The World Cup is a big chance for retail media to prove itself to advertisers

The tournament is a big opportunity for retail media networks to prove their effectiveness after the sector has grown tremendously, advertising offerings have evolved and retail media networks want to prove they are more than just a lower-funnel solution. The World Cup, being much longer than other sporting events with more opportunities for campaigns, will likely serve as a case study for future retail media activations. They also want to prove their nimbleness and ability to respond quickly to trends and major events through in-store events and campaigns that directly respond to big moments.

Walmart’s retail media network, Walmart Connect, is partnering with Coca-Cola on parking lot events nationwide, which began on June 6 and will take place in 11 host-city markets. It will integrate with digital creator content on local game-day traditions and fan culture.

Sam’s Club Member Access Platform, the Walmart-owned wholesale retailer’s advertising business, will host interactive activations with product sampling, games, giveaways and photo opportunities on some Sam’s Club parking lots beginning June 10, in addition to a 20-day activation at a Sam’s Club in New Jersey, where some of the matches are being held.

“These cultural moments also create meaningful opportunities for advertisers to connect with customers and members when engagement is at its highest,” a Walmart and Sam’s Club spokesperson said in an email. Through Walmart Connect and Sam’s Club MAP, “brands can reach audiences across the full customer journey with immersive, omnichannel experiences designed to drive awareness, engagement and conversion — wherever customers and members choose to shop.”

The Home Depot partnered with soccer-focused media network Men in Blazers Media Network for a traveling activation where both brands will produce content around the World Cup, Marketing Dive reported. Home Depot suppliers will also have the opportunity to participate in activities through its Orange Apron Media network, according to the outlet.

Best Buy has partnered with Hisense to host World Cup-themed events at 15 Best Buy stores and is offering a World Cup-themed sweepstakes. It also worked with Lenovo on experiential spaces in Best Buy stores across the U.S. and in Canada.

Outside of retailers and brands themselves, retail media agencies and technology companies are also hoping the World Cup can help validate the retail media industry with advertisers at the national level.

“You can’t pick a better contextually relevant place to be running your content and talking about the games that are coming up,” said Marlow Nickell, co-founder and CEO of Grocery TV, an in-store retail media platform that works with retailers such as Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee and others. The company, alongside consultancy Media, Ads + Commerce, surveyed 1,000 shoppers in March, and 62% said they have purchased a product directly after seeing it advertised on an in-store screen.

“Think about all the major CPG brands that are trying to get people to buy more of their products before watch parties and things like that,” Nickell said, adding that non-endemic advertisers such as banks have also run promotions throughout Grocery TV’s in-store media network.

Sherry Smith, president of retail media for Criteo, said retail media allows retailers and brands to connect fan excitement directly to shopping behavior in both digital and physical channels.

“The World Cup is the kind of global event that shows how far retail media has evolved,” Smith said. “It is no longer just a lower-funnel performance channel. It is increasingly a full-funnel commerce media environment that helps brands drive awareness, discovery and conversion in a measurable way.”

Raj Lala, vp of U.S. sales and development for out-of-home tech company Vistar Media, said brands have been coming to him wanting to surround the stadiums with flashy screens without realizing that ad placement areas directly surrounding the stadiums require official sponsorships with FIFA. Those conversations have then led brands to consider other options. CPG and financial brands have especially leaned into marketing at gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores to reach shoppers at the point of purchase, Lala said.

Lala said that in the future, the World Cup will be a good case study for retail media, as it takes place over a longer period than other sporting events and can provide more actionable, attributable data. He said it will give advertisers a better way to show off all the different ways they can activate a retail media strategy, such as tapping into Walmart shopping data to activate ads both at the stores consumers shop at as well as on the train, in their office building or at the gym.

“I hope this means brands are not spending way less in Q3 and Q4 this year because they all spent their money upfront now on their big World Cup strategy,” Lala said. “I think that’s why it’s even more important for all the partners like us to prove out the value of it, so the brands feel comfortable continuing to invest in the channel.”

Regional grocers are especially focused on promotions throughout the run of the tournament as a way to show that they, too, have the capability to enhance campaigns from national brands.

Britt Polihronis, chief operating officer of Iowa-based supermarket chain Hy-Vee’s RedMedia advertising business, said in an email that the grocer will be able to quickly adjust messaging, content and promotions based on key matchups, team performance and fan engagement. She said the grocer will activate across every touchpoint for the World Cup, including off-site media, on-site digital experiences, merchandising and in-store digital screens.

She said many of Hy-Vee’s brand partners are launching limited-time products, themed packaging and soccer-inspired promotions that the grocer will promote through means such as featured placements, displays, sampling programs and community events.

“As storylines emerge throughout the tournament, we’ll work with brand partners to capitalize on those moments through targeted media, featured placements, social content, in-store screens and merchandising activation,” Polihronis said. “That allows us to remain relevant and responsive while keeping consumers engaged throughout the entire World Cup journey.”

Bobby Watts, svp of retail media for Ahold Delhaize USA — the parent company of Food Lion, Giant Food, Hannaford, Shop & Shop and The Giant Company — said Ahold Delhaize’s role in big cultural moments like the Super Bowl or the World Cup is to help big CPG brands connect with consumers in its local markets. Specifically for the World Cup, he said advertisers can leverage the company’s stores near the games in Boston and Philadelphia with creative materials that fit the local brands, neighborhoods and communities.

“With retail media, not only can we help support driving brand awareness and some of that upper-funnel activation at a local level, but we also then are going to be right there at the point of purchase, whether it’s in-store or online,” Watts told Modern Retail.

Watts said the timeline for World Cup campaigns is much longer than that of other major sports events, like the Super Bowl, for which there may be a month or two of campaigns in advance. For the World Cup, the grocer started launching campaigns back in January or February, promoting drawings for free tickets. He said the World Cup required much more time, many months of planning, compared to those other regular events or seasonal occasions, with the event being such a rarity in the states.

“FIFA World Cup comes around every four years, and it’s rarely in the U.S. market,” Watts said. “We didn’t have retail media in the early ‘90s [during the last U.S. World Cup], so we didn’t have a playbook to look back at and say, ‘How should we really support FIFA?’”

Watts said that, like Hy-Vee, Ahold Delhaize’s plans are flexible to change digital assets based on who is winning or losing. “It’s this big giant culmination of the celebration, if you will, of all the lead-up to the big games,” Watts said. “If the U.S. goes on a run and surprises people, … we want to try to capitalize on that quickly.”