More on the Wal-Mart Canada plan

October 27, 2006 by Dave Haynes

The Globe and Mail has a piece today on the news of ShopCast deploying into Wal-Marts, and a little more detail on what’s going to be done and what some big-time ad media people think of it.

One thing it also confirms is that Marnie Boucher is still involved, having spent at least five years grinding away at this deal. Major kudos for hanging in there, Marnie.

The Globe reports:

Each store will have 15 to 20 screens at the checkouts and in high-traffic sections such as fashion, groceries and electronics. The monitors at the checkouts will be smaller — 32 inches — and carry more in-depth information. That’s because shoppers will be standing still at the checkout, while they tend to just glance at the screen when they’re browsing the store.

Commercials will be 10 to 15 seconds each, shorter than the 15- to 30-second spots on conventional television, he said.

Hugh Dow, president of media buyer M2 Universal, said that it represents an opportunity for advertisers to connect with consumers, although it won’t necessarily be a replacement to conventional TV. “Clearly Wal-Mart has the customer base to make this something that has some critical mass.”

Doug Checkeris, president of Media Company, added that advertisers may shift spending to the screens from other in-store marketing programs, such as displays or flyers. But he cautioned that not all Wal-Mart shoppers will look at the ads on the screens. “Do I think this is a slam dunk? Not necessarily. I think it’s a very powerful opportunity. But it takes time to define how it will be used and how it will fit into the mix. That will be the challenge.”