Colin Lewis’ Post

"The retail media conundrum" - great comments from The Rebooting about retailers, brands and publishers in the new world: -> "Retailers have a stronger intent signal": Google harnesses specific intent through search terms. Retail media offers a similar proposition with people’s shopping behavior. -> "At a time of signal loss in attribution, retailers offer a handy way of proving they drive sales."   What does the growth of retail media represent? According to Brian... -> 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨: Businesses just want to buy customers, not tell stories. -> 𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳: " Hanging around the hoop (the sale) is always a solid strategy." -> 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥: Contextual data has always been an imperfect proxy (eg. Google). For publishers, this represents a threat and opportunity. -> "While retail media is booming, advertising on publishing content is not." -> "𝘕𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 “𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵” 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬-𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. " (LOL) -> "The opportunity for publishers is to partner with these retail media networks for access to publisher inventory. Contextual data might not be as valued as commerce data, but it matters. Publishers can offer their own ad products that mimic retail media by tapping into the transaction data many publishers now have through their nascent commerce operations. " As ever, you should sign up to the ReBooting. Its always excellent.

In Cannes, I was asked to talk about "Creative, Media + Commerce". I used 4 compelling case studies that I liked, which I was show over the next few days, from startups to $1bn brands. Today, I am going to talk about an ASOS.com Media to launch the new Sol De Janeiro’s Rio Radiance SPF range. ASOS currently offers a suite of creative and media services to help brands leverage their massive customer base. The objectives that the ASOS Media team had to deliver on were: •   Create a visually disruptive and emotionally provocative campaign that resonates with ASOS’s audience •   Harness an ASOS fashion POV and continue to champion Sol de Janeiro as the go-to brand for summer beauty.  The ASOS response to brief and campaign idea was simple: "She’s landed!" ASOS brought the spirit of Sol de Janeiro to the streets of Britain, capturing “too glam to give a damn” energy in everyday scenarios. Showcasing summer as a state of mind and with the Sol de Janeiro, Rio Radiance range, every day can feel like holiday. In other words, "this is confidence = SPF bottled." And it was all done in the ASOS tone of voice – cheekiness, vibrant colours, body inclusivity.  ASOS captured their models out and about in (sunny) Tooting, London, juxtaposing bold fashion, big energy and confidence within everyday situations to playful effect – think running errands, sunbathing and catching with glowing skin courtesy of Sol de Janeiro’s SPF to match. The campaign was activated right across all ASOS Media touch points. Sol De Janeiro also challenged ASOS to create viral content. ASOS’s response was a mini activation / PR stunt to gain media traction. ASOS sent out a model to sunbathe in the middle of central London at . Southbank clad in her ASOS best, applying her trusty SPF. What should you take from this great "Creative, Media + Commerce" campaign? -> Creative ideas are not just the purview of creative agencies. -> Retail Media groups like ASOS Media can mix up "creative, media + commerce" to drive sales AND brand. -> Sol de Janeiro is now part of the L’OCCITANE Group who bought the brand at a $450 million valuation three years ago. The brand has now gone from $60 million revenues in 2020 to over $500m with triple digit revenue growth in all geographies. -> Two of the biggest unlocks for the brand has been TikTok and its influencer marketing - and now retail media. -> This ASOS Media campaign shows how creative, media and commerce can combine (AKA "mental and physical availability") and can be the new 'version' of broad reach media + conversion. -> Health and Beauty can be a key drive of success in Retail Media Networks. Well done to Elton Ollerhead and the team at ASOS Media Group - and thanks for the great case study. Thanks to David Tiltman for the opportunity at Cannes and to Alex Brownsell for being the hostest with the mostest! More tomorrow.

