Former Home Depot CMO Wants Aisle411...

John Ross (left), the former Home Depot CMO knows retailers need Aisle411. He knows it's on the way, he just doesn't know we exist yet. HE WILL SOON!

From Advertising Age By Michael Bush Published: July 08, 2009 :
Interpublic Group of Cos.' Mediabrands has brought on former Home Depot CMO John Ross to serve as president of its Emerging Media Lab. The move, according to Mediabrands President-CEO Nick Brien, is "phase one" of the unit's new Retail 3.0 solution, something it started devising a year-and-a-half ago. ...

The interview goes on to quote this comment:

Ad Age: How are these emerging technologies and programs you are pushing affecting things on the local level?
Mr. Ross: It's ironic that retailers are graced with these new mediums, whether it's e-commerce, traditional banner or search advertising or emerging social-media connections, which are global by nature. Yet the businesses are intensely local, whether they are driven by local assortments, demographic changes or completely different shopping behaviors. And figuring out how to match up an amazingly global marketplace with intensely local needs is something that media companies can help retailers and manufacturers alike to do.
The ability to harness these new technologies, whether it's GPS location within the store or the ability to use their existing logistics systems in inventory infrastructures to help customers find the product using their technology-enabled phones, or whether it's much simpler things, like harnessing existing conversations that are going on, will help retailers on the local level provide an easier shopping experience.

Ad Age: How do you get retailers, who have generally been pretty slow to adopt a lot of this emerging media, to get on board with you?
Mr. Ross: They have no choice. The technology is coming, and it's in their stores today. Consumers walk in with the technology in their pockets. So when we are talking about emerging media that's very much in the mobile space and in their automobile when they drive up to the store. There's no place for retailers to hide, because the consumer is leading that charge.

Check out the full article from Advertising Age at: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=137795

The future of in-store marketing is now.