Comparison Of Radio With Other Advertising Mediums
Point of Purchase Promotions + Radio
According to Point of Purchase Advertising International, marketing-at-retail is "the point where products meet the consumer who has the capability and desire to buy." It is the last opportunity for brand marketers to influence the consumer with their marketing campaigns."
Anyone who's instinctively taken advantage of an in-store "50% Off" promotion can attest to the persuasiveness of point-of-purchase marketing.
The operative word for Radio in the quote above is "desire." Radio drives desire and is, therefore, the perfect partner for a POP campaign.
So why is Radio largely absent from all the POP marketing that goes on all around us everyday?
Advantages Of Point of Purchase Promotions
Placement
P-O-P advertising can be placed almost anywhere in stores - next to merchandise, on shopping bags, at the checkout counter, even suspended from the ceiling or laminated into floor tiles.
Targeted
P-O-P is most effective when it is positioned to reach a clearly defined consumer target closest to the time of purchase.
Effective
Place-based advertising directly affects sales, brand switching, portfolio purchasing and multi-unit sales.
Influential
P-O-P advertising gives retailers the opportunity to influence consumers in a competitive environment.
Incremental Sales
P-O-P advertising can persuade shoppers to purchase additional quantities of a product, or to buy related products that are merchandised together.
Current Status of Point of Purchase/Radio Advertising
Adding Advertising Makes POP More Successful
A 2004 report by Point-of-Purchase Advertising International, involving the country's largest drug store chains, concluded that at-retail advertising generates 6.5 percent in incremental sales.
But the research also found that a greater sales increase - in some cases three to four times greater -- comes from adding advertising to promotion programs.
Advertising makes a POP promotion three to four more times more successful!
And yet, adding advertising is not a decision that is made by someone in the advertising department. Interesting. In fact, some might call that a conundrum.
POP Promotions Are Not Handled By Advertising Departments
Radio's lack of involvement in POP promotions can be traced to one single cause: POP promotions are not created by, administered by, or paid for by advertising contacts.
For the most part, Radio salespeople still limit their sales efforts to advertising contacts. We are not calling on the people who buy and sell POP.
So who are the people making these decisions?
To understand the answer, you must first understand the schematic of both manufacturing and retail companies. In simple terms, manufacturers make products and wholesale them to retail companies who, in turn, buy them and resell them to the consuming public.
The relationship between those two entities is where Radio must find a point of entry of we want to be a part of the POP process.
Manufacturer's and Retailer's Needs
The decision-makers we must work with are the sales contacts from the manufacturers and contacts from either merchandising or operations inside the retail company.
They both have needs, but they are not advertising needs.
The manufacturer's need is to sell more goods to the retailer and the retailer's need is to be more profitable.
Radio can be very effective at helping both sides of that equation.
How Radio Can Help Both Manufacturers and Retailers Have More Successful POP Promotions
By identifying and contacting merchandising or operations managers at retail companies and discussing their needs, a savvy Radio salesperson can create POP programs that will drive the exact consumer response the retailer is looking for.
Then, by identifying the manufacturer's sales contacts who work with the retailer and discussing their needs, the Radio salesperson can secure funds from them in return for the retailer's agreement to provide in-store promotional involvement for the manufacturer's products.
In the end, the retailer enjoys the increased profitability from a successful promotion, the manufacturer enjoys the resulting additional sales to the retailer, and Radio enjoys the new revenues from a non-advertising source.
And, isn't that the point of all this?
Disadvantages Of Point of Purchase Promotions
Limited Reach
By definition, place-based advertising only reaches that small group of consumers walking past displays, waiting at the checkout counter, or carrying their bags to the car. Moreover, studies show P-O-P marketing works best when geared toward younger, single, less-affluent shoppers.
Consumer Perception
Many consumers report that in-store TV monitors, electronic signs, and in-store broadcasting have little impact on them as they shop they also claim that these devices blend into the environment.
Product-Oriented
Place-based advertising influences what products consumers may buy, but not where they will buy them. Though often effective for improving product sales, place-based media inherently are limited in their ability to attract new customers, build traffic, and improve market awareness for retail advertisers.
Limited Targeting
Despite its key placement, general-reach, place-based advertising such as in-store television delivers limited results and can be prohibitively expensive.
Benefits of Using Both Radio Advertising and Point of Purchase Promotions Together
Other Advertising Mediums
Comparison of radio with other advertising mediums and how they can work together