The LAB rolls out trolley advertising

The Limners and Bards Limited (The LAB), in its latest efforts to diversify revenue streams, has ventured into trolley advertising.

The initiative, more popularly practised overseas, has since June taken root locally following a number of partnerships with supermarkets and retail chains including Derrimon's Sampars and Select Grocers, Hi-Lo, Brooklyn and Family Pride, which have all agreed for the creative company to place ads on almost 900 shopping trollies across these outlets.

Head of media and innovation at The LAB Anthony Whyte said he is expecting the new strategy to positively impact the revenue line for the company's media segment which traditionally had a commission-based structure. As a result, the intention he said is to have more trollies come on stream going forward.

"The in-trolley advertising enables us to have a static image displayed on the outer and inner sections of the supermarket shopping cart, enabling constant visibility of the adverting collaterals from entering the store to payment at the cashier. The take-up has been great and currently all carts have been filled," he said in response to follow-up queries from the Jamaica Observer.

"We are currently in advanced conversations with other major supermarket chains and shopping clubs as we look to expand and to provide greater value for our advertisers, while providing passive income for our supermarket partners," he told the Business Observer.

Deemed an effective and affordable way to convey advertising messages, trolley advertising, experts believe, has the potential to break through the limitations of traditional advertising media, as it largely requires less capital investment, possesses strong appeal and a repeated effect. In using this model, each shopping cart is an independent advertising entity which provides a new advertising platform for advertisers.

According to survey data from the Redbus Media Group, a UK-based company, approximately 71 per cent of shoppers who recall trolley ads usually take action after seeing the ad. The trollies of large supermarkets in the UK such as Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, the findings said has the potential to attract up to 100 million repeat shoppers every four weeks.

"While we are actively speaking to other chains locally, the goal is to also partners with other supermarkets regionally and we've already started those conversations," CEO Kimala Bennett told shareholders during the company's annual general meeting last week.

The LAB's revenues, which fell to $537 million at the end of April 2023, was 31 per cent below the $781.7 million it recorded for the similar period of the prior year. The declines which management attributed to the adverse macroeconomic conditions of the current financial environment, it blamed for a contraction in client spend.

Strategising to recover lost income, the company, now on a mission to engage new clients while it diversifies revenue streams, said it will, through the various departments of the business (media, advertising, production and content), begin to tap into new areas as it take stock of the shift in digital marketing trends.

"With the advent of technology we have sought to digitise our production equipment and props rental catalogue to provide creatives and other companies the opportunity to rent or purchase available items via our e-commerce platform. This will also allow us to earn passive income for our wide range of assets and rental is not limited to companies, as influencers and other film-makers [large and small] are all welcomed to use our equipment," Whyte said in noting another revenue-generating measure being undertaken by the company.

"The LAB continues to work assiduously to steer our business to new levels and we remain confident in our strategic approach that is poised to lead to favourable outcomes and increased shareholder value in the future.

"As the market shifts into a focus on content creation and licensing, we aim to capitalise on growing demand for international content on various video streaming platforms. We have established strategic partnerships with international distributors and have three projects in development for which we will see the impact within the next year," the company's directors further outlined in the last financial report.

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