Paul Brooks.
The AdNews end of year Perspectives, looking back at 2024 and forward to next year.
Paul Brooks – General Manager, Coles 360
As we look ahead to 2025, it's clear that retail media is poised to take centre stage in Australia's digital and broader advertising landscape. It’s exciting to be at the forefront of this evolution. Retail media's emergence as the third wave of growth for digital advertising is driven by its unique ability to connect brands with customers along the purchase journey
and at the point of purchase. Add that to the ability to measure ROI and incrementality and all the technology and innovation that’s feeding rapid sophistication of the sector, it really is a thrilling time to be part of it.
So, what have we seen play out in 2024…
Growth Accelerated by Structural Change
This year we saw more brands starting to recognize the value retail media and of aligning their trade and brand strategies to maximize ROI and create a consistent customer brand experience.
As more brands start to combine brand and trade budgets, and approach their media investments in more holistic ways, retail media networks are starting to build the structure to accommodate the new ways of working, anticipating and preparing for the future state of marketing team needs.
89% of Australian brands are already investing or experimenting with retail media.
40% of retail media investment is coming from new budgets.
(IAB Australia Retail Media State of Nation 2024 n=124)
Enhancements and Expansion through Strategic Partnerships
Many complimentary businesses in technology, media and insights have played a critical role in retail media's evolution & rapid growth in 2024.
At Coles 360, our partnerships enable us to broaden our network at scale (by partnering with global media and technology companies like Broadsign & Zitcha), be more insight-led (by partnering with Nielsen) & be more sophisticated in how we measure campaign effectiveness (by partnering with Circana.) These strategic partnerships are embedded and integrated into our operating model and enable Coles 360 to maintain an external perspective through these partnerships as well as keep pace with speed of change.
A sector powered by Audiences and Measurement
As retailers, we possess unparalleled understanding of consumer behaviour, thanks to our vast customer insights, transactional data & loyalty programs. As a result, it’s understandable if marketers expect more from retail media networks than they do other media providers.
The retail media industry's rise is driven by its ability to provide connections with customers when in a purchase mindset & at the point of purchase both in store and online, and then providing sophisticated measurement capability that allows brands to understand effectiveness of campaigns to better understand return on investment.
Why 2025 Will Be the Tipping Point
So, why will 2025 be the year retail media comes of age in Australia?
Several factors contribute to this prediction:
1) Sophistication: Advances in data analytics, automation, AI, and machine learning will enable more precise targeting and personalized customer experiences.
2) Collaboration: Collaborative partnerships with brand’s media agencies will allow for better integration with broader marketing strategies & planning.
3) Innovation: Emerging technologies will further enhance retail media's capabilities such as instore digitisation, increase web and app capabilities & technology that allows us towork smarter and faster.
4) Shift to Publisher: Step change to allow shift from retailer to publisher approach with capability such as expanded creative canvas, addressable audiences, standardisation & measurement as well as flexibility.
As we look ahead to 2025, it’s clear that retail media is poised to transform the Australian media landscape ever further. At Coles 360, we look forward to working with suppliers and their agencies as we ride the wave of retail media growth together
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