Publicis Media’s Amo Aujla-Tse discusses the Retail Media landscape at the B2B Marketing Expo

Retail Media is key to growth within Digital Advertising and is forecasted to reach €25bn by 2026. Amo Aujla-Tse, Commerce Director at Publicis Groupe UK, joined IAB Europe and leaders within the Retail Media industry to discuss the state of play at the B2B Marketing Expo.

Why do you think there has been such interest and growth in the Retail Media space?

It’s no new news that the pandemic accelerated growth but it’s worth noting Retail Media was already on an upward trajectory pre-pandemic. Retail Media is now seen as the sweet spot: helping brands and agencies move away from focusing on low to full funnel and metrics beyond return on investment (ROI) / return on ad spend (ROAS). Retailers are evolving their advertising offering to drive connectivity between brands and relevant audiences, underpinned by improved optimisation and measurement capabilities.

What are the top 2 benefits of partnering with retailers to deliver ads?

Trust is at the heart of everything – retailers have spent years nurturing their relationships with consumers. Retailer shopping data is built on this trust, opt-in data enables retailers to facilitate an improved consumer shopping experience. By doing so, agencies, brands and retailers can use this data to recognise how brands can influence consumers at each stage of the shopper journey. Given the current climate, it is even more critical for brands to use relevant messaging to show how they add value to consumers beyond pricing.

Advances in Retail Media technology have enabled retailers to monetise through advertising without negatively impacting shopper experiences, for example, platforms like CitrusAd (owned by Publicis Groupe). In addition, brands and agencies are in control of their investment through real-time data and can optimise campaigns whilst seeing the direct impact on their bottom line. Enabling this type of control and flexibility and increasing placements available through platforms like CitrusAd will ensure continued investment in this channel.

Access to first-party data drives investment in Retail Media, which is driven by the depreciation of the third-party cookie. Is it scalable?

We acknowledge the scale that third-party cookies enable; however, advancement in ad tech capabilities will support how the industry navigates its way through the deprecation of the 3P cookie, primarily through collaboration with relevant partners. This is also an opportunity to educate the value exchange to consumers. We expect to see much reliance in the data clean room space and opportunities to scale using 1P data through DSPs and Social Commerce.

Scale will not be an issue for Retail Media due to retailers’ inherent reach and diversified portfolios. For example, platforms like Amazon continue to attract new customers through Streaming TV (Premier League, NBA) and Twitch for gaming. As well as the newly launched partnership between ITVX using Boots & Tesco Retail Media data – another example of how retailers are increasing their scale and can reach audiences in a more personalised way.

Finally, what do you think Retail Media will look like in 12 months and what is your wish list?

There will be more consolidation and standardisation of formats, technologies, and data. Strengthened partnerships between retailers, ad tech, brands, agencies, and industry bodies like the IAB will help to drive the Retail Media agenda forward. Multi-touch attribution models would be a valuable way of showcasing the impact caused by other channels than just Search. Marketing Mix Model outputs again will help showcase the value of all media channels on a marketing plan and drive focused investment. Finally, retailers continuing to evolve their advertising offering i.e. increasing cross-platform placements, will help brands influence consumers at every stage of their online and in-store shopping journey.

Amo Aujla-Tse, Commerce Director at Publicis Groupe UK, speaking at the IAB Europe Retail Media Panel at B2B Marketing Expo. Panellists: Marie-Claire Puffet (IAB), Amo-Aujla-Tse Babs Kehinde (Pubmatic), David Sequeira (Skai), Ben O’Mahoney (Ocado)