Okay, so I'm not as clever as David Letterman, but on the other hand, I am hoping that my list will be more useful, at least for those looking at the design of a digital in-store media network, aka, in-store TV.  
 
Since the advent of the first in-store TV network earlier in this decade, much time and talk has been given to finding the right model for digital signage at retail.  Early designs have brought about mixed results. Much of the criticism came from shoppers who either resented more ads being pushed at them or, at the very least, felt it was a nuisance.  
 
Many of these early in-store TV models weighed heavily on funneling some above-the-line brand advertising dollars into retailer coffers. And to avoid conflicts with co-op and trade dollars already tapped from supplier brands, many of the ads were from brands not even sold by the retailer and therefore out of sync with the shopper's mind-set.  Do I really want to see a car advertisement when I am buying my groceries? I think not.  
 
While advertising revenue remains a viable consideration when retailers design their in-store TV network, programming it should not be the dominant reason for its existence. And when it's done, brands should be selected that are relevant or entertaining to the shopper. For example, if a major pet-supply retailer ran a trailer for the Disney release of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," I am confident shoppers would see that as an enhancer to the shopping experience.
 
Before I get into my top eleven reasons for a retailer to implement a digital in-store media network, let's look at what has contributed to this trend: Wal-Mart & Tesco TV.
 
Both retailers deserve a lot of credit for being early movers in this area.  The experiences gained, with a few bumps along the way, have made the path smoother for future implementations. Over the last year both retailers have launched next-generation designs that have incorporated several key modifications.  

-    Lower the screens to get viewing down to shopper sight-lines.
-    Evaluate the shopper journey and place screens in locations where they can easily be seen.
-    Place merchandise in close proximity of the screens so shoppers make the connection and it can better influence the purchase decision.
-    Manage the audio so that the soundtrack is shopper and store employee-friendly.
-    Align length of media spots to complement shopping traffic, emphasizing brevity with 5-second spots in traffic areas.
-    Present content that focuses on the shoppers' mindset, needs and demographic.    
-    Invite shoppers to purchase promoted products with strong call-to-actions.
  
Now with the road ahead having been traveled by several major implementations that have helped define best practices, retailers can now approach this shopper marketing and communications medium with greater confidence.  
 
So whether you are taking the plunge with a full rollout or designing a pilot to test the performance within your environment, I encourage you to consider the following benefits.  Then design the implementation and content programming to generate the results you want to emphasize.
      
#1. Enhance the shopping experience

Shoppers vote with their feet, a positive and enjoyable shopping experience helps to develop a loyal patron.  When digital in-store media is properly executed, the shopper reaction is very positive.  

- According to OXT's (Online Testing Exchange) July '07 Study, digital signage catches the attention of more people than any other comparable advertising medium and was found to be more entertaining than any other except TV.

- According to Arbitron Research (9/04 Study), more than three-quarters (+75%) of retail video viewers find the screens helpful, 42 percent of retail-video viewers would prefer to shop at a store that has video displays versus one without.

#2. Increase in-store conversion and product sales

Retailers are in the business of selling goods, plain and simple.  Digital in-store media networks are now proven to move the sales needle.  Many studies from researchers such as OXT, The Platt Retail Institute, Forrester, Nielsen and Arbitron now empirically show the influence on sales.

- According to Nielsen Research (9/06 Supermarket/Grocery Consumer Behavior Study), "68 percent of those surveyed said in-store messages would help sway their product purchasing decisions. Further, 44 percent said they would switch a product they previously intended to buy for one being featured."

- According to Arbitron Research (9/04 Study), "Nearly a third (29 percent) of retail-video viewers have made an unplanned purchase after seeing a product featured on the in-store video display."

#3. Build your store brand

To counter the "sea of sameness" between competing retailers, many are putting increased emphasis on their own store brands. In-store TV can be a powerful communication and promotional medium to convey the in-store brand essence and value.   

#4. Reduce perceived wait-time for customers

Whether it is in a check-out, pharmacy, or service desk queue, or simply waiting for your wife to try on another blouse to go with a new skirt, no one is a big fan of waiting.  If you can reduce "perceived" wait time you win. According to a study done by BTV+ "Virtually every use of digital signage display generates . a 40-60 percent reduction in perceived wait time."   

