Old Medium or New?

Question: Is p-o-p an old medium or a new medium? Answer: Yes.

It's an old medium like TV, radio and sandwich boards because people have shopped in and been influenced by retail environments for more than a century. People buy a preponderance of consumer products in stores. Think about your own purchases of everything from gum to gasoline to groceries. You spend more than 90% of your consumer dollars in stores.

It's also a new medium because p-o-p advertising keeps morphing to encompass video displays, interactive components, motion, sophisticated lighting and a plethora of materils. Sixty years ago, Tusco got started in the business by making steel signs that we painted and screenprinted. Today, you have more sign substrate options than Carter has little liver pills (ask your grandparents).

An established, trusted and truly effective advertising medium does not remain static but, rather, encompasses new methods, modes and materials to stay fresh to reach today's audiences where they live: in-store, in-aisle and in the buying mood.

Sound Bites

Enjoying all the political hue and cry concerning ObamaCare this week? Ugh. It's crunch time so both the pros and the cons are screaming at us. I even saw a small plane towing a banner yesterday exhorting voters in the 16th Congresisonal district of Ohio to contact Congressman John Boccieri to tell him to oppose ObamaCare.

Political seasons like this one remind me of those 14-second pieces of marketing called sound bites. These consciously-developed and deployed tools of the trade, e.g., "Health reform deserves an up or down vote," take advantage of the fact that voters have short attention spans.

Shoppers have short attention spans, too. Getting it right quickly is the ballgame. At-retail marketing is the only medium that does it when and where someone is in buying mode. Beats the pants off an aerial banner.

Have Shoppers Changed?

In the wake of the Great Recession, there's speculation and some research that plumbs the evolving buying habits of consumers. Are shoppers now different than they were, say, two years ago? Are they chastened, more frugal, less spend-y than they were? And, if so, is this a lasting change or a passing thing?

Some answers are emerging. In a recent study of 8000 shoppers by Alix Partners, researchers perceive a shift away from convenience and toward value (price + product). "Today, for value, shoppers are willing to cede time, service and experience," says Matthew Katz who heads their retail practice. "They are willing to wait in line a little longer or drive that extra two miles."

Consultancy Shoppercentric found behavioral changes among British shoppers. In fact, 87% of those surveyed reported that they had changed how and/or where they shop due to the recession. Nearly half (48%) of those surveyed can be categorized as Soft Reacters: people who are slowly but perceptively changing their shopping and spending habits. Another 24% are Strong Reacters who have been forced to make more drastic changes.

What no one can yet predict with confidence is whether any of these changes will remain as the economy continues to improve. One thing we all know for sure: shoppers continue to visit stores and, as retailers continue to report, they are spending more when they are there. And getting it right at that point of purchase - where the product, people and purchase intent inhabit the same space - remains a critically important intersection for shoppers everywhere.

Have shoppers changed? Yes - somewhat. Will they remain as they are now? No, they'll continue to change as circumstances and experience lead them. Studying these habits will still challenge brand marketers and retailers and feed researchers and pundits the world over.

Bad 2009, Better 2010

The Association of Retail Environments recently surveyed its members, mostly designers and producers of store fixtures, to learn about how 2009 went and how these members see 2010 unfolding. They found that, among the 90 companies that responded, the median sales decline in 2009 was 25%. On the flip side, these same respondents expressed a median expectation that sales will increase 10% in 2010. More detailed analysis will be forthcoming in the May/June issue of Retail Environments magazine.

Tusco Display participated in this survey and doesn't find the results surprising. Companies across all industries have shrunk and feel chastened by the depths of our experiences. Today's Wall Street Journal (3/2/10) highlights some of the facts concerning larger companies. If it's true for them, it's even truer for us smaller enterprises. Politicians, pundits and our own people eagerly want us to rehire and get growing but most business owners and managers will go slow, letting our clients and markets drive us to increase capacity.

Brand marketers like The Hershey Co aren't going slow - thankfully - as they gear up for Easter season and the blooming of increasing demand. They are putting their marketing money where consumers spend theirs: in the store. Armed with new insights into shopper behavior and new tools to reach shoppers where they make most of their buying decisions, they are investing a sizable chunk of their $300 million budget to remake their in-store presence.

As shoppers return to stores and increase their buying, brands and retailers will be there to meet them at the point of decision. And that should make the anticipated 10% increase in store fixtures and point-of-purchase displays look wildly conservative a year from now.