The future is retail media

Ad Spend Shifts to Retail Media

Overall digital ad spend is predicted to increase 5.6% in the U.S. to $360 billion this year—and dollars are shifting toward digital and performance media channels like retail media.

Wait…what’s retail media? Marketers have historically associated retail media with trade spend. But today, retail media has expanded to a wide range of offerings provided by retailers across their consumer touchpoints—from a retailer’s social accounts to banner ads on its ecommerce sites.

Here’s what you need to know: 

• Last year, retail media revenue increased 16.3% annually, reaching $43.7 billion in 2023.

• This figure is forecast to hit $82 billion by 2028, comprising around 19% of total ad spend.

• Globally, retail media is projected to top television ad revenue in 2028.

What’s driving this growth? For starters, marketers are realizing that retail media gets their brands closer to consumers at point of purchase—AKA when consumers are already in “shopping mode.” Other reasons?

• Retail media leverages the entire retail ecosystem, from social to website to physical stores, enabling creative activations at any touchpoint.

• Spend can be attributed to product sales—which gives marketers a clear view of attribution to track efficiency.

• Retailers have access to valuable first-party customer data like purchase histories to better target ads. This is especially valuable in the cookieless era.

TL;DR: Retail media presents a powerful channel for marketers to target consumers and shoppers effectively. We’ll be watching how marketers shift their spend to meet the moment.

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B2B Goes B2C

B2B brands are increasingly taking a page from B2C marketers' playbooks by showing up in consumer-facing channels with emotive, storytelling campaigns.

The drivers: Today's fragmented marketing landscape requires a brand to stand out, no matter their competitive landscape. As one agency exec put it, "I'm competing with your vacation, politics, your friends" for attention. The line between B2B and B2C marketing is blurring as business brands seek brand-building too.

Plus? With longer B2B sales cycles, ensuring ongoing brand relevance is critical. Rather than focusing on corporate/product messaging and sales pitches, B2B marketers are now using consumer channels to reach decision-makers as people.

So how are B2B marketers pivoting?

• Leveraging a robust media mix beyond traditional corporate channels

• Using storytelling and humor to build brand narrative and awareness

• Running paid streaming ads and creating TikTok content with an emotive spin

Examples in action:

• Workday's funny global TV campaigns featuring celebrities during The Masters

• Notion's global OOH branding campaign

• The North Face’s “Beyond the Summit” brand narrative campaign

The opportunity: We’ve got some thoughts on how B2B marketing leaders can navigate this shift. Check this out to learn more.

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YouTube Launches a New Premium Ad Placement

YouTube is rolling out "YouTube Select Shorts," a premium ad placement option to help advertisers maximize Shorts content.

The details: Select Shorts allows advertisers to run their Shorts ads alongside top-performing short-form content in five categories: entertainment, beauty & lifestyle, food & recipes, gaming, and automotive. 

The opportunity: 2 billion users watch Shorts per month, so Select Shorts provides marketers with greater targeting precision and premium inventory access:

• By aligning with leading category content, marketers can ensure prominent ad placement and enhanced viewability for their Shorts campaigns. 

• YouTube has also added a new "Shorts" section to its "ABCDs of Effective Ads" guide, providing tips for optimizing creative and strategy specifically for the short video format.

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