#5. Drive traffic to your Web site  

Leveraging both the in-store and web-based shopper touch-points, "Clicks and Mortar", to drive sales and loyalty is now an essential part of many retailers strategies.  In-store TV is a digital on-ramp, an opportunity to introduce to your shoppers your on-line presence and promote cross-channel engagement.   

#6. Strengthen relationships with your community

"Narrowcasting" capabilities of this medium enables you to pinpoint unique messages down to the location (even more granular day-part by screen).  Take advantage of that by serving up content that connects at a local level.  This can be as simple as local news, weather, collage and high-school sports, and community sponsorships.  Put some teeth into your "we are a part of the community" messaging.  

#7. Reduce point-of-purchase expenses and in-store clutter

Clutter and environmental conservation are two issues that often go hand-in-hand, and retailers are grappling with ways to ensure shoppers get their messages while not having their stores look like a used car lot on President's Day.  Digital media that attracts more attention than static signs can help to clear up those aisles while lowering the costs related to printing, shipping, in-store compliance and disposal.  It also supports more frequent and targeted messaging, which is not practical with traditional static signage.   

#8. Improve employee communication and training

Retailers are very aware of the high cost of employee turnover.  One of the most formidable challenges retailers face are 80 - 120 percent turnover of in-store personnel.  The cost of hiring and training combined with the cost of poor customer service is enormous.  
 
Retailers realize that they can "sweat the asset" of a digital in-store media network to improve employee communications and lower turnover rates.  Off-hour programs can pay huge dividends: daily team message, customer service and sales techniques, career profiles, product safety and recall information, and straight-forward training content that support the store manager.  Some retailers are even looking to their supplier community to sponsor training, for example "Speaking to shoppers about pet nutrition brought to you by Iams," making them a revenue generation source as well.     

#9. Strengthen your mobile marketing/loyalty program

Retailers are addressing a new breed of shopper. A shopper who has ready access to all sorts of information, who can stand in your store and do competitive price comparisons or look up consumer product reviews on their mobile devices.  Their shopping list, their coupons - virtually everything - can be accessed via that mobile device.  

Conversely, you can reach them with useful information such as promotions, event updates, and last-minute over-inventory blow-out sales through this device. However, there is a delicate line between annoyance and attraction when it comes to a device that is regarded as highly personal as a person's mobile device.  

Therefore, people need to explicitly opt into a program.  Like e-commerce, digital in-store media can be a powerful way to promote adoption and begin to grow that highly coveted mobile marketing list of shoppers.  

#10. Influence inventory and supply chain efficiencies

One of the most powerful benefits of this media is to do just-in-time messaging and leverage its ability to drive incremental sales to move over-inventoried product at the specific store level.  Take, for example, women's apparel. When the next season's fashions are due, last season's line starts to make its way toward the back of the store, getting markdowns along the way.  
 
Pre-markdown, heavy-up promotion of that line in the stores with excess inventory, thus selling more product at full margin.  This also applies to product over-inventoried at the distribution center, using the digital in-store media to pull product through the supply chain.  

#11. Generate new revenue by selling advertising space

Why #11?  Because where 1-10 address core retail operating and promotional considerations, this point is outside of a typical retailer's traditional competencies. It is also not for everyone, retailers with all store brands or a heavy emphasis on their brand and shopping experience may feel that any level of advertising fights with their marketing and décor.  
 
For many, the right model is a hybrid that brings in appropriate and viewer-minded advertising.  When it is done right in can be a powerful incremental revenue generator.  Studies are showing that out-of-home video advertising network spending in the US reached $1.28 billion in 2007 and are projected to reach $3.22 billion by 2011.   Do it right and you can get a piece of this action.  Do it wrong and your shoppers will have a piece of you.

The self-service and kiosk industry is alive and well, in spite of the difficult economy. KioskCom and the biannual Self-Service & Kiosk Association Advisory Board meeting, held recently in Las Vegas, is always a good opportunity to get a pulse of the industry.

Joel Davis, CEO of JD Events, reported on numbers for KioskCom: 1,382 qualified attendees. Davis said that while it might be tempting to let anyone in the show to keep the numbers up, the organizers stuck to their policy of only approving buyers so as to retain the quality of the audience. So while attendance may have been down from 2008, it still meant that there were plenty of good folks for the 162 exhibitors to talk to.

