Food, drink and tobacco brands account for over a quarter of all expenditure on point of purchase advertising, according to the first ever study into the size of the instore media market.

These sectors come in at 27% of all PoP advertising spend. Health and beauty was next, at 20%. Total PoP expenditure was £1.15bn in 2002.

Over 90% of brand owners and retailers polled for the Future of Point of Purchase Advertising survey, which was produced by industry association POPAI in conjunction with PIRA, intend to spend more on PoP advertising over the coming year.

In total, the market is
expected to grow 1.5% in 2003 and to see a rise of 7.6% by 2005, to £1.24bn.

Drink leads the way in predicted growth, up 13.6%, followed by tobacco at 10.3%. Permanent PoP advertising is predicted to grow by 16% between 2002-2005 to reach £270m, semi-permanent by 9.2% and temporary PoP - the biggest sector - by 2.4% to £750m.

“Point of purchase visibility is extremely important for brand marketers and the study has detected a trend towards more permanent ‘brand equity’ displays rather than just temporary material,” said POPAI UK and Ireland chairman Guy Vaughan.

However, with trials of instore media under way in Tesco, Spar and Sainsbury, it is no surprise to find this sector is expected to grow the most, up 55.5% to over £55m.

According to Vaughan, the survey also shows that a number of major UK companies have yet to appoint individuals to handle PoP material.
Siân Harrington