POPAI Guide To Digital Media In Retail (DMIR)

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

POPAI Digital in the UK released this really good guide to digital media in retail late Friday to its members. It’s well worth getting hold of a copy. We have been quite critical of POPAI in the past (the strength of the organisation in each country is pretty dependent on how good the people running it in each country are) but this is really good, well thought out and well put together.

The guide provides an introductory overview of how screen and audio-based DMiR networks are used by UK retailers (although the principles outlined are universal) and provides some insight into why DMiR is the fastest growing medium in the out of home media sector.

The guide offers advice and guidance on good practice across a range of key topics and disciplines, ideal for those new to the media or wishing to find an entry level document to share with colleagues or clients.

It’s rich in case studies and practical examples and features contributions and case studies from the likes of dunnhumby (Tesco Screens), the Co-operative Group, Spar, the Mall Corporation and TUI Travel plus contributions from opinion formers including Hyperspace, Retail Week, Brunel University, Realisation and Shoppercentric – i.e all people that we respect and admire in the industry.

Contents…

  1. Introduction
  2. What is Digital Media in Retail (DMiR)?
  3. How is DMiR used by retailers?
  4. The fastest growing medium in the out of home sector
  5. Business models
  6. Delivering value to the shopper
  7. Designing content to engage shoppers
  8. Effective infrastructure
  9. DMiR innovations: case study
  10. What does the future hold for DMiR?

The worst section in the guide is the Mall TV bit that deals with, unsurprisingly, Shopping Malls. It’s a shame that this is held up as a shining example of retail – whilst something like 75% of retail purchases in the US are made in Malls and 65% in Canada (not quite so high in Europe yet) shopping malls are and will be going forward an important part of retail.

However, the Mall TV / Avanti Screeenmedia concept is outdated, ineffective and literally TV-on-a-stick (Bill Collins would probably point out that this is very much a Gen 1.0 digital signage implementation) so it’s no wonder that national media planners and buyers have been staying away from putting their big brands on Mall TV (and unfortunately as a consequence other digital Mall deployments as well).

We aim to spend more time looking at how shopping malls could be done and should be done in the future but don’t let that (just our opinion anyway) stop you from downloading what is otherwise an excellent guide for the retailer.

Hats off!!! To download a copy visit www.popai.co.uk/popaidigital

The guide was produced in association with the Imperative Group


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