How In-Store Media Is Transforming Retail Advertising

1. The HOKA campaign combining onsite and in-store media delivered a 13 percent lift in units sold per store. How does a retailer attribute measurement, like brand lift or units sold per store, to brand partners evaluating whether to extend their spend in-store?

Brand lift studies are one approach. They measure the impact of campaigns that run in-store and across digital retail media properties, evaluating everything from emotional response to brand awareness, purchase intent, and more. More retailers are investing in them for attribution.

While they’re often done in collaboration with measurement partners, retailers can also leverage their first-party and sales data to build and share similar attribution reports for brand partners and advertisers. Every time a retailer runs a campaign and delivers results that prove a significant uplift, it builds credibility and drives more interest in in-store as a media channel.

2. The Cotswold Network was designed with long-term growth in mind. What does building for programmatic from the start require architecturally, and what does a network built without it do when programmatic becomes a priority later on?

Automation must sit at the heart of any programmatic-ready in-store media network. A retailer’s content management system (CMS) and ad server need intelligence and automation to understand the campaign, its audience, and its goals, not just playlist distribution across screens.

Tying the CMS and ad server to programmatic pipes from the start opens the inventory up to buyers worldwide immediately, especially digital buyers who already work this way. That makes it easier to sell in-store inventory in nearly any way a brand sees fit, whether a buy based on frequency, share of voice, or number of impressions.

If looking to adopt programmatic after the initial build stage, retailers can upgrade their existing infrastructure. They can either add a programmatic layer on top of an existing CMS or rebuild from scratch. Whatever the approach, taking the time now to explore the tools you need and the partners who can help you execute when the time comes is a smart idea. At Broadsign, we work to ensure our tech stack enables the addition of programmatic capabilities at any point in the retailer’s journey.

3. In-store media sits at a different point in the shopper journey than onsite or offsite channels. How does that context change what advertisers are trying to do with in-store placements versus what they’re used to doing in digital environments?

In-store media may sit at a different point in the shopper journey, but it’s connected to the digital experience. Digital placements can remind shoppers of an item they might be running low on or alert shoppers to timely in-store promos. In-store ads can drive web and app visits and purchases. The ways advertisers are using both really depend on the region.

In the US, onsite and offsite retail media is booming. It’s huge, which is why many retailers building retail media networks (RMNs) in the region focus their attention there first, with in-store to follow later. Digital adds a lot of value because it sets the stage for a retailer to become a media company. It can also help drive in-store traffic.

The opposite is happening in other parts of the world, where retailers are starting their RMN journey first in-store, with onsite and offsite channels to follow. They’re focusing on the opportunities in the very last moment of the decision-making process as shoppers fill their carts. Still, I think there’s a lot of room for improvement across the board in how advertisers connect what’s happening online to in-store and vice versa, and in building in-store creative that plays to the environment’s unique strengths.

4. Onsite, offsite, and in-store media each measure outcomes differently, reach shoppers at different stages of the purchase journey, and require different creative approaches. What does an omnichannel retail media strategy look like when all three are working together?

If you’re leveraging onsite and offsite, but then add in-store, there’s going to be a hockey stick effect on the results. When all three retail media channels are connected, advertiser campaigns are more cohesive and effective. It’s easier for retailers to see the impact of each channel on the other. You can access data across channels and even push people through the funnel.

With offsite channels, advertisers can leverage first- and third-party data to generate awareness. Then, they can tap into onsite channels to strengthen that awareness through audience engagement, whether in the retailer’s app or on the website. In-store is where advertisers capture their attention while they’re on their phones and where they’re ready to add items to their basket.

That’s the moment when an advertiser can build on the previous ads to influence decision-making. From a creative perspective, advertisers have the opportunity to reach a real audience in-store in the physical world at that moment in time.

5. You mentioned that connecting with advertising across retail media channels is a challenge many retailers have yet to solve. What breaks when a retailer tries to run a campaign across onsite and in-store without that connection?

It’s more a matter of missed opportunity, because campaigns can be so much more effective. Bridging that gap across channels for buyers so they can plan, execute, and measure their retail media campaigns with a more holistic view is the holy grail.

