In this short video I share perspectives on the hidden disruptor of this year's Upfront TV market: retail media. As observed by eMarketer's Andrew Lipsman, retail media is digital advertising's third big wave. For the foreseeable future, retail media will grow at a faster rate than all other media, including search and social media. While the growth of search and social has pulled budgets from traditional below-the-line sales promotion, retail media is sucking billions from television budgets.
Dozens of retail media networks have launched over the past few years, and according to Forrester's Predictions 2022 report retail media spend will grow to $50 billion globally in 2022. eMarketer predicts U.S. retail media spend alone will surpass $50 billion in 2023, representing 20% of total U.S. digital ad spend, with 2021 retail media surging 53.4% to $31.49 billion, following a nearly identical growth rate in 2020. They expect growth to begin tapering this year, rising 31.4% to $41.37 billion. Global growth rates are comparable. In Australia, for example, the retail media market is expected to reach $1bn by 2025.
Luke Kigel, head of Walgreen's Media and Advertising Group (U.S.), says, "Most funding for retail media networks still comes from Shopper Marketing budgets, with many retail media networks saying they aspire to access [brand awareness] budgets."
This aspiration is a reality in this year's Upfront. Spark Foundry, a division of Publicis Media, was one of the first media agencies to embrace the opportunity to collaborate with retail media on behalf of their food and beverage clients. Amanda Mollet, Executive Vice President, Investment at Spark Foundry, advises, "What's interesting about our engagement [in this new offering] is that the budget actually came from a brand budget, not a DR or shopper marketing approach. We are seeing a lot of our Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) clients rethink the role of their shopper budgets."
Watch the video above to gain a better understanding of how technology and data will continue to empower brands to think less about the role of retail media networks as a bottom-of-funnel investment and more about the role of retailers across the entire marketing budget.