In a recent webinar hosted by Conversations on Retail, Mark Stamps, VP of Digital Commerce at Harvest Group, and Russ Dieringer, Founder & CEO of Stratably, discussed several “myths” and misconceptions that have been circulating conversations surrounding retail media lately.
As retail media opportunities grow at a rapid rate, it’s difficult to scale knowledge at the same pace, creating an environment ripe for miscommunications or misunderstandings. In this blog post, you’ll find six of the myths discussed during the webinar.
Retail Media Myths & Misconceptions
Myth 1: “We (brands) can execute retail media with our existing processes.”
Brands are having a difficult time categorizing retail media and deciding who on their team should be responsible for owning retail media. Most existing internal processes were not set up for retail media, as it is distinctly different. Retail media challenges the distinction between Sales and Marketing – and you can’t shoehorn it into traditional forms of business. Sales and Marketing have to work together to create strategic retail media plans to activate efficiently for their organization.
Myth 2: “Ignoring commercial realities of retail media is ok.”
A major benefit of retail media is using your media dollars to negotiate with the retailer for commercial elements that won’t show up in campaign reporting (which you don’t face in marketing channels such as Instagram, Google, etc.) There is often what we call “invisible attribution” – sometimes the attribution is a handshake with the buyer and results on a planogram – though you won’t see this as results in a software system.
You need the organization to understand that retail media has commercial realities and that you’re building a relationship with the retailer through retail media spend.
Myth 3: “Retail media is closed loop, I can see everyone who bought as a result of retail media.”
While many retail media networks offer closed loop reporting, most people don’t shop in a closed loop. Consumers shop across retailers, consuming media across platforms before they make a purchase decision. What you’re reporting from one retail media network is just a piece of the picture.
For example, advertising that is targeted towards a specific retailer audience may see conversion at another retailer. Being able to measure the impact of media across multiple channels and multiple retailers will be important to accurately assess media performance.
Myth 4: “I should invest in all retail media networks.”
Retail media investment should be a strategic move – allocating the appropriate budget at the network(s) that align with your total brand strategy. It’s important to take the time to work across your organization to understand the goals and benefits of each retail media network and what they offer for your brand.
Myth 5: “Retailers don’t share enough data to evaluate the performance of my media.”
There is already a plethora of data available from retailers and now even more data is coming through retail media networks. The real struggle for brands is the education and time investment needed to gather, collate, and analyze all this data to be able to draw valuable insights.
There are often disconnects on who owns the data and how widely they are sharing it across the organization. Sales and Marketing teams should work in tandem to understand what data is available and valuable for evaluating advertising performance across their business.
Myth 6: “I can just run a ‘playbook’ for retail media execution.”
Retail media is leading edge for the industry and it’s difficult to have a playbook for leading edge tactics. Every organization is unique so every strategy should be unique – retail media is not a one size fits all solution. Pay attention to the principles and understand that retail media is distinctively different, that Sales and Marketing teams approach retail media with different incentives, and that retail media is a full funnel offering. You have to be aware of all of these elements to effectively work together.
Approach Planning & Partnerships with a Strategic Mindset
In general, retail media strategy will look different for every brand and every team. We encourage you to seek experts who will guide you to make retail media decisions that impact your total business across retailers and to be bold in asking questions when evaluating a partner.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Harvest Group is serving clients of all sizes across retail media platforms and solving against these misconceptions, we’d love to chat. Reach out to us at hello@harvestgroup.com or fill out our Contact Us form here.
About the Speakers
Mark Stamps is the Vice President of Digital Commerce at Harvest Group. At Harvest Group, Mark leads the development and deployment of digital capabilities and strategies that are leveraged by top brands representing over $6 Billion in retail sales. He has been a leader in establishing retail media partnerships with Walmart Connect, Roundel, Amazon Advertising (AMC, DSP), as well as The Trade Desk.
Mark began his retail experience by leading merchandising systems development for Walmart and Sam’s Club before launching his career into CPG by joining Procter & Gamble. For P&G, Mark led multiple retail sales teams and ended up managing P&G’s expansive brand portfolio on Walmart’s Global eCommerce platforms. Mark has also led large retail sales teams for Mars-Wrigley Confectionery and Philips Personal Health brands.
As Founder & CEO of Stratably.com, Russ Dieringer leads all research, coaching and consulting that closes the eCommerce Knowledge Gap inside large organizations. Russ creates a twice-weekly research guide read by leaders across thousands of different brands, retailers, agencies, and consulting firms, leads impactful growth-focused share groups, hosts weekly practitioner-oriented live sessions, produces rigorous custom research, and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and related podcasts.
Russ has been advising brands on eCommerce for nearly a decade and prior to that worked in a wide variety of investment management roles. He is an alum of both the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and the College of Wooster, and he has passed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst program. Passionate about studying markets, identifying how the retail value chain is shifting, and inspired by those leading eCommerce initiatives, you’ll often find Russ enthusiastically discussing how lucky we are to be working in the digital commerce industry.
