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Enter the retail perpetual motion machine
Situated central to Maidstone, Canterbury and Ashford I tend share my shopping between the three. A recent outing took me to Ashford where I planned to visit Lidl and the bank. Lidl itself offers the considerable advantage of a free car park just yards from the town centre's one-way system. Hence the excellent footfall.
One aspect of Lidl's marketing fascinates me. Everytime I walk from the car park to the front door I'm forced to navigate a small crowd. The reason this crowd develops is simple: they are pawing over two large, detailed posters presenting a mixed bag of new products that will be arriving in store over the next couple of weeks.
I'm fascinated by the variety of products on offer, the subliminal pre-sell and, most of all, the media: large format print. It's bold, brash, enticing, simple, tactile, cost effective and, for me, it works.
As too many retailers get wrapped up in the latest digital innovations, Lidl is quietly pre-programming its customers to return week-after-week to explore its new array of offerings. It's like a retail perpetual motion machine.
Do not, under any circumstances, underestimate the power of print. For twenty years I have been advised to get out of print before the industry dies. Yet, tomorrow, on my way to an exhibition in London, it will be the billboards and posters that influence my purchasing decisions. Long live print.
Jon Barrett
Editor
