The store is an advertising medium, but that doesn't
mean displays are merely billboards. At least I hope
not.
In developing our
profile of CompUSA
this month, we learned about the
CompUSA TV
Network, an in-house operation that sells ad
space on nearly 18,000 screens situated throughout
the chain's 226 stores. The network is touted
by CompUSA as a great way to "reach 6 million
tech-savvy shoppers per month" along with
thousands more employees "for as little as $42
per store."
But aside from one token reference, the web
site extolling the network's virtues completely
ignores the direct, immediate impact these spots
might have on sales of the advertised products.
Isn't that sort of missing the point?
The store provides an effective venue for
generating brand impressions, for reaching large
numbers of people in a way that traditional mass
media increasingly cannot. That's why a company like
1-800-Contacts will
buy
floor decals in supermarkets -- or why even a
TV network like
ABC will work with
American Greetings to get promotional ads
for programming onto store shelves.
But discussing the brand-building potential
of in-store advertising without emphasizing its
ability to increase sales is like a discussion of
Pamela Anderson's acting talent without mentioning
her appearance. At best, it's a little disingenuous; at
worst, it's completely irrelevant.
The danger in treating the store as just another
advertising medium is that the primary function of
retail -- selling product -- gets lost within the
agency-speak conversations about "consumer
impressions" and "cost per thousand."
Taken to the extreme, display space could end up
being viewed as ad space to be granted by the retailer
to any product willing to pay up -- rather
than to the products with the greatest potential for
incremental sales gains. Display innovation gives way
to standardized templates, with guaranteed
placement making uniqueness less urgent and, quite
possibly, the impact less substantial.
The strength of an ad on
Wal-Mart TV rests not in
its ability to reach more than 100 million shoppers,
but in the fact that it signals the immediate
availability of that product to them.
Will Wal-Mart TV ever accept advertising from
products and services that the chain doesn't offer in
stores? Quite possibly. But you'll never see Wal-Mart
base its merchandising decisions on Wal-Mart TV's
advertiser list.
That would be missing the point.
Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-store Marketing Institute
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