Lots of energy for Coop Pronto

 
In-store radio After Coop, Coop Pronto is now also relying on in-store radio to stimulate customers' desire to buy. 
A year ago, Coop, IP Multimedia and Ringiers Radio Energy launched the first in-store radio for the entire Coop store network. Since then, customers in over 850 sales outlets have been treated to a mix of music and commercials while they shop. According to Coop, this generates around 3.7 million gross advertising contacts per week.Coop Pronto, which is 51 percent owned by Coop and 49 percent by ConocoPhillips, is now following suit from July 1, 2008 and will also install the sound produced by Radio Energy in its 195 sales outlets. As with Coop's in-store radio, Goldbach subsidiary IP Multimedia (IPM) will be responsible for exclusive marketing. The new service joins the three Coop in-store radio networks already available: Retail (801 locations), Bau+Hobby (68) and City (63). Sandrine Pituctin, responsible for the in-store radio product at IPM, is delighted: "Coop Pronto expands the potential of our young advertising medium enormously." Coop Pronto, which currently operates 41 of its stores as standalone outlets and 154 combined with Coop petrol stations, is the number one in the Swiss convenience market and is continuing to expand.
"We are constantly creating new jobs in various regions of Switzerland - up to 20 new stores a year, with and without filling stations," says the homepage. In 2007, Coop Pronto stores alone recorded 58.7 million customer visits, ten million more than in the previous year. In addition, there were another 20 million people who simply filled up their cars. In order to attract these fuel customers into the stores, Coop Pronto's in-store radio will therefore also be heard outside the stores at the pumps.
Although Coop Pronto is based on the parent company Coop in terms of sound and marketing, two things are handled differently, according to Pituctin: because customer visits to the Pronto stores are usually short in duration, the loops are also four times shorter than in the Coop stores, with a duration of 15 minutes. "However, this means that an advertising spot is broadcast four times an hour," says Pituctin. Secondly, Coop Pronto's in-store radio can also be used to advertise products that have nothing to do with the store range, such as cars or travel. In Coop sales outlets, however, only listed products may be advertised via the in-store radio. A 20-second spot that is broadcast for a week in all Coop Pronto stores costs CHF 11,000 gross.
According to Andreas Hofer, Head of Convenience at Coop, Coop Pronto opted for in-store radio primarily for two reasons: firstly, after the experiences in the Coop stores, Coop Pronto also hoped for "additional impulses directly at the POS". Secondly, the company has also given some thought to its corporate identity. "Until now, different styles could be heard in our stores depending on the store manager's taste in music, from church music to folk music and heavy metal," reports Hofer. The sound of Radio Energy should now help the convenience chain to achieve a more uniform appearance.
Markus Knöpfli
Always open for advertisingAt Coop Pronto points of sale
there are several advertising options: In addition to the new in-store radio, advertising can also be placed on billboards, small posters and AdScreens. According to Andreas Hofer, Clear Channel Outdoor is in charge of marketing the billboards, Coop Pronto is responsible for the small posters on the petrol pumps, and Cinecom (PubliGroupe) was responsible for acquiring AdScreen. According to Hofer, the AdScreen network has been shut down for six months for technical reasons, but the plan is to put it back into operation soon. However, it has not yet been decided which marketer will take over, he says. (mk)