Sounds like merchandising. Yes, but definitely has got more to offer.Merchandising has been limitedly defined and practiced as how we get the consumer to see and buy our product. It’s what you see in the open markets or what the promoters or street activation team do to get potential end-users to notice our product. It’s as tactical and basic as this.
However against the backdrop of our market transition to an "attention economy" where there are too much information, decisions and choices complicating consumers’ life. An era where all traditional apertures have become more or less cluttered as media context/relevance ratio is on a regressive descendance. Our almighty advertising is becoming more of organized interruptions and consumers is developing requisite immunity to its viral import.
Mediachandising comes in as an amalgam of merchandising and branded content that fortifies the experience from a “point of sales” to “multipoint of brand immersion”. Apple in-store strategy is a world class example.
Mediachandising helps us to secure brand attraction through a full scale brand projection and more importantly makes our "activation" cost really count for long-term brand building
(picture courtesy Getty/AFP)
