IN THE face of the flagging economy, many brands have opted for creative advertising approaches and strategically placed ads to capture consumers’ attention.

(From left) Nuchnapa, Vogiatzakis, Kanagasundram, Kelly, Mindshare Malaysia MD Rahul Thappa and Harmandar.

In particular, the retail/point-of-sales media targeted at the supermarket and hypermarket environ-ment has been getting a positive response from the industry.

Based on Nielsen media research, the point-of-sales segment has seen positive growth in advertising expenditure (adex) compared with previous years.

"Today, hypermarkets deli-ver to the masses, and retail media plays a role in reminding customers of product quality and benefits via creative advertisement placements at areas where the buying is happening," MagiqAds founder and executive director Sailendra Kanagasundram said at the inaugural Retail Media Forum recently.

"On average, there are about a million shoppers visiting hypermarkets, and point-of-sales media is an effective advertising tool to capture the masses," he said.

The forum, which saw about 300 participants from various areas of the industry, was an initiative undertaken with the support of Sledgehammer Communications (M) Sdn Bhd regional CEO Harmandar Singh.

"We have all seen evidence in the world that branding is key. Look at the great brands of our time and they are all about consumers trusting products and buying into quality," Harmandar said, adding that appropriate advertising placements contribute to the overall success of brands.

Speakers at the forum were Bodhi Tree Knowledge (Thailand) stra-tegic marketing consultant Nuchnapa Warunwutthi,

Omnicom Media Group Malaysia managing director Andreas Vogiatzakis and former TBWA/Tequila Singapore managing director and creative integrator Graham Kelly.

"Retail media is the next powerful revenue-generating communication tool to communicate a brand besides conventional approaches like newspapers and television," Harmandar said.

Kanagasundram said the point-of-sales or retail media industry is worth RM57.8 million, which accounts for about 1% of the country’s RM5.5 billion adex, and represents potential growth in excess of RM200 million within this category in Malaysia.

MagiqAds creates margin for clients by analysing and strategising workable in-store media solutions such as 3D vertical illusion ads to be placed on pillars, walls and hypermarket aisles and floors to capture public attention.

"We are confident of capturing 2% to 3% of industry growth based on the increased number of hypermarkets and shopping malls nationwide," said Kanagasundram, whose company has been exclusively appointed to manage media space at Jusco and Tesco, as well as 60% of space at Carrefour.

"In the last few years, in-store activities have been receiving attention from marketers for their dual effective role as a brand communication tool and sales tool," Nuchnapa said.

"However, the effectiveness of each in-store activity is difficult to measure. There are methods of measuring the revenue-on-investments of each in-store activity to help marketers maximise their in-store activity investments," she added.

Marketers first need to understand the consumer’s path to purchase and the relationship between brands, the consumer and consumer’s media before they are able to generate revenue from any campaign, Vogiatzakis said.

"By strengthening our understanding of how consumers use the various channels and touchpoints along the path to purchase, we enable ourselves to advance greater brand experiences to consumers," he said, while disclosing the results of a recent survey on the intricacies of consumer decision-making and path to purchase, and the role retail media plays in this.

Focusing on the creative aspects of media, Kelly spoke on the challenges of conceptualising and creating dynamic and visible messages.

He stressed that creative and engaging advertising can only happen when both clients and the agencies involved are prepared to buy into the idea of doing something different.

"A lot of times, the clients know that they have lost touch with the consumer, or they want to reach out to a new consumer segment," Kelly said.

"You then have to think about how to communicate in a new way. A bad campaign costs as much as a good one, so why not make a great campaign that really works?"