Nine Awards at Shopper Marketing Expo!

Great Northern Corporation, the parent company of Creative Displays Now, took home nine awards at the 2011 Shopper Marketing Expo. The show ran from October 18th through the 20th in Chicago.

The annual competition recognizes the industry's most inspiring and creative in-store activation tactics and campaigns. Gold, silver and bronze awards are distributed throughout eight channels based upon the entry’s ability to command attention, connect with the shopper, convey information and close the sale. A platinum award for Best of the Times honors is given to the top scoring entry of all gold award recipients within each channel.

Included in the nine awards were two Platinum Awards, which represent the best point of purchase displays in each retail channel. Our Platinum Awards were in the Convenience Store  (PepsiCo - Mountain Dew cooler door display) and the Specialty Store (3M Post-It Note shipper display) channels.

Read more about our Shopper Marketing Expo awards.

Halloween 2011 - Retail Notes

With Halloween quickly approaching, we wanted to take a look at some spooky news and notes in the retail environment. Here are some good things to know if you are a product manufacturer, retailer, or just love to see what is happing in stores for Hallow’s Eve.

• The National Retail Federation is reporting it will be a big spending year for the holiday. According to BIGresearch, 7 out of 10 Americans plan to participate in Halloween activities. They expect to spend more as well—over $72 per consumer, compared to $66 last year.
• More good news about expected consumer spending for Halloween from the KC Star: $1 billion on children’s costumes, up from $840 million last year, and $1.21 billion on adult costumes, up from $990 million last year.
• If you are out shopping for haunting loot, see this Consumer News article that outlines 5 tips for Halloween shoppers.
• Here are a few Halloween-related projects, produced by Creative Displays Now, over the years:

Contact us to discuss how we can help with your corrugated store display project for Halloween or any retail promotions.

The Use of Color in Retail

There has been a lot of research done around the psychology of color with regards to advertising and promotion. What colors impact purchasing decisions? What colors evoke emotion that is positive toward a product or brand? Which colors are optimal for specific demographics?

Studies have been done to focus on the impact of color in the retail environment, focusing on the moment of decision for consumers. We found the following useful resources in the ongoing discussion of the impact of color in selling in-store:

• The Center for Retailing Excellence Blog looks at how color can create coherence and positively (or negatively) impact the environment within a store.
• Kizer and Bener’s Retail Adventures in the Real World Blog discusses primary and secondary colors within the retail environment, and walks through each color and the shopping emotions it evokes.
• AllBusiness.com references that 60-70% of buying decisions are made at the point of purchase, and that the right colors can gain extra attention and even help consumers remember a message longer than black print.
• Science Daily examines receptivity to advertising messages, comparing the results of using red versus blue.

Our experienced team utilizes this type of data to help customers select the best colors for their point of sale displays and retail packaging. What do you think? How have you seen the impact of color in retail environments?

A Look at Green-Focused Point-of-Purchase

In recent years, as the green movement has not only grown, but also become a mainstay concern, there has been a lot of attention focused on sustainability in point-of-purchase displays and retail packaging. Many manufacturers and retailers have used store displays to educate consumers on their sustainability programs. Others have focused on the recyclability of the display itself.  Here are some great examples of how the green philosophy has been turned into action in the retail setting:

• AT&T Plant-Based Packaging – wireless accessories to use a plastic made of “up to 30 percent plant-based materials, sourced from sugarcane-based ethanol.”

• Coke “Give It Back” Program – not only are the displays 100% recyclable…Coke is managing the recovery to insure proper disposal.

• Pacific Perfumes’ Green Award gets International Exposure – the small perfume company received global buzz, growing global sales, after winning the award in the green category of the HBA International Package Design Award.

• Nestle Singapore’s Mobile App Helps Consumers Recycle Packaging – Their 123Recycle program allows users to scan product barcodes to get information on sorting and recycling the packaging.

This post was brought to you by Matt Ruggle and Creative Displays Now. Matt is the marketing manager at CDN. He is passionate about anything “in-store” and dreams of being an Olympic curler (yes, curling) some day . CreativeDisplaysNow.com strives to incorporate and encourages green practices in to any and all facets of their business model, including the manufacturing of corrugated displays and corrugated packaging that are 100% recyclable.