The power of PRISM

Surely you’ve heard by now that a “revolution” is taking place at the point of purchase. A veritable “paradigm shift” of near Biblical proportions is sweeping through the field of in-store marketing, turning the advertising world on its head and forcing every CPG company in America to rethink its approach to its in-store promotions.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking. What’s with the marketing hyperbole? “Revolution” and “paradigm shift” usually mean over-promise and under-deliver. And if, in fact, that is what you’re thinking, I can’t say I blame your cynicism. But let me be the first to tell you, you couldn’t be more wrong.

You see, PRISM, the bold new in-store marketing project piloted by Wal-Mart, P&G, Nielsen and others, is the real deal. And although its founders (known as the consortium) are nothing if not ardent self promoters, there are many reasons to believe that the byproduct of PRISM, known simply as the In-Store Metric, will indeed alter the in-store space on a magnitude not seen since category management or RFID.

But first let’s start with a reality check. Drinkers of the PRISM Kool-Aid would have you believe that the In-Store Metric, which in layman’s terms is a detailed measurement of in-store consumer activity, is the greatest thing since sliced bread. A more realistic view might be: The jury is still out. (It is, after all, a project in its infancy, with barely of shred of hard data in the hands of anyone but consortium members.)

That said, if indeed the jury is still out, it won’t be for long. This December, the PRISM beta test comes to an end. And when it does, Nielsen’s newly created division, Nielsen In-Store, will begin syndication of its in-store consumer-activity data. When that happens, the rest of us will be able to answer the critical questions that so far have not been directly addressed, such as: What exactly will the In-Store Metric yield? How will marketers use that data? And how will it change both the in-store space and the overall ad spend?

At the recent In-Store Marketing Expo in Chicago, a panel of founding PRISM members shed a little more light on the early PRISM findings, revealing, among other things, a concept many marketers once deemed impossible in the in-store space: The Truth About ROI Is Out There.

What exactly does this mean? It means the in-store marketing space, and more specifically the measurement of consumer activity in the in-store marketing space, is about to go from guess work to hard data. A POP display for hair care, for example, that’s decked out in catchy graphics and bright colors placed two thirds of the way down the personal care aisle, won’t just sit there in the hopes that its in-store placement maximizes its functionality. Instead, PRISM data will provide marketers with the know-how to build, position and track the display to be sure it reaches the right shopper, at the right time of day, in the right part of the store. In short, the In-Store Metric will empower marketers to make informed decisions about their in-store spending.

That’s the bright side. But just as PRISM has led to much speculation about the benefits it will bring to in-store marketing, its arrival has raised as many, if not more, unanswered questions as there currently are answers. Will PRISM migrate ad dollars away from the television spend, as many have speculated? Will PRISM increase the in-store marketing spend (as many are hoping) or will an informed ad buyer use this empowering data to fine-tune, and perhaps decrease, his or her in-store ad spending? And finally, since PRISM is knowledge, and knowledge is power, the question we all should be asking ourselves is how the creation of the retail space as a measurable marketing venue will affect the balance of power between retailers and manufacturers, and who is likely to gain more power in the end.