No, you’re not losing it.

That supermarket shelf really was talking to you.

And the flashing lights? They, too, were part of an in-store promotion.

Yes, point-of-purchase marketing is now high-tech.

Maybe it’s because mainstream media are faltering. But P-O-P is no longer an afterthought in big-budget campaigns.

Brands spent $19 billion on it in 2006, a 5.6% increase over the prior year, according to the Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast.

Some of that money went into glitzy displays and custom presentations. And the price tag on those contributed to the overall growth.

Some brands use interactive kiosks to provide product information and the chance to shop online.

Others use the audio-video capabilities now embedded in shelves. Consumers can watch a long-form commercial or view offers in a digital display.

Even the packaging is playing a larger role.

Kleenex has gone from square and rectangular shapes to oval. Bottles of Coors Light turn blue when cooled to alert the drinker that the beer is at the perfect temperature.

And for consumers who enjoy video games, Axe has shaped its shower gel package to look like a joystick.

Let’s move to the beverage aisle. Pepsi now changes its packaging on a regular basis to keep it interesting for teens and young adults.

And what packaging it is. Pepsi now rotates 35 images based on sports, music, fashion and cars. And these are featured on more than 8 billion cans, bottles and cups.

Oh yes, these packages also include Web site addresses. What for? So consumers can view exclusive content or participate in games and sweepstakes.

What else is new? Consumers are being encouraged to design their own packaging, even the labels.

And the merchandising is often tied to blockbuster films and TV shows.

For example, Dole Foods put 100 million “Space Chimps” stickers on its bananas and also played up the film on salads and fresh pineapples. It tried to lure kids to its Web site, which features health and nutrition information.

“The Simpsons Movie” received big play at 7-Eleven stores in a month-long promotion that featured 102 million instant-win codes on Slurpees, Cool Sandwiches and grill items. The grand prize was a trip to Los Angeles, where the winner was featured as an animated character on an episode of “The Simpsons” TV show.

Stranger yet, 7-Eleven turned 12 stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the Simpson’s parody of the convenience store chain.

But there’s one snag: Brand marketers want to see what they’re getting from these investments.

Nielsen recently began testing its PRISM service, which measures in-store media in a way that’s comparable to traditional broadcast and print ads.

PRISM (Pioneering Research for an In-Store Metric), combines shopper traffic numbers with in-store media and sales data to track how many shoppers were exposed to a display and how many actually bought the product.

Members of the PRISM consortium include Coca-Cola, ConAgra, General Mills, Kraft, SAB Miller, Supervalu, The Integer Group, OMD and Starcom MediaVest Group.

POPAI, the global association for retail marketing, is conducting research to measure shopper engagement in Europe and the U.S.

“We’re going to have a much better handle on what works at stores,” says Dick Blatt, CEO of POPAI. “We are starting to deliver a great deal more meaningful information than has ever existed.”

Meanwhile, retailers are finding that their own logos have marketing value. British Petroleum used its recognizable bright green and yellow signage at its gas stations around the world. And Best Buy executed a similar strategy with its signature bright blue and yellow branding. “It’s a unique look for the store that calls attention to itself,” Blatt says.

SNAPSHOT

Spending on P-O-P displays grew by 5.6% to $19.33 billion in 2006.

Nielsen is testing its PRISM system for measuring in-store media.

Brands like Pepsi now regularly rotate their packaging.

When it comes to choosing business-to-business media, it’s useful to separate acquisition and retention expenses.

Defining acquisition is fairly straightforward. It means cold prospecting, attracting an entirely new contact and persuading him or her to respond and express some interest in your product or your company. It’s often known as lead or inquiry generation, and requires a variety of media.

But once a relationship is in place, the media situation becomes quite different. You can use your database and apply direct media very effectively.

So for media planning it makes sense to consider inquiry generation, lead qualification and nurturing, and retention at the same time. It may take years until the prospect actually buys. At that point, the retention objective then takes on its typical character — promoting repurchases, cross-selling or upselling, and preventing defection.

Here are the best media for communicating with inquirers and current customers in B-to-B markets:

• E-mail

  Low cost makes this the No. 1 medium, hands down, for B-to-B retention marketing communications. It’s also versatile, allowing you to communicate with the intimacy of a text-based letter, or the graphic impact of an HTML advertisement. You also can use e-mail in a newsletter format, delivering useful information that’s welcomed by businesspeople. Data from the Direct Marketing Association’s new “B-to-B Direct Marketing Benchmarks” study confirms that 71.2% of marketers use e-mail for retention, while 60% use it to follow up on inquiries.

