After much ado, the initial results are ready and available for consumption (for $5,000).

The study, entitled, “In-Store Traffic — Where’s the Shopper,” compares 308 categories in Supermarket and Drug stores to uncover where manufacturers can find the greatest opportunity to connect with shoppers during their store trips.  Click here for a brief on what to expect when you purchase your copy.

This is disappointing news because it is critical that we create a measurement model in the not too distant future for shopper marketing in order to track the store as a measured media. That would allow all manufacturers and retailers who participate at retail to execute a measured media in the store and compare this to other forms of media. Until we are able to measure the content, compliance, frequency and reach in the store, we do not have a valid measured media discipline. However, this does not prohibit the industry from continuing to grow it’s use of in-store execution as a valuable medium to drive sales volume and brand equity measures.

The need for a P.R.I.S.M.-like model to measure in-store media does not go away. In fact, it increases, given the economy and the need to engage shoppers more than ever.  The need to understand in-store shopper behavior is vital. The need to determine what in-store marketing communications vehicles provide the best return on marketing spend is essential to prudent marketing planning. We must continue industry-wide pressure to create and launch this capability (or something like it) to understand and measure reach by category by retailer. We believe this is critical so that marketers can best align their marketing spend across product categories, brands, geographies and customer segments. To not do this will be a blow to our industry and our profession.

Al Wittemen’s article in the November issue of HUB Magazine refers to the online world as “second life.” According to Wittemen, most everyone has a second life, interactions that exist primarily through online experiences. So now CPG’s are trying to meld the best of both worlds, using the measurability of online activity to predict as well as influence offline behaviors. P&G seems to be at the forefront of this experiment. Wittemen describes their Tide.com site:

“It’s absolutely brilliant from a shopper marketing perspective. When you click on any of the various products, the entire shelf set comes up in a flash movie. If you remember, a few years ago every P&G shelf set was standardized so that it is nearly identical from store to store. This allows consumers to have an experience with Tide in any store, in the comfort of their own homes.”

The benefit of this type of online scheme is farming data on shopper behavior quickly and easily. Last week, P&G invested $7.5 million for a 1 percent stake in Ocado, a British online grocer. Tressie Long, spokeswoman for P&G said of the investment, “It’s an opportunity for us to deepen our understanding of unique shopper knowledge that Ocado offers. We see their business model as fertile testing ground for new ideas.”

P&G seems to understand that cost and price manipulations are not going to do the trick in the long term. It’s like we mentioned yesterday in reference to the Nielsen report that, “marketers will have to get much closer to their customers.” The second life concept presents a way to build that closeness. Wittemen muses that marketing will have to become more relevant. “Relevance are things that may be a little softer, but more meaningful in our lives. You have to have some relevance with people’s lives to connect with them on an emotional level.”

What Nielsen In-Store promises is a way for retailers and CPG’s to quantify their methods for communicating with customers and influencing their purchase decisions, to ultimately increase the rate of success for in-store media programs — giving CMO’s the tangible sales results they are measured against.

Up to now, most of the research readily available to CPG’s and retailers has been focused on overall consumer trends and preferences. What has been missing is specific analysis of shoppers and shopping behaviors.

What happens when the shopper is in the aisle? If Dad and the kids are the consumers, but Mom is the shopper, we need to know what she does when she gets to the store. That’s the missing link in making the inside of the store the next great media platform.

We have strongly supported Nielsen’s efforts throughout the PRISM initiative, but have always maintained that the success of Nielsen In-Store, or any measurement system, hinges on one seemingly simple, yet critical component: professional installation.  The most well-thought-out, eye-catching in-store communications program means nothing if it never gets to the store floor or if it is improperly installed, and you would be surprised how often this happens.

From internal research we conducted last year, we found that only about 30 percent — not even one-third — of in-store communications and displays are installed correctly, if at all. It’s a shame that a program can go from creative development, to material production and to shipping, but then be left on the loading dock or installed incorrectly by a store employee who knows nothing about the strategy behind it.

You can set all the metrics for success in place, but if the program components you put those metrics against are not installed exactly as designed, the results will be skewed (not to mention a costly waste in what you’ve spent on all those display materials.) Never has installation been more important.

With the launch of Nielsen In-Store, we foresee a surge in focus on professional installation and rightly so. What effect do you think this new measurement program will have on shopper marketing?