Sunday, November 9, 2008

Grocery Cart Ads Gain in Popularity

Now more than ever grocery cart advertising is becoming an increasingly popular media to reach consumers. Grocery cart ads are not only for the national brand advertisers. Today, local businesses and professionals are taking advantage of being able to specifically target their market area. Please read why!
Grocery Cart Ads are considered "out of home media". Out of home media creates a forced awareness, just as a highway billboard does. The supermarket is without a doubt the hub of any community. Everyone needs to shop for food! Major supermarket chains spend tens of millions of dollars in advertising to draw consumers to their stores.
Many businesses and professionals are now taking advantage of this. In addition to using traditional forms of "in-home media" such as newspaper advertising, radio and TV and direct mail, supermarkets are also leaning more towards "out of home media". The grocery cart is the first thing a consumer reaches for when they enter the supermarket.
Next time you visit your local supermarket pay a little more attention to the grocery (shopping) carts throughout the store, and in the parking lots. Grocery carts have literally become "rolling billboards" with advertising for both the National Brands and Local Businesses and Professionals who need to target their branding and embed their names and images in the minds of tens of thousands of shoppers.

Over the years there has been much controversy as to whether or not grocery cart ads provide direct response and results. The fact is: the packaged goods companies such as Nabisco, Coke, P&G and others have actually seen substantial sales lifts of in-store products as a direct result of advertising on the carts. These National Brand companies have been utilizing grocery cart front advertising for nearly 30 years. The availability of this same type advertising for the "local" businesses on a one store, or multiple store targeted basis has only been 3 years in the running.

It is my personal and professional opinion that over the next three years, you'll see many more "local" ads popping up for Dental Groups, Realtors, Insurance Agents and other "locals" who will finally understand the true value and benefits of being able to reach tens of thousands of potential customers and clients directly in their target market area.

Our company, Xtreme Advertising, Inc. not only works with local businesses, we work directly with Advertising Agencies who are now realizing the full potential of the front of the grocery cart ad medium for their local and regional clients. "Out of Home Media" is not the "wave of the future", it has arrived and works! Grocery cart front advertising creates repetition. And where there’s repetition, there’s impressions.

Can a Realtor actually sell a home directly from grocery cart advertising? Why not? We know of a realtor who says a prospect actually called him while waiting in line at the check-out. He said he closed a deal after meeting her the next day. So, Realtors and many other advertisers do receive phone calls while creating excellent branding and top of the mind awareness.

I happen to have testimonial letters from Realtors, Insurance Agents, Dental Practices and others who love grocery cart advertising; sold homes, written policies, and filled teeth via those calls and the awareness. Nevertheless, there will always be skeptics and business owners who wasted money because they did not understand how to buy the medium, or how to position themselves properly in the market area or on the cart itself. Quite possibly they were sold a "bill of goods", and were simply told what they wanted to hear by a high-pressure, unprofessional, inexperienced “ad salesperson” who was only interested in one thing: generating a sale.

Want the real scoop on grocery cart advertising from experts in advertising, marketing and promotion?

Find out the “right way” to advertise on grocery carts! Feel free to phone me directly at (702) 644-7313 or visit our website at www.xtremeadvertising.net for more information. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for having an open mind. Grocery cart front ads do work when done properly!

By the way, we now have a way to track actual results from your grocery cart advertising. Contact us to learn more.