Out of the Box

Shopper Marketing Grows in Popularity

By Menachem Lubinsky on October 26 2007

When exactly is the consumer most likely to pay attention to advertising? Many marketers have always argued that ideally it is at the point of purchase. People are most likely to notice ad pitches when they are in a position of buying, the argument went. They even compared it to other media and found that shopper marketing may be more effective. Marketing professionals are constantly faced with the challenge of coming up with new ideas that go beyond the traditional posters or flags to grab a customer’s attention. They know that the attention span of the customer may be short in most media, especially when compared with the “captive audience” customer in the store.

These marketers seemed to have even won the day against designers and managers whose primary concern is aesthetics. The “clean look” of a store was certainly nice, but there was mounting evidence that utilizing space to market had a direct bearing on the bottom line. In recent years, marketers began to tinker with the classical shopping cart, expanding its size and leaving room for advertising. A new cart currently available in a few select markets even has a small video screen with alternating ads. Large overhead video screens are also more popular these days with specific ads that relate to products sold in the store or even in an aisle.

Rest room and lounge areas became the next target as ads began to appear in foyers or hallways leading to the areas. This was again an attempt by marketers to use space once thought to be off limits but apparently very effective. Staircases, elevators, escalators, and wall space were all considered good locations for the marketing pitches. Of late, the floor has emerged as the latest site for ads that are often paid for by brands seeking to draw additional attention to the products. You can actually see shoppers look down to read ads.

The beauty of this new brand of shoppers marketing is that it often results in instant results. Many a salesperson has related stories of people reading ads and immediately asking for where they can find the product. One supermarket chain calculated their square footage and came up with a formula how much the space should offer in return. In other words, how much money can they make by selling the space and how much will the bottom line be affected.

Some marketers are beginning to look at other creative ideas. For example, one brand is offering stores beautiful doormats with pictures of their products and logos surrounding a big Welcome sign. Others are sponsoring shopping bags for stores with their logos emblazoned across the bag.

Why this sudden rush to shopper’s marketing? There have been numerous studies by retailers that these ads are working. Some have actually compared sales in certain aisles per a floor ad and then after it was placed and found nominal increases of 3%-5% in sales, which is nothing to sneeze at.

I have been seeing this type of advertising grow in many parts of the world. In Rome, I even came across a scale in front of a store that appeared to have an ad by a diet program. I subsequently learned that the scale was placed in at least 12 stores throughout Rome. In Tel Aviv, a screen offers candle lighting times for the upcoming Shabbos.

Billboards have, of course, always been a major medium for advertising, albeit that it is not at point of purchase. They are especially effective on highways where motorists look for a temporary (hopefully very temporary) diversion from the monotony of the road. Airports have become a major venue for advertising, sometimes near outlets and stores that are in the airports. Marketers say that airports are a great place to capture the attention of shoppers as travelers look for something to read as they make their way to and from gates.

You have probably seen the placemats in restaurants with the multiple ads that more than pay for the mats for the establishments. Some restaurants have begun installing small screens with menus posted throughout the restaurant. Even receipts nowadays have some sort of advertising, which may even include discount offers and the like.

Consumers are literally being bombarded by advertising at every turn, but marketers are still not satisfied. They continue to look at new opportunities. One suggestion had New York City sanitation trucks carry commercial ads and one legislator even suggested other official cars. Did he mean police cars, fire trucks and ambulances?

The advocates of shoppers advertising believe that proper marketing can result in nudging the shopper’s bill up a notch. It is very much consistent with those retailers that place items near check-out counters and find that such placement can increase sales of the items by as much as 25%. This means that a consumer who has topped off their shopping list may very well add another item.

If you are in this kind of position, take a hard look at the opportunities that you may have to promote products or services. Be a little bit creative and you just may find that it really pays off.

Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.

The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.