Targeting consumers in the act of shopping

David Wethey’s “Summertime blue-sky thinking” proposals (MW August 10) may come as a shock to some marketers, but his commentary on connecting with consumers at the moment of truth is something we feel will be a significant development in marketing communications.

Packaged goods advertisers now know that building brand equity through prime-time TV advertising may be a valuable – not to mention costly – exercise but it isn’t necessarily going to result in those consumers buying their products. The ideal place to market to shoppers where they can act immediately is in the retail environment itself where the moment of truth happens.

However, where Wethey misses a trick is by saying that brands should start planning at the point of purchase and work back. True, a purchasing decision doesn’t happen while a consumer is on the couch; but it doesn’t happen at the till either. Rather, the most important period to market to a shopper is when they are navigating the supermarket aisles.

Integrated in-store media solutions communicate with shoppers at multiple points to leverage brand equity and latent unaided awareness to dovetail with mainstream above-the-line media such as TV.

The retail environment’s massive footfall and purchase power makes it the ideal location to connect with shoppers before they make their brand purchasing decision. Surely brands should be taking more notice of this new mass-market channel opportunity to stimulate impulse purchase in their brand’s direction

Julian Barrans

Executive general manager and chief marketing officer

Sales Activation Solutions

London W1