I reported on membership growth. Through our deployer membership campaign, we’ve added over 100 deployers since August and we project that deployer members will exceed vendor members in the Association by the end of the year as planned.

Chris Rezendes of VDC Research presented some very interesting figures on the size and projected growth of the industry. The self-service market in North America in 2008 was a healthy $4.9 billion and projected to grow to $9.8 billion by 2013. Rezendes noted that these numbers include all spending associated with self-service implementation, including hardware, software and services.

I also reported on our foray into social media with LinkedIn and Twitter. Our SSKA LinkedIn Group, established on April 10, 2008, now has 366 members and counting. It’s free to join; I encourage you to join the group, get connected to other members, post discussions, news and job opportunities. You can also follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/daviddrain.

The SSKA board re-elected Miller Newton of Netkey to a second year as president and elected vice presidents from the deployer, vendor and international communities. We also welcomed newly elected board members and, with "fresh blood" come new ideas. Board members expressed enthusiasm for promoting membership in the Association, but requested an "elevator pitch." These talking points can be summarized as follows:

1. Advocacy. The Association advocates for the use self-service technology, which saves consumers time, deployers money and improves the customer experience. Since we are the voice of the self-service industry, we’ve been called upon by the likes of Newsweek, CBS MarketWatch, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Airport Innovation magazine and Credit Union Business magazine.

2. Education. We want deployers of self-service technology to be successful, so we arm them with valuable information through this website and through newsletters and our library of members-only best practices. Deployer membership is currently free, so there’s no reason not to join. Our Speakers Bureau helps connect conferences and trade shows seeking speakers and our member experts.

3. Networking. Both deployers and vendors of self-service technology benefit greatly by meeting other people in this space and we facilitate that — whether it’s through board or committee service, membership luncheons like the one we held on May 5 or the Buyer’s Summit we co-sponsored at KioskCom, or through virtual opportunities like LinkedIn. We will help you meet other members to get business done.

SSKA co-sponsored the Self Service Excellence Awards with KioskCom where we inducted three more members into the SSKA Hall of Fame:

• Gregg Kaplan, president & chief operating officer, Coinstar (former CEO of Redbox)
• Rick Malone, founder and president of KIOSK Information Systems
• Bradley Walker, founder and CEO, Nanonation

On May 7, I moderated a panel called "What Self-Service Technology Do Customers Really Want?" with panelists Jared Miller of Continental Airlines and Janet Sherlock of AMR Research. I presented some of the findings from our recent survey of over 1,000 consumers.

Read also: KIOSKCOM: Survey data revealed to show attendees 

We’re beginning a series of free webinars, so mark your calendar for our first webinar we are planning for June 16 called "Survivor’s Guide to Deploying Kiosks," led by Janet Webster, president of Creative Solutions Consulting (formerly with US Postal Service) and featuring an all-deployer panel:

• Sarah Canepa Bang, CEO, Financial Service Centers Cooperative
• Greg Clore, vice president, information technology, Dave & Buster's
• Faith MacPherson, director, HR transactional services, Avery Dennison

So as you can see, we’re not sticking our heads in the sand, waiting for the economy to turn around. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the opportunities in this great industry and Association of ours.

Read also: KIOSKCOM: SSKA advisory board holds elections, annual meeting

story continues below... advertisement
		Data Security and Privacy: Best Practices for Protecting Customer Information through PCI Consumers are going to become more and more aware of the need to be smart with their electronic data. Rising reports of identity theft will continue to remind consumers that they need to pay careful attention to where, when and how they use their cards — and in whose hands, virtual or otherwise, they are willing to place those cards. For their part, retailers will need to bring their practices up to speed while educating their customers about the steps they are taking and the processes they are implementing. That means working through the hive of complexity that is PCI, then passing along the essence of it to customers in language that they will understand.     Order your copy today!

• Sweitze says Magnesafe technology, which encrypts track data on the head of the card reader, allows for the transmission of data without ever having unencrypted data on the kiosk network. This is one line of defense. Then the data should travel across an IPSec tunnel with at least Triple DES encryption to the data center. Again, this requires either a software-enabled tunnel and firewall or a standalone device that can launch the tunnel, encrypt the data and protect against intruders on the network.
• File integrity management products can “protect” data at rest, such as preventing it from being changed and providing alerts when the data is tampered with. This essentially ensures the “virgin” state of the kiosk so that the only programs that can run on the machines are the ones that have been loaded. Even if the kiosk network becomes compromised, the malware cannot run its programs.

