of Neenah, WI, will help to launch the next far-reaching phase – several years of methodical research of the occurrence and sales effectiveness of various forms of in-store advertising across numerous retail channels. The ultimate goal is to emerge with a method for P-O-P marketers to finally determine the actual fruits of their labors.
The overall benefits of such a tool would go a long way toward lending indisputable credence to P-O-P promotions and precisely identify which elements drive sales. Marketers would be able to determine which kinds of in-store promotions are best suited to particular product categories and specific types of retailers. In turn, the results would enable agencies that create P-O-P campaigns to supply their clients with measurable, quantifiable data on how to best affect consumer purchasing behavior at its most critical juncture.
Last year’s pilot phase ran from May to September and examined just two product categories: salty snacks and carbonated soft drinks. The next phase will track a wider range of categories in virtually every key retail channel including drug, convenience, liquor, home improvement, automotive, and specialty outlets such as electronics, music, and toy retailers. The information will be gathered through annual 20-week audits covering 12 to 16 different forms of P-O-P. Scanner data will be provided by Information Resources, Inc., Chicago, and Efficient Market Services, Inc., Deerfield, IL.
Naturally, this information will come at a price to marketers. POPAI and ARF have proposed a cost structure based on the number of product categories desired. For instance, an individual company would pay $55,000 for detailed findings on a single category, with the price per category dropping as more are added – $51,000 each for two, $48,000 for three, $45,000 for four, and $43,000 for five. More comprehensive analyses of the findings would be supplied when four or more categories are ordered.
SEEING IS BELIEVING
In the meantime, there’s no stopping the singular attempts to create novel in-store programs that increase brand visibility. How else to describe Brand Marketing Network? BMN is billed as an “in-store magazine” in which content is delivered by four 40-inch gas plasma screens hung from the ceiling in category-specific areas of a retail outlet.
Over an Intranet – a private Internet network – each screen displays video clips and other content that provide shoppers with information about products and promotions in that area of the store. The network is controlled remotely and supported from BMN headquarters in Maspeth, NY, by a single digital video server that disseminates and updates all programming.
“The network allows both the brands and retailers to communicate to the intended consumer at the point-of-sale by utilizing sound and full-motion video,” says Marc Weshler, vp-marketing for BMN. “It also incorporates an updateable signage program that is cost-effective and can be implemented at the retail level,” he adds.
The service will be offered free to retailers; ad rates have yet to be determined for marketers. Programming content will include promotional messages, lifestyle segments independently produced for various in-store departments – cosmetics, grocery, or pharmacy, for instance – and additional information, ads, and promotions created by the individual retailer.
Weshler says BMN can deliver day-part programming to target different consumers at key times throughout the day. “For example, we can target teens shopping for cosmetics after school [or] professionals food shopping after work,” he says. BMN plans to begin testing its network in stores during the second quarter.
NO PINK ELEPHANTS ALLOWED
Uncorking spirits, wine, and beer sales in liquor stores is the focus of Bevision, which is scheduled to go “live” this month. The in-store TV system is modeled on RMS Network’s existing Advance Autoparts Network and Pharmaseetv, which is up and running in more than 2,000 drug stores.
“Currently, there is a limited means for television advertising for the alcoholic beverage and liquor industry,” says Sam Ambrose, vp-marketing for RMS, Fort Lauderdale, FL. “With Bevision, manufacturers, retailers, and media buyers can reach their target audience.” The network will also have an online component, bevision.net, that will include downloadable versions of some of the video segments.
Programming on Bevision will run in half-hour blocks – 20 minutes of content, 10 minutes of advertising – and feature drink recipes, wine recommendations, beer-brewing demonstrations, and other related segments in addition to the suds pitches. Retailers will pay $300 annually for the satellite dish required to pull in the video feed. Ad rates are expected to be a bit more than the $2 to $4 CPM (in terms of estimated viewers) that Pharmaseetv charges.
Technology will certainly usher in other new wrinkles for P-O-P, even as the tried-and-true methods remain firmly in place. Regardless of how the promotions are delivered, the goal will remain building brands, spurring sales, and supporting retailers. The fundamental change will occur if and when the medium becomes truly measurable.
Until then, happy sales hunting.
For the past 42 years, the Point-of-Purchase Advertising Institute has annually presented its highest honors – the Display of the Year awards – to a handful of marketers and their partners that together developed the most successful in-store advertising campaigns. The elite group is selected from among all Gold winners of POPAI’s Outstanding Merchandising Achievement Awards contests. Here’s a look back at the five 1999 honorees.