Cotswold Outdoor is a great example. Its Broadsign and Zitcha integration makes it simpler to connect campaigns across channels, and it’s already paying off for brands like Hoka. As mentioned previously, a brand lift study showed a 13% uplift during the time a campaign was run across in-store and digital channels. That’s a great result for both the brand and retailer.

6. Retail media adoption in EMEA and SEA is at a different stage than in the US market. What market conditions are shaping the pace of in-store retail media adoption across the world, and is the adoption moving faster than the industry expected?

RMN and in-store journeys look different in each region. In the US, digital strategies may be mature, but in-store is just beginning to become a consideration. Conversely, walking into a grocery store in northern Europe, the odds of you noticing an in-store screen are high. In Australia, in-store is driving retail media’s evolution, while in Southeast Asia, we’re seeing rapid digitization on the retail media front.

Government policy and regulation have a role to play in how each market is adopting in-store media. In EMEA, for instance, you’ve got strict data and privacy legislation that makes tracking the geolocation data of shoppers difficult, so retailers must be mindful of how that impacts budgets.

On a higher level, we’re seeing a global realization that retail media, and in-store specifically, can unlock a significant new revenue stream for retailers that are ready to take on the role of a media company. Though no geography is immune to challenges, we’re seeing retailers work through those challenges faster today.

7. Cotswold brand partners are bringing existing media buying sophistication and performance expectations from their digital advertising. How do you bring those brands into an in-store channel with different measurement standards?

We’re getting to a point where digital and in-store advertising standards and timelines aren’t that far apart anymore, and the data that retailers can collect today is increasingly on par with that of digital channels. Attribution can be measured for in-store through brand lift and footfall studies, and retailers can activate real-time dashboards for buyers that track in-store campaign results and monitor impressions.

Sufficient sales and other data are also more readily available, which can be used to run comparisons on how an ad is performing in one store compared to another. Data targeting capabilities for in-store have also come closer to what you find in digital. It’s important to note, however, that the way digital channels are measured is imperfect, with bot fraud a huge concern, making in-store’s transparency highly appealing.

8. IUF and Broadsign cover deployment and ongoing support across the network. As retail media networks scale across stores and formats, the operational support model becomes as important as the technology. How do you structure that partner relationship to ensure network reliability and consistency that advertisers expect?

IUF provides retailers, like Cotswold, with the hardware and ongoing maintenance of RMN infrastructure. If a screen goes dark or the player isn’t working, they jump in to help. As the ad tech provider, we get them up and running on the software and support their monetization efforts. Together, we ensure the retailer and its advertisers have a seamless experience. IUF provides the network reliability, while we make sure their ad tech is operating at 100 percent and delivering the results that brands and agencies demand.

Our team also often acts as a sounding board for the retailer and provides in-store and OOH advertising guidance and best practices. Many of our customers in the space trust us for our deep expertise in programmatic out-of-home (OOH). They look to us to help them bring their in-store offering to market, get it in front of advertisers and buying agencies, and grow their monetization opportunities.

Frank Vallenga

Vice President, Platform Sales, EMEA and SEA at Broadsign

As Vice President, Platform Sales, EMEA and SEA, Frank Vallenga oversees new business sales and growth initiatives for our media owner SaaS business.

Frank joined Broadsign in 2015, beginning his journey with the company as a sales director and later excelling in his leadership position as Head of Sales EMEA and APAC. He then began taking on more responsibilities for the North American sales team and will continue to provide leadership across all regions as VP of SaaS Sales. A self-proclaimed (D)OOH enthusiast, Frank’s deep knowledge and innate understanding of the OOH industry have greatly contributed to the development and achievements of Broadsign.

About Broadsign

Broadsign develops the leading global platform for managing and monetizing out-of-home (OOH) media. The company, which also operates Place Exchange by Broadsign, the largest independent SSP for Digital OOH, empowers media owners, media buyers, and retailers to harness the power and reach of out-of-home to connect with audiences in ways unlike any other advertising channel. More than 3 million static and digital signs along roadways and in airports, shopping malls, grocery and convenience stores, health clinics, transit systems, and more run on Broadsign.