For all the talk about how retailers are getting better at integrating the social platforms into their marketing mix, I still am perplexed as to why there hasn't been deeper integration into the usual #1 budget line item for retail activation, the preprints. Even the early adopters like Best Buy nary a sign of social influencer strategy permeating their preprint grids and copy. Hmmm, I wonder why? I suspect a couple of things. First, the preprint advertising and creative team is often different than the above-the-line team and that permeates out through the agencies. There are a few 'preprint' experts out there that have made a living off making this specialized marketing device (also called bird cage liner in some circles) which is almost always separate from the brand and digital agencies. I'd love to pitch a retailer on how the tens of millions of dollars spent on preprints could go further and create bigger value if the retail calendar and social strategy were aligned.
