As the FMCG sector begins to feel the ripple effect of the rising cost of living, retail media has become a more important ingredient in marketing strategies – without it, something vital is missing.
What is retail media?
In its infancy, retail media was defined by many as supermarket product catalogues and in-store advertising only, which, somewhat shortsightedly, often saw it become an overlooked piece in the marketing puzzle.
But more brands are getting wise to the power of a through-the line approach, which involves using both above the line (ATL) and below the line (BTL) marketing strategies to create a comprehensive, integrated campaign that targets a wide range of consumers across multiple channels.
The beauty of retail media is that it hits the sweet spot where the customer is actively engaging with your brand through a retailer’s owned channels.
While it may be tempting to just plaster your ATL message on instore collateral, this approach misses a massive opportunity to capitalise on the ability to tailor your brand story to very specific moments in the customer journey.
With almost a third of customers now omnichannel, shopping online and instore, the purchasing journey is no longer a neat sequence of steps, and more sophisticated digital technology means brands are pushing the boundaries of how and where retail media can most effectively inspire, engage and influence customer decision-making.
The retail doctor is in…
You don’t even have to walk into a Chemist Warehouse to experience the power of their retail media presence. This is a brand that’s taken the retail media ball and run with it in virtually every format possible.
Along with the traditional advertising on their own website, in-store ticketing and shelf collateral, virtually every in-store aisle features giant digital screens with supplier promotions and cross promotions to their other retail media channels.
This includes their own weekly television program, ‘The House of Wellness’ which reaches 175,000* viewers on Seven Network, with segments on the show sold to suppliers. A sister radio program airs nationally every Sunday, while a quarterly magazine features heavily in News Corps newspapers.
Say cheese…
Retail marketing in supermarkets, like Cartology (Woolworth’s retail media arm) offers a feast of opportunities for brands to actively influence customer decision-making at the point of purchase.
Facing declining sales and at-shelf visibility issues, Jarslberg created consistent through-the-line campaign messaging and brand prompts instore and online.
Digital screens at the deli counter provided appetising recipe inspiration, while ‘try before you buy’ messaging on key POS assets and search display roadblocks amplified the campaign online.
A +32% growth in new-to-brand customers, +29% growth in repeat customers, +44% growth in Deli and +77% growth in Dairy⁺ saw Jarlsberg take a huge bite out of their competition.
Shopping for retail media expertise?
A well-planned, creatively executed retail media strategy meets your customers exactly where they are in their purchasing journey, delivering targeted messages, driving buying behaviour and often triggering impulse buying.
As a brand communications agency with a ‘store-first’ philosophy, we’re skilled in making sure your brand is strongest where it matters most; at the pointy end of the customer experience. If you’d like to shop our thoughts, feel free to get in touch.
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