Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), the retail media unit of grocery giant Kroger, today (June 28) announced that it has been in-housing its services in a bid to wrest greater control over the business, including through the development of a new advertising platform.
While other retail media networks have steered toward in-housing in recent months, KPM stands as one of the most mature offerings in the category and believes its relative level of technological sophistication and scale could make its in-housing decision an impactful one for an industry grappling with sharper growing pains.
“We have a high degree of confidence and excitement around this platform signaling the next stage of retail media maturity,” Cara Pratt, senior vice president of KPM, told Marketing Dive in an interview. “We look forward to being one of the leaders that influences change in the industry holistically.”
KPM also hopes it can deliver better advertising experiences to consumers as marketers gain access to more self-service tools for targeting, optimizing, and iterating on campaigns powered by the grocer’s troves of first-party shopper data, which largely stem from its loyalty card program. The platform at launch includes search-based insights and custom ad groups; creative design offerings and the ability to save multiple creative templates by brand and product; management options for campaign budgets, messaging, and flighting; and the ability to build reports and improve performance against deterministic retail data points like sales lift, household penetration, and unit lift.
“We know we need to remove friction from the retail media buying process,” Pratt said in a press statement attached to the announcement. “Building a new foundation of integrated technology empowers brands and agencies to maximize retail media’s potential. Together, we will deliver a more convenient, personalized, and inspirational shopping experience.”
Credit: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/Kroger-in-housing-retail-media-network-services/654101/