Retail Media Networks Unify Goals for Brands, Merchants: Dentsu’s Brian Monahan

MARCO ISLAND, FL – Retailers that sell advertising have carved out a significant segment of the media marketplace. As retail media networks proliferate, survival will be determined by their ability to help brands achieve their marketing goals. In many cases, retailers and brands have the same objectives. “Really the name of the game is scale and being able to reach and target audiences at scale,” Brian Monahan, global client president and head of retail media solutions at Dentsu, said in this interview at the IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting. “We’re going to see some interesting consolidation in this space where I think we’ll see some collaboration with different retailers coming together so that they can offer scale to their advertising partners.” Dentsu’s expertise includes a consulting practice called New Stream Media that works with retailers to set up and operate their retail media networks. It also has a buy-side group inside its media agencies that’s purchases retail media space on behalf of brands.” “What’s unique about retail media? It’s the only medium where the objective of the buyer and the seller is the same,” Monahan said. “They both have the same customer and they want to drive the same sale. What we’re trying to do at Dentsu is make sure that our respective practice areas are learning from each other, so we can collectively bring clients a true, growth-driving experience.” Video content is becoming more transactional, making shoppable video another way for brands to connect more directly with customers. But shoppable video has its challenges in terms of merchandising. “You need to have the assortment and you need to have it in stock, so the second they want to buy, it has to be available,” Monahan said. “Those are two very hard things to get right if you’re going to have a shopper experience that actually is useful.” You’re watching ‘Digital Media in Transition’, a Beet.TV Leadership Series at IAB ALM 2024 presented by Sharethrough. For more videos from this series, please visit this page.