the impending in-store marketing revolution - WPP.com

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an update on groundbreakingefforts to establish a universalin-store metricPG 2the media’s take on why so muchfocus is now being put on the storeas media – and what it meansPG 10highlights from other articlesdetailing profound changesaffecting marketing at retailPG 14an industry onthe vergeA new initiative from Nielsen and the In-Store MarketingInstitute moves retail closer to a measured mediumBY PETER BREEN, IN-STORE MARKETING INSTITUTECHICAGO — Data collected through theP.R.I.S.M. project may quite literally transformthe retail environment, and should have amajor impact on the future of marketing toconsumers.The Pioneering Research for an In-StoreMetric project has achieved its primaryobjective to measure retail traffic at thecategory level. Under the direction ofThe Nielsen Company, the initiative nowhas moved beyond traffic counts byincorporating store communication auditsto derive estimates for consumer reach.In other words, the in-store “audience” formarketing communications can now bequantified, which makes retail a measuredmedium similar to TV, radio, print and online.“This metric will allow everyone gathered inthis room to truly begin to treat and discussthe physical store as a marketing medium,”David Calhoun, The Nielsen Company’schief executive officer, told an audience ofmore than 1,000 gathered for a special paneldiscussion on P.R.I.S.M. at the In-StoreMarketing Expo in Chicago on Sept. 27.“We’ve come an enormous distance in anincredibly short period of time,” said PeterHoyt, executive director of the In-StoreMarketing Institute, which spearheadedthe first stage of the P.R.I.S.M. project withsupport from a consortium of consumerproduct manufacturers and retailers.Inability to measure the audience for in-storemarketing activity has long been a stumblingblock to treating retail as a viable medium forbrand-building consumer communication.2Published October 1, 2007
This obstacle has now been removed,members of the panel discussion said.“Because we are getting a better readon how in-store messaging impactsconsumers, we can create more effectiveways to engage them in the shoppingenvironment,” said Renetta McCann,chief executive officer of StarcomMediaVest Group. “This elevates the storeto the status of new media, as critical assearch or mobile or gaming in the overallmarketing mix.”But the P.R.I.S.M. project’s impact on theretail marketplace goes much deeper,according to panel members, because thedata unlocks a wealth of information thatcan be used to transform the way retailersand consumer product manufacturersmerchandise products and communicatewith shoppers.“P.R.I.S.M. can dramatically changethe way we as retailers create a morecompelling in-store environment byhelping us to truly anticipate the needs ofour customer,” explained Steve Bratspies,senior vice president of marketingfor Wal-Mart Stores Inc. “We’ll begindesigning stores that are more intuitivefor our shoppers. Stores that are easier tonavigate. Stores with products displayedin a customer-friendly manner. Ultimately,we’ll be able to deliver the informationthat customers need to make the bestpurchase decisions and make the in-storeexperience one of the most powerfulmarketing media.”“With P.R.I.S.M., we are going to be ableto measure reach by category, by retailer,”said Bob McDonald, chief operating officerof Procter & Gamble. “By taking this data[and] aligning it against the cost of specificphysical in-store executions, we are goingto be able to establish CPM — the costper thousand to reach those shoppersin a particular category and by store.This will lay the foundations for preciselymeasuring return on investment for specificexecutions or displays by category, byretailer. You are even going to be able toestablish ROI by geography – what worksbetter in Florida than in Illinois – or evenROI by seasonality.”INITIAL FINDINGS FROM P.R.I.S.M.Data collected by Nielsen In-Store duringthe second phase of field researchconducted this summer quantifies somefacts that marketers have believed –anecdotally, at least – for several years.“The retail audience is enormous,” saidCalhoun. “It is the largest audienceavailable today. Right now millions ofshoppers are in-store. But P.R.I.S.M. letsus know about more than just the totalaudience size for a retailer. It tells uswhere in the store the shoppers are andhow that changes by time of day and dayof week.”“In some food stores, the heaviest trafficflow is not through the carbonatedbeverage and snack aisles – which mightbe the conventional wisdom based onsales rates – but through the yogurt andeggs section of the store.”“Wal-Mart’s footprint across NorthAmerica is dramatic. Every day, morethan 20 million customers walkthrough our doors.”—Steve Bratspies, SVP Marketing,Wal-Mart“As a result, our stores are an incrediblypowerful media vehicle,” said Bratspiesduring his presentation. “But in reality,the store itself has never been trulyconsidered and leveraged among theranks of the top marketing and mediatools, even though its potential reach andeffectiveness equal if not surpass othertraditional media vehicles.”Secondly, there are significant numbers ofshoppers who browse aisles but don’t buyanything. “Until now, we have known a lotabout the people who made purchases,”said Calhoun. “However, now we haveContinued on next page3
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