Paging P-O-P: A Profile of Motorola Inc.

Technology is a hard sell, especially when it advances so fast that even the most adept consumers have difficulty keeping up. Ten years ago, cellular technology was in its infancy, prices were high and merchandising was all but non-existent. Today, prices have dropped, and in-store merchandising has become a vital component, connecting consumers to wireless communication.Motorola Inc. has long been at the forefront of wireless communication. In recent years, however, it has gotten better at conveying the benefits of that technology to consumers. One of the main challenges facing the company is educating consumers about the different technologies, while communicating the advantages of its own products and maintaining brand consistency. Complicating matters, the company has the added task of communicating that message to a wide audience via disparate trade channels including independent wireless dealers, big box electronic retailers, mass merchants, office superstores, specialty retailers and Radio Shack. Recently, the company also began selling through boutiques (taking a fashion approach to merchandising phones) and a variety of big box sporting goods stores (marketing two-way radios)."We're interested in putting out displays that make the selection process for consumers easier, faster and more fulfilling," says Monica Jacoby, director of global packaging and merchandising, who oversees the merchandising of Motorola's pagers, cell phones and two-way radios. "Too often in this category, there's a lot of uncertainty. Consumers don't really understand very much about wireless technology. A lot of our materials help to let consumers understand how to choose between technologies and individual products to make sure that they get the right thing for their needs."The company begins a product launch or promotional program by establishing global strategies that build and emphasize the Motorola brand. "We focus on having visual merchandising that is consistent in the use of our brand and that is appealing and striking to consumers," says Jacoby.Based out of the company's Libertyville, Ill., office, Jacoby ensures that Motorola's global strategies are executed through the merchandising at retail. "When I showed up here [at Motorola], it was hard to find anything except very basic acrylic phone holders in the market," she says. "The whole category was not well merchandised. I think Motorola really established a leadership position in 1996 with our first installment of merchandising. It was definitely new to the trade. There really hadn't been anything done by a competitive company yet at that point. We really raised the bar, helping the wireless industry become more sophisticated in its retail practices."THE GALVIN BROTHERSThe company was founded in 1928 when brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin purchased the Stewart Storage Battery Co. and incorporated under the name Galvin Manufacturing Corp. In 1930, the company introduced the first practical, affordable car radio to the marketplace, which Paul Galvin called Motorola. By 1936, the company was firmly established as the leader in the auto radio business.The first portable two-way AM radio, called the "Handie-Talkie," was released to the market in 1940, which proved to be vital, along with the FM version "Walkie-Talkie," to battlefield communications during World War II. During the following years, FM radio gained an edge over AM equipment and the company began introducing two-way FM radio communications products.Turning its focus to semiconductors, the company began manufacturing transistors in 1952. In 1956, the Semiconductor Products Division was formed and began selling its transistors to other manufacturers.The Pageboy radio pager, containing 22 transistors, was manufactured and supplied to Bell Systems in 1965. A decade later, the company established its international headquarters in Schaumburg, Ill.In 1983, the Dyna-Tac cellular phone system was introduced. That same year, technological advances allowed the company to reduce the size of its Sensar pager to under six inches in length.The 1990s have seen the company make further technological advances in wireless communication. Also, the merchandising has raced to catch up with the technology in terms of educating consumers and helping retailers market sophisticated products.TUNING IN P-O-PThe display creation process begins when either a new product is introduced to the marketplace or when promotions are organized to support existing products or the Motorola brand. Marketing, sales and the brand manager start by outlining the brand and marketing objectives. Jacoby's visual marketing group then designates the communication and merchandising objectives. After the objectives have been clearly defined, Jacoby's group works to build displays that meet all of the design goals."When StarTAC was introduced, it was truly the first wearable phone that came into the market," says Jacoby. "The marketing and brand objective was to alert consumers to the fact that the phone should be worn. Our merchandising for that product focused on showing the phone in scale to the body."After display ideas are generated, they are tested both internally and externally for appropriateness and effectiveness. "We don't want to make a million of something that no one in a store will ever put up," says Jacoby. "We try to take them around to retail establishments and communicate with people in the stores, with consumers directly, so we can get an idea of what's going to work the best for us. Then, we produce those things that seem to work the best. We have a strong research focus and try to discern before producing something whether or not it's going to have the ultimate effect that we are striving for."The company recently conducted a controlled survey of its displays in nine test markets. Consumer responses to P-O-P were tested by surveying them before and after the displays were set up in stores. "We went into stores on a Tuesday and asked 100 consumers about their relationship to the Motorola brand and competitive brands, how much they knew about