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