How are other kiosk deployers handing the PCI compliance issues? Alex Doumani, vice president of engineering for Coinstar, says fraud and security are constant concerns, and they have invested heavily not only in PCI compliance but also in multiple layers of authentication and encryption for access and data transfer between the kiosks and the Coinstar data centers.

Last month, I was invited to visit the Microsoft Retail Experience Center near the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash. We've talked about the REC before, as well as shared with you a video walkthrough, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see it first-hand.

It's a truly remarkable retail test lab, one that could easily be mistaken for a real electronics superstore, but you'd never know it if you drove by: The 20,000-square-foot facility is tucked away inside an unmarked building with no Microsoft signage anywhere to be seen. It's an invitation-only affair, a place where the company can bring retailers, partners and focus groups to test-run merchandising strategies and in-store technologies.

Stephen Sparrow, Microsoft's senior industry marketing manager for U.S. retail, is the driving force behind the center. He said his emphasis is on making the retail experience more connected, a word he uses a lot. It's at the core of his philosophy of what retail must become in order to thrive ? connecting stores with one another, with their employees, and with their customers.

"Disney used to say, when you're on a Disney cruise line, we'd better be able to recognize you as someone who just dropped four grand on a cruise," he said. "(We want to) create a world where you have more transparency, where you can deliver the right information and business insights to the right person, in an actionable way, when they need it and where they need it."

SLIDESHOW: Take a look inside the Microsoft Retail Experience Center

The store itself is a faux electronics store, replete with big-screen TVs, laptops, Xbox games and boxed software. But beneath the surface, the emphasis on connectedness bubbles up in some unique and new ways.

Take the shopping cart, with integrated touchscreen. Anyone who has attended a retail trade show in recent years has seen any number of such smart carts, but here it is integrated with the store's loyalty program to connect store database with shopper from the moment the shopping experience begins. An interactive store map, with turn-by-turn directions, not only delivers the shopper to the right place but builds an ever-growing pool of behavioral data.

Most of the products the shopper passes by in the store bear a Microsoft Tag, a technology that Sparrow calls "leveraged capital" ? a unique example of an in-store technology that the customer paid for himself, the cell phone. Giving a shopper a handheld scanner is one thing, but utilizing a device that is already in his pocket is quite another.

Giant touchscreens dot the walls, allowing customers to browse never-ending catalogs in a very intuitive fashion. Similarly hands-on experiences are served up by a Surface tabletop computer. In each instance, the devices in the store are pulling from the same central database, which not only insures a consistent experience, it saves the retailer time and money ? a screenshot or a product photo or a box cover need only be scanned once, and can then be automatically resized and repurposed for whatever touchpoint needs it.

Making the supply chain fully visible from source to shelf requires tagging, and in a perfect world, retailers will have RFID tags applied by the manufacturer. But for smaller retailers or those with a manageable assortment of products (or perhaps assortments from a large number of sources), the answer lies at the back of the REC. A desk bears a computer station with an RFID printer; as products come in the back door, a staffer prints a tag for each one and applies it to the box. Boxes are walked through a pair of reader gates, and from that moment on, the store is aware of each and every product for sale in the house.

In the back office, the database is mined through a data-rich but easy-to-understand management dashboard. From a single location, a manager can see any idiosyncrasy at the device level, and can make smart scheduling decisions. Color-coded feeds give real-time sales data, out-of-stock alerts, camera arrays, and even comparison charts detailing other stores in the network.

Sparrow pointed out that it's not just customers that benefit from the connected experience ? it empowers store managers to do their job better.

"You look at store managers ? retailers typically take their best sales rep and make him the manager and put him behind a desk with a Monday morning report," he said. "We say, give him that report mobile. And do it quickly, so he can get back on the sales floor, helping customers."

Sparrow said the REC is a "living, breathing facility," one that is evolving over time. In recent weeks, his team has begun experimenting with interactive storefront windows and new merchandising strategies.

"We understand that it's all about the customer? how do you help them find what they need," he said. "And how do you help the employee help that customer."

Last month, I was invited to visit the Microsoft Retail Experience Center near the company's headquarters in Redmond, Wash. We've talked about the REC before, as well as shared with you a video walkthrough, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to see it first-hand.

