Opportunity to See is Not Shopper Engagement Yet

The traditional “impression”, or “opportunity to see” an ad is no longer enough to prove the efficiency of advertising at retail, says Dick Blatt, President & CEO of POPAI, a point-of-purchase advertising trade organisation. Mr. Blatt told a POPAI digital signage conference in Montreal on Thursday that big advertislng dollars have started to pour into shopper marketing. He cautioned, however, that the problem the industry was facing now was how to keep these budgets in the absense of reliable metrics.

POPAI, among other trade bodies, has been working on establishing metrics to equip advertisers with insights into the real effect of their in-store initiatives.

A recent POPAI MARI Proof of Concept research was the first attempt to measure the level of engagement shoppers have with the marketing-at-retail (MAR) displays.

The research revealed that only 20 percent of the MAR material was passed by shoppers on their journey.  Only 4 percent of the material was both passed and seen, meaning that marketing waste in the measured stores was a shocking 96 percent.

POPAI used the findings to establish a new metric: impact ratio, that will be expressed in percentage points and will reflect shopper engagement as opposed to just an “opportunity to see”. The details of the research can be found HERE.

According to Dr. Hugh Phillips, a professor of McGill University who spoke at the same conference, many marketers and retailers are aware of the acute oversupply of advertising messages in stores. There are 4,624 display items in an average-sized supermarket in the UK and 4825 displays in average US stores, with up to 12,000 items in a megastore (POPAI studies). Some chains started cleaning up the store environments by reducing the amount of advertising materials.

Dr. Phillips, an expert on the cognitive psychology of shopping,  said shoppers have developed mechanisms of coping with the clutter by engaging a ‘deselection’ process, shielding themselves from the overload and reacting only to signs of potential relevant information. He found that shoppers may start reading the message only after they have singled it out on a subconscious level, by using indicators like color, shape and size.

The practical conclusion for digital signage networks? Digital signage enters an already busy environment in retail, and, to be successful, entrepreneurs should take the in-store clutter into account. Although digital signs has the unique potential of helping to clear the static display mess and stand out with its full-color and full-motion messages, they will still have to compete with over 35 other types of advertising, and will be perceived according to the same laws of shopper psychology.

In the long run, as Dick Blatt put it, those who understand that digital signage should be treated as ‘just another medium’, and measured as such, will prevail in making it a key part of a marketing mix.

1 comment October 26th, 2007

Digital Signage Ads Are Tolerated Better Than Other Media: OTX Study

Digital signage ads are less annoying and are more relevant to the viewers than any other types of advertising, a new study by OTX (Online Testing eXchange) revealed.

The results of the study are wrapped up by Marketing Charts:

“Most adults say advertising on digital signage catches their attention – and they consider such advertising unique and entertaining, and less annoying than both traditional and online media, according to a study by OTX (Online Testing eXchange) conducted for SeeSaw Networks.

The “Digital Out-of-Home Media Awareness & Attitude Study” is the first to compare digital out-of-home media to other media, SeeSaw said.

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Shortcuts to charts in this article:

1. Advertising considered interesting and entertaining, by medium
2. Advertising considered annoying, by medium
3. Advertising catches attention and is unique, by medium
4. Those who pay “some” or “a lot of” attention to advertising on medium 
5. Media attributes, 18-34-year-olds vs. general adult population

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Among the findings of the study:

• Awareness of digital out-of-home media is high:
  • Some 62% of adults have seen digital signage in the past 12 months – levels similar to billboards (66%), magazines (67%) and newspapers (63%).
  • That compares with 92% for TV, 75% for radio, 78% for internet and 10% for mobile phones.
  • On average, people notice digital signage in six different kinds of locations during their week, giving advertisers the opportunity to intercept people at various touch points.
• Digital out-of-home advertising is engaging:
  

   

  • Respondents found digital signage advertising to be more unique (58%), interesting (53%) and entertaining (48%), and less annoying (26%), than other media.

  

  • Some 63% of those who have seen digital signage say it attracted their attention, compared with  58% for billboards, 57% for magazines, 56% for TV, 47% for internet, 40% for newspaper, 37% for radio and 10% for mobile.

  

  • 44% of adults say they pay some or a lot of attention to digital signage advertising, placing it ahead of traditional billboards, the internet and mobile phones, and on par with magazines, radio and newspapers.

• Reaching young people is a strength of digital out-of-home media:
  • 75% of 18-34-year-olds have seen digital signage in the past 12 months and notice digital signage in seven different locations during their week.
  • This demographic finds the advertising on digital signage to be more unique (63%), interesting (57%) and entertaining (53%) than advertising on other media and rates the media even higher than the general population across these measures.

Oct 25-07

5 comments October 26th, 2007