Food Lion’s Bloom to Deploy Next-Gen Digital TV November

Nine Washington, D.C.-area Bloom stores next month will pilot a new form of digital television network that will allow media agencies to plan and buy commercial time in retail stores in the same manner they do with network television.

Called 3GTv Networks, the system was developed as a “21st century television platform that transports the art and science of television into the ideal demographic location, the retail environment,” according to Automated Media Services, Inc. an Allendale, N.J.-based firm focused on developing integrated media systems benefiting that developed 3GTV Networks.

This Is 3GTV™ from 3GTv Networks on Vimeo.

The initiative is being led by Bradley University Professor of Marketing, Jennifer Burton, Ph.D. who is also a member of the AMS advisory board. Professor Burton's team of recent MBA graduates will gather and analyze primary data in an effort to determine the best practices for utilizing video and other digital media to connect with shoppers and enhance the shopping experience. Study will also look at optimal strategies for the wider rollout of 3GTv in 2011.

The pilot will explore four key areas of in-store digital media:

• How shoppers interact with and feel about media in the store
• The appropriate use of in-store video and the role that audio plays in the in-store experience
• The impact of different types of creative on purchasing behavior
• The impact of 3GTv™ measurement technology on the adoption and utilization of retail media

Bloom is a chain owned by Belgian retail conglomerate the Delhaize Group, whose U.S. operations are based in Salisbury, N.C.