Electronic Retailer - October 2011 - 29

Don’t Provoke the Stores
Don’t retailers complain that Space Bag’s DR campaign is competing with them for sales? No. In the first place, Jamieson-Dunne says, retailers in general are far more accepting today than they were 10 years ago of suppliers who do DR advertising on the side. According to surveys, about 24 percent of U.S. households now buy directly from television or the internet, she says. “But that leaves a huge balance of people who see the commercial but buy the product in a store. Retailers have figured that out.” Instead, Space Bag sees its DR advertising as a means to drive consumers to purchase at retail. In fact, JamiesonDunne says the main goal of Space Bag’s DRTV advertising is to promote brand awareness as a means to gain trial and repeat purchases through retailers. “Space Bag utilizes DRTV as a vehicle to drive consumers to purchase at retail,” says Jamieson-Dunne. “We sell direct only to help offset our media expenditures to be able to have a higher media plan per year. The main goal of our DRTV advertising is to drive brand/ product awareness, trial and repeat purchase through our retailers. This is the main reason why they accept DR advertising; not to compete with them but rather to drive their sales.” But Space Bag also is careful to structure its TV offers in a way that does not provoke its retail clients. On the one hand, a successful DRTV commercial has to offer a deal that is “not available in stores.” But on the other hand, Jamieson-Dunne says, “You have to make sure that your DR offer is not so economically different [from the retail price] that it looks too sweet. If a DR ad looks too good, that’s when you’ll hear from retailers.” This is where shipping and handling charges come into play. Even if a DR offer is dramatically low, shipping charges can bring the total cost close to the retail price. “Consumers are aware of that, and retailers know that consumers are aware,” Jamieson-Dunne says. “Even people who don’t want

to go to the store and who prefer to order directly are paying attention to the total cost.” A final reason why retailers not only accept Space Bag’s DRTV efforts but sometimes encourage them, she says, is that “not many people advertise in the storage category. You see ads for sealable sandwich bags, but you don’t see Rubbermaid storage products being

advertised. For storage and organization, we’re the only game in town.” If a retailer has a section for storage products, and Space Bag is the only supplier actively trying to generate interest in the category, and its DRTV commercials get people thinking about the need to organize their closets … well, then, a smart retailer really doesn’t see much to complain about.

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October 2011 | electronicRETAILER

8/12/11 4:24:40 PM

Electronic Retailer - October 2011

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