In-store media revolution continues

Bosman left Hunts two years ago and teamed up with software engineers to look at the retail market predominantly. He went the venture capital route, raising R120 million, and has spent the last two years negotiating the tough retail environment to get his new high-tech advertising medium installed in stores across the country.

“I felt like I'd run out of road in advertising. Digital seemed to be the next best thing,” he said.

His new business is a novel take on the ad screens that have proliferated in store, in malls and in garage forecourts. Bosman's technology uses surface computing in the retail environment, narrowcasting content to their advertising screens. Narrowcasting is the ability to generate and transmit static and dynamic content onto any one or group of screens throughout any environment targeted. He and his team have travelled a total of 150 000km in the past 24 months, putting up 5000 screens all over South Africa, in supermarkets, bottle stores, electronics stores and shebeens.

The next mass medium

Narrowcasting in store is the next mass medium, according to Bosman, as it's targeted and the right message at the right time. He is in effect introducing a new medium to our shores that will compete with any and all other media used by advertisers to get their brand message across. And like several other agencies and brands, getting to the consumer in store and cutting through the clutter that surrounds the consumers' route on their way to the store, is the current big thing in branding. Bosman is providing another medium for brands to do so, and a very high tech and targeted, interactive one at that.

The challenge he has is getting the media directors and ad agencies to buy into the concept and start producing content for his screens, some of which are rather smaller than usual. But it's no less the challenge that evangelists of the mobile (phone) medium have.

The technology is not brand new - in other parts of the world it is used very effectively, according to Bosman's research spiel, with the retail giants such as Walmart reaching 460 million consumers a month using the technology. “In fact, half the US population is reached by this technology every month - with a 49% compound annual growth in the US. They also make up 5% of the total media spend in China right now.”

While they are fairly new in South Africa, there is no doubt that Bosman expects them to have a huge impact or he wouldn't have staked his claim. The screens have two main objectives:

1. To build awareness of brands.
   
2. To sell product. They are not just there for entertainment.

Bosman is merely one of the early adopters of a trend which will see mass electronic media in store, in banks, malls and other places people congregate, as the technology improves. He says that in future all bulkheads and poster positions in store will be screens and content will be changed from morning to afternoon to change the look and feel of a store at different times of the day.

“The beauty of this medium,” says Bosman, “is that the retailers and brands can be sure the content they want flighted is actually flighted. The screens feed back information to the control centres on what content was flighted and when. This information can then be compared to till scanner data to see the effect on sales. In the event of technical problems, the central control centres will immediately pick up the problem and it will be fixed.”

His screens are different from the TV screens (which need TV licences) and the computer screens which could be switched off by staff and competitors in store. “We've gone the route of building the screens with the glass imported from China and the rest from different parts of South Africa. The product that comes out of there is high definition, but doesn't have a TV tube. Technology has moved on - we can now move content around by GPRS or satellite.”

Reinventing content

With his technology, content is produced in layers and is very cost effective, he explains. It can be produced in the 11 different languages and changed per store to take advantage of regional specials, from the special command media centre in the Western Cape winelands. Most of the content is silent, unless sound is required, so “we've had to reinvent the silent movie”, says Bosman.

When asked about the efficacy of marketing a brand message in this way, Bosman says they have seen a 50% increase in sales in electronics stores where the screens were installed; 68% of respondents noticed the screens; 63 out of 64 brands flighted showed an increase in sales compared to control stores; and brands stood out 33% more when they advertised on screen. Additional brand-specific research showed that:

• 35% of shoppers say they wouldn‘t have bought the product if it wasn't advertised in store on those interactive screens.
  
• 20% say they bought extra because it was advertised
  
• 89% gave positive comments on digital media
  
• 68% gave positive feedback on content
  
• 66% ad recall in store.

The screens, which range in size from seven inch to 40 inch, have been installed in Dion Wired, Game, Spar Tops bottle stores, shebeens and 240 Superspars. Each store has a ‘smart station' installed in its roof to receive content. Bosman and his team have worked with an impressive list of brands to date over the last year of testing, including Reckitt Benckiser, Colgate, Klipdrift, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, Sony Ericsson, Unilever, Nokia, Bosch, Schweppes, etc. One Digital is making full use of the technology spectrum, using cellphone technology as well to target consumers, and moving away from the mass media approach. Its main target is to go after the impulse shopper to try change their minds in store at the point of purchase.

Much of the content is being produced by themselves as the concept is so new and there are different revenue models for retailers, which range from direct solutions to partnership.

By 2011, Forresters is estimating that 90% of all retailers in the US will have digital media of some sort. “We're seeing amazingly innovative stuff being developed internationally. Soon virtual 3D shop windows, curved screens and many other techniques will be used in store to enhance the shopping environment,” Bosman indicates.

A last word from Bosman on his route to success: “Most of our competitors are technology businesses, but we are in the business of content. Content will sell it.”