ANALYSIS Retail Media Networks are now B2B brands, but need to be marketed effectively

Many Retail Media Networks have not recognised that they are now in the B2B Marketing business. “Many Retail Media Networks are learning how to navigate marketing; RMN marketing doesn’t always hit the mark” is how Andrew Lipsman put it in his Media, Ads + Commerce newsletter earlier this year called “The RMN B2B Marketing Playbook”.

As Lipsman points out, if every retailer is becoming an ad network, then, to succeed, retailer must market itself effectively to capture its fair share of the opportunity and bring their competitive advantages to the fore. For now, you’ll find more than 200+ commerce media networks from the US, EMEA, LATAM and APAC, with public data we collect (last update September, 2024) for each of them that you can filter.

Lipsman visualises the number of RMNs into different categories across marketplaces, department, specialists, intermediaries and verticals.  Frederic CLEMENT and the team at Mimbi have put together a full list of more than 200+ commerce media networks from the US, EMEA, LATAM and APAC last updated in September, 2024.

That’s a lot of competition for the advertiser’s budget.

In other words, the “game” of competition in Retail Media is moving on.  But where is it moving to, and how should we think about this?

Diffusions of innovation

60+ years ago, Everett Rogers “Diffusion of Innovations” model as a framework for understanding Diffusion of innovations explains how and why new ideas and technology spread.  Rogers argued that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time. Within the rate of adoption, there is a point at which an innovation reaches critical mass.

The idea was subsequently adopted by tech marketers, particularly at the boundary between the early adopters and the early majority. This gap between niche appeal and mass adoption was originally labelled “the marketing chasm”.

The categories of adopters are innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. The criterion for the adopter categorisation is innovativeness, defined as the degree to which an individual adopts a new idea.

You can argue that we have moved beyond the ‘Innovation’ and ‘Early Adopters’ in Retail Media Networks. 

The retailers who used the initial wave of retail media technology from Citrus and Criteo to do to innovate with retail media networks (let’s say 2017-2020) were “Innovators”.

These were followed pretty quickly by the “Early Adopters” (let’s say 2020-2023) who saw the opportunity that the Innovators recognised and decided to spool up their own RMN. 

Likewise, the advertisers who used these RMNs were also ‘Early Adopters’.  The big brands such as Unilever and P&G started using Retail Media Networks years ago, particularly in the US, where they were spending on Amazon and Walmart before they were even called out as revenue lines in their annual reports.

The consequences of marketing with 200+ competitive RMNs
Today, with 200+ RMNs around the globe, just launching and saying “hey everyone, I have an RMN” is not enough anymore. 

Once you move beyond the initial phase of excitement and you have crossed the marketing chase, to target a much wider market, retailers need to up their B2B Marketing “game.”

However, too many of them are ‘me-too’ or say something like ‘here’s a list of my media assets, please buy them from me.” Or, worst still, they commit the sin of being too bland.

As Lipsman points out, Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are booming, yet their marketing often falls short because of: 

1. Bland Messaging: RMN execs often stick to generic, corporate-scripted talking points that lack depth and miss the chance to offer real insights. This makes fireside chats forgettable and fails to engage or inform potential partners.
2. Weak Positioning: RMNs struggle to stand out. When RMN execs tout “closed-loop measurement” or “putting customers first” as unique selling points, it reflects a B2C marketing mindset instead of emphasizing what truly appeals to advertisers.
3. Shallow Content Marketing: RMNs lean heavily on case studies, yet most lack transparency, making advertisers sceptical of exaggerated success metrics. RMNs would benefit from “why” content that shows brands the genuine value of advertising on their platform.

What should RMNs do instead?  Improve their marketing ‘game”

Here are five steps that Retail Media Networks must follow:

1. B2B Marketing:  Remember that you are now in the B2B Marketing ‘business’ and all that this entails – resources, focus, objectives.
2. Positioning: have a distinctive positioning in the market. What do you stand for? Can your target customers know exactly why they should spend money with you rather than your competitor?  Ocado Ads recently launched with a very specific positioning in the crowded UK grocery market.
3. Go-To-Market Strategy: RMN need a distinct plan that takes the positioning and the messaging and turns into specific plan that covers off the campaigns you are going to create, the content to support it, the events you will attend, the emails you are going to write & how often, the PR and social media you are going to create. As Lipsman points out, Many RMNS are investing in VIP dinners and smaller meet-ups often yield stronger connections than costly booths. Nascent markets like Retail Media often require more explanation and insights to retailers, advertiser and industry partners than mature markets.
4. Messaging: Create messaging that encapsulates your offer in a way that people can understand. The best RMNs focus on industry issues with a clear point of view.  Use RMN leadership key team members as ‘talking heads’ who will speak at industry events. The example that Andrew Lipsman uses is the Albertsons Media Collective’s team led by Kristi Argyilan with Claire Wyatt, VP Business Strategy & Marketing Science delivering incredible on-point opinions and content.
5. Don’t be boring: So many RMNs just list their ad units and expect the cheque books to be opened. Am even bigger sin is being boring. Hey, we are now talking about the media business, and our competition for advertising spend is not just another RMN, but also Google, Meta, TikTok, TV, Cinema – all other media channels!  If you have ever been to a media upfront, you will find they are a lot of things, but they are NOT boring.