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In Media Res

By Peter Breen

The concept of in-store media seems to be heading in the right direction.

Anyone concerned that advancing the store as a legitimate advertising medium might turn the retail environment into a chaotic muddle of competing, conflicting and irrelevant marketing messages would have been comforted during a panel discussion at last month's In-Store Marketing Summit.

Evan Anthony of Kroger, Stephen Vowles of Stop & Shop and Jeff Weidauer of Supervalu concluded the two-day event by offering their candid views on the role of advertising media within their stores.

The defining moment in the discussion came early on, when moderator David Sommer of MEC Retail asked panel members for their definition of "in-store media." Their answers didn't include any specific marketing vehicles or interactive technologies, and they didn't mention the potential for advertising revenue, either.

Instead, what all three marketing executives expressed was the belief that shoppers will determine the media that will be most relevant to their in-store experience. (Weidauer suggested that the proper course might even be to employ technologies that consumers already have adopted, like cell phones, rather than requiring them to learn new ones.)

"The term 'captive audience' needs to be deleted from our vocabulary. There's no such thing," said Weidauer, addressing one of the potential dangers to the "store as media" scenario. "If you think a customer in our store is 'captive' because she can't turn off that TV, wave goodbye as she walks out and goes someplace else where they're not trying to force-feed her something."

"With checkstand television, you make them wait in line, and give them something to do to keep them happy," said Anthony. "[But] why do you make them wait in line? You're setting yourself up to fail."

"In terms of dealing with [third-party] media providers, I see a spectrum," said Vowles. "Those at one end say, 'Pile it high, sell it cheap, and we'll give you a large check at the end of the day.' ... The other end says, 'We'll give you a smaller check, but we're actually interested in working to build something that's going to enhance the customer experience and ... help you build your brand.' My desire is to work with people on this end."

These are just a few of the comments that made the session so positive and hopeful in tone, as the panelists offered a vision of media that will enhance -- not detract from -- their mission to entertain shoppers, inform purchase decisions and sell more product.

Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-Store Marketing Institute



Published: May 2007

Source: In-Store Marketing Institute

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