INDUSTRY/TECH NEWS: Planet-Tek Expands The Marketplace Station

Canada: 30 Retailers. One Digital Network.
Planet-Tek Systems

Planet-Tek Systems is pleased to announce plans to expand The Marketplace Station, its in-store digital signage program into 30 leading natural health retailers across Canada in 2010. Originally launched in 2008 at select Whole Foods Market locations, the program has been an integral marketing vehicle for both the retailer and brands within the store for communicating products and services to consumers.

The Marketplace Station team will continue to provide end-to-end campaign planning and media buying services for brands within each location to compliment their in-store marketing mix. Campaigns are available in 30-second inventory segments, along with available digital content services.

New this year, interspersed into the full-motion programming, will be editorial features on health and lifestyle ideas provided and sponsored by Preferred Nutrition. Additionally, there will be interactive applications (apps) that are being sponsored by some of the top brands in the natural health industry that include Advantage Health Matters, Bio-K Plus, Renew Life, SISU, Preferred Nutrition, and Platinum Naturals. These interactive applications are designed as “apps”, so users (consumers and staff) can learn about products on-demand through a simple touch-screen framework.

“We are proud to service some of the top retailers and brands in the industry with a program that allows information to be readily accessible where it matters most”, says George Andreoglou, President of Planet-Tek Systems. Furthermore, our ability to develop interactive content in the form of “apps” will allow for the mobilization of this content onto smart phone platforms in the future so brands can continue their relationship with consumers and the retailers”.

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Full-motion programming Interactive applications Brand-specific content Product-specific content

The Shift in Marketing Funds to Retail: marketers continue to look for innovative, tactical, and measurable platforms in order to educate consumers, especially at-retail where 70% of purchase decisions occur. The proliferation of out-of-home media includes a diverse range of print publications (e.g. magazines and newspapers) that each only captures a fraction of target consumers. By having a dedicated in-store digital program across leading retailers it provides marketers with a concentrated channel and opportunity to devote greater marketing funds.

Retail Fragmentation: The natural health industry does not have a single mass retailer in Canada. There are leading independent stores and small chains that comprise majority of the retailers for natural health suppliers. A dedicated in-store program among the leading retailers in the industry allows marketers to plan and implement national promotions through a single point of contact.

Design and Aesthetics: a stunning 32” interactive display surrounded within a custom enclosure will hold prominence and distinction at retail. It has been architected from the ground up to utilize eco-friendly media player technology powered by Apple™, and integrated peripherals such as a bar-code scanner device and an audience analytics sensor.

Compliance: retailers today are striving to de-clutter the store environment by reducing traditional point-of-purchase (p.o.p) displays that diminish the store’s appearance – and wind-up in landfill after the promotional period ends. By offering cleaner, concentrated communications, vendors will be able to decrease dependency on printed static promotions. Planet-Tek provides all its clients 100% compliance for campaigns conducted under the digital program – something rare of with traditional p.o.p communications.

Key Drivers and Features of The Marketplace Station Program
New Features: new features of the program this year includes the use of touch screen displays that will allow users to interact with content they are interested in. An integrated bar-code scanning system will further trigger on-demand product information. Consumers and staff at-retail will be able to learn about featured products through an interactive content framework that is easy to navigate through.

Analytics and Research: the digital program is capable of deriving data from actual audience viewership that is captured through an anonymous analytics sensor against each display. Additionally, touch screen data from users interacting with featured content will also be captured this year. Select data will be compiled into Pulse Analytics Reports and delivered on a monthly basis so retailers and brands can heighten their intelligence of the in-store environments. Data will be broken down on a store-by-store basis highlighting viewer impressions delivered per month, time of day impressions, gender of impressions, and touch screen impressions against content displayed.

“Putting this type of data in the hands of us, the retailers and marketers, will help us heighten the knowledge of the industry as a whole” says Guy D’Addario, Director of Marketing of Nature’s Emporium in Newmarket, Ontario.

Source: Planet-Tek Press Release