IPG Mediabrands launches new retail media tool to help brands manage investment performance

IPG Mediabrands has launched a new Unified Retail Media Solution, a business unit that aims to allow brands to manage their investment performance seamlessly across all retail media networks, an emerging advertising channels.

According to results from the Association of National Advertisers study done this year, around 82% of CMOs feel that there is an absence of standardisation across retail media platforms and that this poses a “big challenge” to them.

To aid brands in utilising the retail advertising platform seamlessly, the Unified Retail Media Solution will be backed by a technology platform that operates against four key principles of unified audience, unified measurement, unified optimisation and unified intelligence. With these principles integrated in place, brands will be provided with a comprehensible and holistic perspective regarding their performance.

The Unified Retailed Media Solution will be able to sift out the retailers who are performing at their best and will automate cross-retailer activation and optimisation, shifting media spend between retailers to increase sales and profitability.

Brands will be provided with the option to augment their existing audience data through Acxion data sets. Moving forward, the platform will automatically aggregate the cross-network data using IPG’s AI-powered tools to curate planning, insights, activation and optimisation.

Don't miss: IPG’s Golin launches AI incubator SPARK to move towards creative intelligence

The Unified Retail Media Solution will be spearheaded by Glen Conybeare, executive lead of IPG Mediabrands, and will be supported by a multi-disciplinary team of over 500 members.

“Retail Media Networks offer a huge opportunity for marketers. However, each network operates as a closed loop system which makes it really difficult to drive ROI effectively. With dozens of retail channels as part of many client’s investment strategies, it has been difficult to compare their relative performance,” said Conybeare.

“With our platform, we have standardised a key part of the process, allowing our clients to make the optimal decisions both within and across Retail Media Networks based on facts, not hunches,” Conybeare added.

Additionally, the Unified Retail Media Solution has undergone testing by clients of IPG Mediabrands in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG), gaming as well as over the counter (OTC) sectors and possesses over 100 bespoke audiences built out with a goal to hit over 10,000 audiences by end 2023.

“It’s another step forward in IPG’s Total Commerce Strategy, along with IPG’s Creative Commerce Labs, helping to ensure brands grow [their] share and do so profitably,” Jeriad Zoghby, chief commerce strategy officer at IPG added.

The news comes after IPG'S Golin launched its new artificial intelligence (AI) incubator SPARK, a model designed to diversify ideation, elevate storytelling and mobilise content delivery for the agency across APAC, the release said.

Initiated by Golin’s creative intelligence unit in Singapore, SPARK explores artificial intelligence platforms including ChatGPT, Midjourney, Dall.E as a starting point for strategic planning and creative ideation.

Related articles: 
IPG Mediabrands MY beefs up leadership with new appointments
IPG elevates Matt Ware to regional CEO role at Kinesso
FairPrice Group hands media and creative remit to IPG's UM and Omnicom Group's Homeground United