Director's Note: Ancient History

Where were you in 1988?

I was finishing up a college exchange program in Japan, where I had planned to identify more lucrative career options than my English/Linguistics degree seemed to hold. Although the experience was invaluable in numerous ways, it failed miserably as a career starter (a Kirin Beer sales route in Manhattan being the only related job offer I ever gained).

In 1988, I still didn't own a compact disc player, although most of my peers did. I was about six years away from hearing the word "Internet" for the first time, and 14 years away from owning my first cell phone.

According to the June 19 Advertising Age, however, I learned a very valuable lesson about in-store marketing that year.

That was the year industry veteran John Malec launched the Videocart, an early attempt at in-store marketing technology that proved to be way ahead of its time in terms of both technical capabilities and industry interest.

Yet it's still "worth rehashing the story of Videocart" when considering the current "hoopla" surrounding in-store advertising, according to Ad Age. I guess it is -- in the same way it's worth rehashing the story of the Titanic when considering an ocean cruise: It might remind you to inquire about lifeboat capacity, but it shouldn't keep you off the ship.

There are at least three companies and as many retail chains currently experimenting with shopping cart systems that, at least from the outside, seem to have learned valuable lessons from the Videocart story about what technology to use and what information to offer.

Whether or not any of these specific systems succeed, however, isn't the point. There is "hoopla" surrounding in-store advertising because marketers need to find additional ways to reach consumers, and because advertising within the store is the rare medium that allows the ad to immediately influence a sale. The particular technologies available as advertising media -- now or then -- are a secondary issue. (Marshall McLuhan died in 1980 -- 14 years before the Videocart did.)

So let's raise a glass to the memory of the Videocart, an unlucky early pioneer in the history of in-store marketing. And let's offer a toast to the other emerging retail media that, in some cases, will follow the Videocart into historical obscurity. Then, let's get back to work and figure out which particular technologies will be most effective in what unquestionably is an effective advertising vehicle: the store.

By the way, is anyone in the market for an English/Linguistics major with limited Japanese-language skills?

Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-Store Marketing Institute

Members: More information here.

Desktop Marketing Conference: "Trend Spotting in Retail Design" by Patrick Rodmell of Watt International

Shoppers now seek a "Starbucks experience" with every errand they run. And something as simple as enhanced color and lighting can change the mood of a store, according to Patrick Rodmell, managing director of Watt International and a member of the In-Store Marketing Institute Faculty. In the most highly rated session from April's In-Store Marketing Summit, Rodmell identifies new approaches to retail design and merchandising and examines easy-to-execute solutions that can influence shopper behavior and improve a company's bottom line.

Members: Watch the lecture here.

Best Practices: Excerpts from The Hub Magazine

Best Buy chief marketing officer Michael Linton discusses the chain's strategy; Digital View chief operating officer (and Institute faculty member) Stuart Armstrong discusses the real advantages of in-store media; Alcone Marketing Group chief marketing officer Jim Zembruski explains "consumer activation"; and Meridian Consulting managing director Ted Taft stresses the need for marketing based on shopper insights in recent articles from The Hub, a bimonthly magazine published by Reveries.com for high-level marketing executives.

Members: View the articles here.

Research: Benchmarking Packaging Innovations, by Scott Young of Perception Research Services

Packaging innovations have the power to expand usage occasions and influence both price expectation and brand selection, but the effects aren't always all positive, according to Scott Young, president of Perception Research Services and a distinguished faculty member. The Institute reports on a presentation Young gave at the Institute of Packaging Professionals' Packaging Summit in May, in which he examines recent innovation hits and misses in four packaged goods categories.

Members: View the research here.

Best Practices: "Creating Exceptional Kiosks" by Jennifer Davis of Planar Systems

As far as in-store technology goes, count interactive kiosks as a success. Informational and/or transactional kiosks are now commonplace, with retailers developing their own programs and outside vendors pitching ready-made systems. In a white paper published earlier this year, Planar Systems' director of retail business offers tips on developing kiosk programs that avoid common pitfalls and provide a measurable return on investment.

Members: View the article here.

Welcome New Institute Members

The In-Store Marketing Institute is delighted to welcome new and renewing members to the Institute family. Below is a list of the companies that signed up recently. Welcome aboard.

• ACCO Brands
• Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd.
• Centiv Services Inc.
• cramer krasselt
• Display Dynamics
• DW+Partners
• EastWest Creative
• FSD
• Gorrie Marketing
• Harley-Davidson Motor Company
• Hunter Douglas Inc.
• Imagine! Print Solutions
• IMS
• Kendal King Group
• Kraft Foods Inc./Nabisco
• LG&P In-Store Agency
• LINPAC Displays
• Madden Communications Inc.
• Marketing Lab
• Marketing Support Inc.
• MARS Advertising
• Mercury Mambo
• National Adhesives
• NBC Universal Studios
• PetSmart
• Philip Morris International Management SA
• Pointsmith
• Roche Diagnostics
• SMP Display & Design Group
• Sole Technology
• Stephens Direct
• The Display Connection
• The Farnsworth Group
• The Sunflower Group
• Tripp Agency
• U.S. Postal Service
• Valassis
• Vestcom International Inc.
• Watt International