| Last week, another sign that dynamic digital signage | | | | buys that fit the traditional mold of media decision |
| is entering media adolescence emerged with the | | | | making. In other words, marketers can justify the |
| announcement that global information and media | | | | purchase of in-store media in the same way they |
| company VNU and the In-Store Marketing Institute | | | | justify buying radio,television and print: based on |
| will jointly launch a new service to help marketers | | | | audience size and demographics, not simply |
| better understand how to reach and influence | | | | advertising rates and a wish. An article on the |
| consumers while they shop. | | | | In-Store Marketing Institute Web site put it this way: |
| A key component of the effort is the measurement | | | | "Adoption of the P.R.I.S.M. model by the industry |
| of the audience for a new array of in-store | | | | would deliver a common language for retailers, |
| marketing vehicles, including digital signage, television | | | | manufacturers and media buyers to assess the value |
| and radio, shelf talkers and other point-of-purchase | | | | of retail as a marketing channel and compare its |
| displays. | | | | effectiveness to other media such as TV, radio and |
| Offered by a new VNU business unit called Nielsen | | | | print. It also would give marketers a metric through |
| In-Store (part of NielsenConnect), the service aims to | | | | which to evaluate the store as a vehicle for |
| give marketers and retailers alike a way to quantify | | | | generating brand awareness and trial, putting the |
| in-store audiences and measure the impact of their | | | | store on a level playing field with other forms of |
| in-store marketing efforts. The service also will deliver | | | | mass media." |
| a means for marketers to assess the value of their | | | | In announcing the launch of Nielsen In-Store, global |
| in-store marketing strategies when compared to | | | | managing director George Wishart said the business |
| other media and marketing approaches, said VNU | | | | unit will offer those in the ad, media and retail |
| chairman and CEO David Calhoun. | | | | communities "a new currency standard that can |
| VNU's partnership with the In-Store Marketing | | | | increase the efficiency of the media buying and selling |
| Institute will allow the newly created business unit to | | | | process." |
| leverage work the institute is spearheading known as | | | | That currency -quantifiable audience metrics- is |
| P.R.I.S.M., or Pioneering Research for an In-Store | | | | precisely what's needed for retail digital signage to |
| Metric. An important aim of the P.R.I.S.M. research is | | | | advance to the next level and take its place among |
| developing statistical tools to deliver audience metrics | | | | mainstream ad-supported media. If Nielsen In-Store |
| "to the category or area of the store, by retail | | | | can deliver on its promise, digital signage as a medium |
| format, and by day of the week," according to the | | | | will catapult from the media backwater reserved for |
| In-Store Marketing Institute. | | | | funding from discretionary ad and marketing budgets |
| Just as the recent announcement from the Screen | | | | into a position as a legitimate contender for top-tier |
| Association of the first-ever U.K. digital signage | | | | advertising dollars. Immediately, it will shed the stigma |
| directory reflects a maturing of dynamic signage | | | | that shrouds any media that come to the table |
| from a technology into a legitimate media made up | | | | without audited circulation statements or |
| of identifiable networks, the announcement of Nielsen | | | | independently measured audience ratings. |
| In-Store and the P.R.I.S.M. research demonstrate | | | | Withquantifiable metrics, digital signage networks can |
| another aspect of its coming of age as a media, | | | | stake their claim to being a bona fide media choice |
| namely definable audience metrics. | | | | and one that marketers can safely choose to carry |
| With audience metrics, in-store marketers can | | | | their out-of-store advertising message past the store |
| develop a sense of confidence about the reach of | | | | doors into specific departments and ultimately to the |
| in-store media in general and digital signage in | | | | cash register. |
| particular. Out of that confidence will emerge media | | | | |