It's a truly remarkable retail test lab, one that could easily be mistaken for a real electronics superstore, but you'd never know it if you drove by: The 20,000-square-foot facility is tucked away inside an unmarked building with no Microsoft signage anywhere to be seen. It's an invitation-only affair, a place where the company can bring retailers, partners and focus groups to test-run merchandising strategies and in-store technologies.

Stephen Sparrow, Microsoft's senior industry marketing manager for U.S. retail, is the driving force behind the center. He said his emphasis is on making the retail experience more connected, a word he uses a lot. It's at the core of his philosophy of what retail must become in order to thrive ? connecting stores with one another, with their employees, and with their customers.

"Disney used to say, when you're on a Disney cruise line, we'd better be able to recognize you as someone who just dropped four grand on a cruise," he said. "(We want to) create a world where you have more transparency, where you can deliver the right information and business insights to the right person, in an actionable way, when they need it and where they need it."

SLIDESHOW: Take a look inside the Microsoft Retail Experience Center

The store itself is a faux electronics store, replete with big-screen TVs, laptops, Xbox games and boxed software. But beneath the surface, the emphasis on connectedness bubbles up in some unique and new ways.

Take the shopping cart, with integrated touchscreen. Anyone who has attended a retail trade show in recent years has seen any number of such smart carts, but here it is integrated with the store's loyalty program to connect store database with shopper from the moment the shopping experience begins. An interactive store map, with turn-by-turn directions, not only delivers the shopper to the right place but builds an ever-growing pool of behavioral data.

Most of the products the shopper passes by in the store bear a Microsoft Tag, a technology that Sparrow calls "leveraged capital" ? a unique example of an in-store technology that the customer paid for himself, the cell phone. Giving a shopper a handheld scanner is one thing, but utilizing a device that is already in his pocket is quite another.

Giant touchscreens dot the walls, allowing customers to browse never-ending catalogs in a very intuitive fashion. Similarly hands-on experiences are served up by a Surface tabletop computer. In each instance, the devices in the store are pulling from the same central database, which not only insures a consistent experience, it saves the retailer time and money ? a screenshot or a product photo or a box cover need only be scanned once, and can then be automatically resized and repurposed for whatever touchpoint needs it.

Making the supply chain fully visible from source to shelf requires tagging, and in a perfect world, retailers will have RFID tags applied by the manufacturer. But for smaller retailers or those with a manageable assortment of products (or perhaps assortments from a large number of sources), the answer lies at the back of the REC. A desk bears a computer station with an RFID printer; as products come in the back door, a staffer prints a tag for each one and applies it to the box. Boxes are walked through a pair of reader gates, and from that moment on, the store is aware of each and every product for sale in the house.

In the back office, the database is mined through a data-rich but easy-to-understand management dashboard. From a single location, a manager can see any idiosyncrasy at the device level, and can make smart scheduling decisions. Color-coded feeds give real-time sales data, out-of-stock alerts, camera arrays, and even comparison charts detailing other stores in the network.

Sparrow pointed out that it's not just customers that benefit from the connected experience ? it empowers store managers to do their job better.

"You look at store managers ? retailers typically take their best sales rep and make him the manager and put him behind a desk with a Monday morning report," he said. "We say, give him that report mobile. And do it quickly, so he can get back on the sales floor, helping customers."

Sparrow said the REC is a "living, breathing facility," one that is evolving over time. In recent weeks, his team has begun experimenting with interactive storefront windows and new merchandising strategies.

"We understand that it's all about the customer? how do you help them find what they need," he said. "And how do you help the employee help that customer."

Given the current economic situation, it’s more important than ever to cost-effectively deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time. Instead of focusing only on the traditional platforms of television, radio, newspapers and magazines, marketers are excited about the ability to use new digital media — via the Internet, digital screens and mobile phones — to reach people wherever they are during their busy day, and in the right context.

Coffee shops, gas stations, ballparks, gyms, subway stations and grocery stores — this medium is everywhere your audience is. Including “place-based” digital advertising in an integrated marketing campaign delivers a highly targeted value message to your consumer and builds overall cost-effectiveness into your campaign, all while providing precision targeting unthinkable just a few years ago.

