Target started the pop-up store trend when they launched the Manhattan Bullseye Bodega. Since then several manufacturers, in the face of private label competition, have seen fit to explode their brands into a full on retail experience.  Pop-Tarts is the latest and most fun example yet.

The New York Times describes Pop-Tarts World in detail from the menu to the hourly light shows that seem to project the idea of what it’s like to actually be a Pop-Tart.  Most telling about the thought process for this store was  the statement by Scott Schoessel of Gigunda Group, Inc., the company that helped put this concept together.  He says that this store is not about sales but more about the experience.  That’s a wise perspective on retail for brand builders.  Even wiser are those that can combine the two — make the sale and the brand connection.

Integrated marketing supposes that the sum of the whole is greater than the parts.  In order to achieve the greatest marketing impact, all forms of media should communicate the same brand message to the consumer at as many touch points as possible.  The store is an important part of that mix.  The store is the last place where marketers still have a captive audience.  TIVO and DVR have significantly diminished the impact of TV commercials.  Internet advertising was all the rage but consumers have begun to resent commercial intrusions on their Internet pass times requiring marketers to be very careful not to use websites as billboards.  Consumers are increasingly picky about how and when they want to hear about what you’re selling.  This makes every opportunity to communicate that much more important and elevates the store as a valuable media.

However, because shoppers are more sensitive to marketing communication, when using the store as a media, marketers must understand the value of quality execution as well as continuous improvement. 

Wishart goes on to describe the challenges of measuring the impact of in-store marketing, the first of which being execution.  The bottom line is if your shopper doesn’t see your message or if they don’t see the message the way it was intended, it will not create lift.  Not only that but you must ensure that your program is installed properly and on time.  “Execution that is late can be irrelevant or destructive to the brand and the retailer,” said Jim Hanek, vice president, product leadership at Nielsen. 

Nielsen attempted to launch an in-store media ratings system.  They are a long ways off from that technology however, in anticipation retailers and marketers can begin developing systems for raising the quality of execution through monitoring and continuous improvement.  Those that do will be ready for the next shift in brand communications strategy.

There are several retail technologies that have retail enthusiasts buzzing.

First there is Advanced Media Services’ 3GTV.  Advertising in stores is undeniably the way to go in today’s fragmented media marketplace.  However, figuring out how to do that without intruding on the shopping experience is a conundrum.  Advanced Media is proposing showing TV commercials on store shelves via mini video screens. 

“People are still watching television, but they’re spread out among hundreds of channels and the Internet,” Mr. Manning [former chairman and chief executive officer at the JWT division of WPP] said. “The one place where people re-aggregate themselves back into a crowd again is the retail store.”

The shelf placement approach contrasts with in-store TV networks which are typically positioned at checkout, after purchase decisions have been made.  Manufacutures can buy ad space to tell stories and push information right next to their products when the shopper is still in the decision-making process.

While product advertising may be more of a manufacturer concern, improving the store experience is definitely a retailer priority.  Two different technologies propose to minimize the most annoying part of any trip to any store — waiting in line. 

You can’t talk about technology without talking about Apple products.  Global Bay is using the iPhone to present a mobile POS device that allows shoppers to checkout from anywhere in the store with the help of any salesperson holding the device.  Apple stores already employ a technology that does away with the cash wrap.  Global Bay would like to see that become the standard.  Watch their videos to see how the handheld device could stop loss due to checkout weariness.

In South Korea researchers have taken the checkout issue a step further and want to eliminate that part of the experience altogether.  Science News reports that Sunchon National University teamed up with researchers at Rice University in Houston, TX to develop RFID tags that can be printed right onto product packaging.  The short story is that printing tags on the packing is relatively cheap and would allow computers to read what a shopper has in her cart and check her out without ever waiting in line.  The idea is similar to toll booth devices that allow cars to ride through without stopping.  The same thing would happen at the store.  Shoppers would just push their carts through the checkout line, RFID tags on all the merchandise is read and they can keep on walking out to the car.  Read the Science News article for all the gritty details.

In New York, an old cathedral, which has had many reincarnations including a nightclub and a drug rehab center, has been turned into a shopping center.  Limelight Marketplace aims to capture the interest of the cathedral’s history and architecture to make it a destination shopping experience.  According to the New York Times, the effect is questionable but the idea is no doubt a reach for retail innovation.

In another part of New York, Grand Opening, treats retail like art.  The concept is that there is no concept.  Periodically, the long narrow box of a store is completely changed and merchants are rotated like gallery artists.

In Texas, Kuhl-Lipscomb, has made their 70,000 square foot store into a tourist attraction by offering a unique and eclectic mix of wares that are periodically re-merchandised to create a seemingly new environment.

 SlowRetail has compiled a pretty distracting (in that I spent over an hour following they’re links) list of innovative retail concepts from all over the world.  Maybe the next big trend in design is no trend at all.  After the mall and after big-box, maybe people want to be inspired when they shop and have a little experience to show for it.

Although the next generation doesn’t place a high premium on privacy, they also don’t appreciate feeling violated by marketer invasions.  Global Retail Executive posted an interesting perspective by one of their millennial employees.  On the issue of privacy, he noted that millennials do have some boundaries that must be respected.

“Don’t bombard us with emails. Don’t call us (Domino’s Pizza started calling me with offers a few years ago after I ordered a pizza from them – Guess what? That was the last pizza I bought from Domino’s). And, for God’s sake, DO NOT text us advertisements if we didn’t ask for it. It comes across as invasive and needy, and we will avoid you out of spite.”

This is an important distinction that marketers have to grapple with as they begin to consider and employ technology. Anything that has a ‘big-brother’ feel to it is likely to be rejected.  And if something like that is integrated into the entire store experience, that means shoppers could reject visiting your store altogether. 

For instance, consider walking into a store and based on a remote scan of your face and body, which can detect things like age, weight, race, etc, media in the store start to push ads targeted at you as you walk by. Or what about neuroscience?  Last year we posted about marketers developing technology that can perceive your brain activity and market to you based on that. 

All of these things sound super cool.  But as technology evolves, we’re finding that there’s a thin line between cool and creepy (think robot dogs). Understanding the intended shopper and their nuanced use of technology is critical to its successful activation in the retail environment.