22nd April 2024
How to unlock retail media’s full potential
Written by Yulia Livne, Worldwide Commerce Solutions, Mindshare
There is a lot of hype around retail media, but is it really any different from other types of media? Well, yes, and no.
No, because retail media, like any media, can be used to drive both long-term brand health and short-term outcomes. Consumers do not recognize the difference between an upper funnel and a lower funnel message; they see something they want and they react.
Yes, because unlike other media inventory it can be enhanced by leveraging specific and rich retailer data across the digital ecosystem, accelerating positive outcomes.
As data privacy concerns grow and third-party cookies phase out, brands increasingly seek "logged-in environments", often controlled by retailers, to maximize addressability and performance.
This shift is driving dramatic retail media growth, which GroupM predicts will expand 9.9% to $125.7 billion this year and is forecast to top TV revenue by 2028 *
In recent years, retailers have been expanding their digital capabilities merging on-site, off-site, and in-store experiences, while finding the new ways to engage the shoppers, and offering brands new advertising opportunities.
These issues combined is why retail media is becoming indispensable to a brand's strategy and is why the ad dollars are pouring in.
Unlocking the potential of retail media
With retailers controlling first-party data across the consumer journey, strong partnerships are critical for CPG brands looking to capitalize on these valuable insights, preferences, behaviours, and trends.
It’s important to remember that data depth and consistency depends significantly on Joint Business Plans (JBPs) between brands and retailers. A comprehensive JBP is fundamental to determining the richness of insights brands can obtain through the data available.
But collecting data is only part of the process, the real challenge is then interpreting and converting it into strategic insights, and brands need the right tools, tech, and talent to transform raw data into an actionable roadmap.
At Mindshare we do this using Synapse - a unique platform that offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities, including attribution analysis, budget optimization, scenario planning, forecasting, and performance simulations, all within a single ecosystem. It uses cutting-edge machine learning and AI technology, democratising data-driven decision-making and extending its utility beyond analytics specialists to wider teams – be they strategists, media planners or clients.
But even without this capability, there are some hard and fast rules that will help you get the most out of your investment in retail media.
1. Approach retail media performance in the context of your brand media efforts to understand the synergies.
2. Build comprehensive JBPs with retailers to access richer consumer insights.
3. Set clear KPIs based on specific goals like market share, in order to measure the real impact.
4. Blend data and insights across retailers to optimize and gain cross-channel visibility.
5. Clean and structure first-party data to enable precise analysis and activation
6. Leverage AI/ML to uncover granular audience and product insights.
7. Educate teams on converting retail media data into strategic insights
These steps will help you utilize your retail media and associated data better, transforming it into actionable insights.
However, even data-rich strategies can fall short when retail fundamentals like product availability, reviews, and content are overlooked. These factors play pivotal roles in the consumer journey, impacting conversion, acquisition, and maximizing ROI. Focusing on the fundamentals as well as mastering your data is key for brands looking to unlock retail media's full potential and drive growth.
*GroupM This Year Next Year 2023 Global Mid-Year Forecast, June 2023