Borders has begun entertaining customers in stores with cooking demonstrations and a book club series, all on Borders TV.
Borders is not the only retailer discovering what behemoths like Wal-Mart already know: In-store TV is a smart way to talk to customers.
The networks feature everything from new products and weekly specials to nutritional information, recipes and promotions. The spots typically range from 15 to 30 seconds, however longer forms can last a few minutes.
About 630,000 TV screens are now housed in 97,000 U.S. retail stores, estimates PowerPact, a consumer marketing agency. That number is projected to grow by 20% a year.
“Marketers right now are really experimenting,” says Scott Page, president and CMO for PowerPact. “It’s all over the board. A lot of things are being tried to see what will work.”
Wal-Mart alone accounts for 120,000 screens. Ads are targeted by department via five channels and viewed by about 21 million people every month, says Premier Retail Networks, the operator of the network.
Spending on in-store TV was expected to hit about $262.5 million last year, up 25.3% from 2006, estimates PQ Media, which projects double-digit growth through 2011.
Next month, fashion merchant Limited Too is also launching a network to promote new music and DVD releases, gift cards and in-store specials at about 400 stores with Retail Entertainment Design.
“It brings marketing messages to life,” says Scott Bracale, president of Tween Brands Agency, the chain’s parent company.
The firm plans to offset the “multimillion-dollar” expense by selling paid ads, Bracale says. Potential advertisers include Procter & Gamble’s Secret Sparkle and Walt Disney Records.
Some companies are even incorporating user-generated content.
Ecko Unltd teamed up with Channel M to launch “ecko TV” last October. It uses short-form content — everything from sports and shout-outs from celebrities — to “stop people in their tracks,” says Eric Hebel, president and COO of Channel M.
People can submit their own videos to be featured in upcoming episodes. The company also scours sites like YouTube for content. The monthly series airs in 700 Ecko Unltd. shops and Macy’s stores.
“Sight, sound and motion in-store is the Holy Grail,” says Virginia Cargill, president of CBS Outernet, a media firm that runs network TVs in more than 1,400 grocery stores.
TUNING OUT
Critics say in-store TV is advertising overload.
Watchdog group The Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood says it’s just another push to put children in front of ads.
“It is an intrusion,” says Susan Linn, the group’s co-founder. “This is part of a targeted device by corporations to get brands in our face 24 hours, seven days a week. It may benefit marketers, but it doesn’t do the rest of us a lot of good.”
But Borders’s senior vice president and CMO Michael Tam argues that it has a purpose.
“It’s giving customers something that they would otherwise not see on TV,” he says. “Our customers love this stuff.”
Dannon ran a second flight of 15-second spots last year for its Activia yogurt after an initial flight drew double-digit increases, reports Catapult Marketing, the agency that handled the content. The ads appeared on screens in Costco electronics departments with a call to action.
And last summer, Pepsi ran a spot on CBS Outernet’s network in Albertsons stores, driving shoppers to displays where they could enter to win tickets to the World Series.
Watch for more interactivity such as instructions on how to download coupons to cell phones.
PAY TO PLAY
A 30-second spot running for a month on CBS Outernet costs about $140,000 for media time only.
As for the hardware, some retailers bear the brunt for non-ad-supported networks. In other cases, network providers pick up the cost or split it with the company.
A Nielsen Media Research study found that 68% of people said in-store messages would influence their purchase decision. What’s more, 44% said they would switch an item they planned to buy for one advertised on a store screen.
Unlike home, “you can’t turn it off,” notes Leo Kivijarv, vice president of PQ Media.
“It’s not about adding screens or adding advertisers,” says Mike Quinn, senior vice president of marketing for Premier Retail Networks, “It’s about creating a more engaging experience for the shopper.”
Promotion agencies had primarily dominated the in-store environment. But now, advertising agencies and network providers have joined in.
“There is potential where we will fight for the same dollars, but we’re smart enough when we have the same clients to work collaboratively,” adds Peter Cloutier, Catapult East president. “I don’t think there will be any one model for clients.”
While most clients measure sales lift to track ROI, the medium lacks other metrics to gauge success, which causes some to shy away.
Nielsen’s new PRISM (Pioneering Research for an In-Store Metric) system may be able to help. The company has been testing the system, which combines shopper traffic numbers with in-store media and sales data to track how many people were exposed to a display and the quantity that bought the product.
“Unless it is rewarding in the end, then it is just one more message,” sums up Wendy Liebmann, president of marketing consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail.
NEW AT RETAIL
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Tuffline TV: a combination of digital signage and TV. Displays use a flash card to run commercials and other video. A removable skin on the outside of the display can change a message in seconds. — Inventive Media.
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Peel ‘n Taste: Shoppers taste products via thin strips. Dispensers containing 500 taste packets can be affixed to shelves or displays. — First Flavor.
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Scent Packs: Shoppers squeeze hollow packets that release a fragrance. The pack is good for about 500,000 squeezes. — Intelli-Scents.
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Fresh Ideas: Kiosks let shoppers print product information, wellness content and recipes. — Healthnotes.
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HSS Speakers: Displays feature targeted sound functions to keep audio messages subdued to reach one shopper at a time. — Audiobrain.
— Amy Johannes
For more articles on retail marketing go to www.promomagazine.com/retail