Cannes Lions Day 4: Retail media’s big moment
Thursday in Cannes Lions has brought some uncharacteristic rain onto these usually sun-drenched streets. My first appointment takes me out to the harbour where Criteo – which has been at the forefront of the retail media revolution – has transformed its yacht into Commercetopia.
Reducing ‘login fatigue’ for advertisers
Upon boarding, with a little more than a free special edition, Cannes Lions copy of the New York Post to shield me from the torrential downpour, I’m welcomed with a branded Criteo towel and a chat with Melanie Zimmermann, the company’s retail media GM.
Zimmermann recently joined Criteo from Macy’s, where she successfully built Macy’s Media Network, the company’s retail media network that reaches more than 46 million customers.
The commerce media platform helps brands and agencies make sense of their own ‘torrents’ of data across retail and marketing platforms, working with high profile clients such as P&G, Comcast, GroupM and Deliveroo among many others.
“This year, we’re seeing two key things in the space,” Zimmermann tells me. “Retailers are increasingly eager to be able to offer advertisers one offer across multiple channels, while at the same time wanting to strengthen their own retail media network and customer data – essentially being their own ‘walled’ garden.”
Zimmermann acknowledges that this presents a tricky balancing act. At once retailers want to be able to be more open and accessible to advertisers by integrating with other networks, while at the same time ensuring integral strength of their own data pools to offer the most compelling platform compared to rival retailers.
“From the buyer side, they understand their clients don't want to be logging in across multiple portals.” Zimmermann says. “I'm fascinated by the tension between the walled gardens and broader ecosystems. For these retailers it can't just be one or the other, their offering has to induce both of these things to be successful in today's environment.”
Criteo’s retail media offering occupies this important space – a way of connecting retailer’s audiences and inventory to brands eager to reach people at the crucial point of purchase across the web.
So what excites Zimmermann about the future of retail media? The exciting potential of new video technology to push retail media further up the sales funnel.
“Retail media is often seen purely in the context of profit generation, but it can do work in a branding environment too… winning hearts and minds within a retailer's site that offers a fantastic customer experience, not just clutter on a website.”
Zimmermann says Criteo has been introducing more video solutions, attracting huge interest from clients. “This is how I think we can take the industry forward, seeing retail media as a full-funnel solution for markets from the longer term awareness and consideration phases as well as converting short-term sales.”
Zimmermann tells me that Criteo has had a successful Cannes Lions in terms of client interest – a sentiment echoed by Amir Rasekh, Managing Director at Nectar360. Last year, the retail media network was hosting a vibrant poolside event of the subject up on the hills at the Contagious Villa. This year it's spilling out of the street of the Croisette with a full takeover of the Marta Rooms at the Majestic Hotel – a day long event to cover all things retail media.
Industry must not lose sight of ‘customer experience’
Kicking off with a talk from renowned e-commerce expert and guru Colin Lewis from Retail Media Works, the event has been curated by Rasekh and his team to create better awareness of all the moving parts of the ecosystem. There was representation on stage from major adtech firms (The Trade Desk and Kenshoo Skai); big platforms such as Microsoft; household name advertisers and brands including Mondelez; and international retail media networks such as Coles 360.
Rasekh is speaking with me in the lobby area, which is bustling with delegates, after hosting several sessions on stage himself, an event that he describes as “agnostic”. The event was created by the Sainsbiry’s owned retail media network to “build depth and breadth customer understanding of retail media '', he tells me, coming off the back of a recent partnership with The Alliance of Independent Agencies.
“We really want to remove complexity for clients,” Rasekh tells me. “We have workshops for our client base to help get the most out of the channel.”
One example of Nectar's work that Rasekh is proud of is a huge partnership with The Coca-Cola Company, which takes the form of a ‘Willy Wonka’ style competition with a digital twist.
Sainsbury’s collaborated with the soft drinks giant to launch an exclusive Nectar prize draw, where 100 hand-painted ‘Nectar purple’ Diet Coke cans have been hidden inside 24-can packs across Sainsbury’s stores.
The campaign awards the 100 Nectar customers who find the special Nectar purple cans £100 worth of Nectar points to spend online or in-store at Argos and Sainsbury’s or to convert into Avios points.
“What I love about that campaign is that only retail media can pull this off,” Rasekh beams.
The future looks bright for retail media and perhaps we should expect to see companies like Criteo and Nectar360 encroach even further into Cannes Lions installations over the coming years.
But Rasekh cautioned the industry not to lose sight of one important thing amid all the technology advances that are filling the incoming cookieless measurement and tracking void.
“I’ve been in retail media for a long time now and it's wonderful to see it get more recognition here in Cannes and see the shifts in sales performance… but nothing gives me more satisfaction than customers reacting well to a great marketing campaign, with all the creativity and data insights that went into it,” Rasekh says.
“One of the problems in Cannes Lions is the industry can get lost in the technology and the work without making reference to the customer. Everything we do in retail media has to be additive to the customer experience.”
Also published in:PMW
