Cricket Stresses Affordability

San Diego -- Wireless phone company Cricket Communications recently upgraded its freestanding floor unit for Cricket stores, supermarkets, c-stores and electronic stores. The curved panels and modular, upgradable graphics enable Cricket to continually update the display. Nearly 2,500 retrofitted merchandisers launched in May and will remain in place for 18 months. In Cricket-owned stores, the display is partnered with other display configurations, including 60 7-foot-high floor displays for big box electronic accounts, 500 2-foot-tall countertop units for space-restricted retailers, and entire fixture schemes for Cricket-owned stores."Wireless products are a challenge to merchandise because we have to sell not only the phones but the different plans, service details and coverage areas," explains Jon Graff, marketing and merchandising manager for Cricket. "This upgraded floor unit specifically addresses these considerations by putting a variety of information in front of customers to help them make an educated purchase, but without overwhelming them. The display organizes the information well and effectively enables an unassisted sale at the point of decision."The vibrant green color that permeates each Cricket display and advertising vehicle "is very recognizable. Cricket has generated high brand recognition in all 39 U.S. markets we have penetrated so far, mainly because of the very identifiable PMS green color," explains Graff. The unique point of difference of Cricket's wireless product offerings is low cost, says Graff. The friendly green color and the unit's lower-end acrylic and wood laminate materials all help convey the message of affordability and appeal to a broader range of lifestyles. "We intentionally will not overstate this brand at retail," asserts Graff, adding that Cricket relies very heavily on P-O-P elements to drive its brand in the retail environment.The 3-foot-wide by 5-foot-tall display unit (including winged header) occupies a footprint of just about 2 feet square, ideal for space-conscious outlets like c-stores. Its header messages slide in and out for easy replacement and "market tweaking," says Graff, since the Cricket offering varies from market to market. The ability to customize header messages is a major improvement to the unit's previous, permanent signage. The unit is placed by retailers and serviced and upgraded by Cricket store representatives.Of the challenges behind providing this display, Graff says the biggest hurdle was communicating all the necessary information to a broad audience in a collective, organized manner: "The brand itself isn't difficult to communicate; the challenge is providing the information in a clean, organized way that would eliminate any customer confusion." The DNI Marketing Group of St. Charles, Ill., designed and produced all of the displays.

Cricket Stresses Affordability

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