Motion Display Uses Electronic Paper For In-Store Advertising Option
by May 11, 2015 12:00 am 232 views
Marketing veteran Jakob Nilsson recently moved back to Bentonville, after spending some time in his home country of Sweden — and he brought with him a business that is new to the area.
Nilsson is heading up the North American launch of Motion Display, a publicly traded Swedish company that manufacture flashing, in-store advertisement displays made with light-emitting, electronic paper technology that can depict motion in high-resolution images.
The marketing product features an electronic paper display that can be individually controlled to switch from black to white, layered with a transparent, color overlay.
Displays are lightweight, durable and run on batteries that last up to a year, said Nilsson, who worked for Kendal King Group for nearly 18 years before exiting as vice president in January 2013. His U.S. team consists of one staff member in Minneapolis and two salespeople in Northwest Arkansas. Manufacturing and other facets of the company are still in Uppsala, Sweden.
Of the company’s performance in the U.S., Nilsson said, “So far, it’s been received extremely well.”
BP-owned Castrol motor oil now has Motion Displays at about 3,400 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations throughout the country.
Hidden Valley Ranch, owned by The Clorox Co., launched a Motion Display test run in 1,200 Walmart stores in March.
Other clients include Garmin, which plans to use Motion Display advertisements for its new golf swing improvement product, and Ester-C vitamin C supplements.
Third-party testing from Stockholm-based the Retail Academic Research Institution showed Motion Display to be more effective than static display in gaining the customer’s attention, based on eye tracking technology.
A yogurt company involved in testing the marketing product saw a 75-percent sales increase in six weeks, Nilsson said.
Prices for the displays range from about $20 to $100, Nilsson said. The display can be changed out, and the contrast adjusts according to the surrounding light.
Motion Display will launch a second generation product later this year, he said. The new display will work on a timer, enabling overnight shut-off and scheduled message changes.
The company is beta testing displays that interact with mobile, featuring things like instantly redeemable coupons, recipes and customer reviews. Nilsson said that element should be up and running in early 2016.