POINT-OF-PURCHASE COMMUNICATIONS 399deemed very eff ective. Interestingly, according to this study, 50% of the grocery shoppers who
use shelf coupon dispensers most frequently use the coupons for brands they have not tried
before, while a quarter of them use the coupon only if it is for the brand they intended to
buy.^65 Other studies have also demonstrated the eff ectiveness of shelf coupon dispensers.
It has been found, for example, that consumers tend to respond even more easily to shelf
coupons than to price reductions of the same amount.^66 Floor ads or fl oor graphics and shop-
ping cart ads also appear to work, sometimes even better than assumed by the respondents
of the US study above. Nestlé, for example, tested its fl oor graphics in Germany. To this end,
fl oor graphics were placed in aisles of six test stores and compared with six similar control
stores without fl oor graphics. According to 3M, the developer of Nestlé’s fl oor graphics, sales
were 23% higher in the test as compared with the control stores. Furthermore, brand recall
of products advertised by means of fl oor graphics amounted to 47%, as compared with 19% for
wall posters and 10% for shelf stickers.^67 Walls promoted its Solero ice cream by means of
shopping cart ads in 100 Asda supermarkets. Th e most memorable image from a recent
TV ad was used as the basis for the poster. It featured a man with an iceberg capping his
head eating a Solero ice cream. Th e baseline read ‘the mind cooler’. One in four trollies were
decorated with a poster on the outside, as well as on the inside, so that both the trolley pusher
and other shoppers could see the message. Th e cost of the campaign was estimated at 63 pence
per 1000 exposures. Sales of Solero were monitored in 32 Asda stores, half of which ran the
trolley advertising campaign. Th e results showed a sales increase of over 20% in the test as
compared with the control stores.^68
Although more diffi cult and more expensive to install – and therefore only rarely used –
POP advertising messages can also be customized. Th e Cyber Solution Laboratory of the
Japanese telecoms company NTT developed a system called ‘information rain’. Cameras
observe the customers and, based upon the information that is generated in this way (for
instance, the amount of time the customer looks at a certain shelf ), advertising messages are
generated and projected on the body of that customer. Obviously, customised POP may drive
consumer responses even more.^69
Th e spot where POP material is installed also exerts an infl uence on purchase behaviour.
In a US study, in-aisle displays resulted in 58% unplanned purchases, as compared with 61%
for displays at the end of aisles and 64% for displays placed at the checkout.^70Figure 12.10 Attention and purchase motivation of different POP elements
Source : Grocery Incentive Study 2002 ( http://www.pmalink.org/research/CDPgrocery_F.asp ). © Copyright 2003.M12_PELS3221_05_SE_C12.indd 399M12_PELS3221_05_SE_C12.indd 399 5/6/13 2:58 PM5/6/13 2:58 PM