Good morning from Retail Media Age HQ,
I’m writing this in the wake of an absolutely super RMA Lunch in Osteria by Bocconcino, Covent Garden, on Thursday afternoon.
I’m obviously biased here as one of the hosts of the lunch – but I also did relatively little in bringing it to life, only moderated an amazing panel of speakers, and so I have to give credit to others for the brilliant time that was had yesterday. From the top-quality hospitality at Osteria by Bocconcino, to the hard work of my colleagues at Bluestripe Group, to the expertise put forward by our panellists and also the enthusiasm and engagement from our guests: these were the factors that made the RMA Lunch so memorable and enjoyable.
I also can’t give enough thanks to our sponsors, Epsilon and Webloyalty, for everything they did to make the lunch a reality: we couldn’t have done it without you.
Our panel discussion tackled the timely subject of full-funnel retail media, with our panellists bringing perspectives from across the retail media spectrum: from brand to agency, retailer, and tech partner. Justin Tay, VP Commerce at Epsilon, framed the issue in this way in his opening remarks on the panel: “The real question isn’t whether every network can cover every stage of the funnel – it’s whether it can seamlessly connect the stages that they do own.”
Chiming with this, Lucie Leverton, Head of Partnerships Development at Harrods, spoke to the importance of in-store “magic” at Harrods and how the retailer joins up data touchpoints across the customer journey, so that “regardless of whether you’ve seen an experience in the store or digitally – or both – you’ll see the same beautiful content and messaging across all devices.”
The challenges that face advertisers in proving value from retail media were brought to life with vivid analogies, as Mrunal Bhagat, Retail Media Lead at Pearson, likened the challenge of attribution to a game of snooker: a winning shot might rebound off several balls en route to the pocket, so why attribute all of the success to the one that falls in?
Yara El Saadani, VP Commerce, UK & EMEA at WPP Media, also highlighted a study conducted by WPP Media and Oxford University, ‘How Humans Decide’, which found that 84% of buyers already have a specific brand in mind before they set out to buy: “There’s such a small window [that] you can influence … So, how do we use those touchpoints and maximise the messaging?”
Richard Piper, Business Development Director at Webloyalty, then honed in on the importance of retailers (and commerce businesses in other verticals, like QSR) being prepared to give something to get something in exchange: offering up benefits to customers in order to receive “the data they so value”. He highlighted the importance of loyalty rewards and post-purchase incentives in bringing customers on board so that they can benefit from the continuity of experience between online and offline touchpoints.
The panel also tackled the all-important question of whether retail media will still be called “retail media” in the future – will it just be “media”? – with Piper putting forward that it may depend on what we mean by “retail media”, and Tay arguing that “media will become more retail”. El Saadani suggested the “less sexy” name of “data-driven, audience-led retail media”, while Bhagat asserted that we can still use “retail media” even as the lines fade between online and in-store and retail networks encompass channels like CTV.
There were so many more insights that came from the afternoon that we’ll share on Retail Media Age, but for now I want to thank everyone again for being a part of the day – I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!
If you’re craving more industry analysis and incisive thinking after the RMA Lunch, I’m moderating multiple sessions at Foresight, a brilliant annual event from RMA’s publisher Bluestripe Group that explores the ideas, technologies, and strategies shaping the next era of growth. Learn more here and register your interest.
