In retail and shopper marketing, one thing that has always stayed true is the value in understanding shopper mindset. As retail media continues to evolve at pace across the region, and globally, it feels more important than ever.
We’ve made huge strides in recent years, the sophistication around targeting, retailer data, measurement, and media planning are seriously impressive. Retailers are no longer distribution channels or display space; they’ve become highly advanced media ecosystems driven by incredibly powerful shopper intelligence. The growth of retailer first party data and the opportunity to access this data for more focused targeting has even led FMCG brands to create their own programs and collect their own primary data. And so, rightly so, there’s a lot of great conversation focused here.
Sitting in more and more retail media discussions, one thing continues to strike me is that it’s time to elevate the importance of contextually relevant creative and messaging in the retail media conversation.
You can have the smartest media plan, intelligently targeted and data driven, but if the content isn’t right for the context it falls flat. Simple as that. And that’s why insight-led shopper marketing principles are ever more important. Proximity to purchase alone doesn’t drive conversion. Relevance does. Understanding mission, mindset, occasion and behavior is what converts the visibility into action.
The mindset of a shopper browsing recipes during Ramadan is different to a shopper stocking up on their weekly family shop. The behavior of a shopper in a hypermarket is hugely different to one shopping in a local convenience store or online. This might all sound really obvious, but it feels increasingly important to say out loud. Why?.
Well, we’ve all seen examples of ATL campaigns or centrally created global toolkits, being dropped into retail media environments with minimal adaptation. But here’s the challenge; what works brilliantly in a brand-building environment doesn’t always work at the point of conversion, and what works in Europe nearly always isn’t relevant in MENA. A carefully created global campaign visual might build fame and emotion, but in a retail media environment shoppers are more than often looking for something more immediate like reassurance, relevance, value, occasion fit, ease, appetite or appeal. They need clear reasons to believe and a call to action.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that brand building becomes less important, far from it. The strongest retail media strategies should absolutely strengthen brand equity. But both the creative and messaging need to reflect where the shopper is in their purchase journey.
Arguably this matters even more in our region. This is one of the most culturally diverse retail landscapes in the world. Shopping behaviors, seasonal moments, retail environments and audience vary enormously. Translating global toolkits will rarely be enough here. The brands that genuinely connect are the ones that combine the right moment, the right shopper mindset and the right creative. This is not about changing the brand idea, instead it’s about adapting how it shows up. Sometimes that will mean adjusting the messaging hierarchy. Sometimes it will mean designing for mission-based shopping. Sometimes it will mean understanding what will motivate shoppers to buy a brand over another at the point of purchase.
The point is, retail media shouldn’t just be about where we show up, it should equally be about how we show up. If we don’t adapt creative to context, where the shopper is, how they feel and what they need, even the smartest targeting risks becoming irrelevant.
Retail media and retail media planning has already evolved significantly, and the pace of evolution continues, the opportunity now is to marry audience intelligence with shopper insight and creative relevance. And so there is real value in media planning and creative strategy to come together as one, one set of campaign objectives one joined up media plan, creative and messaging strategy.
Media finds people, creative moves people.
More of this conversation please.
By Taj Sur, Business Director
