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POP Asia 2007: New marketing tools

Age has finally arrived and the retail environment has become an important component of brand communications. So much so, it would not be unfair to say that a store visit is the only time or place a consumer actively engages with a brand. The store is no longer just a point of distribution; it is a communication medium, where traditional marketing concepts are no longer applicable. At POP Asia 2007, Harish Bijoor of Harish Bijoor Consults kick-started the in-store marketing forum. He said that the store is the medium. It is the place where marketers can reach prospective consumers and there are many in-store marketing opportunities for retailers. Bijoor began his presentation talking about the booming retail scene in India. He pointed out that the retail environment has been bubbling over in the last 12 months and 2,970 retail brands have cropped up in this period. Both organised and unorganised retail are booming. Still, 98.8 per cent of all retailing in India is unorganised, which is a cause for concern. India is a nation of shopkeepers and there are close to 16.2 million shopkeepers, says Bijoor, “Any point where a marketer reaches a consumer is retail. Retail is the blue-eyed girl, while branding is the blue-eyed boy of modern Indian commerce. These two together make a pair and retail branding is a science.” Everything around us is an example of retail (provided there is an element of commerce involved), he adds. Bijoor says that retailing is a tough business and it cannot be handled by mass-media advertising alone. Micro-market activities have come into play as mass-media advertising is losing credibility. Here, the point of purchase scores high on credibility. The store is the marketing medium that provides various touch-points of communication or messaging. For instance, if Food Bazaar is in the food business, it is automatically a part of the media business. Clever advertising or promotions in the store help deliver multiple-brand messages to shoppers just as they are about to make a purchase. In-store marketing is important, growing and here to stay. In the future, its delivery will be more creative and sophisticated. Brands are today being advertised on shelves, displays, or the floor. The future may be completely different. Chatterjee used the example of Levi Strauss to make the point that retail design can be used as a marketing tool. According to him, design works and can help retail sales. Says Chatterjee, “A store well designed is like a movie well told. Retail is like film-making. It is about passion. At Levi’s, every store tells a different story and talks about a passion. Just like a good film, which has the power to attract a viewer, hold his attention and immerse him in the experience, a well-designed retail store brings in more footfalls, followed by more purchases.” Retail passion, says Chatterjee, is missing in India. Selling on the floor is still considered a not very hot career option. The need of the hour is to make the art of selling a glamorous career option.

 

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