Asics Offers More Targeted Display Options

Asics Tiger Corp. says it has scaled back its corporate P-O-P for 1995, although its co-op catalog still offers more than a baker's dozen different merchandising support pieces. "This year's program is smaller," insists a spokeswoman for the Fountain Valley, Calif.-based athletic shoe brand. "We're just a little more targeted."While heavy on "hyper-color" posters, Asics' 1995 program also pays attention to the ubiquitous shoe shelf and more permanent pieces. A dozen displays and corporate promotional pieces are offered to retailers completely free of charge; others are a 50/50 co-op. They run the gamut from temporary paper pieces to permanent fixtures.The largest display cross-merchandises footwear, apparel and accessories on a three-sided fixture. Measuring 18 inches per side by 6 feet high, the floorstand includes six shoe shelves, one apparel waterfall and an acrylic shelf. The Asics spiral logo juts out at the top. The whole unit was manufactured of styrene. "It's very lightweight," says an Asics spokeswoman.The overall program also includes some new twists on the traditional acrylic shoe shelf. One is a shelf that shows both the shoe's upper and outsole at the same time. An angled, Mylar-covered acrylic piece reflects the outsole, while on the vertical surface behind the shoe, a paper insert explains the upper's technical features.Another twist is a 14-inch-wide by 58-inch-high slatwall banner with five spaced cutouts. It is designed to segregate Asics shoes on a store's shoe wall. Retailers can showcase a variety of shoe models by slipping different category inserts into the acrylic shelves. The banner is made of die-cut styrene.To launch its T-Gel technology, the company offers retailers several display aids. To start with, the shape of the gel pad lends itself perfectly to a three-dimensional clock. Resembling a blue flower against a yellow background, the circular clock measures 16 inches in diameter.Asics marketers are particularly proud of the T-Gel shoe shelf insert. An actual T-Gel pad is mounted on one end of a shelf strip insert. The words "touch me" slide into the acrylic channel, while the pad hangs off the end, exposed, encouraging hands-on involvement. The strip is kept in place by special notches, discouraging removal by souvenir seekers."It gives our consumers an opportunity to see, feel and touch the technology," says a spokeswoman for the shoe maker. "Once it's touched, it becomes less of a gimmick in the eyes of the consumer (because then) they understand that it has a serious function." Asics shipped hundreds of the little squeezable pads from the shoe factory to the printer, who then glued them to the paper strips.The company estimates that the T-Gel shelf strip cost about $5 to produce. The slatwall banner ran closer to $30, while a chipboard running mobile costs $40. Somewhat surprised that the piece they found most exciting was also the cheapest, the marketers began rethinking the manner in which they source future P-O-P. Cost also affected the quantities ordered. About 2,500 shoe shelf inserts were put together, while only 1,000 slatwall banners and 500 mobiles were printed. All of the pieces were designed in house.Made available in February, the units will be distributed through December and pulled when new materials are released in February 1996.

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