A Method to the Madness

Who died and left Wall Street boss, anyway?

The Feb. 12 issue of Brandweek featured an article discussing "the years-long controversy" at H.J. Heinz, where executives wonder if their flagship ketchup brand -- which enjoys a near-90% market share -- "actually needs any" media advertising support.

Heinz hasn't advertised in recent years. Instead, it has "relied on in-store promotion and, in 2006, redesigned its bottle," according to Brandweek. The new design, which hit stores last June, boasts an easy-open cap and a squat shape that nestles better into refrigerator doors. (For me, it more importantly makes it much easier to stand the bottle on its cap and let gravity empty the last bit of contents.)

The change sparked an immediate increase in ketchup consumption, because shoppers began buying larger bottles, according to Heinz. The brand's sales increased 12% in the last four months of 2006, according to Information Resources Inc.

Yet Heinz now is preparing its biggest TV ad push in decades. And that has at least one Wall Street analyst breathing a sigh of relief: "Advertising is the lifeblood of brands. The lack of it represents a risk for long-term success," Brandweek quoted Prudential Securities' John McMillin as stating.

Meanwhile, the Feb. 12 issue of Advertising Age looks at Hershey Co., which reportedly has rethought last year's plan to "keep ad spending low and instead favor in-store marketing" and will increase media outlays in 2007, the magazine said. While the company's in-store focus "may have sat well with Wall Street when Hershey was flying high, sales and share losses to high-spending [on advertising] competitor Mars last quarter prompted another look," Ad Age reported.

I guess, then, that a lack of media advertising represents a risk for short-term success, too? Hasn't the knock against in-store marketing always been that it only focused on the present? And how do you knock any strategy after just a few months?

Finally, there's the case of Method Products, which this month rolls out the oMop in the same way it launched its first batch of home cleaning supplies in 2001: by giving Target an exclusive merchandising deal. The retailer is responding with endcap placement and a full shelf in the home care aisle, according to Brandweek.

Method won't be conducting any media advertising for oMop, because that's not part of its strategy. Since it's a private company, it doesn't have to consider Wall Street's opinion reaction to that strategy, or cater to analysts' demands for continuous quarterly growth and long-term growth potential -- demands that, often enough, seem to be in direct opposition.

So Method can trust in the effectiveness of in-store marketing, a luxury many public companies don't seem to have.

Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-Store Marketing Institute

Members: More information here.

Design Trends: Top Decorative P-O-P Materials of 2006

LED and LCD displays, luminescent signage and a variety of other technologically enhanced materials topped the list of most-requested products in the Institute's fourth annual review of the Top Decorative Materials featured in the pages of P-O-P Design. For those of you who prefer your materials au natural, check out the substrates made with real tree bark.

Members: View the article here.

Technology: NRF's Store of the Future

The most surprising thing about the Store of the Future exhibit at the National Retail Federation's annual trade show was how current it seemed to be. All of the technologies on display last month are ready for deployment -- if not already in-market -- by retailers and marketers looking to enhance the store environment. The Institute's coverage includes videos of the technologies in action.

Members: View the tour here.

Desktop Conference: "Same Display, Cheaper Price" by Mark Mathes, Vanguard Companies

Marketers who need to save money on temporary display production shouldn't be looking for magic bullets or "home runs." Instead, they should be making sensible choices at all stages of production, from graphic design and linerboard selection to printing and tooling options, according to Vanguard ceo Mark Mathes in an audio-enabled presentation from last fall's In-Store Marketing Expo.

Members: View the presentation here.

Market Watch: Super Bowl 2007

Yet another plus for in-store marketing: no negative backlash from risky ad concepts. Snickers angered a number of consumers with a Super Bowl spot featuring intimacy-phobic car mechanics. But an in-store campaign offering free candy with deli-platter purchases seemed to be just what "Big Game" shoppers wanted. The Institute's coverage of Super Bowl 2007 merchandising activity includes more than 20 articles and 80 related images.

Members: View the coverage 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.

• 3M
• 3M Stationery Products Division
• Abbott-Action Inc.
• ABC/New Media Sales
• Aero Products International Inc.
• Archbold Container Corp. - Div of Green Bay Packaging
• BDS Marketing
• Benjamin Moore & Co.
• Big Red Ltd.
• Boomm! Marketing & Communications
• BrandPartners
• Cadbury Schweppes/Cadbury Adams
• Channel M
• Chicago Display Marketing Group
• Chicago P-O-P
• Concepts, A York Container Company
• Fisher-Price
• FLEXcon Co.
• Gill Studios Inc.
• Hewlett-Packard Co.
• Hyde Tools
• IATCO
• IDL Worldwide
• IDT Corp.
• Interscope
• Launch Creative Marketing
• MASCO Corp.
• Masterfoods
• Media Cart Holdings Inc.
• Memorex
• Meredith Corp.
• Miller Brewing
• Northern Wire Products
• Origen Partners Inc.
• Pavone
• PetSmart
• PFI (Presence From Innovation)
• Pratt Corp.
• Publicis Dialog
• Pure Fishing
• Reckitt Benckiser - Engineering
• Russell Corp.
• Sherwin-Williams
• Starcom Mediavest Group
• Super Glue Corp.
• Synsor Corp.
• Texas Instruments
• The Jay Group
• U.S. Cellular
• Warner Brothers
• Webb Mason
• Welch's
• William Fox Munroe Inc.
• Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company