Article
In-store digital media: Reestablishing retail's role as a mass consumer medium
The shrinking and fragmentation of the mass audience for newspapers, network TV and radio creates a big opportunity for retailers.
March 22, 2009
This article is an excerpt of white paper published by Reflect Systems, TracyLocke and DPMI. To download a copy of the complete white paper,click here.
During the middle of the 19th century, newspapers and magazines were read by only a small, literate minority. It was at that time that the first commercial mass communications medium emerged in Western Europe and North America. That new commercial mass medium was the department store.
As this new retail medium developed in the USA, department-store barons such as Marshall Field in Chicago and John Wanamaker in Philadelphia built retail palaces that communicated to the native-born and immigrant masses both the practical utility of ready-made, store-bought consumer goods and the allure and glamour of what today we might refer to as the "mass consumer culture."
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Reflect Systems digital signage at the Verizon Experience store. |
Enter the 20th century: mass media expands beyond retail
By the beginning of the 20th century, the retailers' monopoly on mass consumer media via the brick-and-mortar department store had faded. As literacy increased and the technologies for printing, electric power generation and transportation matured, U.S. newspapers and magazines were transformed.
During this period, department stores needed the newspapers and magazines to reach more customers, and the press needed the advertising revenue from the department stores. As a result of that partnership between commercial mass media and department-store retail, the American mass consumer culture began to emerge.
By the end of the 20th century, the mass-media scene was no longer dominated by the leading retailers of that time, such as Walmart, Sears, JCPenney and Kmart. Instead, the media scene outside of the brick-and-mortar retail stores was largely controlled by highly profitable mega media corporations such as Viacom, News Corporation, Gannett, Time Warner and GE/NBC.
Digital technology and the fragmentation of mass media create a new digital media space for retailers
In our new 21st century, this high concentration of media power in the hands of the mega media corporations is clearly in flux. Today this shrinking and fragmentation of the mass audience for newspapers, network TV and radio creates a big opportunity for retailers. North American retailers now have an opportunity to incorporate shopper-friendly digital media technologies (audio and/or video) into their stores and reclaim the historic role of the retail store as the leading mass consumer medium.
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A Reflect installation at the Borders Digital Life concept store. |
When retailers bring digital media networks into their stores, they can avoid many of the early mistakes that were made with online retailing during the 1990s. Today retailers can test the waters by developing version 1.0 of their in-store networks in pilot mode at a small number of stores. These pilots can provide retailers with validation that in-store digital media networks really can engage shoppers in their stores.
When planning an in-store digital media network, retailers should ask themselves two questions: "Why do we want a network?" and "What are our goals for the network?" To plan the network, the company should complete a comprehensive Business Planning process. Next management needs to select the right software to control the network and recruit a competent media production house to produce audio/video content for the network.
The medium is the message and the Chief Marketing Officer owns that message
For any retailer, the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) should own and control the messaging and branding that is delivered to shoppers by the in-store digital network. When creating the network, it is inevitable that the marketing department will find itself in conflict with other departments. These conflicts can be managed successfully if senior management understands the issues and provides effective leadership to the company and local store managers.
In-store pilots of digital media networks work best if they last about 90 days and are staged in about ten stores located in two distinct local markets. Within each store, shoppers need to see the network screens in three types of store zones where shoppers find themselves in a different mindset or "mode." These are the "pass-by mode," the "dwell-time mode" and the "interactive mode."
The critical factor of any in-store digital media network – whether it's in pilot or in a full nationwide deployment – is creating the right content that meets shoppers' needs. To develop that content, retailers should start by reviewing the company's brand/style guide. Next they should work with the company's creative agency to create a brand/style for the in-store network that dovetails with the company's overall brand and style.
To evaluate the in-store pilot, retailers should recruit a research team to survey shoppers in order to learn what they think about the network and its content. This research will address three questions:
- Are shoppers aware that the network exists?
- What do shoppers like and dislike about the network?
- Has the network successfully changed shoppers' behavior in ways that meet the needs of the business?
As the pioneer U.S. retailer Marshall Field is credited as saying in his heyday, good retail practice can be summarized in two simple statements. The first statement is "Give the lady what she wants" and the second statement is "The customer is always right." When in-store digital media networks enable modern shoppers to feel that they are being treated right and getting exactly what they want, then this new technology and new-media content will integrate itself seamlessly into the retail landscape.
Bill Collins is principal of DecisionPoint Media Insights (DPMI), which produces custom research and consulting on digital media networks that are deployed at retail and out-of-home.
Dorothy Allan is senior vice president for retail strategy at TracyLocke, a full-service marketing agency based in Dallas. Dorothy is currently driving the TracyLocke Engagement Strategy, developing shopper personas and recommending relevant touch points for their clients' shoppers.
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