Award: BEST SALES PROMOTION
Promotion: Miller Lite Football
Entrant: Miller Brewing Co.
Looking to leverage Miller Lite’s status as an official sponsor of the National Football League and Official Beer Sponsor of the Super Bowl, the brand’s management and promotions team created a far-reaching program with the goal, simply put, of helping retailers and distributors sell more beer.
Dubbed “Really, Really Good Football Team,” the program had both on- and off-premise elements, and was highlighted by a sweeps giving away vacation packages for 50 winners and their guests to Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami.
Miller’s sponsorship included the rights to tie-in with all 31 NFL teams and their logos, a benefit that figured prominently in creating retail displays of every shape and size for tens of thousands of supermarkets and convenience, drug, warehouse, and liquor stores serviced by distributors across the country.
Miller worked with St. Louis-based promotion agency The Zipatoni Co. and numerous regional printers and other vendors to produce a host of P-O-P elements – display cards, case cards, table tents, banners, string pennants, static stickers, base wraps, aisle spanners, floor graphics, and others.
Award: BEST PERMANENT DISPLAY
Promotion: Camel CTS Program
Entrant: Trans World Marketing for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
When R. J. Reynolds decided to create a permanent presence for its popular Camel brand in cigarette tobacco stores (CTS), its sales department presented the concept and its own objectives to five different P-O-P suppliers. East Rutherford, NJ-based Trans World Marketing came in with the winning design, devising displays that RJR felt best communicated Camel’s history as well as its current advertising campaign. POPAI judges concurred.
“It is unlike any other cigarette display available,” states David Cook, RJR national manager, retail presence. “Traditional cigarette merchandisers are built primarily to inventory product and have some type of P-O-S. This was built to be a total brand-equity display that has cigarette product on it. Consumers are drawn to several different visuals, from the back-lighted front pane to the down-lighted acrylic panels and the front showcase containing Camel memorabilia.”
Without citing exact figures, Cook adds that the display “has resulted in increased share and sales in these outlets.”
Award: BEST SEMI-PERMANENT DISPLAY
Promotion: Rouge Pulp Wal-Mart 4-Way
Entrant: Ultimate Display Industries for L’Oreal
L’Oreal needed a self-service display for Wal-Mart stores that would introduce a new lip liner called Rouge Pulp and 13 shades of Rouge Pulp Liquid Lipcolour.
“They wanted to show off the unusually fun and upscale packaging,” says Jodi Collins, assistant vp of Ultimate Display Industries, the Jamaica, NY, company hired to develop the idea.
L’Oreal and Ultimate came up with an eye-catching display consisting of two blow-ups of the Lipcolour vial with injection-molded ribs that allowed the product to hang. The lip liners were hung in the same manner. As requested by Wal-Mart, the units shipped with product in place for easy in-store assembly.
“The display was fun, attractive, and shouted color,” Collins explains, “which appealed to a younger consumer and encouraged impulse purchase. The program [had] a huge result.” Wal-Mart liked it enough to offer the company another “L’Oreal Month” in 1999.
Award: BEST TEMPORARY DISPLAY
Promotion: Ecco Domani Wire Woman
Entrant: Racks, Inc. for E & J Gallo Winery
Creating P-O-P displays for liquor stores can be tricky. Space is often tight, which means a display has to elicit response from shoppers without impeding their movement. Thus the popular use of wire displays.
Gallo’s in-house creative department, partnering with Racks, Inc. of San Diego, needed a display to introduce Ecco Domani, an Italian imported wine. The striking, free-form “Wire Woman” – a black and red figure holding a bottle of Ecco Domani – was the result.
“We were trying to find something with European flair, something that was continental and upscale,” says Andrea Martin, Gallo category manager, supplier development. “We used the Wire Woman to create celebration and excitement without blocking the retail environment.” Cheers.
Award: BEST MULTINATIONAL
Promotion: Tylenol Rotating Floor Display
Entrant: Point 1 Displays for McNeil Consumer Products
“Everyone is familiar with Tylenol, so McNeil [in Canada] was looking for an opportunity to create a permanent merchandiser to enhance the product’s visibility at the point-of-sale,” recalls Bruce Gornitsky, vp-sales and marketing for Toronto-based Point 1 Displays.
Point 1’s design team came up with a rotating stack of three Tylenol boxes – representing each of the brand’s SKUs – that would hold about 180 product units.
A display used in 1997 – a clear-plastic unit – was effective, Gornitsky says, but looked a bit neglected and decidedly unattractive if not restocked regularly. “This new one, though, hides that fact and always looks nice.”
