Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM OCTOBER 2016 44 opportunity for retailers. Sandtner said, "Digital Marketing for all sectors of business continue to explode. Estimates for 2017 see Digital spending increasing to 38% of total ad spend, passing TV ad spending for the first time. This swing in Digital advertising continues to be fueled by the use of Smartphones, which now represent 65% of consumers in North America, and over 80% of millennials. No place is this saturation of smartphones higher than the Silicon Valley area of Northern California, the home of Google, Facebook, and Apple." Sandtner also highlighted the PrimeTime! 'must sees', he described, "In Orlando, we highlighted new extended terms for warranties with NSI, a new email marketing option from Emma, and the ability to take Credit applications on Tablets with Wells Fargo. For Primetime Nashville, we will bring several more including Boost your Just Say YES and the new 4K version of MemberNet TV along with the improvements to the Promotions section in MemberNet. The Marketing Operations team has been working to make this section easier and more user friendly. Allowing you to find the promotions you need and not spend time looking at the ones you do not." Senior Vice President of Appliances, Patrick Maloney, said appliance dealers still proved to have a strong year in 2016. He also elaborated on the progress of the group's PriMetrix! Initiative. "As a reminder, in January of 2016 we introduced a new tool in the NMG Prepare for Share arsenal. PriMetrix! It is an all-encompassing, data rich tool that will help you as a dealer and us, as a group, compete tougher in the marketplace and the negotiation table. PriMetrix consists of 4 major pillars of focus. The 4 ingredients that we need to have in our cupboard to create fact based decisions. Customer- As retailers, we need to understand consumer insight into their -attitude and expectations, wants, needs, like and dislikes, etc. As a group we need to help manufacturers better understand how consumers view them relative to competitive product and positioning, Brand Equity, etc. Member- As you have seen in the recent past, our team has reach out directly to our members to conduct surveys on specific topics. Whether it is new brands and products or existing brands, we will continue to facilitate member input to ensure we are aligned on product, platform and merchandising goals. Market- At this point we are involved in our fourth Prepare for Share (PFS) focused Primetime. The importance of understanding your market opportunity is at a paramount. Between the decline of America's largest appliance retailer and the continued influx of replacement customers in the market, it is "primetime" to capture additional share. Vendor- In addition to the survey information that we can provide (from members and consumers) to our vendor community, we have established a robust Sales Data Warehouse to capture manufacturers volume. This new tool allows us to look at sales in multiple views." Rick Weinberg, senior VP marketing, discussed marketing to Millenials. "PrimeTime! is a one and only member meeting of its type that is designed to offer you one of a kind access to the most compelling Prepare for Share market analytics and information, brands, products, programs, learning academy sessions, marketing insights and media assets available to help you and your business reach new levels of market awareness, market share and lasting success. For about two years we have been encouraging you to "Prepare For Share!" Its clearer than ever that some of the big box competitors are losing share, that Millennial Consumers that were a bit slower than past generations to enter the workplace, buy their first home and have their first child are now becoming your most important new consumer to address. Millennials are now the largest consumer group and soon will control more purchasing power for the things you sell than any other consumer group. But it's also true that consumers in almost every age group start and often end their shopping experience online. Nationwide's Exclusive Just Say Yes Banner and Landing Page Program assures that the top group brands and their biggest promotional offers are live on your website with best in class content when it needs to be. This Just Say Yes Program is entering its third year and continues to be FREE! to members that use our groups participating web providers... and it's best in class. Launching here at Prime Time! is a new program called Boost Your Just Say Yes! Those Just Say Yes Banners and Landing Pages include great content and are available on demand when consumers come looking for them. Our new Boost JSY program uses the Millennials love affair with digital video and presents the in-market engaged audiences right around your store with an exciting compelling video built in our group exclusive PrimeMedia Studios and a tremendous consumer savings offer to attract them to your digital store, your brick and mortar store and to call you. This Boost Just Say Yes is powerful, simple to understand and even simpler to sign up for. We have plans to get it heavily subsidized so you can afford to say yes every time its offered." The PrimeTime! event housed incredible energy and strong vibes of unity as the group celebrated the successes of their membership and 45 years of serving them. The next PrimeTime! show will be held March 19-22, 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Visit www.nationwideprimetime.com for additional information. NA S H V I L L E AU G U S T 2 0 1 6 P R I M E T I M E R E C A P RO

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