New Year, New Look

If you've visited instoremarketer.org since Jan. 6, you already know that we've undertaken an extensive redesign. If a hectic start to the new year -- and that vacation time you took over the holidays -- has kept you from logging in until now, I strongly encourage you to go take a look.

The primary goal behind the many functional changes we've made to the site is simple: we wanted to make it easier for our members to find the information they need faster and more efficiently.

To that purpose, we've developed a site that lets us highlight more content than before, providing quick access to a wide variety of information. We've also better aligned the various types of content that we provide, so that members can more easily and more intuitively find everything that's available on a specific topic.

Among the more notable changes:

Retailer Learning Centers: We've enhanced our popular Retailer Profiles by better connecting them with content from other areas of the site and adding some new features that we hope will make them the first destination -- if not a one-stop shop -- for members seeking knowledge about a specific chain.

Channel-Level Landing Pages: We've also added new sections devoted to the most important retail channels -- supermarket, mass, drug, club, home center, consumer electronics, office supply -- that unite all content related to a specific class of trade.

Image Vault: We've greatly improved search functionality, so it's easier not only to search the archives of more than 27,000 images, but also to view the results. You'll also now be able to access the newest images from nearly anywhere on the site.

Brand Center: The more than 3,000 articles we have on the merchandising and marketing activity of consumer product manufacturers, along with our category reports and company profiles, now have their own home. (Members should note that this content was previously housed in the Case Studies section.)

Marketing Toolbox: The site features hundreds of articles and related graphics examining the hows and whys of in-store marketing that deserved their own showcase, which is why we created this new content area. You also can check here for information on industry trends, tactical options and best practices. (Note: It's also home to the former Legal Corner.)

We invite all our members to test-drive the new instoremarketer.org. And we anxiously await your feedback. One of the more exciting aspects of the new site is its flexibility. So if you have some ideas about how we can make instoremarketer.org better meet your needs, please let us know.

Peter Breen
Managing Director, Content
In-Store Marketing Institute

Members: More information here.

Retailer Profiles: Best Buy

Back in 2003, before "shopper marketing" became the industry buzzword du jour, Best Buy undertook a "Customer Centricity" initiative that dramatically changed the way the company goes to market. Today, when many other retailers are just dipping their toes into customer-focused strategies, the chain has more than 900 stores designed with local shoppers in mind. That's what makes the No. 1 consumer electronics chain a worthy role model for retailers in any channel. Our updated profile includes all the features of the site's redesign: an expanded learning center, image galleries, uploads, links and more.

Members, view the profile.

Store Checks: Pennsylvania Holiday

Right before the 2007 holidays, Institute associate editor Jean Luo visited 10 retailers near Pittsburgh and Philadelphia: dollar stores, regional supermarket and c-store chains, and -- naturally -- the ubiquitous Wal-Mart Supercenter. Use the site's new gallery features to browse nearly 200 images of merchandising activity from the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia markets.

Members, view the store checks.

Research: "Dollar Store Close-Up Study" by Meyers Research Center

Why are big-name packaged-goods marketers like Procter & Gamble, Unilever and PepsiCo increasingly developing account-specific campaigns for dollar store chains? Maybe it's because dollar store shoppers are getting older, wealthier and -- perhaps -- a little wiser about the affordable brand-name products available in the channel. In its latest channel-specific shopper intercept study, Meyers Research Center sheds light on the demographics of dollar store shoppers.

Members: View the research.

Desktop Marketing Conference: "Designing Your Way to an Effective Brand" by Dan Abramowicz, Crown Packaging Technology

Packaging plays a vital role in communicating with consumers and engaging shoppers at the shelf. But even the most brand-relevant packaging innovations won't be approved if they don't also deliver acceptable financial returns for the brand owners, who need streamlined solutions that can be produced cost-effectively millions of times. In a presentation from September's In-Store Marketing Expo, Crown Packaging Technology president Dan Abramowicz outlines numerous manufacturing technologies and processes that can help brand marketers achieve both goals, and offers numerous examples of innovative designs.

Members: View the presentation.

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.

• Abbott-Action Inc.
• ABC/New Media Sales
• American Textile Company
• Boomm! Marketing & Communications
• Brigandi & Associates
• Callaway Golf
• CJRW/NW
• ConAgra Foods
• Coors Brewing
• D&D Commodities Ltd.
• D.L. Ryan Companies
• Daymon Worldwide
• DESA Specialty Products
• Fisher-Price
• Hitchcock Fleming & Associates
• The Integer Group
• Interscope
• MacNeill Engineering Worldwide Company Inc.
• MarketSource
• MASCO Corp.
• Microsoft Corp.
• MindShare
• Momentum Worldwide
• Nestle-Purina
• Nintendo of America Inc.
• Northern Wire Products
• Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific
• Orion Food China
• Packaging Specialists Inc.
• POP Displays
• Pure Fishing
• Runcit Media
• SmartRevenue
• SMC Packaging
• Sperian
• Unified Resources In Display
• USA Today
• Webb Mason
• YCD Multimedia Ltd.