GETTING NOTICED AT POINT OF SALE
GETTING NOTICED AT POINT OF SALE
Monday, 12 November 2007 02:50
By Richard Mukoma
As Kenya’s marketing environment becomes increasingly competitive more and more attention has been put toward the point of purchase and the closing of the sale. The point of purchase is one of the few places where the buyer is really thinking about products and is about to take action. It is also the point at which the marketer can have the last word, reminding consumers about their brand. The stores have also joined in the furor to the point where retailers have expanded their shopping hours, remaining open seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
While we all like to think of our customers as exclusive users of our brands, in reality we are merely on their menus. Most people go shopping with a list of things they want to buy, though some of the products on their list don’t actually have brand names e.g flour, cooking fat, rice, toilet paper, juice. The final choice from any menu can be swayed by a number of things: price, promotions or even availability of a desired size. Hence this is where Point of Purchase (POP) advertising plays the most important role.
POP advertising complements other forms of advertising that the consumer may have come across previously. It extends the advertising message to a place and time closest to the consumers actual purchase decision, increasing the frequency of media at a critical point.
To enhance its effectiveness, POP advertising must be attractive, simple, easy to read and band logos and colors must be clear. This enables it to act as a catalyst, stimulating recall not only of previous advertising, but of the brands intrinsic values as well, hence clinching the sale.
POP advertising can generate interest and excitement during a launch of a new product or new packaging, so as to induce trial or change consumer perceptions. It can also be used tactically when you wish to make an announcement, during promotions or festive seasons.
POP advertising works best when it is tailored to specific needs as opposed to treating it like a mass medium. This is because in-store needs and opportunities vary from market to market, from neighborhood to neighborhood and even from store to store. It is therefore advisable to produce the same POS idea in various formats, shape and sizes and distribute them according to the various in-store needs.
However, the in-store environment is a particularly cluttered one, hence retailers will not accept all POS material provided to them; therefore the little that is allowed has to work smarter as well as harder.
The writer is the Chief Executive Officer of Interbrand Sampson East Africa, a strategic brand consultancy firm.
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