Shoppers actively engage with just 1% of product displays in-store during a typical supermarket visit, according to Martin Kingdon, director general, POPAI UK & Ireland.
Kingdon was among the speakers at the POPAI UK & Ireland Irish Shopper Marketing & In-Store Conference, held last Thursday at the Spencer Hotel, Dublin. The conference examined the different ways that retailers and manufacturers could use unique and surprising point-of-purchase marketing to give their sales a boost.
As part of his presentation, Kingdon presented the findings of a study that examined customer interaction with more than 60,000 displays in an in-store environment, which found that many products end up "camouflaged", unable to stand out amidst a sea of competitors.
Also presenting at the event was Colin Gentry of GDR Creative Intelligence, who examined the power of surprise, and how out-of-the-box approaches can grab customers’ attention. One example he gave was a cat litter company who sprayed all their direct mail with catnip – a memorable experience for both pets and their owners.
Patriece O’Gorman, account director, Irish International also presented, revealing the story behind its successful ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ campaign for M&M’s. The 360-degree campaign included a huge in-store push, featuring displays with interesting and varied formats, such as 3-D cardboard cut-outs, to add a sense of theatre to the average shopping trip.
Finally, Andy Page, in-store controller, Mars Chocolate UK, considered how to keep in-store displays relevant in the post-recession environment. With consumers more value-led than ever, he suggested that manufacturers needed to be more aware of retailers’ values. This, in turn, would make products appeal to their customers’ values.