• Webinars

  They arrived on the B-to-B marketing scene only a few years ago and very quickly developed a reputation as little more than a long-form sales pitch. Sign-up rates — and show-up rates — continue to decline. This is a shame, since the medium permits marketers to tell their stories with great detail and variety. My guess is that overuse simply killed the golden goose.

  However, if used intelligently, Webinars still have plenty to offer. The secrets are timing and content quality. They’re best applied at two key stages in the buying process — when prospects are researching solutions and comparing vendors. One interesting wrinkle on Webinar use comes from Howard J. Sewell, president of Connect Direct in Redwood City, CA. He pointed out recently that Webinars can be prerecorded at the speaker’s convenience and then delivered, as if live, when the customer is ready.

• Phone

  Still the workhorse medium in B-to-B marketing communications, the phone can be applied successfully across the acquisition and retention spectrum. On the retention side, use the phone for inquiry qualification, lead nurturing, account management, new product introductions — whatever you can think of. DMA research shows that telephone marketing is the largest media category for B-to-B DMers, representing $28 billion in aggregate spending so far this year.

• RSS feeds

  This hot Web 2.0 medium already is looking good for B-to-B since it instantly and proactively delivers whatever content a customer has requested — an e-mail newsletter, blog content, anything. The problem is persuading customers and prospects to sign up, and keeping them interested in continuing the subscription. So content is king here. You’ll end up with highly qualified readers — but not necessarily everyone you want to reach.

• Mail

  Just because e-mail is cheap and easy, don’t neglect direct mail as part of your retention marketing tool kit. For one thing, you’re unlikely to gain — or maintain — correct e-mail addresses on 100% of your current customers and inquirers. Direct mail can fill the gaps in e-mail coverage. But there’s more to it than that. Direct mail is still highly welcomed by business buyers. It generates healthy response rates, and is unparalleled in helping marketers maintain efficient ongoing business relationships.

• Events

  There’s nothing like face time with customers, and events can give your sales and executive teams concentrated access at relatively low cost. Corporate events come in all flavors, ranging from user group meetings to technical seminars to executive briefings and golf outings. They’re excellent for relationship building, identifying customer issues and moving prospects through the buying process.

MEDIA TO AVOID

Some media aren’t ideal for retention marketing.

• Print and banner ads

  Advertising in the trade or business press and on targeted Web sites can be effective for building awareness, but it rarely makes sense once a marketer has a direct relationship with a customer or prospect. At that point direct communications — by e-mail, mail or phone — is likely to provide a stronger return on investment.

  But this conclusion is subject to change: Let’s keep an eye on such experiments as Google’s entry into print media sales, which may turn the tide by lowering the CPMs to an irresistible level — if it ever migrates to more targeted media than just newspapers and consumer magazines.

  Another exception would be domain-based targeted banner advertising, which is being offered by some forward-thinking B-to-B sites like Forbes.com. You can serve up ads to visitors from a particular corporation you’re trying to nurture a relationship with. Unfortunately, you can’t target more granularly than the corporate domain level — right now, anyway.

• Broadcast

  The same argument can be made for broadcast media, especially television, where the cost of entry puts it off limits to all but the largest companies. But here too, change is in the wind. Some local marketers are making radio and television work — but their efforts primarily have an acquisition objective.

• Trade shows

  Compared with proprietary corporate events, trade shows generally are viewed as places to find new prospects. When planning retention campaigns, trade shows usually are supplanted by lower-cost media. But a wise marketer considering trade shows will add retention to acquisition planning. If you’re going to a show to prospect, don’t forget to contact your current inquirers and customers and invite them to meet with you at the event. When the retention objective rides along with the acquisition investment, the ROI on trade show marketing can soar.

RUTH P. STEVENS ([email protected]) consults on customer acquisition and retention, and teaches marketing to graduate students at Columbia Business School. She is the author of “The DMA Lead Generation Handbook” and “Trade Show and Event Marketing.”

The Hooks

Finding a new customer takes a particular set of campaign strategies. After all, remember that prospects may have no idea who you are or what you sell.

The best media for acquisition include:

• Your Web site, enhanced with techniques designed to compel visitors to leave behind their contact information — namely, an offer and a call to action.

• Search engine optimization, so your site can be found in the first place.

• Search engine marketing, i.e., keyword bidding, to attract companies that are looking to solve a particular business problem.

• Outbound telemarketing, including intelligent use of voice-mail messaging.

• Direct mail, including dimensional mail and flats, like letters, postcards and self-mailers.

• Trade shows, if there’s a sufficient concentration of serious prospects to justify the expense.

• PR, which in business marketing usually proves to be a better prospecting investment than advertising.
  — RPS