Place-based digital video has emerged as an extremely effective branding tool. According to research by OTX, 44 percent of adults said they paid some or a lot of attention to place-based digital video advertising, placing it ahead of billboards, the Internet and mobile phones, and on par with magazines, radio and newspapers. And 63 percent of adults reported that place-based digital advertising “catches their attention” — more than any other media.

Historically, the lack of national reach across multiple locations made it very difficult for national brands to incorporate place-based digital video advertising into their marketing strategy. Some companies, however, have begun aggregating individual networks to create a truly national advertising platform — very similar to what’s happened with Internet advertising. An aggregated network approach can deliver more than 50 million weekly gross impressions across nearly 30,000 locations around the country — all from one network.

Beyond massive scale, an aggregated network offers the ability to add sophisticated planning algorithms and Web-based planning applications across multiple networks to make it easy to plan, optimize, buy, manage and measure place-based digital video advertising campaigns. These technologies make it possible for national brands to evaluate the strategic benefits of the medium and quickly plan how to use it to complement integrated marketing programs.

So what does placed-based digital video advertising bring to integrated marketing campaigns? The ability to target timely messages to precisely defined, but elusive mobile consumer segments while they are out and about, working, shopping and socializing. Think of the impact your message will have on your customers in the context of their daily life patterns. Whether it’s pumping gas in the morning, shopping for groceries in the afternoon, exercising after work, or socializing in bars and restaurants in the evening, you can intercept them at relevant touch points in their day.

Studying the Life Patterns of various consumer segments reveals what they do during a busy day, enabling marketers to identify a customized Life Pattern for the audience they want to reach. Imagine the power of reaching “Alpha Moms” with a relevant message while they are out during their busy day, or “College Students” in a completely different set of locations — where they are most likely to gather on and around campus.

Geo-targeting

Another technology developed for place-based digital advertising, geo-targeting, allows marketers to customize a geographic area more aligned with strategic business needs and more cost-effective than broad-based media. This unprecedented precision gives marketers much greater flexibility, allowing them to go beyond specifying large geographic markets and instead communicate more effectively with the people most likely to be interested in their products.

Geo-targeting makes it possible for national brands to use placed-based digital video advertising to market goods and services only to consumers who can actually purchase them. For example, a telecommunications company can run a campaign targeting specific zip codes where its service is provided or around all its store locations to announce a new product or service. In the same way, a restaurant chain can target a Life Pattern in close proximity to its restaurants when the consumers are out and about and more likely to make a decision to eat out. Geo-targeting minimizes wasted impressions and lets marketers focus spend where it will have the most impact.

Geo-targeting and Life Pattern Marketing enable marketers to extend integrated marketing campaigns with highly focused and cost-effective place-based digital video advertising that can deliver specific messages in contextually relevant settings. What better time to tell Alpha Moms of a sale or special promotion than when she is out shopping? Can you think of a better time to reach College Students with an ad announcing a new computer or mobile phone than when they are on and around campus with friends?

Let’s say an automobile company wants to drive young urban professionals who live or work within a certain radius (five miles, 10 miles, etc.) to its dealerships. Using Life Pattern Marketing and geo-targeting, the automaker can design an interactive campaign that runs in targeted local spots around the dealership to reach this audience. With SMS, the automobile company can use opt-in text messaging to provide the target consumers with the location of the nearest dealership.

When evaluating the cost of adding placed-based digital video advertising into the marketing mix, it’s worth noting that most digital video ads can be easily produced using existing assets, so they don’t require a significant investment in new creative. In fact, by incorporating existing text, flash-based graphics and existing video assets, placed-based digital video advertising becomes an integral part of fully integrated marketing campaigns, delivering the same brand messages directly to target audiences in places with greater contextual relevance and immediacy.

There’s no substitute for reaching customers during those fleeting moments when they are open to receiving messages during their busy day. Since bombarding audiences with frequent, non-specific messages may actually result in more resentment than awareness, leveraging today’s new place-based, micro-targeted approaches will pay off in spades. Place-based digital video advertising is a powerful, proven media, and with today’s newest tools for planning, optimizing, buying, and managing campaigns, this media should find a home in most integrated marketing programs.

Peter Bowen is CEO and co-founder of SeeSaw Networks.

This article was originally published at the Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) Annual Integrated Marketing Conference on March 10, 2009, as part of series of thought leadership articles from marketing leaders to educate and marketers and media planners about integrated marketing planning and practices.