It’s work in progress for now, but a revolution is on the way. What medium draws the biggest audience – TV, print, radio, digital or AN Other? Check the numbers and you may still be no wiser because retail stores are not (yet) classified as media.

This could change as US marketers focus increasing attention on the store as medium.

Late in 2008, the finale of ‘American Idol’ attracted 35 million TV viewers. Compare that with Walmart’s weekly ‘audience’ of 150 million or the weekly 68 million at Kroger and you glimpse the store’s potential as an advertising medium.

The Nielsen Company’s Prism project in the USA was unfortunately suspended some months ago, but before going into limbo, it did much to spotlight the potential of the in-store marketing audience. As a result, the store is increasingly viewed in the US as a new medium.

Prism findings, pre-suspension, confirmed what in-store marketers have always known intuitively or anecdotally – the retail audience is the biggest audience in advertising. P&G is thought to be exploiting this opportunity, with rumours that it spends up to half its budget on shopper marketing.

Reference to rumour and anecdote brings us home to South Africa, where figures are hard to come by, but excitement is evident at the prospect of an in-store take-off.

Terry Murphy, executive director of POPAI SA (Point of Purchase Advertising International, South African chapter), says there are no reliable figures for the size of our MaR market.

MaR is the acronym for Marketing at-Retail, one of several terms for the same opportunity. It used to be POS (point of sale), became POP (point of purchase) and morphed into in-store or shopper marketing.

Murphy says an “inspired guess” at local market size would be “in excess of R2 billion” p.a. He sees growth on the back of international developments and notes, “There is a worldwide trend away from national media towards activation and interactive media. MaR benefits quite significantly.

The major growth area is digital technology such as digital signage and touch screen. Absolute numbers are still quite small, but the growth rate is over 25% a year.”

Expectations of POP growth may also be linked to recession. When budgets are squeezed, bang per buck becomes crucial. This can mean reaching decision-makers during their decision-making, especially as display alone can drive sales without price cuts.

US researchers estimated years ago that 70% of buying decisions were made in store. Recent research highlights the importance of precise targeting of shoppers, as opposed to more generalised targeting of consumers.

AdAge, in November 2008, quoted findings by shopper-marketing agency OgilvyAction showing that display drove nearly twice as many impulse purchases as price reductions – an insight sure to interest those looking to retain margin in a downturn.

New research confirmed that shoppers impulsively buy from categories they had no intention of purchasing on entering a store. Among impulse buyers, 24% were influenced by displays away from the product’s usual aisle, 18% by in-store demo and only 17% by price promotion.

More than twice as many consumers said they bought impulsively because of display, or some other form of promotion, rather than price.

Research like this suggests tactics based on low-tech cardboard displays have a big role in prompting impulse purchasing. This means local POP growth won’t necessarily need a digital catalyst or new developments like Internet Protocol Television, the platform for the Walmart Smart Network, the retailer’s ‘next-generation’ in-store video offering. Cardboard could do the trick.

Exponential take-off at Marin’s Southern Africa confirms that display innovation finds a ready market locally. Marin’s is a French-based global leader in display units. Its patented LAMà is an instant, foldable cardboard display, but looks like a conjuring trick on first acquaintance. One second you have a cardboard envelope; then, hey presto, you’re confronted with a rigid, robust display cabinet, column, shelving, case-stacker, product-holder, dispenser, kiosk, bin or table.

The LAMà, invented by Marin’s founder Francois L’hotel, requires no metal rods, reinforcing, screws, rivets, plates or assembly instructions. You just lift up the collapsed cardboard envelope and let it fold out automatically into the required size and shape (there are dozens of them).

LAMà units have the strength to hold 100kg of product, yet fold down into flattened cardboard and latex envelopes a few centimetres thick.

Forget labourers and truck delivery, these bundles can be transported on the back-seat of your car and set up in seconds.

Marin’s Southern African started from a zero-base in June 2008. Today, the company has operations in Johannesburg and Cape Town and printer / LAMà producers in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. A lot of early growth was driven by multinationals familiar with Marin’s from overseas. Clients now include local and international brands of the stature of Absa, Unilever, EDCON, SPAR, Tiger Brands, Colgate, Plascon, Multichoice, Western Union, Brandhouse and Samsung.

Fulfilment work for its international principals takes the SA product to North America and the Gulf, but self-generated export orders across Africa increasingly underpin growth. The Southern Africa licence-holder already serves Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Angola, Zambia and Mauritius.

Derek Smit, president of Marin’s Southern Africa, says deal-flow follows demo – see the set-up conjuring trick, factor in the LAMà’s weight-, space-, time- and transport-savings and clients sign up.

Smit notes, “Our growth coincides with the onset of recession. In a downturn, companies seek cost efficiencies and smart solutions. This environment is perfect for us.”

Continued growth is projected post-recession. Export orders are up from 3,02% of turnover in the first nine months, to 9,92% in the eight months after that. But the major dynamic is provided by growing penetration of the local FMCG market.

“We see numerous drivers of continued growth,” says Smit. “There are display opportunities linked to the soccer World Cup and, in the longer term, environmental credentials will become increasingly important. The LAMà is 100% recyclable, while weight- and transport savings reduce carbon emissions.

“Growth is supported by repeat business. One major alcoholic beverage brand has sent in seven repeat orders to date. This was the last region in the world where Marin’s had no representation. Experience in more than 100 countries confirms that once the LAMà concept is introduced, it takes off.”

POPAI’s SA chapter opened in 2007, Marin’s moved here in 2008 and current US focus on the store ‘medium’ suggest growing momentum. In the past, POP may have been more art than science, but the building blocks are now in place to support continued development. Watch the coming display.