Viewpoint

Where were you in 1988?

I promise not to use any Spanish words or phrases in this article.It may be safe to say that targeted marketing to Hispanics has finally gone mainstream as a standard component of the marketing plan.

There's a "new Wal-Mart" out there making headlines on everything from banking ventures and minority business set-asides to global warming and port security. They're even inviting reporters in for conference calls.

Technology at the new Giant Super Food Store prototype in Camp Hill, PA, which we had a chance to visit this month, is remarkable in two ways.

A few people have expressed surprise over our selection of Dina R. Howell, director, first moment of truth (FMOT) team for the Procter & Gamble Co., to this year's P-O-P Hall of Fame.

Have you seen the new TV spot from The Home Depot, the one in which the young husband can't decide which tractor brand to buy? The voiceover in the spot proclaims, "Only The Home Depot has John Deere ... (slight pause) and the new tractors from Cub Cadet and Toro, all under one roof."

Observing the annual media coverage of Super Bowl advertising always inspires a jump up on the soapbox, because it exacerbates the perceptional disparity between media advertising and in-store marketing.

National brands must always remember: it's not their store.

They're debating semantics over at London's "Please tell me, what is this thing called P-O-P," asked reader Mark Dickens, a director at the British retail design firm Astound, in the November issue. "Our agency works with top UK and international retailers.

The year 2005 was a breakthrough one for in-store television. Too bad 2006 started off on such a down note.