Checking Out

A who's who of national brands teamed with Point-Of-Purchase Advertising International (POPAI), the global, non-profit trade association of the at-retail marketing industry, in a national research study that makes p-o-p a measured medium for the first time in the industry's history.

“Our goal is to make point-of-purchase advertising a measured medium with proof of placement, proof of cost effectiveness and proof of sales effectiveness — on par with print and broadcast,” says Dick Blatt, president and ceo of Washington, D.C.-based POPAI. “Over $17 billion is spent annually on point-of-purchasing advertising materials, yet before now no major measurement systems were in place to quantify placement, audience delivery or the incremental sales results driven by various forms of p-o-p advertising.”

Over recent months, POPAI, with methodology developed with the Advertising Research Foundation, studied 94 products in eight major categories in more than 10 major markets across the country, including supermarkets, convenience stores and combo convenience and gas stations. Brands studied included products from Frito-Lay, Pepsi, Anheuser-Busch, Cadbury-Adams, Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc., Procter & Gamble and Quaker.

The POPAI research results from convenience stores include these findings:

• Product photos on p-o-p can lift sales by 11.2 percent, especially for beverages.
• Brand messages that create a connection between the product and the consumer hike sales 8 percent.
• Brand logos get quick customer recognition and can up sales by 8.1 percent.
• Outdoor p-o-p lifts sales indoors — especially for cough and cold remedies, health and beauty care products and beer.
• Front-door signage did not contribute to sales increases for any of the eight brands that used them.
• Small convenience items at the checkout deliver 30 percent sales lifts when combined with brand logo, a photo and price savings.
• Custom beer p-o-p drives sales increases of 28 percent.
• In-store ads on cooler doors — with a photo of the beverage — lifted soft-drink sales by as much as 33 percent.

“With the results of these studies, we can better utilize our point of purchase advertising dollars to gain incremental volume and share,” says Barbara Daugherty, director of merchandising strategies and design at Frito-Lay Inc. and chair of POPAI's board of directors. “Frito-Lay is excited that POPAI continues to lead the industry with research in multiple channels of trade.”

More findings were obtained in a study of supermarkets across the country, and next month POPAI will release the industry's first at-retail marketing audience measurement methodology developed with the Advertising Research Foundation.

“We want retailers to know that we now understand the combination of placement and signage that works best for each product category,” says Blatt. Our research gives retailers a roadmap for potential annual sales lifts of $6 billion more in supermarkets, $1 billion more in convenience stores and billions of dollars in other channels.”

The full research report is available to POPAI members online at the new POPAI Library at www.popai.com.