ISMI works on in-store media measurement

As we talked about several months ago, it seems that the In-Store Marketing Institute has been working with P&G, Wal-Mart and a host of other major retailers and CPGs to measure the impact that in-store marketing has on consumers. As the article notes, the drive to find a common way of measuring and reporting this influence is expected to bring retail media up to snuff with other "measurable" media like TV, radio and print:

The measurement model predicts consumer reach by category or area of the store, by retail format, and by day of the week, delivering unprecedented insight into the store as a marketing channel.

The model could prove to be a watershed event for the marketing world, because it allows the store to be compared alongside television, radio and other forms of mass media for its ability to deliver consumer reach. In effect, it could do for the store what the measurement of gross ratings points (GRP) did for television.

While in-store marketing has long been an element of the consumer marketing mix, its potential value as a brand-building vehicle has never been objectively assessed, largely because there hasn't been a way to accurately measure the total reach of a campaign conducted at retail. By establishing a common metric that can be understood by both brand marketers and retailers, this model can eliminate that obstacle.

While the debate about how to actually measure in-store media will likely continue for some time, the approaches taken by the ISMI, POPAI and other groups indicates that a new wealth of data, tools and metrics should become available soon.