Virtual Institute Launches for P-O-P

BOSTON Hoyt Publishing has launched the In-Store Marketing Institute as an online resource for organizations that create point-of-purchase marketing materials.

The institute, housed at instoremarketer.org, was created as a response to the lack of a one-stop resource for the $17 billion in-store marketing industry, according to Peter Hoyt, head of Hoyt Publishing Co. and founder of the Institute.

“There’s been a need in the marketplace forever, billions of dollars are spent every year on in-store marketing, but there’s very little information on the subject,” Hoyt said, adding that few undergraduate and graduate-level marketing programs include courses on the subject. Skokie, Ill.-based Hoyt publishes the trade magazines P-O-P Times and P-O-P Design and puts on yearly trade shows in Chicago and New York.

To oversee the site’s content, Hoyt tapped Peter Breen, a former editor of Promo Magazine who now serves as managing director, content.

Readers can access articles and case studies on a variety of in-store tactics such as coupons, displays and signage, packaging, events and sampling campaigns. Most of these, along with photos, are pulled from the two magazine’s archives.

In addition, marketers can access a variety of information not found anywhere else, including a “retail handbook” profiling some of the largest retailers in the country; a “lecture hall” featuring speeches by key players in the industry; and a “legal corner” detailing lawsuits against retailers.

The Institute is underwritten by four key players in the in-store marketing arena: Alliance, RTC Industries, Henschel-Steinau and United Displaycraft.