• The Associated Press, Friday, March 31, 2006 11:30 AM

Fed up with trying to reach consumers through traditional advertising venues like TV and print, marketers may soon have the chance to target potential customers in what is known as the last three feet of the marketing plan--the store shelf. A company called Vestcom, which makes price labels for store shelves nationwide, is developing video monitors that attach to store shelves and would allow marketers to broadcast a commercial for their products, locate only inches away from the screen. "You're in the store. You're making a decision, and they have the last chance to try to influence you to buy their product," said Tim McKenzie, executive vice president and director of sales and marketing at Vestcom. "It is where the industry is going in terms of trying to redirect advertising dollars to what they call the last three feet of the marketing plan." Vestcom's video monitor, about 4 inches wide, will show 10-, 20- or 30-second commercials as well as an item's price. The idea has traction among retailing experts. "Consumers are spontaneous, and if you can catch their attention, that's going to increase the chance that they will look at your product," said Jack Taylor, a professor of retailing at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama.

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