the category, how comfortable they were with the store, and how much information they found there," says Jacoby. "The following day, we went in and installed our display system. The next day, we went back and asked another 100 people the same set of questions and then measured the improvements and increases, and they were significant."A similar study is currently in development. According to Jacoby, research such as this should be done once a year. "Quite candidly, it's an expensive proposition to make displays and outfit stores, and you need to know what you're getting for your money on a continual basis."The P-O-P that goes into the field is ultimately decided upon by a team that includes Jacoby, as well as people who oversee the merchandising in the various regions of the U.S. The team takes into account the marketing and merchandising objectives and global corporate strategies as well as the unique factors that affect the regions.Once display pieces have been decided, the designs go out to vendors for bids. Jacoby's visual merchandising group acts as its own purchasing department, receiving bids, deciding on vendors and making sure that its displays are fiscally responsible. "Sometimes you have great designs, but you find that it can't be easily manufactured for prices that your channel is willing to pay or that you're willing to subsidize," says Jacoby. "We try to design with an eye toward manufacturability so that we have a target cost in mind before we have people design against it."Producer companies are supplied with this target cost information at the onset of the project. "There are times when we'll have one vendor turnkey a project if it's appropriate, but it all depends on the specific thing that we're doing," says Jacoby.Though Jacoby declined to divulge her vendors, several companies have received industry awards for displays made for Motorola. KCS Industries Inc., Milwaukee, is a past winner of P-O-P Times' Design of the Times award. Marketing Support Inc., Chicago, and ASA Inc., Bensenville, Ill., recently received Outstanding Merchandising Achievement awards from the Point of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI). Other producer companies who have appeared in print in association with Motorola are Visual Marketing Inc., Chicago, and Great Lakes Packaging Corp., Germantown, Wis.With its permanent P-O-P, Motorola has attempted to offer retailers more than just merchandising tools -- the company has aimed at giving wireless retailers a moreupscale look and an air of professionalism. According to Jacoby, the company has tried to outfit retailers with displays and fixturing that reinforce the retailers' image as experienced and knowledgeable cellular dealers.Also, the company has attempted to help retailers make more efficient use of their space with signage and compact displays. "It used to be that you'd walk by the cellular or wireless store in the mall and you would not find a professional merchandising appearance," says Jacoby. "We've tried to correct that by giving retailers the value and expertise of planogramming as well as fixturing and our displays."Slatwall displays have also become a more important element in Motorola's display line-up as the company has accommodated the retailer's desire to utilize perimeter merchandising.Although cellular and wireless communication displays have had a high-tech look with chrome, glass and metal in the past, the current trend is to move into warmer, natural-looking displays made of wood, plastic and fiber, says Jacoby. The company is experimenting with different combinations of materials to give Motorola displays a unique and identifiable look, keeping with standard materials. "When you get into new material development, you have a lot of challenges in understanding whether or not this is going to be appropriate for the environment," says Jacoby. "I've not seen too many production houses really go and bring to customers like us field data that shows improvements in materials. Perhaps if we were more convinced about the value of new materials, we would be doing more experimentation with them."The company does, however, take a special interest in new manufacturing processes to reduce costs and improve the quality and lead times of display projects. "The advent of direct-to-plate printing is a huge process improvement that enables us to reduce our costs and improve our cycle times in getting things out the door," says Jacoby. "We take advantage of improvements in manufacturing processes as much as possible."The company's temporary P-O-P includes posters and banners, as well as corrugated standees. Oftentimes, temporary displays will showcase a specific new product, tie into a promotion, or represent a joint venture between Motorola and a particular retailer.The demand for account-specific displays has risen dramatically, says Jacoby. Retailers are looking to communicate to consumers in unique ways that help to differentiate their businesses. Jacoby and her team are attempting to meet that need with customized programs. At the same time, she balances the cost of account-specific displays with common parts. "Because of the economies of scale, it's important to try as much as possible to make things that can go across all classes of trade," she says. "We look for ways to customize those basic form factors. For example, we might have a plastic display that holds an insert card. We're economizing on the more expensive piece -- the plastic piece -- by making it something that can cross channels. Then the cards are relatively easy and cheap to customize."As the company has moved to become a more consumer-focused, market-driven organization, its P-O-P operations, too, are aimed at meeting the needs of retailers. "Our displays need to have the basic functional requirements that make them effective as displays," says Jacoby. "They need to highlight the product to its best advantage, they need to be durable, easy to refresh and maintain over time, and they need to be flexible in the ways that the channel demands."

Paging P-O-P: A Profile of Motorola Inc.

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