Announcement this morning: "𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘔 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘰 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱, 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢". The question in the UK, Europe and Australia in retail media and commerce for the last number of years has always been 'where are the holdco agencies'? In the US, the holdco agencies are part and parcel of Retail Media as ad inventory is accessible and 'buyable' as part of media plans across Amazon, Walmart etc. This is not the case in the rest of the world. Let's analyse the PR and see what could this mean: -> "Covers on-site, off-site, and connected store offerings": not just self-serve sponsored products or Trade Desk inventory. This is the way :-) -> "GroupM will benefit across data, insights, and strategic planning, which will enable its clients to truly harness the power of retail media:" if this means that GroupM clients get to access the TMI data just like say, Kantar or Circana data on a 'special' basis, then where does this leave other holdcos? -> "The relationship will also see the establishment of an in-store screen partnership – an agency first – leveraging the ever-evolving Tesco Connected Store": Hurrah. Now we are talking. Cynics in the marketing effectiveness world look down on in-store screens as being capable of 'building brands' or some other nonsense like that. I really think, if the creative team in GroupM apply their thinking to in-store screens, this can be a gamechanger. -> "GroupM’s teams will have access to Tesco Media and Insight Platform’s Insights module via the acclaimed dunnhumby Sphere AI-driven self-serve platform as well as dedicated advanced Client Success support": Bingo. This is the US model, applied finally to the UK....if I am reading this correctly. ->"GroupM will also establish a Tesco Media and Insight Platform Champions programme for select individuals across the group who will act as internal ambassadors for the Platform, while joint publicity initiatives will further promote the role of retail media and help to scale its adoption by leading brands.": AKA "𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘔 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘰𝘯" :-) 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴: -> Pressure now on other holdcos in the UK to work out what to do -> Pressure on the other big RMNs in the UK to see who they can partner with OR just continue to as they were. I think this strategy can only continue in the short term, as the need for growth requires agency budgets. -> Advertising Trade Press need to stop seeing Retail Media as some lower funnel thing that is not cool or creative. -> Cannes Lions to have a category for creativity in Retail Media and in particular, instore screens in 2025. David Tiltman Nick Ashley Stacy Gratz Nick Manning

My accidental "side-hustle" for the last 15 years has been lecturing and teaching masters students up to MBA level in the UK, Spain, Dubai and Ireland. The 'accident' has ended up being the foundation for a career acceleration. BUT, you may ask, what is the thing that has the biggest impact? There are 3 - but the One Page Marketing Plan is the one where I have seen the 'light bulbs' go on a lot more than almost anything else in the last 15 years. Most of my classes are in the evenings, or these days, online, where the class is tired and emotional (ok maybe not emotional - just tired!) so to get them engaged is a big thing. This visual is one of those moments.

Two of best quotes I heard in Cannes were about modern marketing team structure. Regular readers will know that this is something I've talked about in my "7 Challenges for Retail Media' each year. Here is the quote from Diana Haussling from Colgate at the Kroger 8451 stand: "Colgate are really trying to modernize and think about media differently. Instead of having retail media, this type of media, that type of media sit all sit in different silos and have budgets sit separately, they all now all sit under my team and one in one organisation we call “Consumer Experience and Growth.   What this enables us to do is actually not focus on the tactic or focus on the P+L or budgets, instead but allows us to think about what we're trying to accomplish and then pull the appropriate levers and have SMEs lead those components across the team." Diana's other quote was also very revealing: "First of all, I don't really think about the tactic when it comes to how we build our plans. We actually start with the "Jobs to be Done." To many times, people (ie me!) leap straight to tactic and forget about the real task at hand. Lauren Livak Gilbert and I also talked about this in the light of the great work that the DSI and Russ Dieringer did last year - team structures are changing and CMOs need to get ahead of this. Brian Spencer Simon Swan Todd Hassenfelt Apologies to Diana if the quote was not word perfect as my writing is not great, but I did capture it as best I could as it was SO good.

Missed my keynote at Cannes this morning for Nectar360? I talked about "Crossing the Chasm" and managed to include Evel Kneivel, The Beatles and Peter Drucker in one deck Have a look at the attached. If you want to know how to "cross the chasm" whether you are a brand or retailer, get in touch. I will show you how Evel Kneivel did - and so can you 😎

Live from CANNES!

What’s the biggest story in Cannes? There’s lots but here is one: US retailers and the new commerce networks setting up shop on the Croisette with full teams, cabanas and even full tailored builds. -Albertsons, Roundel (Target), Kroger Precision Marketing, Chase, Kinective ( United) - have stands, Walmart Connect are here, as are Instacart, CVS. But who has the biggest stand of the lot? Amazon Advertising - it dwarfs everything else.