WSJ:Wal-Mart Uses TV-Set Displays For Ad Network
Dow Jones International News Service via Dow Jones
From Tuesday's Wall Street Journal
By Yumiko Ono
NEW YORK (AP-Dow Jones)--Wal-Mart has unearthed a new place to broadcast
commercials: those long rows of television sets lined up for sale in the chain's
1,950 stores nationwide.
This week the big retailer is launching the Wal-Mart Television Network,
hoping it has created a powerful new advertising medium. Every week, Wal-Mart
figures, roughly 30 million shoppers wander through its electronics section. So,
the Bentonville, Ark., company expects to draw 20 million attentive viewers a
month to the network.
Country-music singer Garth Brooks will welcome viewers with a smile. His
compact disks, it just so happens, are on sale just around the corner. There
will be music from the Spice Girls and interviews with Fleetwood Mac on
'Wal-Mart Music News Update,' with the compact-disk cover prominently displayed
on the screen.
Another segment, 'Wal-Mart Home Video Release,' will show clips from the movie
'Dumb & Dumber;' videos are for sale nearby. Coming soon: A live-music concert
that can be viewed only at Wal Mart, although the company is mum on details.
Of course, the programs are also full of ads-as much as 12 minutes an
hour-urging shoppers to buy some of those batteries that are just a few aisles
away.
With this effort, Wal-Mart is joining marketers who are bombarding consumers
with TV programming and ads in every corner imaginable: health clubs, doctors'
offices, even video-rental and auto-parts stores. Some of Southland's 7-Eleven
convenience stores recently started hanging large computer monitors in front of
cash registers. Like flashing billboards, they feature the weather, sports
scores and 10-second ads.
So far, results have been mixed. One success is Time Warner's CNN Airport
Network, which broadcasts news shows to consumers in airport lounges.
But the Check-Out Channel quickly bombed in the early 1990s. That effort, a
venture between Turner Broadcasting and a unit of Heritage Media, tried to
stimulate sales by blaring news programs and ads for grocery products at
supermarket check-out counters. Cashiers complained of the noise, and consumers,
already at the shopping finish line, weren't about to turn their carts around to
brave the aisles again. Turner has since been sold to Time Warner, and Heritage
Media has been acquired by News Corp.
Of course, Wal-Mart doesn't expect shoppers to pull up a chair and watch TV
for half an hour.But the company hopes the program creates 'a real exciting time
for the shoppers,' much like its recent Oreo-stacking promotional contest, which
took place in stores nationwide, says Ray Hobbs, Wal-Mart's senior vice
president and general merchandise manager.
If consumers are entertained, they may be inclined to buy more, especially
those products just featured in an ad. Wal-Mart won't disclose its spending on
the network.
So far, the network has rounded up a few big advertisers, including Kodak,
Polaroid and Rayovac, a battery company. For $150,000 a month, they get two
short ads per hour and are highlighted in special previews. 'All the traditional
media are cluttered nowadays,' says Ken Mills, group manager of U.S. marketing
communications at Polaroid. He says he is happy at the 'intrusiveness' of the
row of 30 to 40 TV sets typically lined up in Wal-Mart's electronics department.
What also helps, especially for impulse purchases such as batteries, is
Wal-Mart's 'category-exclusivity' policy, which doesn't allow rivals to
advertise on the network, says Stephen Shanesy, a Rayovac marketing manager.
Rayovac, the distant No. 3 player behind Gillette's Duracell and Ralston
Purina's Energizer brands, plans to air special promotions and the ad it is
currently running on national television, which features basketball star Michael
Jordan.
Wal-Mart is varying the programs by region, a maneuver made possible by a
satellite system provided by San Francisco-based Pics Retail Networks.
Country-music singers will croon in the Dallas stores, while stores in Atlanta
feature interviews with Christian musicians. Detroit stores will feature
rappers. The program repeats every two hours, with a new half-hour segment
inserted every week. Regular TV channels won't be available in the stores.
Wal-Mart plans to install other high-tech gimmicks to persuade people to
linger longer in the vicinity of the television sets. Nearby are special
scanners, similar to those at the check-out counter and also provided by Pics,
that can preview all 9,000 videocassettes and CDs on sale.
There's one catch: Viewers will have to sit through ads before, during and
after the preview.
Policies are shaping up about programming. Don't expect any controversial
topics or violent, action-packed programs. 'We're a friendly, family-based
company, and our programming will be naturally in line with that,' says a
Wal-Mart spokeswoman.
Expect to see a lot about Wal-Mart, including the plan to show company
employees presenting a check-live-to the Children's Miracle Network, a
company-favored charity that supports children's hospitals.
(END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 07-10-97
|
