Latest Blog posts from POPAI.co.uk

Moving from measurement to sustainable P-O-P management

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By Nick Widdowson, range and merchandising manger Unilever UK

There is a lot of talk about measuring environmental performance of P-O-P at the moment. Not least from me during the past blog posts. But, as a brand marketer (and for retailers too, no doubt), I am particularly interested in how we make this focus on sustainability in P-O-P a reality.

Of course, rationally, we know that being sustainably minded is good. But how do we get from a point of knowing how good we have been, to what best practice actually looks like?

Thanks to the work of POPAI, the new Convert and Checkbox tools (developed as part of PSS) will now provide the much-needed methods for evaluation and measurement of existing or proposed P-O-P solutions. But here's something that strikes me: eventually, we must be able to put ourselves in a position where we can have a wider awareness of how what we are doing on our own campaigns stacks up against others across the industry.

Surely, its vital for us all to know if what we are doing is good, bad or indifferent. I for one would like to see marketers from brands and retailers come together and work closely with POPAI over the coming months to help shape the tools that will help us achieve more effective sustainable management of P-O-P campaigns.

Make no mistake; the level of initial commitment being shown towards POPAI's Sustainability Standard indicates that the tables are turning. But we are by no means there yet and, as marketers, it is our responsibility to help make it happen.

How could sustainable P-O-P be further raised up your retail marketing agendas?

Let's discuss our views.

Helping sustainable P-O-P to gain traction

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By Nick Widdowson, range and merchandising manger Unilever UK

It is true that the majority of retailers already have their own internal processes and measures for environmental credibility of various materials entering their stores. Personally, I look forward to seeing more retailers stepping forward to support moves towards greater sustainability within the industry.

As marketers, it is almost impossible to mandate suppliers. So, should we bother? Absolutely. It is imperative to be able to take P-O-P solutions to the retailers and say; this is what we are doing. And with almost every retailer now introducing its own stringent internal processes for environmental performance, being able to proactively meet those measures can only be a good thing. As client, we can request and encourage the adoption of better environmental practices, and achieving this at every touch point throughout the process of P-O-P production will be an important milestone.

One particular grocery retailer has already taken the step of engaging its various suppliers and bringing them all together in joint workshops, to link up and reach collaborative coordinated P-O-P solutions. it's a bold move that should be applauded.

The launch of POPAI's Sustainability Standard should also act as a call to action for retailers. A move by one of the big five grocery retailers to support the Standard would surely be a major tipping point towards getting critical mass and, ultimately, moving sustainability within in-store marketing higher up the agenda so that we can achieve truly effective self-regulation within the industry.

What more could retailers and brand manufacturers collectively do to drive improvements in P-O-P sustainability?

Read part 4/4 next week - Moving from measurement to sustainable P-O-P management.

The myth that sustainable P-O-P always costs more

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By Nick Widdowson, range and merchandising manger Unilever UK

Does sustainability in P-O-P make any difference to your business? Well, it should do.

Sadly, received wisdom in this world is that if something is sustainable, it will cost you more. For years, the great and the good have hammered home the point that being environmentally friendly can be a costly business.

As a marketer responsible for commissioning P-O-P material, it is important to be in possession of the true facts. The initial work of POPAI over the last two years around Sustainability has unearthed a wealth of case studies that disprove many long-held opinions.

Embarking on an exercise to re-engineer existing P-O-P solutions to be more sustainable can in fact reduce the number of component parts required for assembly and lead to more cost effective replacement substrates being employed – ultimately reducing overall unit costs, or extending the lifespan of the display to make it more cost effective over time.

This brings an interesting example to mind. Recently, my team conducted a review of vac-form shelf trays that were used to display one of Unilever’s brands.

Instead of continuing along the same path of materials choice that we had for several years, the review led to us replacing vac-form trays with a corrugated alternative. Not only does it look and feel the same; it is cheaper to manufacture and also delivers far better sustainability credentials.

We are now able to produce these displays better, faster and cheaper – bringing benefits on all sides. Have you conducted a review of the environmental performance of existing P-O-P solutions?

Read part 3/4 next Wednesday – Helping sustainable P-O-P to gain traction

The challenge of delivering sustainability in Point-of-Purchase

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By Nick Widdowson, range and merchandising manger Unilever UK

Over the past six months I have started to become slightly obsessed with the issue of sustainability. Not only have I been heavily involved in supporting the launch of POPAI’s Sustainability Standard (PSS), as well as our ongoing commitment to sustainability within Unilever.

The launch of our Sustainable Living Plan in November last year saw our CEO set out over 50 social, economic and environmental targets for the business, focused not only on the company in its direct operations, but also its suppliers and Unilever consumers. Clearly, this is a major commitment, on an almost unprecedented scale.

Such top-down corporate initiatives are often critical to raising internal awareness around reviewing the environmental performance of current P-O-P display solutions, as well as the commercial importance of improving sustainability in this area. Of course, every retailer and brand manufacturer is likely to be at a different point in its journey towards greater corporate sustainability. Some led the way in driving environmental and sustainability issues, others did (and still are) following.

Most importantly, people are doing something, whatever stage they are at in the process. And yet, the issue of sustainable management during implementation of retail marketing campaigns is often still low on the agendas - corporately, or even within marketing team. Maybe it is a case of not wanting to raise your head above the parapet.

As every marketers knows all too well, from time to time that’s not something you want to be quick to do. But you know, yes, it will be hard but we will be doing it for the common good of the industry, so on we should press with setting our own targets for improving the sustainability of the campaigns we brief to represent our brand values in-store. To what level have you internally discussed the issue of improving sustainability of P-O-P campaigns?

Read part 2/4 next Wednesday – The myth that sustainable P-O-P always costs more.

Welcome: New Retailer and Brand Forum Blog

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Welcome: New Retailer and Brand Forum Blog A new feature from POPAI UK & Ireland, the digital blog called RBFonline, will bring together thought-leadership, insight and knowledge sharing from leading industry figures. Contributors to RBFonline will seek to raise debate around the impact of emerging technology and the changing face of in-store marketing for those working in the point-of-purchase industry. The blog is exclusive to retail and brand marketers and will offer huge scope for interactivity and knowledge sharing via social media. RBFonline already has a number of contributors lined up who will be posting in the coming weeks, but there will be opportunities for others to contribute. Please contact editor@popai.co.uk if you are interested in having an article published online in the future.

New Blog Coming Soon

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Watch out for our new blog coming Summer 2010.