Marketers continue to move dollars to retail media as returns improve

For the latest edition of our Marketing Briefing, available exclusively to Digiday+ members, senior marketing editor Kristina Monllos looks at [the growing value marketers are finding in retail media investments](. In this week's Media Buying Briefing, another member exclusive, senior editor Michael Bürgi [explores t]([he implications of increased marketing efforts directed toward the LGBTQ+ community](. You can get a taste below and [subscribe to Digiday+]( annually for about $1 a day for full access to all briefings as well as original research, reports and guides, tutorials, unlimited stories and much more. [Marketers continue to move dollars to retail media as returns improve]( By Kristina Monllos Maintaining a popularity that only seemed to rise in the pandemic, marketers are still finding value in their retail media investments. Sabra’s CMO Jason Levine went so far last week as to call [retail media its “number one media investment](” given its power in “improving purchase intent and conversion.” Sabra is one of a number of brands finding success in retail media as media buyers say they continue to see a “significant shift” of ad dollars to the channels. That said, retail media still has a way to go: it is generally up around 20% year-over-year for many brands and accounts for roughly 15-25% of the total media mix for brands investing in it. “Retail media spends continue to increase exponentially (2x-4x) as retailers merge to omni-commerce ways of working, versus silos of in-store merchandising and online digital marketing,” said April Carlisle, evp of commerce at Spark Foundry in an email, of retail media’s continued growth. The channel, [an early winner in the pandemic](, has two driving factors behind its continued growth, according to Jason Colon, head of commerce and growth marketing at OMD. With people still turning to e-commerce and shopping more online, there’s more of a need to be where people are shopping. At the same time, retailers have continued to beef up their retail media offerings to “meet modernized programmatic standards,” said Colon. Quote of the Week “In this digital-focused world, it has become more challenging for brands to stand out from the crowd.” — Katie Kotsbak, associate vp of media at Good Apple ad agency, [when asked why a brand would lean more heavily into OOH now.]( Subscribe to Digiday+ below to access the full briefing. [SUBSCRIBE]( [Media Buying Briefing: Media agencies need to be ‘systemic, not systematic’ about LGBTQ+ representation]( By Michael Bürgi Every June during Pride Month, which celebrates the LGBTQ+ community across the country and world, many brands unfurl their rainbow flags and decorations to indicate their support for the cohort. To some, the display symbolizes how far we’ve come as a society in acceptance and tolerance of a growing market that was previously regarded as a niche, while to others it comes across as “rainbow-washing,” a shallow attempt to curry favor without actually supporting the community. However it’s perceived, the fact is, the LGBTQ+ community is growing, [as is its purchasing power](, which is estimated at some $1 trillion in the U.S., and $3.6 trillion globally. And media agencies and their clients are devoting considerable effort to plan and execute campaigns that target the cohort, and not just in June. “Our clients are taking notice,” said Stephen Paez, executive vp, director of Cultural Quotient, the multicultural practice at Publicis Media’s Spark Foundry agency. “Previously, creative and media strategies were created specifically for only endemic properties, but we’re leaning into leading with multicultural or diverse audience insights as part of our mainstream campaigns. We have clients that have developed specific creative and specific media plans that not only deliver on Pride Month, but outside of that as well.” From Spark Foundry’s perspective, Paez said, the general market as it’s been known for decades, no longer exists. “You have to lead with culture first,” he added. Interestingly, not all general market consumers see that same picture when asked, particularly older generations. Research commissioned by Do the WeRQ, a grassroots advocacy group promoting LGBTQ+representation in the advertising industry, and conducted by consumer insights platform Disqo during Pride Month, uncovered that one out of five people didn’t recall seeing LGBTQ+ advertising, while another 27% of respondents said that brands should create less LGBTQ+ focused work. Direct quote “It’s like when the Lincoln Tunnel got dug — they started from Manhattan, they started from New Jersey and they met in the middle some place. And that’s where we are, in the middle, and now there’s a tech solution for this … This provides another opportunity for the [content] producer to generate revenue because they can do a distribution deal with a network or an OTT service, but they can contract in advance with us to make those monetizations happen. The market will dictate what this is worth. 100 percent of zero is zero, but the opposite is true. This was unmonetizable until now. There’s upside now, and the upside is going to be determined based on market forces.” — Jordan Bitterman, CMO of programmatic firm TripleLift, which announced a partnership with tech platform Amagi last week to [enable product placement into content]( on a programmatic basis. Subscribe to Digiday+ below to access the full briefing. [SUBSCRIBE]( Further reading - [Why vaccine mandates could become an ethical minefield for employers]( As we emerge from the pandemic it won’t just be existing employees who are questioned about their vaccine status. Any mandate will have an impact on the hiring process, and this could cause tension in sectors where there are significant skill shortages. - [‘Now we work with thousands’: How getting on TikTok transformed this drink brand’s influencer strategy]( While ad executives say TikTok still lacks lots of the basics when it comes to ad offerings, marketers are using the channels organically, hoping a viral moment will help build their brands on the short-form video app. - [How NASCAR is getting in on the race to develop a brand identity for the metaverse]( NASCAR and esports entertainment holding company Subnation have teamed up to bring the popular motorsports brand into the metaverse with persistent digital experiences that help fans engage more deeply. [SUBSCRIBE]( [Facebook]([Twitter]([Instagram]([LinkedIn]( Digiday+ can help me do my job better [DISAGREE]( [NEUTRAL]( [AGREE]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Share]( [Forward]( Digiday Media One Liberty Plaza | 9th Floor New York, NY 10006 You received this email because you're a part of the Digiday community. Unsubscribing will remove you from ALL Digiday email. [Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](