By David Keene, Executive Editor

 

As a well-known and unabashed promoter of “digital signage” in retail over the years–not the technology-for-technology’s-sake kind, but a firm believer in the new medium as a key part of a rising tide that will lift all retail boats–I found a recent presentation by the world’s top retailer both intriguing and sobering.

At the Digital Signage Expo held February 27-38 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, a special presentation was given by Mike Hiatt, Director In-Store Media Networks, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Hiatt spoke to a breakfast meeting on “The Past, Present & Future of the Nation’s Leading Retail Media Network.”

We’re all familiar with the basic economics of the Wal-Mart phenomenon. Wal-Mart accounts for 6% of Retail and Food sales in the U.S. 90 % of the U.S. population lives within fifteen miles of a Wal-Mart (and there is a trend toward more urban stores; most of U.S. is urban, and already, 65% of Wal-marts are urban/suburban).

Mar 27, 2008 - 5:05:27 PM

David Keene

Year-end/year-beginning in this industry is always tied up in the peculiar dynamics of the retail trade, where so much of the year’s profit is made after Black Friday, and in the unavoidable dynamics of the economy as a whole, where trepidation over the outlook for the coming year turns us all introspective if not cautious.
But cyclical dynamics are not going to change the equation driving at-retail now. As consumers move away from traditional marketing/media messages, in-store is indeed the last place they can be targeted, and so attention is now being refocused to the retail space. The search for the in-store RPG, and the need to engage shoppers at-retail, is now the focus of brands, producers, retailers, and agencies.
To prepare a sidebar for Matt Baker’s feature on shopper engagement in this month’s issue, I had an intriguing conversation with John Greening. John is well known for his work on the legendary Budweiser ad campaigns in the 90’s, and is now a Marketing professor at Northwestern University. Since meeting John a few years back at a conference...
Jan 17, 2008 - 1:58:05 PM

By David Keene, Executive Editor, Marketing At Retail

As we delve deeper and deeper into the issues at the heart of the new marketing shift to the retail space, it keeps getting "curiouser and curiouser". And I get that feeling, like Alice, that "I'm opening out like the largest telescope that ever was. Good-bye, feet."
Goodbye feet, indeed. I think we're all feeling that solid ground is receding as we attempt to navigate a new retail environment with changing rules.
Apr 11, 2007 - 7:55:09 PM

The revolution in marketing that we've tapped into is emanating not from a revolution in technology or technique, but from a revolution in thinking about shopping.
Dec 21, 2006 - 3:58:17 PM

There could be no more fortuitous time to launch Marketing At Retail magazine. The strong market forces that have rocked the mass media, personal telecommunications, and production-through-distribution consumer goods models are still playing out, but this is clear: there is a renewed sense of urgency to at-retail campaigns. This is logical. At-retail is where the most sales are made, yet the impressions formed and the choices made in the retail space are still the least understood part of the marketing equation.

Oct 13, 2006 - 2:21:37 PM